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A fantastic selection of work from one of the hippest girl groups of the 70s – the mighty Love Unlimited trio, three singers who all worked under the genius of Barry White in his prime! Unlike other girl trios of the time, who often used an older soul mode refitted with disco grooves – sometimes acting more like a chorus than a lead act – Love Unlimited always brought their full vocal strengths to play, and do a fantastic job here working in modes that rival some of the best male harmony groups of the early 70s – especially the sweet soul groups from New Jersey, New York, and Philly. And yes, Barry does kick up the groove a bit at times, but even then things are usually more in a midtempo mode, not a disco one – which makes for tremendous sounds throughout. This is the first-ever proper collection of the girls' singles from the early 70s – and titles include "Oh Love Well We Finally Made It", "Fragile Handle With Care", "Are You Sure", "I Should Have Known", "Is It Really True Boy Is It Me", "Walkin In The Rain With The One I Love", "Under The Influence Of Love", "It May Be Winter Outside", "I Love You So Never Gonna Let You Go", "I Belong To You", "So Nice To Hear", "People Of Tomorrow Are The Children Of Today", and "Share A Little Love In Your Hear LP, Vinyl record album

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The 4th, and arguably the most interesting, of this instrumental Sonic Youth series! The record features SY teaming up with the likes of Christian Marclay, Jim O'Rourke, Takehisha Kosugi, William Winnat, Christian Wolff, and Wharton Tiers – on a set of tracks that provide a fitting farewell to 20th Century music. Titles include Steve Reich's "Pendulum Music", John Cage's "Six" and "Four (6)", Yoko Ono's "Voice Piece For Soprano", Christian Wolff's "Edges", George Maciunas' "Piano Piece #13", and Cornelius Cardew's "Treatise". CD

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A tremendous collection of work by Art Tatum – maybe even THE collection of work by Art Tatum – as the 2CD set brings together all the material that appeared on the legendary 20th Century Fox albums by Art – recorded in a private home in Hollywood late in his career, but at a time when he was even more inventive than ever. Film studio sound whiz Ray Heindorf recorded the sessions – and also had a huge amount of unissued tracks that appear here – making the set more like a package of Volmes 1 and 2 – plus 3 and 4 as well! CD

While not as huge a hit as some of his other 70s efforts, this is still a solid LP from White as the 70s were winding down. His signature sweeping soul style is fully in place, and the rich production complements the slower get-your-groove-on ballads nicely. Includes "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness", "September When I First Met You", "It's Only Love Doing Its Thing", "Sha La La Means I Love You" and 3 more. LP, Vinyl record album

Who cares about "someone you love"? We're just happy that Barry White's singing for us! The album's one of the maestro's biggest selling albums of the 70s, and for good reason – as the whole thing's a sexy symphony all the way through, filled with as many stepping rhythms as it is soaring strings! The album features some key extended classic – including the sublime "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" – the tune that gave the world a line that would forever be used in pickup bars. Other tracks are equally great – and include "You Turned My Whole World Around", "You're So Good You're Bad", "Oh What A Night For Dancing", and "Playing Your Game Baby". CD

A stunner of a soundtrack from the maestro Barry White – his only entry into the blacksploitation film genre of the 70s, and a complete doozy throughout! For the album, Barry's stripped down the bigger space of his own records, and his Love Unlimited productions – into some shorter tracks that really focus on that blend of funk and strings that he could do so well – making for a batch of killer instrumentals that really offer up a special Barry White take on the funky film sound of the 70s! Love Unlimited also sing on two tracks – "Somebody Is Gonna Off The Man" and "People Of Tomorrow Are The Children Of Today _- but most of the record is instrumental, played by the Orchestra – and tracks include "Killer's Lullaby", "So Nice To Hear", "Killer Don't Do It", "Can't Seem To Find Him", "Alive & Well", "Theme From Together Brothers", "Do Drop In", and "Here Comes The Man". CD

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Includes the sample cut "Packing Up" – and some other surprisingly nice cuts! LP, Vinyl record album

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Leon Haywood's best album from the 70s! After working as a keyboardist and sometimes vocalist for a number of years – making some strong and some tentative entries into the soul genre – Leon really exploded with this album, an electric funk classic that gave the world his fantastic "I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You" (a track that had new life years later when Dr Dre sampled it to great fame.) The rest of the record holds up nicely, too – and is a mix of smooth soul and wicked funk, with tracks that include "Consider the Source", "Who You Been Giving It Up To", and "This Feeling's Rated Extra". Classic! LP, Vinyl record album

Klaatu Barada Nikto! This is a beautiful reissue of the legendary Theremin soundtrack to the sci-fi classic The Day The Earth Stood Still . The film was one of the first to use the Theremin, and it pioneered the sorts of sounds that would later become standard in the world of sci-fi. Bernard Herrmann composed the orchestral passages, and had help conducting them from Lionel and Alfred Newman. Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman played theremin, very much in the classic style that he used on Capitol albums from the same period. The whole thing's incredibly dark and spooky. CD

Kinsman Dazz are even funkier here than before – showing off their Ohio roots, and pointing the way towards the classic Dazz Band sound they'd forge in the 80s! Rhythms are very tight throughout – but still often touched with the jazzy elements that made the group so great in their early years – echoing a bit of an Earth Wind & Fire sound, as Philip Bailey's on board to help a bit with arrangements and background vocals. The whole thing's great – a super-tight record without any filler at all – and titles include "I Searched Around", "Love Design", "Keep On Rockin", "Can't Get Enough", "Dancin Free", and the wonderful "Catchin Up On Love", a spacey harmony track with a really anthemic sound! LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent album of smooth soul from Carl Carlton – a richly talented singer who began his career as a kid in the 60s, but who's working here in a sophisticated adult mode with production by Leon Haywood. The album kind of takes Haywood's best styles of the mid 70s and updates them to match Carlton's great voice. Haywood wrote all the best material on the album, and it's actually surprising that he didn't save some of the cuts for himself – especially when you consider that the record features the classic groover "She's A Bad Mama Jama", which was a pivotal dancefloor track in the post-disco years, plus the excellent stepper "This Feeling's Rated X-Tra". Other tracks include "I Think It's Gonna Be Alright", "Sexy Lady", "Don't You Wanna Make Love", and "Fighting In The Name Of Love". Great vocals, great production, and a perfect blend of all the right elements make the album a modern soul treat! LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary Gene Chandler gets down, and gets down good – in this classic late 70s set of clubby numbers and upbeat groovers! The set's one of the best moments on the Chi-Soul series from producer Carl Davis – and features a nicely evolved version of earlier Chicago soul modes from Tom Tom 84 and Sonny Sanders – both of whom push an older Brunswick style into some smoother, more sophisticated modern soul territory! Chandler's vocals are wonderful, as always – and have a catchy snapping feel on the groovers, mixed with surprisingly deep soul on the few mellower moments. Titles include a remake of "Please Sunrise", plus "I'm The Travelin Kind", "Get Down", "Tomorrow I May Not Feel The Same", "Greatest Love Ever Known", and "What Now". LP, Vinyl record album

Bass-heavy funk material by this obscure west coast group, and a record that features songwriting and production by Bob Crewe. The tracks have kind of a pop funk sort of sound, with lots of ensemble vocals, and tight compressed rhythm tracks behind the main instrumentation. Not that noteworthy – but also not a bad batch of stock funk tracks with a smooth production sound. Includes a cover of "Lady Marmalade", plus "Get On Or Get Off", "Sock It To Me/It's Your Thing", "Hollywood Hot", and "Bumper To Bumper". LP, Vinyl record album

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Arguably one of the greatest horror soundtracks ever – an intense bit of work that builds on the vocal choral style of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, using male and female voices in union with staccato orchestrations to invoke a fiercely tense mood – one that works perfectly for the spooky undercurrents of the film! The approach is amazing – and even on the mellower numbers, there's a real sense of danger lurking that makes for one heck of a spooky record – maybe even more so than some later, starker soundtracks – given the subtle approach of Jerry Goldmsith. Tracks include "The Piper Dreams", "The Fall", "The Altar", "Ave Santani", "The Demise Of Mrs Baylock", and "Killer's Storm". CD

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A great bit of Chicago soul from the 70s – by a short-lived group who were sort of an offshoot of Brighter Side Of Darkness, who had scored earlier in the decade with the falsetto hit "Love Jones". This one was produced by Clarence Johnson/Star Vue Productions, and licensed to 20th Century, like the earlier work – and the record features a remake called "Love Jones 75". There's loads of other great stuff on the record, though – and the groove runs through the funk of "Tipsy Mood" and "Kung Fu You", to the mellower soul sounds of "I Found My Dancing Girl", and wonderfully sweet little number! LP, Vinyl record album

A killer debut from the Dazz Band – issued way back when they were named Kinsman Dazz, and when "dazz" was a reference to the fact that the group could play both dance music and jazz! That jazzy element is definitely in place here – as the set's got lots of hip instrumental touches over the core funky grooves – produced with some great help from Philip Bailey and Ralph Johnson, who bring in a bit of Earth Wind & Fire vibe – and set to some larger arrangements from Patrice Rushen, who ups the jazzy quotient too! But the core sound of the group is what really drives the album – a well-crafted batch of Ohio funky numbers that step along with the best of their generation – on titles that include "Makin Music", "Forget About Lovin You", "Get Down With the Feelin", "Stand In Your Way", "And I Mean", and "Dazzberry Jam". CD

Excellent instrumentals from The Maestro! Barry's in fine fine form here – and he's just about the only one who could make a record with so many strings sound so funky! The album includes the excellent groover "Bring It On Up", which has a tightly snapping rhythm underneath soaring violins and harp – and just about ever other cut on the album sounds as great! Titles include "Midnight Groove", "Forever In Love", "Give Up Your Love Girl", "You're All I Want", "Makin Believe That It's You", "I Wanna Stay", and "It's Only What I Feel". Maybe the best Love Unlimited Orchestra album – with loads of great tracks! LP, Vinyl record album

Late stuff – but one of the best Barry White-related albums from the 70s! The record has the Orchestra moving at a much slower pace than usual – perhaps in an answer to all the too-fast too-orchestrated disco that took a cue from Barry's earlier work – and the record bravely hits a mellow and midtempo groove that's perfect for the modern soul and steppers dancefloor. The best example of this is the sublime "Whisper Softly", a wonderfully stripped-down number with spacey keyboards, great piano, and a stepping modern sound that makes it feel like it was recorded 20 years too early. Other tracks include "Stay Please & Make Love to Me", "Enter Love's Interlude", and "Love You, Ooh It's True I Do". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful album of funky instrumental tracks from Barry White – often overlooked because of the "greatest hits" association you could make with the "gold" in the title. The record's got that perfect Love Unlimited sound – heavy beats underneath, and the orchestra soaring over the top in tight rhythmic washes of strings and keyboards! Tracks include "Spanish Lei", "Barry's Love", "Satin Soul", "Power Of Love", "You Make Me Feel Like This", and "Dreaming". LP, Vinyl record album

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Heavy heavy funk from this lost Chicago group – an undisputed powerhouse in the mid 70s, and one of the city's few funky combos to really break out to a national audience! The album's the group's second, and is oddly even more obscure than their first – and it's a stone cold blend of fuzzy guitars, stepping basslines, horn blasts – somewhere between early Kool & The Gang and some of the doper group soul records of the time. Includes a great remake of the group's classic "I've Been Watching You" – redone here from the first album, with cool electric piano bits sounding a lot like a lost Wu-Tang sample – plus the cuts "Funk Talk", "Just Moving", "Do It to Me", and "Ain't It A Shame". LP, Vinyl record album

Kind of a "greatest hit" of greatest hits compilations – a set that's probably sold more copies than any of Barry White's full length albums – thanks to a monstrous run of hits in the 70s! The package is overflowing with greatness – amazing tunes that balance funky rhythms with soaring strings – all topped with the legendary vocals of The Man himself! Many titles are in shorter single mixes than their album versions, but still pack plenty of punch – and titles include "Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe", "I'm Gonna Love You A Little More, Babe", "I've Got So Much Love To Give", "Honey Please, Can't You See", "You're The First The Last My Everything", and "Love Serenade". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last truly great albums that Barry White ever cut – with his solid sexy soul sound firmly in place, and a solid groove running through most of the tracks on the album. Barry's voice is still in fantastic shape, too – and it's a real treat to hear him open up on some of the longer songs. Tracks include "Girl, What's Your Name", "Oh Me, Oh My (I'm Such A Lucky Guy)", "I Can't Leave You Alone", and "Call Me, Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

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The two best tracks off Carl Carlton's first, self-titled LP, both produced by Leon Haywood, the a-side an unstoppable 80s groove jam, and the flip a nicely popping smooth stepper. 12-inch, Vinyl record

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Fantastic 70s work by Ahmad Jamal – the kind of record you look for for years, and are always disappointed when you end up buying a more straight-ahead session! The album features Jamal on both Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano – working in a trio format, plus percussion, with some occasional additional backgrounds arranged by Richard Evans. The tracks are long, loping, and with a very strong soul jazz approach that builds on Jamal's advances of the 60s. Titles include "Death & Resurrection", "Swahililand", "Eclipse", "Pastures", and "Dialogue". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible record – and the reason to buy rare soul vinyl! This is the kind of balls-out, once-in-a-thousand soul album that you'll dig through racks for years to find – totally solid, no filler, all top-shelf material sung by an amazing under-acknowledged artist with an incredible voice! Jesse hails from the Bay Area, and he's got a style that's unlike anyone else we can think of – partly southern party (ala The Tams), partly Chicago male (ala Garland Green or Gene Chandler), and partly New York uptown (ala Chuck Jackson or Tommy Hunt). But that mix doesn't even begin to describe Jesse's talents – as the record is a killer batch of original tunes, all linked together with some "live" audience noise, with vocals by Jesse that will have you coming back again and again to the record. Truly one of the real gems in our soul collection – a record that we own not just for one track, but for the amazing standout performance that sets it apart from a thousand other albums! Titles include "Green Power", "Thank You Darlin", "Facts Of Life 68", "Believe In Me Baby (parts 1 & 2)", "Bring My Baby Back", and "I'll Always Love You". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful album by Barry White – a bit later than some of the early 70s hits, but one of his most satisfying records overall! The perpetual favorite on the album is the great groover "Strange Games & Things", a slow sly funky track that's been sampled often over the years, and which is a perfect summation of the mix of heavy drums and orchestra that made Barry's records so great. The album's also got a lot of other very nice groovers, most of which have a more uptempo sound than "Strange Games", but all of which are very nice. Titles include "Brazilian Love Song", "My Sweet Summer Suite", and "You, I Adore". LP, Vinyl record album

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Another winner from Stephanie Mills and the hitmaking team of Reggie Lucas and Mtume – two musical partners who really helped Mills find her groove! The sound here is classic mainstream soul from the start of the 80s – upbeat and catchy, but without any of the too-clunky commercial modes that would bog things down a few years later – still very much in the warmer, jazz-inspired sound you'd guess from the roots of Mtume and Lucas! The best numbers are the mid to up tempo grooves, all with a nice polish and sophisticated songwriting – and titles include "Winner", "Two Hearts", "Don't Stop Doin What Cha Do", "Top Of My List", "I Believe In Love Songs", "Night Games", "My Love's Been Good To You", and "Magic". LP, Vinyl record album

Stephanie Mills in fine formation here – working with the team of James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, who helped the lady reach the heights of her career in the early 80s! The sound here is catchy and contemporary, but hardly ever too commercial – just relaxed and grooving, in a mode that lets Stephanie's vocals flow nicely over the top, but with a bit more of an easygoing feel than in her records of previous years. As usual, Lucas and Mtume bring a nice touch of jazz into the album – a subtle warmth that makes the best moments sparkle, really resonating nicely with Mills' vocals. Titles include the massive hit "Never Knew Love Like This Before" – plus "Sweet Sensation", "Try My Love", "I Just Wanna Say", 'Wish That You Were Mine", "D-a-n-c-i-n'", "Still Mine", and "Mixture Of Love". LP, Vinyl record album

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Diane Renay's clearly got a thing for sailors going on here – but maybe that's no surprise, given that she's handled on the album by the great Bob Crewe – whose perfect presentation of the music is right up there with his best pop of the 60s! Charlie Calello handled almost all of the arrangements, and the pairing of his talents with Crewe is so great, it wouldn't even matter who was singing – as there's gentle grooves on most numbers, weird instrumental effects, and a sublime spacing of the tunes – that same magic that the pair brought to their Four Seasons recordings. Yet it also turns out that Diane's a pretty great singer – maybe more soul than you might expect, especially when female backup singers come in and push her along! Titles include "Soft Spoken Guy", "A Present From Eddie", "Bell Bottom Trousers", "Navy Blue", "Man Of Mystery", "Unbelievable Guy", "He Promised Me Forevermore", and "Hello Heartaches". LP, Vinyl record album

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Barry White at the height of his powers – soaring out here with that amazing groove that never lets us down! The album's a mini-soul symphony throughout – tight beats, soaring strings, and that rock-solid Barry White vocal approach – that warm, fluid sound that's instantly recognizable, and which sparkles forth to really tie the whole album together! There's less standout singles here than some of White's other albums from the time – but that's the great thing about the album, too – as it encourages you to take the whole thing together at once – as such a masterpiece should be enjoyed. Titles include "If You Know Won't You Tell Me", "Baby We Better Try To Get It Together", "I Don't Know Where Love Has Gone", and "Let The Music Play". LP, Vinyl record album

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A moody western soundtrack – scored by Goldsmith for this 1975 film that starred Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, and Jim Kelly! The music does a really great job of displacing these three from their usual blacksploitation action roles – going for a dreamy sort of approach to the western, one that's clearly inspired by Italian composers of the late 60s spaghetti genre, but which also shares some of the orchestral touches of Goldsmith's other work. Goldsmith was really at the height of his powers during the 70s – and the depth and subtlety of this score is a good illustration of his best strengths – quite different than you might expect. Titles include "Work Camp", "The Wagon", "The Big Dive", "The Hunter", "Fancy Footwork", and "A Sad Story". CD

Classic 70s female soul – and one of the best albums ever recorded by Love Unlimited – a trio of ladies recording with Barry White during his glory years! The album's got a really incredible approach – partly in the mode of older female group soul, but also done with a hipper, more righteous style – one that pushes the sound past older standards for the music, yet which falls into none of the disco cliches of the time. The album includes a great vocal version of "Love's Theme", plus the group's totally killer "Move Me No Mountain" – and the tracks "I Love You So, Never Gonna Let You Go", "Share A Little Love In Your Heart", and "I Needed Love – You Were There". CD

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