Not only is this a classic Northern Soul number but Jackie Shane is one of the earliest trans performers in pop history.

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Texas troubadour Micah P. Hinson’s plaintive love song stays in your head long after its two minutes are over.

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Here’s an Afro-techno party anthem from the Democratic Republic of Congo that should set your pulse racing and feet moving. Either that or you may be clinically dead.

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Phyllis Dillon’s rocksteady classic is a gem from Duke Reid’s legendary Treasure Isle studio. It’s been widely described as the greatest performance by a female singer in Jamaican music.

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Doll By Doll were something of a cult band in the punk/New Wave era, thanks mainly to the larger than life personality of their Scottish front man. (more…)

Jackie Edwards has been called the Nat King Cole of Jamaica for the smooth sentimental singing style that earned him the nickname The Cool Ruler long before Gregory Isaacs inherited the mantle. But there was much more to him than that.

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Jackie Wilson was one of the first R&B superstars back in the ’50s but his music had a second lease of life thanks to Van Morrison and Dexys Midnight Runners in the ’70s and ’80s.

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Gina X Performance were ahead of their time in 1978 with their dark, detached synthpop and the glacial vocals of Gina Kikoine.

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Jackie Day’s obscure soul single Before It’s Too Late was a flop in 1966 but found a new lease of life as a popular Northern Soul floor filler.

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Kneecap are a hip-hop trio from Northern Ireland with a strong republican message in their raps, aided here by Grian from Fontaines DC.

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