21 Jul 2015
Van McCoy – 1975 – Disco Baby

This is it! The record that helped put disco over in a huge way, with a sound that would go on to be heavily imitated for years to come. Sweeping disco production from Hugo & Luigi arranged and conducted by Van McCoy, already a studio...
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14 Jan 2023
The Marvelettes – 1967 – The Marvelettes

Perhaps the best studio album the Marvelettes ever recorded. The spotlight was shared between Horton and Young, and one can attest to the differences in their styles (Horton was earthier, Young the more pop-oriented). In addition to their classic hit “The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game” and what is the...
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06 Aug 2022
Jackie Wilson – 1967 – Higher And Higher

Jackie Wilson was the most gifted singer of his generation. Unfortunately, his arranger at Brunswick Records, Dick Jacobs, often saddled the man’s force-of-nature vocals with obtrusive orchestration and cloying female back-up voices. Not to mention the bullshit songs Wilson frequently did, a number of them...
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22 Jul 2021
New Censation – 1974 – New Censation

When Disco actually began – or who is responsible for the first Disco hit single – is an argument that will likely never be resolved definitively to everyone’s satisfaction. Certainly, the concept of the Discotheque, which saw popular local DJs playing records and delivering their...
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28 Apr 2019
Jean Carn – 1978 – Happy To Be With You

The songwriting, production, arrangements, and music are perfectly matched to Jean Carn’s passionate singing. Gamble/Huff put the right amount of restraint on the superb musical backing of MFSB so that Ms. Carn’s vocalization is at the forefront. Her interpretation of each song is so believable,...
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29 Jul 2018
Irma Thomas – 1966 – Take A Look

The “Take a Look” album is probably better sequenced and selected than her first album, and weirdly, a bunch of Irma’s best performances of the era didn’t make it to either of these albums back then (four great songs weren’t released at all until 1992)....
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23 Nov 2015
Zulema – 1973 – Ms. Z

Excellent early work by Zulema – high-minded and righteous soul, with a really expansive sound that’s in keeping with the best on Sussex at the time! The arrangements are nicely complicated – arranged by Bobby Taylor and Gene Page with a good blend of funk,...
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14 Oct 2015
The Stylistics – 1975 – Thank You Baby

“Thank you Baby”, 1975, from the Hugo & Luigi times is hardly remembered in that numberless and impersonal collections. “Sing Baby Sing“, “I’d rather be hurt by you” and “Can’t Give You Anything” you, maybe, will find around, but, quite sure, you’ll will not find...
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