Killer 2CD set that brings together just about every single track you'd ever want from Marvin's early years at Motown! The gamut runs from early pop singles to the politically progressive work of his What's Going On years. 47 tracks in all!! CD

An incredible record – quite possibly our favorite ever by Marvin Gaye! The album is quite unique – written by Leon Ware, and recorded in collaboration with him – done as a "suite" of tracks based on themes of passion, joy, and new love – all of which were very much on the mind of Marvin during his troubled years of the mid 70s. The whole thing's beautifully put together – superbly orchestrated with just the right funky touches, and even a sweet bit of electronics to give the set a nice edge. An amazing album – one of those soul records that goes deeper and deeper than you ever thought pop music could go – filled with great tracks that include "I Want You", "After the Dance", "Come Live With Me", and "Since I Had You". Genius – pure genius! LP, Vinyl record album

Marvin's definitely in the groove on this set – cooking on all burners with a host of late 60s Motown hits – bad-stepping his way towards some of the more mature moments to come in the 70s! The album's probably best remembered for the cut "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" – easily one of Marvin's biggest moments of the 60s, and a track whose popularity led to the album's title change from In The Groove to later incarnations as Heard It Through The Grapevine! Other cuts are equally great, and show Gaye really stretching out with mature, masculine confidence – pushing the envelope nicely on cuts that include "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever", "There Goes My Baby", "Change What You Can", "You're What's Happening", "Tear It Down", "You", and "Some Kind Of Wonderful". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record that stunned the world almost as much as Marvin's previous effort, What's Going On. Like that one, this album's an amazingly unified batch of tracks – with a visionary message about sex and love that is as honest and bracing as the politics and social commentary of his previous record. The record shows a sexy side of Marvin that would stun fans of his 60s work – very adult, very warm, and very preoccupied with desire and love. In a way, this sort of full-on love fest was a big payoff for all the folks who'd hung onto his simpler expressions of affection in the earlier years – sort of like getting let into the bedroom after spending years on the front porch! The record was produced by both Marvin and Ed Townsend – and the arrangements by David Van DePitte, Rene Hall, and Gene Page are smooth and seductive all the way through. Includes slow jam classics like "You Sure Love To Ball", "Distant Lover", and "Let's Get It On" – plus "Come Get To This", "Just to Keep You Satisfied", and "If I Should Die Tonight". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing record that stunned the world almost as much as Marvin's previous effort, What's Going On. Like that one, this album's an amazingly unified batch of tracks – with a visionary message about sex and love that is as honest and bracing as the politics and social commentary of his previous record. The record shows a sexy side of Marvin that would stun fans of his 60s work – very adult, very warm, and very preoccupied with desire and love. In a way, this sort of full-on love fest was a big payoff for all the folks who'd hung onto his simpler expressions of affection in the earlier years – sort of like getting let into the bedroom after spending years on the front porch! The record was produced by both Marvin and Ed Townsend – and the arrangements by David Van DePitte, Rene Hall, and Gene Page are smooth and seductive all the way through. Includes slow jam classics like "You Sure Love To Ball", "Distant Lover", and "Let's Get It On" – plus "Come Get To This", "Just to Keep You Satisfied", and "If I Should Die Tonight". CD also features 2 bonus tracks – single mixes of "Let's Get It On" and "You Sure Love To Ball". CD

The birth of a legend – the first seven albums from Motown giant Marvin Gaye, served up here in one nicely-priced package! The set's similar to the Original Album Classics series – in that it features each individual album in a tiny record sleeve – all stacked together in a nice box that brings all the music together – including a number of records that haven't been reissued in quite awhile! Even at this early point, Marvin's way ahead of the game – able to lay down hard, heavy soul tracks when he wants – but also slide into a ballad like nobody else, and even hit a few jazzier moments too. The range of modes here is really wonderful – showing that Motown was already trying to let Gaye move into the many directions he'd follow later on – and albums include the tearjerking When I'm Alone I Cry, the seminal Stubborn Kind Of Fellow, the duet with Mary Wells on Together, the soaring How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You, the jazzy Tribute To Nat King Cole, the classy Hello Broadway, and the moody Soulful Moods Of Marvin Gaye. LP, Vinyl record album

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Packed with hits! Tracks include "Let's Get It On", "What's Going On", "Sexual Feeling", "I Want You", "Ain't That Peculiar", "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing", and more! LP, Vinyl record album

Marvin Gaye's last single – released after his untimely death, and a track that supposedly was only around in demo form as "Sanctified P#ssy", until they cleaned it up for release to give him one last hit! 12-inch, Vinyl record

One of the few cases in the history of pop music where the record is worth all the hype! Marvin blew everyone's mind when he unleashed this amazing suite of political soul tunes – not only just because he'd moved past the simple love songs of earlier years, but also because he was working with an amazingly complicated approach to soul music, one that would touch the work of others for years to come. David Van DePitte arranged and conducted the whole album – with soaring orchestrations mixed with smooth modern soul, in a style that reminds us a lot of the work of Charles Stepney at Cadet, who'd been doing this sort of thing for years but with less success. In the hands of Marvin Gaye, though, the material has an amazing quality – and all the disparate elements of the album are fused together in one powerful message by Marvin's incredible voice. One that we never tire of, and a record to be listened to all the way through every time. Titles include "What's Goin On", "Save The Children", "Flyin High (In The Friendly Sky)", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)". CD

One of the few cases in the history of pop music where the record is worth all the hype! Marvin blew everyone's mind when he unleashed this amazing suite of political soul tunes – not only just because he'd moved past the simple love songs of earlier years, but also because he was working with an amazingly complicated approach to soul music, one that would touch the work of others for years to come. David Van DePitte arranged and conducted the whole album – with soaring orchestrations mixed with smooth modern soul, in a style that reminds us a lot of the work of Charles Stepney at Cadet, who'd been doing this sort of thing for years but with less success. In the hands of Marvin Gaye, though, the material has an amazing quality – and all the disparate elements of the album are fused together in one powerful message by Marvin's incredible voice. One that we never tire of, and a record to be listened to all the way through every time. Titles include "What's Goin On", "Save The Children", "Flyin High (In The Friendly Sky)", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)". CD

One of the few cases in the history of pop music where the record is worth all the hype! Marvin blew everyone's mind when he unleashed this amazing suite of political soul tunes – not only just because he'd moved past the simple love songs of earlier years, but also because he was working with an amazingly complicated approach to soul music, one that would touch the work of others for years to come. David Van DePitte arranged and conducted the whole album – with soaring orchestrations mixed with smooth modern soul, in a style that reminds us a lot of the work of Charles Stepney at Cadet, who'd been doing this sort of thing for years but with less success. In the hands of Marvin Gaye, though, the material has an amazing quality – and all the disparate elements of the album are fused together in one powerful message by Marvin's incredible voice. One that we never tire of, and a record to be listened to all the way through every time. Titles include "What's Goin On", "Save The Children", "Flyin High (In The Friendly Sky)", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few cases in the history of pop music where the record is worth all the hype! Marvin blew everyone's mind when he unleashed this amazing suite of political soul tunes – not only just because he'd moved past the simple love songs of earlier years, but also because he was working with an amazingly complicated approach to soul music, one that would touch the work of others for years to come. David Van DePitte arranged and conducted the whole album – with soaring orchestrations mixed with smooth modern soul, in a style that reminds us a lot of the work of Charles Stepney at Cadet, who'd been doing this sort of thing for years but with less success. In the hands of Marvin Gaye, though, the material has an amazing quality – and all the disparate elements of the album are fused together in one powerful message by Marvin's incredible voice. One that we never tire of, and a record to be listened to all the way through every time. Titles include "What's Goin On", "Save The Children", "Flyin High (In The Friendly Sky)", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)". This fantastic 50th Anniversary version features new mastering by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, an essay by Hanif Abdurraqib, and a full record of bonus material that includes "What's Going On (stripped)", "What's Going On (rhythm & strings inst)", "What's Going On (mix 1 with no strings or horns)", "Symphony (demo version)", and original mono single mixes of "What's Going On", "God Is Love", "Mercy Mercy Me", "Sad Tomorrows", "Inner City Blues", and "Wholy Holy". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few cases in the history of pop music where the record is worth all the hype! Marvin blew everyone's mind when he unleashed this amazing suite of political soul tunes – not only just because he'd moved past the simple love songs of earlier years, but also because he was working with an amazingly complicated approach to soul music, one that would touch the work of others for years to come. David Van DePitte arranged and conducted the whole album – with soaring orchestrations mixed with smooth modern soul, in a style that reminds us a lot of the work of Charles Stepney at Cadet, who'd been doing this sort of thing for years but with less success. In the hands of Marvin Gaye, though, the material has an amazing quality – and all the disparate elements of the album are fused together in one powerful message by Marvin's incredible voice. One that we never tire of, and a record to be listened to all the way through every time. Titles include "What's Goin On", "Save The Children", "Flyin High (In The Friendly Sky)", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)". LP, Vinyl record album

A super-dope song from Marvin Gaye – and one that wasn't originally issued on LP! The track is a very righteous, very political tune – sounding almost more like Curtis Mayfield than Marvin, and with a heavy funky approach to the groove that takes the cut way past its politics! Really a great number – and a must-have 45! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A great start to the Marvin Gaye duet mode of the 60s – an early pairing with Mary Wells, done back when she was one of the leading female singers at Motown! The style here is a bit more old school than some of the later Gaye duo albums – but there's plenty of charm in the tunes, as the set makes for a real "coming together" of two vocal styles – a real difference between the singers that you can hear as they handle the lyrics, which creates a nice sense of personality in the songs. In other words, the pairing's not as perfect as Marvin and Tammi, but that's part of the charm – and the album's the start of a great run that would really raise the bar for other artists' performances like this to come! Titles include "Once Upon A Time", "Until I Met You", "Together", "Sentimental Reasons", "After The Lights Go Down Low" and "Squeeze Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A great posthumous release from the mighty Marvin Gaye – a set that's half comprised of material that Marvin was working on before his early death, and half pulled from rare personal recordings he'd entrusted to his mother! The cover carries a message that some of the material might be "offensive to some listeners" – and the music is kind of an 80s extension of the sensual themes that Gaye first opened up in the 70s – taken to some slightly more sexual territory here. But other tracks are even more sophisticated than you might expect – very ambitious material that almost hint at a return to the greatness of early 70s Motown and its more complicated presentation of themes – and which offsets the love songs nicely. Together, the work makes for a surprisingly nice addition to Gaye's catalog – possibly not as essential as some of his classics, but still way better than the work of most – and proof that Marvin hardly ever missed at all! Titles include "Sanctified Lady", "Savage In The Sack", "It's Madness", "Ain't It Funny (How Things Turn Around)", "Symphony", "Life's Opera", and "Dream Of A Lifetime" LP, Vinyl record album

Nothing too Broadway here – as the album's a warmly soulful set that shows a mellower side of Marvin Gaye for the 60s – the deeper, more jazz-inclined side of his vocals, which makes for a nice contrast to his bigger hits of the time! Gene Page handled most of the arrangements, so you can bet that the sound is mighty solid – a groove that gets past standard Motown modes of the time, and opens up with a hint of the more sophisticated Marvin to come in the 70s! It's great to hear Gaye take his own turn with familiar tunes like these – and titles include "Walk On The Wild Side", "Hello Broadway", "My Way", "What Kind Of Fool I Am", "People", "The Party's Over", "Days Of Wine & Roses", and "This Is The Life". CD

Marvin Gaye's last album ever – and a sensuous batch of grooves that almost return him to the sound of Let's Get It On! The style here is a bit more modern, but the sound is still great – a smoother approach to soul than most of Gaye's contemporaries at the time, recorded in a way that has the vocals soaring majestically over the top of the backings! Slight undercurrents of funk spice things up somewhat, but still avoid any mainstream 80s groove cliches – and Marvin wrote, arranged, and produced the album himself (although with a bit of help from Chicago organist O'Dell Brown on the hit "Sexual Healing"!) Titles include "Sexual Healing", "My Love Is Waiting", "Third World Girl", "Turn On Some Music", "Joy", and "Midnight Lady". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

The second album from Aaliyah, and a huge step forward from the first – shifting both away from production by R Kelly, and towards a more adult approach that really has the singer coming across as a mature solo artist on her own! This time around, Timbaland handles much of the key production, and Missy Elliott plays a key role too – and both appear on the record as well, although it's always clear that the leading lady is the very strong main attraction. Slick Rick guests on a great remake of the Marvin Gaye classic "Got To Give It Up", big singles include "One In A Million" and "If Your Girl Only Knew" – and other tracks include "Hot Like Fire", "The One I Gave My Heart To", "Giving You More", "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" and "Choosey Lover (Old School/New School)". CD

A soaring set from Leon Bridges – a full length second album that's every bit as classic as his debut, but in a completely different way! Where Coming Home was maybe Leon's answer to the generation of Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke, Good Thing is more of a nod to the era of Maxwell and D'Angelo – but, as before, coming across with a vibe that's completely Bridges' own – this ebullient, bubblingly soulful quality that's completely sublime – and which has Leon's voice fitting perfectly with the mellow grooving beats, keyboards, and guitar. The singer's voice is maybe even better than before – sure to win over an even new wave of ears – and titles include "If It Feels Good Then It Must Be", "Bet Ain't Worth The Hand", "Bad Bad News", "Shy", "Beyond", "Forgive You", "Lions", "You Don't Know", and "Georgia To Texas". LP, Vinyl record album

By All Means kick off this set with a cover of Marvin Gaye's classic "Let's Get It On" – but they also announce their special sound right from the very first note too – a laidback groove that's in that perfect late 80s mellow soul mode, with just a hint of new jack elements in some of the gentle rhythms! There's a nice sense of class to the whole set – slow-stepping sounds that really bring back a time when soul music was awash in more sophisticated modes – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Early Fall", "Stay With Me Tonight", "Point Of View", "I'd Rather Be Lonely", "Do You Remember", "The More You Give The More You Get", and their cover of "Let's Get It On". CD

A record that was an instant classic from the moment it was first released – and a set that's still pretty darn pleasing all these many years later! At a time when mainstream soul was often too smooth or too poppy, D'Angelo came along and not only found a way to return the music to the years of its power with singers like Al Green or Marvin Gaye – but also managed to bring in some of the best hip hop elements of his generation too, at a level that was far more successful than most other blends that had been tried before! Production is nice and lean, and super-crispy – at a level that so many folks are still copying all these years later – and the set's full of classics that include "Cruisin", "When We Get By", "Smooth", "Me & Those Dreamin Eyes Of Mine", "Brown Sugar", "Alright", and "Jonz In My Bonz". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet and gritty soul from D'Angelo – who takes a huge step into deeper territory on Voodoo – and it's one of the most monumental records of its time! On one level, Voodoo works as a nicely stripped-down session with a very classic soul feel. Gone are the overzealous flourishes that sometimes overwhelmed his earlier songs, and in their place are some sweetly crafted vocal parts with a classic Marvin Gaye/Al Green feel. That warmth is probably what made Voodoo a massive popular success – but what makes it such a creative triumph are the darker undercurrents – which hint at a troubled soul struggling for spiritual truth. One of the rare cases in popular music when great art became music for the masses! Titles include "Left & Right (feat Method Man & Redman)", "The Line", "Spanish Joint", "Africa", "Feel Like Makin Love", "The Root", "Playa Playa", "Devil's Pie", and "Greatdayndamornin/Booty". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet disco and soulful jazz – the only album we've ever seen from Copeland Davis, a great talent on the piano, and a mellow soul singer with a clear inspiration from Marvin Gaye! The album's a pretty unusual one – in that the overall groove is instrumental, mostly tight rhythms and strings with Copeland playing piano over the top – but a few cuts have Copeland singing as well – in this great sexy style that really adds a lot to the record. The approach is a bit rough at times, but it's kind of a rough version of slickness, which makes for a compelling set, and gives the album a few nice underground clubby numbers! Titles include "Look What We've Found", "Morning Spring", "So In Love", "Jet", and "No Arms Can Ever Hold You". CD

Sweet disco and soulful jazz – the only album we've ever seen from Copeland Davis, a great talent on the piano, and a mellow soul singer with a clear inspiration from Marvin Gaye! The album's a pretty unusual one – in that the overall groove is instrumental, mostly tight rhythms and strings with Copeland playing piano over the top – but a few cuts have Copeland singing as well – in this great sexy style that really adds a lot to the record. The approach is a bit rough at times, but it's kind of a rough version of slickness, which makes for a compelling set, and gives the album a few nice underground clubby numbers! Titles include "Look What We've Found", "Morning Spring", "So In Love", "Jet", and "No Arms Can Ever Hold You". LP, Vinyl record album

An early classic from the Studio One/Coxone catalog – and a set that has a sound that's every bit as iconic as its cover – the kind of record that really helped set a new standard for soulful sounds from Jamaica! Alton Ellis is almost in early Marvin Gaye territory here – working with a style that's every bit as groovy on the upbeat tracks as it is personal and moving on the mellower ones – with the difference, of course, that the rhythms here are more in a rocksteady mode, and served up with some great studio help from the Soul Brothers and Soul Vendors! The whole album's great – and titles include "So Much Love", "I'm Just A Guy", "Get Ready", "Why", "Mad Mad Mad", and a beautiful version of The Bee Gee's "Massachusetts"! LP, Vinyl record album

Pure genius from Donny Hathaway – a 70s soul giant who burned brightly for just a few years, then was taken away from us all too soon! In our book, Donny is every bit a giant of the decade as Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield – and you'll hear work here that easily matches the best of both, topped with some of the musical complexity that made Hathaway such a budding talent in the studio – ready to give his gifts to so many, and be shared with the world! Every cut's a gem – and titles include "The Ghetto", "Giving Up", "Someday We'll Be Free", "To Be Young Gifted & Black", "A Song For You", "What's Going On", and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" – as well as Hathaway's Holiday classic "This Christmas" – maybe the tune that most people know the best. Also features famous duets with Roberta Flack on "Where Is The Love", "The Closer I Get To You", "You've Got A Friend", "Back Together Again", and "You Are My Heaven". CD

Ex-Shalamar vocalist Howard Hewett cut this smooth set of modern soul tracks for Expansion a few years back, with himself at the production helm, and a batch of tracks that were mostly self-penned (one of the exceptions to that is a nice cover of Marvin Gaye's "Just To Keep You Satisfied".) Other cuts include "How Do I Know I Love You", "For The Lover In You", and "On & On". Nice stuff, with the usual high-quality modern soul sound of the other releases on Expansion. CD

A really fantastic soul record from the post-Motown underground in Detroit – and one that also has ties to the Tribe Records scene of the 70s! William Odell Hughes is a great soul singer, with an ability to stretch out on a long, sensual line – a quality that's a bit in the territory of Marvin Gaye in the early 70s – and he works here with arrangements from reedman Wendell Harrison, who plays tenor and flute on the record, and also a bit of keyboards too – serving up this lean backing that really fits the open, flowing style of William's vocals – on tracks that are all nice and long, and very different than the usual indie soul of the time! There's a wicked blend of deep soul and slinky grooves here – a bit like the best from Mike James Kirkland – and titles include "Waiting", "Where Am I", "Cruisin", "I've Got Love On My Mind", and "Super Funk A Ga La Listic Freak". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible album – quite possibly our favorite record by the JBs, ever! The set starts with a wonderful conversational bit – rapping and musing on the idea of "Damn Right, I Am Somebody" – showing the group in a political and righteous mode for the first time ever. The grooves then kick in – with the same heavy funk as on earlier records, but also a nice nod towards experimental production – from strange fade ups and fade downs, to stark time and rhythm changes, and even bits of electronics used to create some very cool moments in the grooves! The whole thing's as dead funky as can be, and is stuffed with insane classics like "Blow Your Head", "Same Beat", "Damn Right I am Somebody", "I'm Payin' Taxes, What am I Buyin'", and a great cover of Marvin Gaye's "You Sure Love to Ball"! CD

An incredible album – quite possibly our favorite record by the JBs, ever! The set starts with a wonderful conversational bit – rapping and musing on the idea of "Damn Right, I Am Somebody" – showing the group in a political and righteous mode for the first time ever. The grooves then kick in – with the same heavy funk as on earlier records, but also a nice nod towards experimental production – from strange fade ups and fade downs, to stark time and rhythm changes, and even bits of electronics used to create some very cool moments in the grooves! The whole thing's as dead funky as can be, and is stuffed with insane classics like "Blow Your Head", "Same Beat", "Damn Right I am Somebody", "I'm Payin' Taxes, What am I Buyin'", and a great cover of Marvin Gaye's "You Sure Love to Ball"! LP, Vinyl record album

Essential funk in a single set – three killer albums from James Brown's legendary backing group! First up is Food For Thought – the classic first album by The JBs – James Brown's Fred Wesley-led backing band, and the force behind most of his greatest records of the early 70s! The band are incredible at this point – sharper, harder, and funkier than just about any other combo around – and that includes all the thousands of groups in the funky 45 underground who were always trying to copy their sound, but never got things this right! Not only are the rhythms the stuff of legend – but the use of the instruments is far far above the norm – as can be heard on the mindblowing "The Grunt", which was sampled heavily by Public Enemy to great fame – and which features a saxophone solo that sounds more like a whistling tea kettle! The set collects some of the group's best early singles, and includes all of the short little funky cuts that made them a legend right out of the box – "Pass the Peas", "The Grunt", "These Are The JBs", "Hot Pants Road", "Wine Spot", "To My Brother", "Blessed Blackness", "Theme From King Heroin", "Escapism (parts 1 & 2), and "Gimme Some More" – all together here in one tight little album of massive funky hard beats and breaks! Doing It To Death is an incredible album – a landmark piece of funk that nobody should be without, funk fan or not! The album is the second to feature James Brown's famous backing combo of the early 70s – and unlike their first one, which was really more of a collection of singles, this album has the group playing hard, long, and loud, in the free funk improvisational mode that was James' real contribution to the music at the time. The tracks are all incredibly long, with James at the forefront, egging the band on with shouts and comments – but also letting them open up large instrumentally, playing in a mode that's as much jazz as it is funky soul. The whole thing's peppered with some nice shorter segues between tracks – but the long cuts are the winners, and are some of the best funk ever recorded! Titles include "Mo Peas", "Doing It To Death", "La Di Da La Di Day", "You Can Have Watergate, Just Gimme Some Bucks & I'll Be Straight", and "Sucker". Last up is Damn Right I Am Somebody – quite possibly our favorite record by the JBs, ever! The set starts with a wonderful conversational bit – rapping and musing on the idea of "Damn Right, I Am Somebody" – showing the group in a political and righteous mode for the first time ever. The grooves then kick in – with the same heavy funk as on earlier records, but also a nice nod towards experimental production – from strange fade ups and fade downs, to stark time and rhythm changes, and even bits of electronics used to create some very cool moments in the grooves! The whole thing's as dead funky as can be, and is stuffed with insane classics like "Blow Your Head", "Same Beat", "Damn Right I am Somebody", "I'm Payin' Taxes, What am I Buyin'", and a great cover of Marvin Gaye's "You Sure Love to Ball"! CD

Killer live work from Seu Jorge – one of his boldest, proudest records to date – and that's saying a lot, given the soulful promise of all his other work! We've always loved Jorge, but we first really fell in love with his music in a live setting – where he's got an undeniable charm and charisma, on a level with older legends like Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye at their best. Other live sets have always shown Jorge as a mellower, more acoustic artist – but this one really has him exploding with a very funky sound throughout – really hitting that superstardom we always saw coming in his talents – working before a very large crowd, and clearly driving them nuts with his sublime performance on the set. The album's a real step forward for Jorge – upbeat, funky, filled with soul, and exactly the kind of music that should hopefully have him exploding around the globe. Titles include "A Doida", "Pessoal Particular", "Dia De Comemorar", "Mina Do Condomino", "Vizinha", "Burguesinha", "Diario De Um Detento", and "Dois Beijinhos". CD

A quartet of classic albums, most of which haven't been reissued for decades – presented on a 2CD set with bonus tracks too! First up is Bounty Hunter – a seminal album from Barrington Levy – one that features key work from producer Henry Junjo Lawes, who helps push Levy's roots-styled lyrics nicely into the dancehall generation! There's a lean, laidback vibe to the set – one that marks it as early in this moment in Jamaican music – yet the whole thing also has a freshness that really finds a new setting for the soulful expressions of a singer like Levy, whose snakey way of putting across a lyric really works wonderfully with the grooves! Titles include "Shaolin Temple", "Bounty Hunter", "Trod With Jah Jah", "Wedding Ring", "Skylarking", and "Jah Life". Next is Weh Dem A Go Do – a dancehall classic from Coco Tea – one that's put together with superb production and arrangements from Henry Junjo Lawes, with backing from both the Roots Radics and High Times! Coco's clearly the main star of the set, though – as he delivers lyrics with this laidback vibe that seems to echo older dee jay modes, but with a very melodic vibe – kicking it nicely over grooves that are gentle, but also have that crispness of the dancehall generation too! Titles include "Informer", "Jah Made Them That Way", "On Top Of The World", "I'm Going Home", "Can't Stop Coco Tea", and "I'm Wanted". CD2 features two great dancehall albums from Charlie Chaplin – both from the mid 80s, with more production from Lawes – and titles that include "Screwface People", "Tribute To Marvin Gaye", "We Hot", "Small Days", "International Robbery", "Yankee Skank", "Hey Youthman", "Drifting", "Face To Face", and "Eden Ah Try". 2CD set also features bonus tracks – "Skylarking (12" mix)", "Moonlight Dub", and "Shine Eye Girl Version" by Barrington Levy – plus "Christmas Is Coming" by Coco Tea. Great Doctor Bird presentation throughout – excellent notes and great sound! CD

Derrick Morgan's a superstar in Jamaican music, but this album's one of his most obscure – also one of his most righteous too, as you might guess from the gritty 70s image on the cover! The set's got a soulful flow that's in the late rocksteady mode, but also bubbles with some of the roots energy to come – a headier vibe that has Morgan's vocals cresting over the tunes in a way that almost echoes some of the shifts that Marvin Gaye was making at the time – even thought Derrick's vibe here is completely his own! Morgan arranged and produced – and titles include "Festival 10", "Me Na Run", "Bring In The Guns", "One Morning In May", "Father Killam", "Send A Little Rain", "Never See My Baby", "Hold Your Jack", and "Still Around". LP, Vinyl record album

Jalen Ngonda's a hell of a soul singer, and he's working here in a stunning setting that really does justice to his fantastic voice – a larger set of arrangements than you'd usually hear on a Daptone Record, in a way that rises up with a really majestic sort of vibe! Ngonda's got a way of mixing raw and smooth that almost brings to mind Marvin Gaye – and we don't use that sort of reference lightly – yet he can also slide into more of a sweet soul style too, which creates this range of expression that really deepens the record in a great way! And speaking of vibe, there's some nice vibes in the backings – and cool strings, excellent basslines, and tight percussion – on titles that include "Just Like You Used To", "So Glad I Found You", "Rapture", "It Takes A Fool", "Come Around & Love Me", "What A Difference She Made", and "Give Me Another Day". CD

A pivotal album from The O'Jays – and an undeniable Philly classic! The record was the third the group cut for the Philadelphia International label – but it was really the first one that pushed their strong righteous soul agenda, sort of a mix of message-oriented lyrics and heavy soul (ala The Temptations), fused with the warmer more sophisticated styles of the Philly sound! The blend is perfect – and has a way of getting the message from the underground right into the living room – and a bit onto the charts as well! From the image on the cover – which features the group in a slave ship setting – to politics of tracks like "Don't Call Me Brother", "For The Love Of Money", "Put Your Hands Together", and "This Air That I Breathe", the record's an extremely unified effort – kind of to the O'Jays what What's Going On was to Marvin Gaye. Other titles include "You Got Your Hooks In Me", "Now That We Found Love", and "People Keep Tellin Me". Includes bonus track "Put Your Hands Together" – recorded live in London. CD

A classic collection of work from Ken Parker – maybe not the biggest name in Jamaican music, but a singer who really struck gold with this collection of cuts recorded for Treasure Isle! The original album came out in the mid 70s, but the music's got more of the rocksteady groove you'd expect from the label – a slower-stepping midtempo mode that really lets Ken open up with his amazing vocals – a soulful style that we'd rank right up there with classic work by Sam Cooke, or early Marvin Gaye at Motown – but set here to a very different sort of early reggae rhythms! Titles include "Jimmy Brown", "Mother's Eyes", "I Can't Hide", "Sincerely", "I Should Have Known", "True True True", and "I Catch Myself Crying". CD features a massive related 21 bonus cuts – Ken Parker tunes that include "Guilty Inside" and "Grooving In Style" – plus lots more cuts recorded for Treasure Isle by Hopeton Lewis, including some duets with Phyllis Dillon and Dennis Alcapone! CD