One of the odder 60s LPs from the Supremes, the soundtrack to a film that starred the group, with some guest appearances by The Temptations – in Motown-show versions of tracks that often feature the singers lapsing into medleys of other tunes, or doing some popular hits of the day. Titles include "Respect", "Somewhere", "Stop In The Name Of Love", "TCB", "For Once In My Life", "Hello Young Lovers", "I Hear A Symphony", and "The Impossible Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest Supremes albums of the 70s – a rare live Japanese session that wasn't even issued in the US at the time! The album follows strongly in the spirit of the other Motown Japanese live sets of the time – with really tight backings behind the group on stage, and a powerful, spontaneous sound that really seems to take off even more strongly than the studio albums. The girls' vocals are great – and really nicely unfettered on some of the tunes – stepping out with strong leads and soulful harmonies that are a good reminder that the group was still burning strong at this point. Titles include "Stoned Love", "TCB", "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You", "Bad Weather", "Cherry Cherry", and "Somewhere". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky soul from Detroit – the second foray into the uber-rare and unreleased funk treasures recorded at Dave Hamilton's Motor City studio – and an even deeper look at what's turning out to be one of the greatest long-buried funk catalogs to come to light in recent years! The collection includes some singles released on Hamilton's own TCB and other imprints, some that were licensed to other labels, plus a wealth of unreleased material. There's straight ahead funk vocals and instrumentals, and numbers that have more of a freewheeling, adventurous vibe – albeit with a raw funk backdrop! Includes numbers by The Deacons, Prophet & His Disciples, Chico & Buddy, Billy Garner, OC Tolbert, Little Ann, Dave Hamilton himself, The Webb People, The Pepper and more. 22 tracks in all: "A Drop In The Bucket" by The Deacons, "You Fool, You Fool Pt 1" by Prophet & His Disciples, "A Thing Called The Jones" by Chico & Buddy, "The Bad Things (You Said To Me)" by The Barrino Brothers, "Ghetto Stride" by Dave Hamilton, "Who" by Jackie Dee, "Love Bandit" by OC Tolbert, "Simon Says' by The Future Kind, "Clap Your Hands" by The Tokays, "I'm Sending Vibrations" by The Webb People and more. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

Storming soul from Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford – one of the hardest-hitting duos of the early 60s, and a pair who set the tone for countless other acts to come! The style here is definitely soul, but steeped in plenty of R&B too – partly from Dee Dee's smoking work on Hammond, and the way her vocals come together with Don's – almost more live than any other studio work of its type – with a spontaneous vibe that always kept the Gardner/Ford singles mighty interesting! Don had worked previously with Jimmy Smith and Groove Holmes as the organist in his group – but when Dee Dee hit the mix, the sound really took off – as Gardner's rich vocals found their perfect counterpart in the energy of the young keyboardist and singer. The set's one of the best we've ever seen to bring together their work for the Fire label – and features their full album I Need Your Lovin, plus 18 more bonus tracks from singles – titles that include "You Said", "Make The Girl Love Me", "I Need Your Lovin", "I Left There Crying", "This Lonely Place", "Dog Eat Dog", "The Quicker The Better", "Bad Luck", "TCB", "Forever In Your Lover's Arms", "Everybody Needs Love", "Lead Me On", "Let's Go To The Party", and a rare complete unedited version of "I Need Your Lovin". CD

The final live performance of Diana Ross with The Supremes – with titles that include "TCB", "It's Alright With Me", "The Impossible Dream", "Someday We'll Be Together", and "Love Child" – as well as some spoken bits from Diana, and a few nice medley tracks too! CD

A treasure trove of rare soul from Detroit – rare material from the hands of producer/guitarist Dave Hamilton, a good deal of which was never issued back in the 60s! As you may know from Dave's own recently reissued work, the Hamilton sound is nice and hard – a version of Detroit soul that's got a bit more beat on the bottom than the better known Motown groove – and which was a perfect setting for some of the excellent lesser-known singers that Dave chose to record. Few of the artists here ever broke big on their own, but that doesn't stop the work from being totally great – and the 25 track set is overflowing with great work that shows a whole new side of the almost-infinite Detroit scene of the late 60s. Some material was issued on 45s for the TCB, Topper, and Palmer labels – but much more of the work here is previously unissued in any form – and totally great all the way through! Titles include "Challenge My Love" by Tobi Lark, "The Two Of Us" by Danny Cobus, "Who Are You Trying To Fool" and "One Way Street" by Little Ann, "You Got Me Turned Around" and "That's Enough" by OC Tolbert, "I'll Give You My Love" by Sue Ann Jones, "We're In Love" by The Additions, "Ain't That Groovy" by The Dave Hamilton Band, "All I Want Is You" by JT Rhythm, "Tears Running & Falling From My Eyes" by James Lately, and "My Sweet Baby" by The Mark-Keys. CD

A killer little set that's as heavy as it sounds from the title – a wealth of rare material pulled from the studio of Detroit producer Dave Hamilton – a good deal of it previously unreleased! Hearing this set is like finding a pile of rare 45s stuffed in the back corner of a long-lost record shop – because although much of the work was never issued, it crackles with the intensity of the best funky 45s – lots of funky drums, offbeat guitar, and raspy soul vocals – produced with a real edge to all the work, so that all of the hardest elements of the tunes really come through in the mix! The work that was issued here came out on the TCB, Tayster, and New Day labels – and although the artists are often not well known, the work's got a really unified feel – thanks to the funky vision of Dave Hamilton. CD features 20 tracks in all – including "Brand New Girl (part 1)", "You're Wasting My Time (parts 1 & 2)", and "I Got Some (parts 1 & 2)" by Billy Garner; "The Grown Folks Thing" by OC Tolbert, "Party Time" by James Carpenter, "Going To The Moon" by Dave Hamilton, "Funky Trip" by Johnny Walker, "The Devil Is Gonna Get You" by The Future Kind, "Just A Mistake" by The Barrino Brothers, "Hunchin" by Gip Roberts, "Bump With Me" by The Webb People, "Sweet Thing (part 1)" by Bobby Dee, and "Can You Dig It" by Chico & Buddy. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

Funky soul from Detroit – the second foray into the uber-rare and unreleased funk treasures recorded at Dave Hamilton's Motor City studio – and an even deeper look at what's turning out to be one of the greatest long-buried funk catalogs to come to light in recent years! The collection includes some singles released on Hamilton's own TCB and other imprints, some that were licensed to other labels, plus a wealth of unreleased material. There's straight ahead funk vocals and instrumentals, and numbers that have more of a freewheeling, adventurous vibe – albeit with a raw funk backdrop! Includes numbers by The Deacons, Prophet & His Disciples, Chico & Buddy, Billy Garner, OC Tolbert, Little Ann, Dave Hamilton himself, The Webb People, The Pepper and more. 22 tracks in all: "A Drop In The Bucket" by The Deacons, "You Fool, You Fool Pt 1" by Prophet & His Disciples, "A Thing Called The Jones" by Chico & Buddy, "The Bad Things (You Said To Me)" by The Barrino Brothers, "Ghetto Stride" by Dave Hamilton, "Who" by Jackie Dee, "Love Bandit" by OC Tolbert, "Simon Says' by The Future Kind, "Clap Your Hands" by The Tokays, "I'm Sending Vibrations" by The Webb People and more. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

A great little album from Diana Ross – maybe one of her lesser-known efforts with The Supremes, and a set that really points the way towards the solo years to come! One of the reasons for that is that the set really just features Diana out in the lead, with different backing singers behind – all the great songs from the show, but recast with these sophisticated soul arrangements by Gil Askey – very groovy, very Motown, but also with a lot stronger focus on Ross upfront than usual! In a way, the shift is a fantastic nod to Diana's growing role as a star – really claiming her as the black Streisand, a position that she's clearly confident with, and maybe even beats Barbara on the vocal tip too. Titles include "Funny Girl", "The Music That Makes Me Dance", "Don't Rain On My Parade", "People", "Cornet Man", "His Love Makes Me Beautiful", "Sadie Sadie", and "I'm The Greatest Star" – the last of which would make a nice theme song for Diana's 70s years! This expanded version not only marks the first time the record has been on CD – it also features both the stereo and the mono mixes of the record – plus the original recording of the album, with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong – the real Supremes recording of the set! There's also five more bonus tracks – "Cornet Man (alt)", "His Love Makes Me Beautiful (alt)", "Sadie Sadie (alt)", "I'm The Greatest Star (live TCB outtake)", and "My Man (live)". CD