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

A beautiful swirling instrumental LP that features the classic "Love's Theme", the cut that made Barry a multi-millionaire, and which firmly established his sophisticated orchestral soul style as one of the trademarks of the 70s! This is the ultimate in 70s soul class – from the cover that features Barry standing with ladies by the pool, to the complicated rhythms and sweet patterns of sound that made the record an instant classic. Includes some nicely funky cuts, like "What a Groove", "Baby Blues", and the sweet "Midnight and You". LP, Vinyl record album

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

A brilliant single from Love Unlimited Orchestra – and a rare early 12" too! "Brazilian Love Song" is a nice uptempo groover off the My Sweet Summer Suite LP, with Barry's signature sweeping strings filling out the crisp groove. But even better is the massive "My Sweet Summer Suite" – served up here in a soaring disco version that runs for over 7 minutes long, and which gets the best out of the mad slow funk groove of the track! 12-inch, Vinyl record

A funky funky thumper from Barry White – and one of his last truly genius tracks! "Ecstasy" is presented here in a nice version that lets the tune's initial bass and drum interplay stretch out magnificently – sliding and slinking along in a classic White-styled groove, as strings soar into the mix and build the whole thing up before Barry's vocals come in and send it on home! "Sweet Summer Suite" is amazing too – one of the best-remembered Love Unlimited Orchestra tracks – and a prime Barry White groove all the way through! 12-inch, Vinyl record

A cool little album of instrumental work by the Human League – mostly pulled from sessions for their first few big hits, and remixed slightly by Martin Rushnet! There's a spare electronic groove here that's very nice – not nearly as dark as the group's first few analogue-heavy singles, but a bit sparser than the vocal hits, and sometimes played with a bit by Rushnet. Titles include "Do Or Die", "Seconds", "Open Your Heart", "Hard Times", "Love Action", "Don't You Want Me", and "The Sound Of The Crowd". LP, Vinyl record album

A key moment for the Philly soul scene of the 70s – and the first album to feature the MFSB backing group as a solo act on their own! The ensemble were responsible for key sounds on countless soul singles of the time – yet also find a way to soar beautifully on their own – in a sweet instrumental groove that matches the strength of Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra, and which was definitely a key inspiration for the sound of the Salsoul Orchestra! There's definitely a bit of early disco in the mix, but the style's more uptempo east coast overall – that pre-disco groove that was going down in the clubs – with larger strings added to a core group of funky rhythm players. Gamble & Huff production make the whole thing sparkle, and arrangements are by Vince Montana, Bobby Martin, and Jack Faith – on titles that include "Love Is The Message", "Cheaper To Keep Her", "TSOP", "Zack's Fanfare", "Touch Me In The Morning", and "My One & Only Love". LP, Vinyl record album

This is the kind of Italian disco we can get our ears around! Bebu Silvetti is on keyboards, and at the helm of the orchestra – working here like an Italian Barry White, on a groove that's very similar to the best work of the Love Unlimited Orchestra. The tracks have a harder focus on the drums and beats than you'd expect – which punches things up nicely, and is a perfect complement to the breathy vocals and smooth Euro grooving over the top of the mix. Great stuff – a real treasure, and with a lot more soul than you'd expect! Titles include "Primitive Man", "Spring Rain", "Two Cups Of Coffee", "Voyage Of No Return", "Coconut Rain", and "Contigo". CD also features a bonus track – a single edit of "Spring Rain". CD

One of the sweetest, funkiest Italian soundtracks we've heard from the 70s – originally written for a sci-fi TV show by Enrico Simonetti, and filled with some really great work on keyboards! Despite the spacey setting of the show, a lot of the tunes here are nicely straightforward – jazzy numbers that make nice use of lively rhythms and sweet electric piano lines – played with a nice sense of spaciousness, and augmented by some warmer strings as well. There's a full feel that's almost like American soul backings of the time – a great approach that reminds us of Love Unlimited Orchestra at points, but with more keyboards, and a sharper groove overall. Titles include "Drug's Theme", "Gamma", "Paoletta", "Invidia", "Mascia", "Black Jack", "Amico Piano", and "Chi Mi Cherchera". LP, Vinyl record album

With 30 tracks on 2 CD's – including work with the Love Unlimited Orchestra. CD

Despite the title, this is more funky 70s instrumental work than it is disco, even though the record's clearly trying for a "classy" disco funk sound. The record includes a great version of "One Man Band" with a nice long drum break. Other tracks are a bit softer, with more of a Love Unlimited Orchestra sound – and titles include "Space Race", "Soul Train", and "Love's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent album of Barry White-styled instrumentals – put together by Barry's right hand man Gene Page, and produced by Barry himself! The record's one of the best that Gene Page ever cut – apart from his seminal blacksploitation soundtracks – and it's very much in the mode of White's Love Unlimited Orchestra albums from the same time, although perhaps with less of a string section – and more of an emphasis on funky drums at the bottom. Players are an all-star cast of LA studio groovers that includes David T Walker and Ray Parker on guitar, Ernie Watts and Wilton Felder on saxes, and Clarence McDonald on keyboards – and tracks are mostly originals by Page and White. Titles include "Jungle Eyes", "She's My Main Squeeze", "I Am Living In A World Of Gloom", "Satin Soul", and "To The Bone". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from the Hues Corporation, George McCrae, Kool & the Gang, the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Blue Magic, Millie Jackson, the Impressions, Rufus, Johnny Bristol, BT Expres & more. CD

A very groovy entry in this all-great series – a set of compilations that have been giving us really wonderful funk for many years, and which just seems to get better and better with each new entry! The tracks here are a hip mix of styles – not just familiar funk and soul sources, but some funky tracks from other surprising records too – presented together in a way that makes for a nice sense of variety, even while the cuts are all still staying in the groove! Titles include "Who Is She & What Is She To You" by Madelaine, "Golden Ring" by American Gypsy, "Just One Time" by Juicy Lucy, "Condor" by Geoff Love, "Steal Away" by Photoglo, "The One You Love" by Joey Newman, "Metropolis" by Walter Hawkins, "Happiness Is Just Around The Bend" by Main Ingredient, "Seacoast" by Archie Whitewater, and "Strange Games & Things" by Love Unlimited Orchestra. CD

A very groovy entry in this all-great series – a set of compilations that have been giving us really wonderful funk for many years, and which just seems to get better and better with each new entry! The tracks here are a hip mix of styles – not just familiar funk and soul sources, but some funky tracks from other surprising records too – presented together in a way that makes for a nice sense of variety, even while the cuts are all still staying in the groove! Titles include "Who Is She & What Is She To You" by Madelaine, "Golden Ring" by American Gypsy, "Just One Time" by Juicy Lucy, "Condor" by Geoff Love, "Steal Away" by Photoglo, "The One You Love" by Joey Newman, "Metropolis" by Walter Hawkins, "Happiness Is Just Around The Bend" by Main Ingredient, "Seacoast" by Archie Whitewater, and "Strange Games & Things" by Love Unlimited Orchestra. LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic collection of rare groove tracks, featuring loads of lost 70's classics, and a number of hip hop sample cuts to boot! Includes "90% of Me is You" by Gwen McCrae, "Strange Games & Things" by Love Unlimited Orchestra, "Hollywood Dreaming" by Fathers Children, "Reasons" by Minnie Riperton, "Hunk of Heaven" by Lemuria, "Girl You Need a Change of Mind (12" mix)" by Eddie Kendricks, and "Another Day" by Ray, Goodman, and Brown – as sampled by Brand Nubian. Great stuff all through, and really makes us think of some of the best of the Mastercuts series from way back! CD

One of the greatest soul compilation series ever! Kenny Dope put together this 3rd volume, and we might be tempted to say that it's the best one of the 3! Strange Games has a deceptively simple approach – but the compilation features the kind of grooves that will keep you coming back and back again, and which will play well with both fans of older soul and modern beat-heads alike. Nearly every track has been sampled at some point over the past 10 years – so you'll recognize many of the beats and riffs – but the tracks are also totally excellent, and hold up extremely well on their own as smooth modern soul classics. Titles include "Superman Lover" by Johnny Guitar Watson, "Standing Right Here" by Melba Moore, "Free" by Deniece Williams, "Holding You, Loving You" by Don Blackman, "Was It Something I Said" by Sylvester, "I've Been Watching You" by Parliament, "I'm Your Mechanical Man" by Jerry Butler, "I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You" by Leon Haywood, "Stars In Your Eyes" by Herbie Hancock, "Thoughts Of Old Flames" by Pleasure, "What Am I Missing?" by Rufus, and "Freddie's Dead" by MFSB. Also features a few cuts that have been on other compilations – by artists like Ramp, Labbi Siffre, Love Unlimited Orchestra, and Barry White – but they're all great anyway, and are fine to have again! CD version features 3 CDs! Disc 1 is a mixed set of tracks – and discs 2 and 3 are unmixed, and include 21 cuts between them. Packaged in a totally great slipcase, too! CD

Excellent stuff! This 3CD-only set features 1 full disc of funky classics from BBE's Strange Games & Things series, all mixed together by DJ Spinna, plus 2 more discs that feature the songs in unmixed versions! The whole thing's a beautiful batch of funky and jazzy cuts that have been sampled for hip hop tracks – with a total of 27 unmixed tracks, and one super-long mix! Titles include "Strange Games & Things" by Love Unlimited Orchestra, "Reasons" by Minnie Riperton, "Can't Hide Love" by Creative Source, "Lucky Fellow" by Leroy Hutson, "It's A Desperate Situation" by Marvin Gaye, "Wind Parade" by Donald Byrd, "Magic Ride" by Bobby Lyle, "Easy Money" by Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, "Secret Rendezvous" by Rene & Angela, "Save Their Souls" by Bohannon, "Elevate Your Mind" by Linda Williams, "Hunk Of Heaven" by Lemuria, "You Can't Run Away" by The Barkays, and "Bring Your Sweet Loving Back" by Starpoint. CD

Great stuff from the girls who first put Barry White on the map! The record is the group's second – and by this point, Barry had developed that tight snapping drum sound that made his orchestral albums work so well. You'll hear it to good effect on most songs on the LP, which have a great groove that's in the best Barry White mode of the 70s – but which kind of dominates the girls' vocals a bit. Not that anyone should complain that much, as it's the overall package that's always made Barry's albums sound so great – but we do wonder how the group felt when they had to sit out the first track, which was the instrumental "Love's Theme", a song that went onto become Barry's biggest song ever, and which probably sold the album a lot more than the vocal tracks. Still, you can hardly detect a note of disharmony – and the album soars from track to track, through titles like "Under The Influence Of Love", "Say It Again", "Yes, We Finally Made It", and "It May Be Winter Outside". LP, Vinyl record album

A lost treasure from Barry White – the one and only album recorded by Danny Pearson, one of the few singers that Barry did as "special projects" during the 70s! Like Gloria Scott and Tom Brock – two other White-produced singers of the time – Pearson's got a wonderful approach that's quite different than Barry's own work – a fragile, sensitive, sweet soul style that's a lot like indie work from the New Jersey/Philly scene of the early 70s, produced with a bit more of the Barry White flair. The sound is sublime – with magical orchestrations by White and Gene Page, wrapped lovingly around Pearson's great vocals. Titles include "Honey Please, Can't You See?", "What's Your Sign Girl?", "Is It Really True Girl", and "Walkin In the Rain With The One I Love". LP, Vinyl record album