A totally great boogie track, with an uptempo groove that pops along in an unstoppable roller disco mode with some very soulful vocals by Jean. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Masterpiece records from Philly soul maestro Dexter Wansel – stepping out here in a beautiful blend of jazz and soul! Life On Mars is a fantastic bit of space age funk, easily the best album that Wansel ever recorded – and a sublime blend of Wansel's Philly grooving sensibility with some of the more keyboard-oriented funk that was coming out of the Herbie Hancock camp during the mid 70s. The result is a tight batch of crossover tracks that work well both as jazz funk groovers, and as smoother modern soul tracks. Includes the version of "Theme From the Planets" with the much sampled breakbeat at the beginning – plus lots of other nice ones, including "Life On Mars", "Rings Of Saturn", and "Stargazer". What The World Is Coming To moves the focus back to soul a bit more than Life On Mars – but also keeps in plenty of jazzy touches! Dexter's groove here is similar to the best work he did with other Philly vocalists in the same time – and the set features guest vocals from Jean Carn and Terri Wells, sliding into a warmly soulful realm on the mellower tracks, and stepping out with a fully jazzed up groove on the more upbeat numbers. Titles include "What The World Is Coming To", "Dreams Of Tomorrow", "Holdin On", "Dance With Me Tonight", "Disco Lights", and "Prelude #1". 1978's Voyager is a bit like Dexter's space jazz classic Life On Mars – and with those fat, thumping bass lines, elastic lead guitar, atmospheric soul vocals and loads and loads of keys – spatial work on Rhodes, Moogs and ARPs! It's all done in a funky style not always heard on Philly – plus Dexter arranged and produced just about everything! Tracks include "Solutions", "Voyager", "I'm In Love", "Latin Love", and "I Just Want To Love You". 1979's Time Is Slipping Away is a straighter Philly soul outing than some of Wansel's earlier work – a nice batch from a talent that was responsible for crafting some of the best smooth modern numbers at the end of the 70s! It features the killer cut "The Sweetest Pain" – a smooth stepper with some subtle keyboard grooving behind warm female vocals by Terri Well – plus "Funk Attack", "New Beginning", "One For the Road", "It's Been Cool", and "I'll Never Forget (My Favorite Disco)". CD

Brilliant work from Philly arranger Dexter Wansel – an album that moves the focus back to soul a bit more than on his Life On Mars set, but which also keeps in plenty of jazzy touches! Dexter's groove here is similar to the best work he did with other Philly vocalists in the same time – and the set features guest vocals from Jean Carn and Terri Wells, sliding into a warmly soulful realm on the mellower tracks, and stepping out with a fully jazzed up groove on the more upbeat numbers. Titles include "What The World Is Coming To", "Dreams Of Tomorrow", "Holdin On", "Dance With Me Tonight", "Disco Lights", and "Prelude #1". LP, Vinyl record album

A great overview of classic soul music – done in the best style of this Cairo Records series from Mississippi – which means a fantastic choice of cuts, and a beautiful booklet of notes and photos to accompany the music! The set is almost worth the price of the book alone – full color, and filled with scans of rare albums and singles, discographical information, and other details on the music – all in support of a 36 track set that mixes familiar names with much more obscure artists – in order to present a really wide range of classic soul. Titles include "I Pledge" by Lonnie & Lloyd, "My Baby Waited Too Long" by Mamie Perry, "I Found You" by James Hamm, "I've Been Pushed Around" by Blue River & The Maroons, "Please Don't Desert Me Baby" by Gloria Walker, "Helping Hand" by Little Genie Brooks, "Where Is Love" by Eldridge Holmes, "I Still Love You" by Jean Stanback, "Should I Take You Home" by Aztlan, "Don't Make Me What You Don't Want Me To Be" by Nick Allen, "Sippin A Cup Of Coffee" by The Ordells, "Let Me Be The Man" by The Fabulous Vents, "I'm Too Far Gone To Turn Around" by Irene Reid, "I Can't Stop" by Kenny Wells, and "I Wonder If I Had Your Love" by Leroy Smith. LP, Vinyl record album