Fantastic mid 70s sounds from The Masqueraders! Everybody Wanna Live On may very well be the best album ever by this sweet southern vocal group – produced and arranged by Isaac Hayes, who'd always had a big hand in the group's sound. The record's got a style that reminds us of mid 70s Manhattans, but perhaps with more of an edge on some of the vocals, especially on the more uptempo tracks. Includes the great cut "Please Don't Try (To Take Me Away To The Sky)", with a nice electric piano groove and funky vocals, plus "(Call Me) The Traveling Man", "Sweet Sweetning", "Baby It's You", "Everybody Wanna Live On", and "Your Sweet Love Is A Blessing". CD

We're not sure if Santa makes the best dance instructor, but he definitely gets plenty of help from this groovy collection – a batch of 26 Christmas tunes that run the spectrum of soulful styles! Most numbers here are from our favorite stretch of Holiday soul – and although there's some tracks here you might have on other collections, there's plenty more unusual ones in the mix as well! Titles include "Santa Soul" by Rocki Lane & The Gross Group, "Christmas Joy" by The Soul Stirrers, "Santa Bring My Baby Back" by Joe Johnson, "Happy Birthday Jesus" by Sam Sweetsinger Bell, "Christmas Round The Corner" by Smuggy Williams, "Santa Teach Me To Dance" by Debbie & The Darnells, "Christmas In Viet Nam" by Charles Bowens & Gentlemen From Tigerland, "Spirit Of Christmas" by The Gospel Heavyweights, "Presents For Christmas" by Solomon Burke, "Christmas Time Is Coming" by The Storytellers, "Christmas Greeting" by The Elgins, "Christmas Time Baby" by The Organics, "Mama's Gift" by Stormy Weather, and "Alone On New Yers Eve" by The Manhattans. CD

Santa Claus gets plenty of lovin here – in a sweet set of tracks that spans the worlds of soul, gospel, and blues – bringing together some key classics from the season, plus some more unusual material too! There's a total of 26 tracks on the set – and titles include "The Sound Of Christmas" by The Violinaires, "Christmas In Viet Nam" by Johnny & Jon, "Santa's On His Way" by Ad Libs, "It's That Time Of Year" by The Manhattans, "Doing The Santa Claus" by Huey Smith & The Clowns, "You Better Be Good World" by Shirley Ellis, "White Xmas" by Los Angeles Angels, "Merry Christmas Baby" by Vernon Garrett, "Silent Night" by Liz Lands, "Marshmallow World" by Darlene Love, "I'll Stay Home" by The Creators, "White Christmas" by Rance Allen, "Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday" by Leon Haywood, "Merry Christmas Baby" by Ike & Tina Turner, and "It's Been A Long Bad Year" by Lonnie Hewitt. CD

Brilliant solo work from Gerald Alston – the first album issued under his own name, after a strong legacy of work with The Manhattans! Alston's vocals are wonderful here – beautifully crafted, with a sense of maturity and feeling that most of his younger soul contemporaries couldn't match – polished with the kind of class that kept The Manhattans strong well into the 80s – but updated nicely with some of the more adult soul modes of the latter part of the decade. Production is by Stan Sheppard and James Varner, who know to keep things laidback to keep Alston at his best – and titles include "Stay A Little While", "You Laid Your Love On Me", "I've Waited All Night", "Activated", "We've Only Just Begun", and "I Come Alive When I'm With You". CD