The Hues Corporation was an American pop and soul trio, formed in Santa Monica, California in 1969. They are best known for their 1974 single "Rock the Boat", which sold over 2 million copies.

Athens of the north and Symphoncal Records are proud to present the long lost Raw Soul Express LP in a special limited Vinyl only release. Mastered personally from the original tapes with love. If you don't know what this is then you're in the wrong game, the LP also includes the Full previously unreleased version of their rare-groove and surprisingly rare club classic "The Way We Live" in its full intended format. Solid Ballads are what makes the LP for me but there is not a bad track on there, boogie, funk and Rare-groove, blink and it'll be gone.

The Vibrations were an African-American soul vocal group from Los Angeles, California, active from the mid-1950s to 1976. Most notable among the group's hit singles were "My Girl Sloopy" and "Love in Them There Hills" (1968). The quintet's members included Don Bradley, Carl Fisher, Dave Govan, James Johnson and Ricky Owens.

Enjoy this Compilation with the most successful Soul, R&B Hitsville A Motown Gospel Celebration singers like Lexi, Gene Moore, Jerard & Jovaun, Brian Courtney Wilson and many more!

One could make the argument that no gospel group before or since has so successfully straddled the sacred and secular worlds as has The Staple Singers. The enormously influential blues guitar stylings of Roebuck “Pops” Staples, the astonishing, wise-beyond-their-years lead vocals of Mavis Staples, and the exalted harmonies of Cleotha, Pervis, and (later) Yvonne Staples packed a punch whether singing about salvation or civil rights. Now, Real Gone Music welcomes “God’s greatest hitmakers” into the fold with its release of two classic albums by The Staple Singers, their second and third releases and first two studio records for the Epic label, both produced by Billy Sherrill. 1965’s Amen! features the infectious title track along with Pervis’ doleful recitation on the powerful “Be Careful of the Stones You Throw,” while 1966’s Why actually scored a minor hit with the timely “Why (Am I Treated So Bad),” and highlights Mavis at her deep, moaning best on “Move Along Train.” CD debuts for both records, with annotation by Gene Sculatti and remastering by Mike Piacentini at Battery Studios in New York. Two fantastic records…get ready to move and be moved!

"Sometimes, all it takes is one man to recognize a city's potential for an industry. In Indianapolis, that man was Herb Miller, and his business was soul and funk. He came to prominence long after Indy's allure as a jazz destination waned. He founded LAMP Records in the late 1960s to wake Naptown from its musical slumber. Miller served a critical role in city's burgeoning soul and funk scene, providing not only financial backing, but acting as a one-stop, record-making shop for artists that had, to that point, been doing it all themselves. He's the Berry Gordy you've never heard of. His roster – national acts like the Vanguards and Ebony Rhythm Band alongside talented, regional acts such as the Moonlighters, Montiques, Pearls and the Words of Wisdom Truth Revue – rivaled that of any American independent and paved the way for the ascension of 80s and 90s hitmakers Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds and Antonio 'L.A.' Reid, both of whom cut their teeth with LAMP alumnus."

Before she’s truly freed from the shackles of EMI, Joss Stone must endure one final indignity: that standard end-of-contract ploy, a greatest-hits album, covering her six years with the label. Every one of her 12 singles for the label is here, with the Jamie Hartman duet “Stalemate” – originally released on Ben’s Brother’s 2009 album – added as a concluding track. If this doesn’t dig deep, it nevertheless hits all the highlights – her White Stripes cover “Fell in Love with a Boy,” her Top Ten U.K. hit “You Had Me,” “Don’t Cha Wanna Ride,” her only charting U.S. single “Tell Me 'Bout It,” the Common duet “Tell Me What We’re Gonna Do Now” – drawing a picture of the decade when Stone was always on the cusp of stardom yet never quite truly there. As introductions go, it’s a solid one, capturing her potential and promise, alternating between singles frustrating and fun.

Criminally overlooked upon its release, 1998 saw Chaka Khan shine on Come 2 My House. This album is thanks largely to the work of Prince, whose voice, words, and musicianship permeate the record all the way down to the colorful packaging. In fact, compared with New Power Soul, his own lackluster release that year, Come 2 My House and Graham Central Station's 2000, also from the Prince camp, should count as the real Prince albums of 1998.

The Hues Corporation is a pop and soul trio of the mid ’70s. They began their music career performing at the Circus Circus Hotel in Las Vegas and as an opening act for such artists as Frank Sinatra, Milton Berle, Nancy Sinatra, and Glen Campbell. They are best known for their 1974 classic and infectious hit, “Rock The Boat”, a U.S. #1 single and two million-seller which is considered by many an early classic of disco music; and by some as the first disco song to hit #1

"Solid Rock" is a 1972 album by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label, produced by Norman Whitfield. The LP was the first made primarily without founding members and original lead singers Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams. Frustrated by conflicts and fights with Temptations Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin, and producer Whitfield's steadfast insistence on producing psychedelic soul for the group when they really wanted to sing ballads, Kendricks had quit the act and negotiated a solo deal with Motown's Tamla label.

"Puzzle People" is the 11th studio album released by American soul quintet The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label in 1969. Produced entirely by Norman Whitfield, "Puzzle People" takes the next step along the path that "Cloud Nine" started, and takes the Temptations further away from a classic soul sound, and more towards the realm of psychedelic soul. Although a few ballads, including "Running Away (Ain't Gonna Help You)," are still present, the album is primarily composed of Sly & the Family Stone/James Brown-derived proto-funk tracks such as the lead single "Don't Let the Joneses Get You Down," and the #1 Billboard Pop hit "I Can't Get Next to You." Also included are psychedelic-styled covers (recorded with distorted guitars, clavinets, and spacy reverb and sound effects) of contemporary songs such as The Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing," The Beatles' "Hey Jude," and Roger Miller's "Little Green Apples."

"Disco Gardens" is the 2nd album by American R&B group Shalamar, released in 1978 on the SOLAR label. It features the line-up of Gerald Brown, Jeffrey Daniel and Jody Watley, and was the only Shalamar album on which Brown appeared. "Disco Gardens" was less successful than Shalamar's debut "Uptown Festival", peaking at #52 on the R&B chart and #171 on the Billboard chart. It contains early indications of what was to become the distinctive "SOLAR sound", most notably on the single release "Take That to the Bank" which was a UK Top 20 hit in early 1979.

'YIA Talent Hunt Winners' is one of Brooklyn's most sought-after 'holy grail' soul records. Youth in Action, Inc. (YIA) was formed in 1963 after the Central Brooklyn Coordinating Council received a grant to develop a youth services program in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community in order to address the social problems that were leading to the high crime rate. This album is the product of a talent show where local vocal groups chose tunes to cover fom the era: 1964-1968.

It was the sound of post-independence Nigeria, a time of celebration and wealth but, ultimately, of political oppression. The music reflected the times - a heady mix of traditional rhythms and big band highlife with the new rock, soul and jazz sounds crackling through transistor radios from Europe and the U.S. The rulebook of Nigerian musical heritage was ripped up as SANTANA, THE BEATLES and JAMES BROWN became as relevant to young players as HARUNA ISHOLA, VICTOR OLAIYA and E. T. MENSAH. Led by the towering influence of FELA KUTI, established Nigerian stars and the rawest of college bands alike forged new fusions and began using their music confidently as a vehicle for new variations of traditional parables and social commentary.

Funny, we can’t remember so many singers turning up on the Crusaders’ albums, but look a little closer at the liner. For this 1987 compilation—designed, perhaps, to fill the gap between albums by a group that no longer was a full-time act—MCA reached for records by B.B. King, Tina Turner, Joe Sample, and Wilton Felder that various Crusaders played on, as well as the band’s output from Street Life through The Good and Bad Times. B.B. takes the prize for his fabulous, humorously funky, live-in-London turn on “Better Not Look Down”—he plays guitar so sparingly, and every note is right in the pocket—but Joe Cocker comes close, riding on a classic bumpy Crusaders groove on “This Old World’s Too Funky for Me.”