A wonderful showcase for the wide-ranging talents of Stackridge – as the set features key production work from George Martin, who really has a way of expanding the sounds at the core of their music! Although Martin's best known for his famous Beatles work of the 60s, the maestro's touch in the studio seems to bring out even more here with a group like Stackridge – really focusing the energy of their songs, while also giving them a larger sonic platform to work from – larger arrangements at times, but never in a way that seems to cover up the energy at the core! Titles include "Pinafore Days", "The Last Plimsoll", "Humiliation", "Road To Venezuela", "Fundamentally Yours", "Dangerous Bacon", "The Galloping Gaucho", and "To The Sun & The Moon". 2CD edition features a full bonus disc of BBC recordings! CD

Heavenly New Jersey soul from the All Platinum/Stang stable of Sylvia Robinson stars. There's 16 great tracks on here by some of the best (and lesser known) of the 70's east coast male vocalists, like George Kerr, Larry Saunders, Phillipe Wynne, and Derek Martin, plus obscure 70's stuff by better known talents like Chuck Jackson and Donnie Elbert. Great stuff, and all with the All Platinum sound behind it. CD

Lineup features Mel Martin on tenor and curved soprano (!), Warren Gale on trumpet, George Cables on piano, Jeff Chambers on bass, and John Santos and Vince Lateano on percussion – plus Dizzy Gillespie, the man himself, on trumpet and vocals! CD

A trio of albums from this great modern piano giant! Progressive is excellent work from pianist Don Friedman – a set that's definitely progressive, but which also has a heck of a lot of warmth too – that fantastic balance of new ideas and lyricism that made Friedman one of the freshest pianists to emerge in the 60s, and which continued strongly through the course of later records like this! The trio features Frank Luther on bass and Billy Hart on drums – both players who can move openly with Friedman, yet keep things swinging too – a balance that's maybe not instantly heard on record – in ways that are better than we could ever hope to put in words. Titles include "Billie's Bounce", "Stella By Starlight", "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", "Moment's Notice", "I Remember You", and "All The Things You Are". Invitation is a set that's filled with standards, but really opened up in that amazing way we've come to expect from the great pianist Don Friedman! The record's maybe a bit down to earth in its overall setting than some of Don's other dates from the 70s, but right from the start, Friedman finds a way to leave his mark on the tunes – working with excellent bass from George Mraz, and drums from Ronnie Bedford – the latter of whom is a great drummer who brings a surprising crackle to the record at times! Titles include great versions of "Invitation" and "Little Boat" – plus "You Go To My Head", "It Could Happen To You", "Gone With The Wind", and "I Can't Get Started". On The Composer, Don Friedman's acting as a composer as well, and is set up in a nicely different setting! The album features a core group with Martin Wind on bass and Joe LaBarbera on drums, augmented by a string quartet who bring a wonderful sense of flavor to the music – opening up all the fantastic colors and tones in Don's tunes – almost amplifying his wonderful work on the piano, and never getting in the way of the jazz aspect of the record at all! The feel is very different than a "with strings" session – almost as if there's an extra paintbrush in Friedman's toolbox – and on a few tracks, the group is also joined by the baritone sax of Gary Smulyan, who further deepens the colors of the record. Titles include "Summer's End", "Friday Morning", "Waltz For Marilyn", "Red Sky Waltz", "Delayed Gratification", and "Memory Of Scotty". CD

A classic Prestige LP that compiles earlier sides by the young tenor genius Stan Getz – four tunes from a 1949 session recorded under Stan Getz & His Four Brothers, with tenor work from Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Allen Eager, and Brew Moore – all blowing with Getz in a real "brothers-like" sax section sound. The remaining 4 tracks feature Stan and Al Cohn, working in a 1952 session with George Wallington on piano and Kai Winding on trombone – on some nice light boppish tracks that have that sweet smooth Getz tone firmly in place. The album's got a great Don Martin cover, and titles include "Battleground", "Five Brothers", "Four & One Moore", "Red Door", and "Zoot Case". LP, Vinyl record album

Produced by George Martin and includes the Stevie Wonder duet, "Ebony And Ivory", plus "Take It Away", "Somebody Who Cares", "What's That You're Doing?" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Robot Rock n Roll issue featuring a lavishly illustrated encyclopedia of hundreds of robot records/bands/etc. Interviews with Captured! By Robots, Gilbert and George (The Singing Sculpture), Arthur Lee Maye (1950s R&B/Baseball star), Blowfly, The Troggs, Snoop Dogg, The Syndicate of Sound, Richard and the Young Lions, Rocket From The Crypt, Archer Prewitt, Andy Starr and Junior Brown. Plus Bubblegum, Martin & Lewis, Shrimpenstein (written by Dominic Priore), Crispy Ambulance, Sammy Davis, Jr., Art Fein's 1950s Chicago memories, Bryan Gregory obituary, lots of comics, reviews and more. Magazine

The most extensive Sammy Davis Jr. discography/filmography/TVography/bibliography ever published – with over 1,000 reviews of Sammy related material. To make the package more surreal, the issue looks like an 80s issue of the "punk bible" Maximum Rocknroll, with Sammy essays by MRR columnists Rev. Norb, Eugene Chhadbourne, Lali Donavan, Mike (Gearhead) Lavella, Jeff Bale, Vic (Articles of Faith) Bondi, George Tabb, Dr. Dante and Mark Murrman. Previous knowledge of Sammy or MRR not required! Articles include a profile on Grande Otello (the Sammy of Brazil), an interview with Mark (Unrest) Robinson on his Sammy collection, The Millionaire (Combustible Edison) discussing Sammy clothing he bought at auction, Cynthia Plaster Caster describing her session casting Anthony Newley's penis, a critical breakdown on Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis' "Colgate Comedy Hour" appearances, an illustrated catologuing of every Sammy appearance ever in Mad Magazine, plus comics and features about Sammy, Sinatra, The Rat Pack, Blowfly, James Brown, HR, Miles Davis, Reagan, De La Soul, AC/DC and more. Cover by Damon Locks! Magazine

Produced by Sir George Martin. LP, Vinyl record album

Includes 12 tracks by Edison Lighthouse, The Tee Set, Norman Greenbaum, Marmalade, Bobbi Martin, George Baker Selection, The Poppy Family and more! CD

Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees recreate the magic of the Beatles – on a set that also features performances by Steve Martin, Dianne Steinberg, George Burns, Donald Pleasence, Stargard, Earth Wind & Fire, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, and Billy Preston. LP, Vinyl record album

The songwriting of Jimmy Webb meets the studio genius of producer/arranger George Martin – for this one-off Atlantic album from 1977, a strange little set that almost has Jimmy sounding far older than his young years at the time! Martin's working in a style that follows nicely from Webb's earlier Land's End album – using full backings to color in the tunes with just the right shades and sounds to flesh them past Jimmy's vocals. But the unusual thing is the raspy, almost faltering quality of Jimmy's vocals – sung in a style that moves into his own words tentatively, as if he's rediscovering the lyrics after many years, or making them up on the spot. The mix of Webb's roughness and Martin's warmth makes the album more compelling than it might be otherwise – and titles include a version of Jimmy's classic "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", plus "The Highwayman", "Christiaan No", "Moment In A Shadow", "Sugarbird", "Where The Universes Are", and "Mixed-Up Guy". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes selections by Queen, Dio, Katrina & The Waves, George Clinton, Helix, Jon Butcher Axis, King Kobra, Eric Martin, Urgent, and Adrenalin. LP, Vinyl record album