The Younghearts – Do You Have The Time (Funk/Soul)

A1 Do You Have The Time (Parts 1 & 2) 

 A2 Stop What You're Doing, Girl 

 A3 I Said ... To Myself 

 A4 All The Love In The World 

 A5 Wildfire 

 B1 Don't Crush My World 

 B2 I'm Still Gonna Need You 

 B3 Me & You 4:12

 B4 Look What Your Love Has Done For Me 

 B5 Do You Have The Time (S.K.A.T.T.)

Gerald Levert - Groove On (RNB)

1. Groove On 

 2. Rock Me (All Nite Long) 

 3. Let The Juices Flow 

 4. I'd Give Anything 

 5. Answering Service 

 6. Someone 

 7. How Many Times 

 8. Can't Help Myself 

 9. Have Mercy 

 10. Same Place, Same Time 

 11. Nice & Wet 

 12. Love Street 

 The late great Gerald Levert was undoubtedly one of contemporary R&B's best male vocalists. This 1994 release was (for my taste) his most enjoyable solo CD. The David Foster-produced, Adult Contemporary-influenced Soul ballad "I'd Give Anything" was this CD's big hit but it (sadly) failed to cross over onto the Pop charts. Nonetheless, this CD is chock-full of romantic Urban Soul ballads that should appeal equally to both fans of 1970s and '80s R&B as well as contemporary music fans. Like the late and equally missed Luther Vandross, Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes and Barry White, Gerald Levert was a balladeer par excellence and his music will be cherished forever.

Dynamic Five – Love Is The Key (Soul, Funk)

A1 Lovers Lullabye

 A2 Skyboat

 A3 To Get To Heaven

 A4 It's So Lonely

 A5 One Way Or The Other

 B1 So Much Love To Give

 B2 You Got To Get Up

 B3 Beautiful Lady

 B4 Supreme Being

 B5 Love Is The Key 

Here a very rare Lp by the Dynamic Five, fantastic LP with sweet Soul & Funk jams. This LP is very hard to get and have a price over 3000$..... Enjoy !

Lloyd Price - Music Music (Soul)

A1 What Did You Do With My Love

 A2 Music Music

 A3 Love Music

 A4 Mr. & Mrs. Untrue

 B1 Street Love

 B2 You Brought It On Yourself

 B3 Uphill Peace Of Mind

 B4 N'sele

Clarence Reid – Dancin’ With Nobody But You Babe (Soul/Funk)

A1 Nobody But You Babe

 A2 Twenty Five Miles

 A3 Doggone It

 A4 Get Back

 A5 Don't Look Too Hard

 A6 I've Been Trying

 B1 Tear You A New Heart

 B2 Part Time Lover

 B3 Shop Aroud

 B4 Fools Are Not Born

 B5 Polk Salad Annie

 B6 Send Me Back My Money 

 Singer/songwriter/producer Clarence Reid, like David Bowie and P-Funk's George Clinton, had multiple musical personalities. One was of an earnest Southern soul singer, born February 14, 1945, in Cochran, GA, and recorded for TK Records president Henry Stone's Alston imprint.

Natural Four- Heaven Right Here On Earth (Soul)

1. Heaven Right Here On Earth 

2. Love's So Wonderful 

3. Count On Me 

4. Baby Come On 

5. What Do You Do? 

6. Give This A Try 

7. What's Happening Here? 

8. While You're Away 

 Talk about a group who didn't quite get there due,the Natural 4 is one of those groups.They are as smooth stepping as they are singing.Such tracks as "Heaven right here on Earth" and"Try love again" are just a little sample of what these four men from Oakland California can do.If you can find anything by these guys,but it!They are truly in the category with The Stylistics,The Whispers and The Dramatics and ChiLites.

Eddie Kendricks - People ... Hold On (Soul)

1. If You Let Me 

2. Let Me Run into Your Lonely Heart 

3. Day by Day 

4. Girl You Need a Change of Mind 

5. Someday We'll Have a Better World 

6. My People Hold On 

7. Date with the Rain 

8. Eddie'e Love 

9. I'm on the Sideline 

10. Just Memories 

 This album, PEOPLE...HOLD ON, is my all time favorite by Eddie Kendricks. This was his second solo effort after leaving the Temptations, and it clearly defined the musical direction he would be taking in his career. Recorded a year before his first real taste of commercial (read: crossover) success (1972), the material and production presented here probably outshined anything he ever made that came afterward. Now this is not to downplay Kendricks' smashes "Keep On Truckin'" or "Boogie Down" or any of his stellar subsequent LPs; I loved those songs as a little kid and I still enjoy listening to them to this day. But PEOPLE...HOLD ON marked a real departure for Eddie: he got rid of the formulatic sound that had marked most of Motown's records, and chose a Washington, D.C.-based R&B band, The Young Senators (which was also his backup band on tour), to play behind him on these sessions instead. The result: an amazing chunk of funk with a splash of honey added to it. And Eddie's confidence as a soloist had definitely grown since his debut in 1971. Produced by (now the Reverend) Frank Wilson and Chess Records alumni Leonard Caston, Jr., PEOPLE...HOLD ON was a concept album that was specifically geared towards Eddie's largest fan base --African-Americans -- and sold well among that market (as would all of his solo works). It featured cut after cut of songs that made the Thin Man from Birmingham get back to his roots: gospel-drenched ballads ("Day By Day", "Just Memories"), ballads with a funk/reggae-tinged edge ("If You Let Me", "Eddie's Love", "I'm On The Sideline"), hot dance cuts ("Girl You Need A Change of Mind", "Date With The Rain") and soulful message music ("Someday We'll Have a Better World", "My People...Hold On"). The title song, "My People...", is an absolute triumph, an adventurous, hypnotic tune that features African drums, chants, hand claps, and dramatic spoken passages. Talk about going back to your roots? Well, Eddie really put it on us here, taking us all the way back to the Motherland, with an almost revolutionary message. Particularly worth noting is the full version of the brilliant arrangement of "Girl You Need a Change of Mind", a song that addresses feminism, which is included here in its full glory. Relentlessly coming at you, it has a couple of breakdowns in the song that were similarly used with great success on Eddie's later hits "Truckin'" and "Boogie Down". "Change of Mind" has been documented by many to be the first disco record (playing time: 7:30), and it is still very popular in club circles and on classic soul radio. It stamped Eddie with the reputation for waxing some of the tightest dance tracks to ever come out of Motown in the '70s. His falsetto sounds wonderfully seductive, with the male voices in the background encouraging his rap...convincing an independent woman that he's in her corner, but he's asking her not to get so caught up in being a superwoman that she puts making love to him out of her mind ("Now I'm for women's rights, I just want equal nights"). Whatcha say to that? Also worth mentioning is the the opening tune, a Frank Wilson composition, "If You Let Me". Eddie's pristine natural tenor is the focus here, and it is one of the best vocal performances he has ever turned in -- in or out of the Temptations. Pouring emotion into each lyric, you kind of get the feeling that the song indeed held some deep personal meaning for him. When he sings "Just tryin' to make ya see, my mind done all but left me"-- you honestly believe it. It was also Eddie's highest charting R&B single since his departure from the group, and signaled that something huge was on the horizon. IMO, the only flaw on the album is "Let Me Run Into Your Lonely Heart", which is a raw, funky little cut, but the arrangement of the song is a bit too discordant for me to fully enjoy. But aside from that, PEOPLE...HOLD ON is something definitely worth "holding on" to, a true soul classic. Once you get this in your hands, you'll never want to let go. Motown, you know what to do -- get it back out there for us to enjoy on CD! This is, without a doubt, EJK's masterpiece.

Herbie Hancock - Man Child

1. Hang up your hang ups

2. Sun touch

 3. The trailor

 4. Bubbels

 5. Steppin' in it

 6. Heartbeat

Considering that this album is the follow up to Herbie Hancock's brilliant 'Headhunters' and 'Thrust',the albums that wrote the book on the funk-jazz sound 'Man-Child' is bound to be as magical an album as the mysterious cover art suggests and it is."Hang Up Your Hang Ups" is a strident,funky blacksploitation thats chocked FULL of guitar and Moog breaks for you hip-hop samplers!Elsewhere "Sun Touch" and "Bubbles" are smoldering,drippy funky fusion filled with lush,melodic keyboard and analog synth textures."The Traiter","Heartbeat" and "Steppin In It" are harder edged uptempo funk.Overall 'Man-Child' comes off as the 'pure funk album' Herbie was planning to make with his previous two records because the jazz influences are kept to a bare minimum.For fans of fusion and mid 70's electronic Moog/ARP funk this album is a treasure but for those interested in earlier,more abstract fusion this may not be your thing.It's only a pitty that some very similar sounding and conceived albums by George Duke and Jan Hammer from roughly this same period remain out of print.It's a testament to the fact that,luckily,Hancock managed to be connected with Columbia records who have kept classic funk LP's by Herbie Hancock like this in print!

Side Effect - What You Need (Funk)

01. Always There 

02. Keep That Same Old Feeling 

03. Time Has No Ending 

04. S.O.S. 

05. Honky Tonk Scat 

06. Finally Found Someone 

07. Changes 

08. Life Is What You Make It 

09. I Know You Can

Blue Mitchell - Funktion Junction (Jazz)

A1. I'm In Heaven 

 A2. AM-FM Blues 

 A3. Then Came You 

 A4. Daydream 

 B1. Love Machine 

 B2. Delilah 

 B3. Collaborations 

 Blue Mitchell made his name as a member of Horace Silver's quintet, where his lyrical playing and beautiful timbre perfectly complemented Silver's simplified, soulful brand of bop. When Silver disbanded his group the members stayed together under Mitchell's leadership; Silver and Brooks were replaced by Chick Corea and Al Foster, whose places were later taken by Harold Mabern and Billy Higgins. A very good and very funky record by Blue Mitchell.

The Imperials - Who’s gonna love me (Soul)

A1 Who’s Gonna Love Me 

A2 You Better Take Time To Love 

 A3 Where You Gonna Find Somebody Like Me

 A4 I Really Think We Can Make It Together 

 B1 Dance With Me 

 B2 Do What I Gotta Do 

 B3 Can You Imagine 

 B4 No One Makes Love Like You Do

Claudia Lennear - Phew (Funk)

Side one 

A1. It Ain't Easy 

A2. Sing With The Children 

A3. Sister Angela 

A4. Not At All 

A5. Casey Jones 

 Side two 

 B1. Going Down 

B2. From A Whisper To A Scream 

B3. Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky

 B4. What'd I Do Wrong 

B5. Going Down 

The Whispers - Imagination (Funk)

1. Imagination 

2. It's A Love Thing 

3. Say You (Would Love For Me Too) 

4. Continental Shuffle 

5. I Can Make It Better 

6. Girl I Need You 

7. Up On Soul Train 

8. Fantasy 

 Imagination turns out to be some of the most energetic and sentimental albums The Whispers had released in their long career. Thanks to the production wonders of Leon Sylvers, Don Cornelius (for jammin'), and the band (for romancin'), Imagination was a great follow up to 1979's self titled lp that contained the #1 hit, "And The Beat Goes On." Now on to the songs, "I Can Make It Better" and "It's A Love Thing" was what rocked the whole lp with the violins, guitar picks, and slick bass lines and smooth lyrics (written by in-house SOLAR extrodinaire, Dana Myers). Those jams well mixed romance with funk. Another familar groovy tune was "Up On Soul Train" (obviously produced by Soul Train host and founder, Don Cornelius) of which served as Soul Train's theme song from 1980 to 1982 (before O'Bryan's "Soul Trains A Comin'" replaced it mid-way in the 12th season). "Continental Shuffle" (written by Lakeside's Mark Wood) was groovy while the sentimental "Say You (Would Love For Me Too)" stood as a great classic Whispers' ballad. Nothing much to say but to enjoy another Whispers classic album. Like their 1979 self titled lp, Imagination was a big enough hit for a SOLAR all star tour (with Lakeside, Shalamar and Dynasty) as well as four promotional videos (two of them were for "It's A Love Thing" and "Say You (Would Love For Me Too)") of which the latter which were new promotional tools for African American musicians.

James Mason - Rhythm Of Life (Funk)

1. Sweet Power Ypur Embrace 

2. Good Thing 

3. Free 

4. Mbewe 

5. Funny Girl 

6. Slick City 

7. Rhythm Of Life 

8. Hey Hey Hey 

9. Ive Got My Eyes On You 

10. Dreams 

Obviously this is not the actor James Mason, but this mind movie is made by Roy Ayres guitarist of the same name. This album has a funk disco feel, but when I say this, I am not talking about mirror ball glitter, but a danceable, 1970s CTI feel. Rhythm Of Life is covered by early synthesizers, and grooves you can step to, but glide with a cool vibe and not a mirror ball stomp. The title track reminds me of listening to late 1970s FM radio: one of those amazing and novel detours a well versed DJ would take, back when DJs could cook sets the way they pleased. The rest of Rhythm Of Life does not have quite the grip of the title track, but with excellent female vocals and tight as a right foot step playing, the whole album has a compelling grip you will be digging on for a long time.

Steel Pulse - True Democracy (Reggae)

1. Chant A Psalm 

2. Ravers 

3. Find It...Quick 

4. A Who Responsible? 

5. Worth His Weight In Gold (Rally Round) 

6. Leggo Beast 

7. Blues Dance Raid 

8. Your House 

9. Man No Sober 

10. Dub' Marcus Say 

11. Ravers (12" Version) 

12. Leggo Beast (12" Version) 

13. Your House (Dub Version) 

14. A Who Responsible (Dub Version) 

 Mixing impassioned political and social protest with stellar Rasta bats, these sons of Jamaican immigrants-led by David Hinds rose out of humble Birmingham origins to become one of the U.K.'s all-time greatest reggae acts and a globallyl revered band. Their live shows-both headlining and opening for Bob Marley and others-are legendary. Steel Pulse's Elektra debut album, True Democracy, ranks as one of their strongest, and Earth Crisis further built on their legacy as musical innovators and human rights advocates. Often fusing elements of jazz, dancehall, hip-hop, and Latin music into a roots reggae base, Steel Pulse will forever remain icons of the genre.