New York vocal group The Persauders had their only UK hit with Thin Line Between Love And Hate long before before The Pretenders. (more…)

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Sometimes a bassline just hits the spot – right there in the gut – and carries the whole song. (more…)

Undiscovered for decades, here is the full 33-minute version of Isaac Hayes’s psychedelic jam Do Your Thing. (more…)

James Brown channels his anger into a revenge fantasy in the influential funk classic The Payback, much sampled by hip-hop artists in later years. (more…)

This is probably the soppiest song I like. It’s the antithesis of the soul music I like best – the gritty, sweaty, southern soul of Stax and Muscle Shoals. And yet… (more…)

Headhunters served up this fat slice of funk in 1975, featuring a famous sample that’s formed the basis  of countless hip hop tunes ever since. (more…)

This is another long jam for a summer’s day, fusing an R&B groove with the flightier embellishments of jazz. (more…)

The Five Stairsteps were five teenage brothers and sisters nicknamed The First Family Of Soul – a title that would soon be passed on to The Jackson 5. (more…)

The Chambers Brothers blended their gospel roots with folk and West Coast rock to create a unique take on psychedelic soul in the first Summer of Love. (more…)