A second volume of underground disco and unstoppable dancefloor soul from NYC in the late 70s and early 80s – M&M Mixes Vol 2, highlighting rare and previously unreleased mixes by John Morales! It features a roster of legendary names, particularly to diggers of deeper disco tracks, but also some soul stars who worked well in that groove – a batch of tunes mixed & engineered by Morales back in the day at M&M Studios and elsewhere. Great numbers by Teddy Pendergrass, Inner Life feat Jocelyn Brown, Candi Staton and Loleatta Holloway! The vinyl version comes in 2 separate parts –both 2LPs and featuring all exclusive extended vinyl versions – each each of which fills a whole side! Part B includes "The More I Get (John's M+M Get It All Mix)" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Young Hearts Run Free (John's M+M Run Run Run Free Mix)" by Candi Staton, "Dreamin (John's M+M Not My Man Extended Mix)" by Loleatta Holloway and "Make It Last Forever (John's M+M Original Forever 12" Mix)" by Inner Life feat Jocelyn Brown. LP, Vinyl record album

John Morales has a wonderful talent for taking a funky track and making it sound even funkier – which he does beautifully here in this killer collection of old school tunes! Many of the numbers are vintage clubby soul from the late 70s and early 80s – and Morales has this great way of crystalizing all the best elements in the songs, and pulling them to the forefront – but all without ever ruining the integrity of the tracks that sounded so great in the first place! In other words, the work here isn't the imprint of some young DJ trying to overstate his presence – but a true music maestro who really knows what makes a club track great – a vibe that takes us back to the brilliant edits of the early NYC scene. All titles here are previously unreleased – and this 2LP set features four titles that include Morales mixes of "I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby" by Barry White, "You Got Me Running" by Lenny Williams, "Mind On You" by Level 42, and "Vertigo/Relight My Fire" by Dan Hartman. LP, Vinyl record album

John Morales has a wonderful talent for taking a funky track and making it sound even funkier – which he does beautifully here in this killer collection of old school tunes! Many of the numbers are vintage clubby soul from the late 70s and early 80s – and Morales has this great way of crystalizing all the best elements in the songs, and pulling them to the forefront – but all without ever ruining the integrity of the tracks that sounded so great in the first place! In other words, the work here isn't the imprint of some young DJ trying to overstate his presence – but a true music maestro who really knows what makes a club track great – a vibe that takes us back to the brilliant edits of the early NYC scene. All titles here are previously unreleased – and the massive 4CD set features titles that include Morales mixes of "I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby" by Barry White, "You Got Me Running" by Lenny Williams, "Mind On You" by Level 42, "Vertigo/Relight My Fire" by Dan Hartman, "Lovergirl" by Teen Marie, "Standing Right Here" by Mannix, "Love Is The Message" by MFSB, "Let The Music Play" by Barry White, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Funkin For Jamaica" by Tom Browne, "All Night" by Katzuma, "Hi Tension" by Hi Tension, "Girl You Need A Change Of Mind" by Eddie Kendricks, "Before I Let Go" by Frankie Beverly, "Got To Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn, "Star Love" by Three Ounces Of Love", "You Stepped Into My Life" by Melba Moore, "Life Is A Song Worth Singing" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Walk Away From Love" by David Ruffin, "Life Goes On" by The Jones Girls, "This Time Baby" by Jackie Moore, "Turn Me Up" by Keith Barrow, "Circles" by Atlantic Starr, "Joy & Pain" by Maze, "Stay" by The Controllers, "Take Me Home" by Cher, and "Can't Live Without Your Love" by Tamiko Jones. CD

A pivotal album from Fairport Convention – a set that has the group really reaching out for some new ideas and styles in their music! Sandy Denny is firmly in place here – taking the lead on most numbers – but Ian Matthews is also still in the group, bringing in that bit of west coast style that we loved from the first record – and which keeps the overall feel here more 60s than ancient, especially given the upped electrics on a few numbers. Ashley Hutchings' bass is brilliant – almost more this subtle, sonic force at the bottom than an instrument on its own – yet also still away from the more modal elements to come on the next few records. And although there's less traditional tunes on here than later, the group themselves are already becoming timeless – and unlike anything that had ever come before. Titles include "Fotheringay", "Mr Lacey", "Book Song", "I'll Keep It With Mine", "End Of A Holiday", "She Moves Through The Fair", and "Eastern Rain". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic funk from Nat! "Calling Out Loud" has these stepping bass and electric piano parts that are just great, with wailing flute that bursts out into a full trumpet solo from Nat – really tasty, and stretching for the funky clouds! "Biafra Haifa" is more moody and mellow – but still darn soulful, in a dark "Gula Matari" kind of way! 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

A whole new level of genius for Herb Alpert – a record that's light years away from his earlier work with the Tijuana Brass, and which has the trumpeter stepping strongly into the world of smooth jazzy fusion! The title track here went platinum the minute it was released – and became an end-of-the 70s instrumental anthem that seemed to drift out of speakers around the country. The rest of the album's pretty great too – built on the modes explored by Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, and other soulful fusion players of the 70s – but cast out with a bit more drama overall. Titles include the seminal jazz dance classic "Rotation" – plus "Rise", "Street Life", "Aranjuez (Mon Amour)", "1980", "Angelina", and "Love Is". LP, Vinyl record album

Two top trumpet talents – coming together beautifully on this groovy late 70s set! Both Herb Alpert and Hugh Masekela had a big rise to fame in the 60s – Herb, for his Tijuana Brass albums on A&M – and Hugh, for the way that he brought South African jazz currents to the American soul mainstream! Given that both had strong presence on the Cali scene in their time, the pairing here is a great one – and works well with some larger jazz backings that color things out in a mix of soul, fusion, funk, and some slight South African touches. Other players on the set include Lee Ritenour and Arthur Adams on guitars, Paulinho Da Costa on percussion, James Gadson on bass, and Hotep Cecil Bernard on piano – and titles include "Skokiaan", "Moonza", "Lobo", "African Summer", "Ring Bell", and "Happy Hanna". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautifully compressed pop from Herb Alpert – a session that's still got the traditional Tijuana Brass style, but which also displays a more restrained, more adult approach to instrumental pop! The rhythms are nicely changed out more than before here – stretching out with interwoven exotic touches and sweeter A&M pop – all coming together at a level that's far more sophisticated than you might guess if you've only got a version of Herb that's reduced to simple cliche! Herb also makes a key vocal appearance on the song "This Guy's In Love With You" – the group's first #1 single, and the beginning of a great run of Alpert vocalizations. Other tracks include "The Robin", "Slick", "Panama", "A Beautiful Friend", "She Touched Me", and "Thanks For The Memory". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderfully jaunty and jagged work from trumpeter Herb Alpert – and a session that has him opening up the Tijuana Brass groove a bit more than usual! There's clearly an influence here of the Brazilian sound that was showing up strongly at A&M Records at the time – heard to greatest effect on the album's version of Chico Buarque's "A Banda", but also in gentler, more subtle ways that seem to emerge in other tunes that trade the group's older sound for one that has more of a bossa sense of subtlety. Also, there's some great A&M pop that's beginning to emerge here too – as in the album's great takes on "The Happening" and "Love So Fine" – both of which really sound beautiful here! Other tracks include "Cowboys & Indians", "Flea Bag", "Love Nest", and "Bud". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Sounds like Herb Alpert, but it grooves in ways that we hardly expected – playful, creative, and filled with so many more rhythms than just the Tijuana groove we might have thought! There's a real deepening sense of instrumental pop going on here – as Herb explores some of the darker strains brought into the market by younger groups and artists on the scene, and through some of the cross-cultural recordings that were opening up as the global music market expanded in the mid 60s. The Brass still get in plenty of their jaunty licks in the set, but there's also more of a sense of Herb as a standout man of his own – a mature, all-adult sound that's got some great brooding emotion from time to time. Titles include the great sample cut "Treasure Of San Miguel", "Casino Royale", "Wade In The Water", "Shades Of Blue", "Bo Bo", "Lady Godiva", "Town Without Pity", "Gotta Lot Of Livin To Do", and "The Charmer". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A collection that gets at the full range of talents from Joan Armatrading during her famous years at A&M Records – a time when she took an older folk soul aesthetic, and gave it a whole new spin – with a voice that was one of the most distinct in pop at the time, and a style that Armatrading made completely her own! Acoustic guitar figures as strongly as the voice in many of these tracks – and the work has a balance that made Joan a big hit with both rock and soul audiences at the time – thanks to incredible songwriting that was as personal as it was pointed. CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

The first album by Atlantic Starr – a tight set of modern soul tunes with a very different feel than their later work! Part of the credit goes to Bobby Eli – who arranged and produced the set, giving it a feel that's almost late Philly – tight, sophisticated, and right on the money at all the best points! There's a number of sweet mellow ballads with lead vocals by Sharon Bryant, and other tracks that groove in an uptempo way that points towards more of the group's 80s work – a great mix of modes that makes for a really well-developed album right out of the gate. Titles include "Gimme Your Lovin", "The Love I Never Had", "Visions", "Keep It Comin", "Stand Up", "Where There's Smoke There's Fire", "We Got It Together", and "Being In Love With You Is So Much Fun". CD features a bonus track – "Stand Up (single version)". CD

A groovy little classic from Atlantic Starr – and a great example of the group's wonderfully catchy way of hitting a groove! The music's never pop, but has some captivating hooks all the way through – sweet little bits mixed in with the funky soul approach of the ensemble – made even better by the great way the vocals get traded back and forth! There's a careful approach to the whole set – a way of putting things together with a good degree of class – and definitely avoiding most of the cliches that would make a similar project sound a lot more clunky. Great stuff throughout – and titles include "Who Could Love You Better", "Second To None", "Touch A Four Leaf Clover", "Tryin", and "Island Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic! We love Burt Bacharach in so many ways that it's easy to forget the genius of these early A&M sides – but going back to them is always a treat, and it's wonderful to hear the way that Burt lays down his own work when given the chance! You know the tracks – "House Is Not A Home", "Bond Street", "Reach Out For Me", "Are You There", "Windows Of The World" – but you may not know the arrangements, which are superb – quite different than the more famous vocal versions you've probably heard ad infinitum, and recorded at a level that brings a whole new magic and majesty to 60s pop! An essential record for any fan of all things groovy – and an album of new pleasures each time we hear it! CD

Fantastic! We love Burt Bacharach in so many ways that it's easy to forget the genius of these early A&M sides – but going back to them is always a treat, and it's wonderful to hear the way that Burt lays down his own work when given the chance! You know the tracks – "House Is Not A Home", "Bond Street", "Reach Out For Me", "Are You There", "Windows Of The World" – but you may not know the arrangements, which are superb – quite different than the more famous vocal versions you've probably heard ad infinitum, and recorded at a level that brings a whole new magic and majesty to 60s pop! An essential record for any fan of all things groovy – and an album of new pleasures each time we hear it! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A very unusual relic in the early days of gay pride – with titles that include "Buy Gay", "Do You Take This Man", "The Plot", and "It Happened One Night". 7-inch, Vinyl record

Rootsy rock – but of a sort that we like a lot more than most! Marc Benno's working here in a style that others explored often at the time, but he's got a way of doing so that's pretty compelling to our ears – a mode that mixes some of the countrified undercurrents with a hipper, almost jazzier singer/songwriter mode – so that the bottleneck guitar of Ry Cooder is undercut with organ and piano from Booker T Jones – and the sound's a nice sort of LA hybrid that's neither too down home, nor too slick on the top. All tracks are well-penned originals from Benno – and titles include "Good Year", "Try It Just Once", "Two Day Love Affair", "Second Story Window", "Teach It To The Children", "Family Full Of Soul",a nd "Hard Road". LP, Vinyl record album