Funky Divas is right – as this classic album by En Vogue is one that had the group really redefining the sound of girl group soul for a whole new generation! The girls do a wonderful job of blending together hip hop beats and warmer mainstream soul – at a level that marked one of the key bridges between R&B and hip hop in the 90s – almost making the group kind of a trans-generational healing force in African American music. After all these years the beats are still pretty great, and the vocals even better – and titles include "My Lovin (You're Never Gonna Get It)", "Free Your Mind", "Giving Him Something He Can Feel", "Give It Up Turn It Loose", "Hooked On Your Love", "Love Don't Love You", "This Is Your Life", "Desire", "Hip Hop Lover", and "It Ain't Over Till The Fat Lady Sings". LP, Vinyl record album

Man, it must have been something to hear this record blasting out of a boombox back in the old days – especially if it was the magenta-hued one on the cover! The groove here is strong and loud – plenty of bass and beats at the bottom, and even a few surprising early electro touches that really stand out and make the album something special. And as with other records from this time, Fatback also show their ballad skills on one number – "Come & Get the Love" – but it's the more jamming tracks we really love, and they include "Street Band", "Hot Box", "Love Spell", "Gotta Get My Hands On Some Money", and the fat 80s jam "Backstrokin". CD

Man, it must have been something to hear this record blasting out of a boombox back in the old days – especially if it was the magenta-hued one on the cover! The groove here is strong and loud – plenty of bass and beats at the bottom, and even a few surprising early electro touches that really stand out and make the album something special. And as with other records from this time, Fatback also show their ballad skills on one number – "Come & Get the Love" – but it's the more jamming tracks we really love, and they include "Street Band", "Hot Box", "Love Spell", "Gotta Get My Hands On Some Money", and the fat 80s jam "Backstrokin". LP, Vinyl record album

A key step in the path from The Housemartins to Fatboy Slim – Norman Cook's first big dancefloor excursion, and a super-big hit that sounds surprisingly nice these days! 12-inch, Vinyl record

A cracklingly sharp bit of 80s pop from Company B – a trio of female singers who get some great help throughout from legendary Miami club producer Ish – an artist you might know for his famous contributions to Foxy, Oxo, and a range of other earlier projects! Ish has definitely updated his groove from the TK disco years – going more for a Miami club vibe from the hi energy years – lots of fast beats and catchy keyboards next to the vocals of the trio, who often trade leads throughout the set. Titles include the big hit "Fascinated", plus "Full Circle", "Jam On Me", "Signed In Your Book Of Love", "Perfect Lover", "Spin Me Round", and "Infatuate Me". CD features bonus tracks – "Full Circle (club)", "Perfect Lover (vocal club)", "Fascinated (club)", "Full Circle (sax & dog house mix)", and "Signed In Your Book Of Love (street mix)". CD

Fatback are very firmly in an 80s mode here – using a bit more keyboards, beats, and electro touches than before, but still staying true to their funky inspirations! The style's somewhat more contemporarily commercial than a few of the group's previous records – clearly trying for a hit on a few numbers – but the rhythms and production are still a lot more real than most other hitbound bands of the era, and we can more than forgive the group for the few added hooks they bring into a few of the tunes! Titles include "He's A Freak, Undercover", "I Found Lovin", "Wide Glide", and "Please Stay". CD

Madly tripped out guitar funk – and a real turning point in the career of guitarist Eddie Fisher! Eddie began his career as a straighter guitarist on the St Louis scene – and although his first album for Cadet was a relatively traditional soul-jazz outing, this one's a wild batch of tripped-out guitar licks! The band's a fuzzy psychedelic one – not in a rock-styled way, but more in an early George Clinton kind of mode, with plenty of rumbling bass at the bottom, warm electric piano lines, nicely placed drum beats, and Eddie's fuzzbox guitar snaking and wah wah-ing over the top! Eddie arranged and produced, and the record's a perfect batch of kicked-back stoner funk numbers that go on and on and on and on! Titles include "Land Of Our Father", "Beautiful Things", "East St Louis Blues", "Another Episode", "Either Or", and "Jeremiah Pucket". (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

Ok so she's got a Grammy – but that makes us love her even more! Jill Scott is one of the greatest soul artists to emerge in the past decade – and this second album avoids the usual "sophomore slump" by showing a whole new side of her talents! Disc one is a great live set – showing that Jill's organic talent isn't the product of studio trickery, and can conjure up as much warmth in person as it can on disc. The backing is tight, jazzy, and with a different finish than you might be accustomed to from Jill's first LP – less hip hop beats and more real funk drumming, a fuller group instrumental sound with lots of nice solos, and over it all, incredible vocals from Jill! The set's got smoking live versions of "One Is The Magic #", "A Long Walk", "Love Rain", "Getting In The Way", "Fatback Taffy", "He Loves Me", and "Do You Remember". (Neo Soul, Soul) CD

A killer tribute to the 60s songcraft of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart – who are probably best-known as the songwriters behind many songs by The Monkees – but they're terrific performers in their own right, on top of penning tunes for the creme of the 60s crop! This set goes a long way towards demonstrating their range. It's got all great songs by legendary groups and singers – including veterans like Fats Domino and Chubby Checker – who were seeking fresh heat at the time – plus great stuff by Boyce & Hart themselves, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Dino, Desi & Billy, The Shangri-Las, The Ikettes, The Standells, The Honeybeats and more! Includes "Valleri" by The Monkees, I Can't Get Him Out Of My Mind" by Sandra Dee, "(He's Gonna Be) Fine Fine Fine" by The Ikettes, "She" by Del Shannon, "Lazy Elsie Molly" by Chubby Checker, "Too Many Teardrops" by Bobby Hart, "Be My Guest" by Fats Domino, "Beverly Jean" by Curtis Lee and more. 26 in all. (Rock, Soul) CD