A soaring solo effort from the great Philippe Wynne – a vocalist who's probably best known for his hit 70s work with The Spinners, but one who also turns out to be a hell of talent on his own! Wynne's sweet raspy vocals click into place right from the start – stretching out over a host of Philly-styled arrangements that recall the backdrops he received with The Spinners, but with a much stronger focus on his lead – as often any backing vocals are just a female chorus back farther in the mix. Wynne really sparkles on the ballads – grabbing our hearts all over again – but the album also sports some great groovers too – of the sort that really benefit from the tight arrangements. Titles include the seminal "Think Of Your Thoughts As Children" – a really beautiful number – plus "Starting All Over", "Waiting On A Letter From Home", "Lisa", "Take Me As I Am", and "Like A Loser Needs A Winner". LP, Vinyl record album

A seminal album from the end of the 60s – the triple-length soundtrack to the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969 – pulled from all the many hours of material recorded for the film of the event! The set list reads not just like a "who's who" of hipness at the time – but also expands to show just how wide the range of sounds was in the underground – strands that move past the obvious rock material that you might expect, and which have the record standing as a great memory to the time – with maybe more diversity than some of the more monolithic memories! Features work by Canned Heat, Arlo Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Richie Havens, Santana, Ten Years After, The Who, Country Joe & The Fish, Sly & The Family Stone, Joan Baez, Butterfield Blues Band, Joe Cocker, Jefferson Airplane, John B Sebastian – and yes, Sha Na Na. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few mid 70s albums that Lou Donaldson recorded for Atlantic Records – done in a mode that's a bit different than his Blue Note sides, with larger arrangements overall – a bit like the shift that Stanley Turrentine took when recording for Fantasy! Backings are handled by Ricky West and Mike Goldberg – and three tracks feature soulful vocals from Tony Baxter next to Lou's solos. The record includes a nice cover of Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You", and the Isley's "For The Love Of You" – plus the cuts "Keep Your Woman" and "Here's Lovin At You". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunner of a funk album – a must-have for any fan of all things funky! This is the one-and-only record cut by the Fabulous Counts, a version of the Counts before they recorded for Westbound – and nearly every cut is a funky 45-type gem! The group's got a hard and heavy sound that mixed conga grooving at the bottom, guitar jamming in the middle, and lots of funky horns over the top – and the instrumental sound of the record is a non-stop funky party all the way through – all top-shelf material all the way through, with a sound that few other combos can match! The title track is an awesome groover – and the record features lots of other nice ones, like "Dirty Red", "Who's Making Love", "Girl From Kenya', "The Other Thing", "Scrambled Eggs", and "The Bite". CD

Two Cotillion classics from Screaming Lord Sutch – back to back on a single CD! First up is Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends – an album that's almost equally well-known for its work by a host of famous guests – including Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and others! Page is perhaps the most involved here – as he produced the set with Sutch, co-wrote some tracks, and plays some mighty searing guitar – as does Beck, which makes the album almost worth it alone for all the wonderful solos! But Sutch himself is pretty great too – kind of a mish-mash of late 60s nasty camp references, with the same sinister vibe as Kim Fowley – and an equally freewheeling approach to a tune that makes the album a heck of a lot of fun. Titles include "Gutty Guitar", "Flashing Lights", "Wailing Sounds", "Thumping Beat", "Union Jack Car", and "London". Hands Of Jack The Ripper is filled with weird and wild sounds from Screaming Lord Sutch – and a set that has as many "heavy friends" at play as his better-known previous album for Cotillion! As with that set, the vibe here is an odd mix of older beat group styles from mid 60s London, but filtered through a generation that's already bursting out with hard rock, psych, and prog inspiration – which means any nod towards older rock and soul roots come out sounding very offbeat in the end! Players include Ritchie Blackmore on lead guitar, Keith Moon on drums, and Noel Redding on bass – and titles include "Country Club", "Great Balls Of Fire", "Bye Bye Johnny/Johnny B Goode", "Gotta Keep A Rocking", and "Hands Of Jack The Ripper", which is mini-horror movie itself! CD

A pair of later albums from the great Ronnie Dyson – both of which show him moving strongly well into the 80s! The first set is a self-stated Phase 2 in Ronnie Dyson's career – one that has him moving with a bit more confidence than before, and nicely maturing into a sweet 80s sort of sound! Bobby Eli's at the helm, both on production and rhythm arrangements – and the style here is almost a bit more sophisticated than Dyson's earlier work – kind of that Philly Modern that some of Eli's older contemporaries were hitting. There's no standout hits, but the album's got a nice sense of balance because of that – and overall, the instrumentation's more late 70s than some of the thinner 80s commercial modes. Titles include "Now", "Say You Will", "Heart To Heart", "One More Chance For The Fool", and "Even In The Darkest Night". On Brand New Day, Ronnie's a long way from his falsetto soul hits of the early 70s – but he's seriously back on track as a soul artist, thanks to some smooth help from the Ingram family! Butch Ingram produced the album, and the rest of the Ingrams helped out on instruments, vocals, and even some of the songwriting. In fact, this is more of an Ingram record – with a sound that's very much like their work from the same time – than it is a Ronnie Dyson album. Not that that's a problem, though, as the record's a pretty nice batch of 80s groovers that includes the tracks "You Better Be Fierce", "I Gave You All Of Me", "Tender Lovin Care", "Waiting For You", and "All Over Your Face". CD

A crossover classic from Stacy Lattisaw – an album that's much more mature than her earlier work, despite the "girl" in the title! The tunes are often slow-building and somewhat emotive – in a way that has Stacy stretching out her vocals a bit more than before as she reaches for deeper themes. A few other numbers are back towards the catchier pop of Lattisaw's start – the kind of back/forth, sing/song tunes that really suit her vocals, and which may still be the strongest suit here. Instrumentation is heavy on keyboards, mostly from Robbie Buchanan – and titles include "Can't Stop Thinking About You", "I'm Not The Same Girl", "Toughen Up", "Together", "I Thought It Took A Little Time", "He's Just Not You", and "Coming Alive". CD

The second album from Sister Sledge – recorded in Munich with the team of Michael Kunze & Sylvester Levay, the guys behind the big disco hits by Silver Convention – with that tight, bright and bouncing soul groove and sultry group vocals from the sisters! The approach works very well – as girls had those perfectly adaptable vocals that could easily roll with the style of the Munich scene – as they later did to that of Nile Rogers. Great, overlooked early work from team Sledge! Titles include "Moondancer", "Funky Family", "Do The Funky Do", "Hold On To This Feeling", and versions of the Stevie Wonder songs "As" and "I Was Made To Love Her". CD