'80 Dance Classics (or Dance Classics '80 is a 1994 Russian compilation CD featuring music from the two previous decades. There is no concept as to why these songs are together but if it makes you dance and sing, that's good enough. Queen? Technotronic? Milli Vanilli? Status Quo? It doesn't matter. This was illegally made but it is illegally exciting, courtesy of Larry EP/MBM.

Super Love Duets Vol. II is a 1994 compilation of some of the most choishesh love songs of our generation from the decade that matters, whatever decade that is. This was releash by Arisa Ltd., an illegal label made for our generation, whatever generation that is.

Avid Jazz continues with its Four Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2CD release from Della Reese, complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details 'The Story of the Blues'; 'The Classic Della'; 'Della By Starlight' and 'What Do You Know About Love' Born in 1931, Delloreese Patricia Early, began singing gospel music at an early age and was hired to sing in Mahalia Jackson's gospel group at age, only 11! Changing her name to Della Reese she began performing in nightclubs and fell under the influence of the great female jazz singers of the age, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. Her singing career was defined by two long spells with major record companies, in 1953 she signed to Jubilee and later in 1959 to RCA. Our four fine selections show off the best of Della from both these periods.

With a total of 40 Pop chart hits, Dionne Warwick's recordings for the Scepter label rank as arguably the most successful run of any artist - and certainly of any female artist - for an independent label during the 1960s. But all that success had a downside for her considerable legacy: Scepter became a hot property for acquisition, and as a result the label's holdings were bought and sold several times before Dionne herself arranged to buy her own masters back. By that time, though, the Scepter tapes had been scattered in disarray, thus leaving a lot of material in limbo and causing compilers to throw up their hands. Well, where other reissue labels fear to tread Real Gone Music goes full speed ahead! Odds & Ends - Scepter Records Rarities offers 26 hard-to-find tracks (plus some bonus promo spots) from the Scepter vaults, including rare alternate versions.

The BGP subsidiary of Ace paired two of Rotary Connection's albums onto one disc in 1998. The following year, Raven would combine "Aladdin" and "Dinner Music" on one disc. Not only do the original albums deserve to be released separately, but both the BGP and Raven reissue two-fers ruin the strange sleeve artwork that adorned the original LPs. Songs/Hey Love looks particularly horrid, with an orgy of rainbow colors that bleed into each other. Charly once issued "Songs" on its own, but as of 2003, this combination was the only way to obtain "Hey Love" on CD.

Thriller is the sixth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records. Reunited with Off the Wall producer Quincy Jones, Jackson was inspired to create an album where "every song was a killer". With the ongoing backlash against disco, Jackson moved in a new musical direction, incorporating pop, post-disco, R&B, rock and funk. Thriller features a single guest appearance, with Paul McCartney becoming the first artist to be featured on Jackson's albums…

"Soul Makossa" is a 1969 single by Cameroonian makossa saxophonist Manu Dibango. It is often cited as one of the first disco records. In 1972 David Mancuso found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his Loft parties. The response was so positive that the few copies of "Soul Makossa" in New York City were quickly bought up. The song was subsequently played heavily by Frankie Crocker, who DJed at WBLS, then New York's most popular black radio station. Since the original was now unfindable, at least 23 groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record.

"Lovely Day" is a song by American soul and R&B singer Bill Withers. Written by Withers and Skip Scarborough, it was released on December 21, 1977 and appears on Withers' 1978 album Menagerie. The song is notable for Withers' sustained note towards the end, which at 18 seconds long, is one of the longest ever recorded on a song. Released as a single in late 1977, "Lovely Day" peaked at #6 on the Billboard R&B chart and at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US in early 1978. It also made the Top 10 in the United Kingdom, where the song reached #7 on the British single chart. "Lovely Day" has been re-released as a single in the United Kingdom at least twice since the song's first chart run; in 1987 the original version charted again at #92, while a version done by Ben Liebrand, named the "Sunshine Mix", made the British Top 10 in 1988, rising to #4.

Despite the success of Bad, it was hard not to view it as a bit of a letdown, since it presented a cleaner, colder, calculated version of Thriller – something that delivered what it should on the surface, but wound up offering less in the long run. So, it was time for a change-up, something even a superstar as huge as Michael Jackson realized, so he left Quincy Jones behind, hired Guy mastermind Teddy Riley as the main producer, and worked with a variety of other producers, arrangers, and writers, most notably Bruce Swedien and Bill Bottrell…

Party On is a 2004 compilation by American soul group Pure Energy. It features their first and only self-titled album from 1980 plus tracks released on singles. This was released by Unidisc.

Earth, Wind & Fire Original Album Classics (2008 UK 5-CD album set comprised of the best selling and critically acclaimed album releases 'All In All', 'That's the Way of the World', 'I Am', 'Gratitude' and 'Spirit'; and features 8 Bonus Recordings [not on the original albums] including 'Saturday Nite', 'Imagination', 'African Symphony', 'Diana' & more - a total of 62 recordings; each album is housed in a mini LP-style card picture sleeve with the complete set presented in a sealed card slipcase).

Off the Wall was a massive success, spawning four Top Ten hits (two of them number ones), but nothing could have prepared Michael Jackson for Thriller. Nobody could have prepared anybody for the success of Thriller, since the magnitude of its success was simply unimaginable – an album that sold 40 million copies in its initial chart run, with seven of its nine tracks reaching the Top Ten (for the record, the terrific "Baby Be Mine" and the pretty good ballad "The Lady in My Life" are not like the others)…

"Rotary Connection" is the eponymous debut album by the American psychedelic soul group of the same name. The album rose to #37 on the Billboard 200 chart and includes several cover songs by The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Lovin' Spoonful and Sam & Dave.

William DeVaughn, a native of Washington, D.C., beat the odds when "Be Thankful for What You Got," scaled the charts and sold a million copies. You see, DeVaughn paid for the session. All artists who signed with Omega Productions paid to record. The title track, with its cool, shuffling beat and Biblical-influenced lyrics, was the summer jam of 1974. "Diamond in the back, sunroof top, digging the scene with a gangster lean" was the buzz phrase.