Who was the first white artist signed to Motown? Well I always thought it was R.Dean Taylor, the Canadian who sang the great Indiana Wants Me (and Gotta See Jane and There’s A Ghost In My House). It wasn’t. I’m not sure who it was but Debbie Dean was their first female solo artist back in 1960.

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Here’s another rare groove, this time by The Constellations, released in 1968. Despite their starry name, they never hit the heights but they left their mark with this Northern Soul classic.

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Deep Southern soul music doesn’t get much better than this version of These Arms Of Mine by James Carr from 1968. (more…)

Here’s a bit of history… the first time Deep Purple ever appeared on TV. It was 1968, they chose a Beatles song, and they seem to be on a roof top. Dunno where that idea came from. (more…)

Here’s a lost masterpiece blending jazz, funk, blues and soul – and psychedelia – by The Loading Zone, a long-forgotten late-1960s band from San Francisco. (more…)

The exuberant brass motif that drives this swinging soul number sounds instantly familiar, perhaps because of the many lives this song has had since it was written by The Chi-Lites’ lead singer Eugene Record and Sonny Sanders.

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Cliff Nobles is unique in the annals of one-hit wonders – he doesn’t appear at all on this his solitary hit. (more…)

There’s not much to Tighten Up beyond a funk groove, some handclaps, and Archie introducing himself before urging the listener to dance. But it’s a classic. (more…)

This is the best, best-known, and best-selling song ever written by Tom T. Hall, who died last week. It’s also the only hit for Jeannie C. Riley. (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…)