Wanda Robinson was one of the first hip, black, female poets to set righteous words to funky music – and this album is one of her two classic sides for the Perception label from the early 70s. The format is spoken word over funky instrumentals – and backing is by Patrick Adams, James Moody, and others, mixing jazz, soul, and funk conceptions to fit the mood of each of Wanda's tracks on the set. The titles should give you a good flavor of the material – as the set includes "The First Time I Saw Loneliness", "The Great American Passtime", "Parting Is Such", "Tragedy No 456", "A Black Oriented Love Poem", "Instant Replay", "The Trouble With Dreams", and "Grooving". LP, Vinyl record album

Although composed by 70s sex-soundtrack genius Pierre Bachelet, this one's mostly a batch of jaunty, jagged little themes, a bit like Nino Rota's work for Fellini, with lots of similar touches. There's one striking number, though – "Ivory Coast Drums" – which has a weird back/forth rhythm approach, a bit of echo on the drums, and a melodic progression that makes the track a nice dark little number. Bachelet sings vocals on the French version of the "Black & White" theme – and other tracks include "The Letter", "The Battle", "Crossing The Rhine", "Fresnoy's Theme", and "La Chanson Des Souliers". LP, Vinyl record album

Heavy psych from Detroit, in the years before Bob Seger became a "lighters in the air" peddler of redneck theme songs. Cut from the same cloth as the early Mitch Ryder, Amboy Dukes and Grand Funk that were the hallmark of the Motor City rock sound of the day, most of the tracks on this outing are concise rockers, but the band delves into a bit of nice jamminess on side 2. Includes 'Tales Of Lucy Blue", "Ivory", "Gone Down Home", "Train Man", "White Wall", "Black Eyed Girl", "2 + 2 = ?" and "Doctor Fine". LP, Vinyl record album

A club classic on Salsoul – with a soaring sound that's still grooving dancefloors today! The record was arranged and conducted by Leroy Burgess – who also sang lead vocals and wrote all the material – and it's got a sound that's similar to some of the later uptempo grooves that Burgess was forging with Black Ivory. Greg Carmichael produced the set with Burgess, and there's some nice elements of his earlier underground disco work – like cool keyboards, and small touches of electronics used in just the right doses. Tracks include "You've Got That Something", "I Know You Will", "Sweet To Me", "Lay It On The Line", and "Something Else". LP, Vinyl record album