I've written before about Cherry Red, the U.K. record label that keeps the flame burning for early British rock, American soul, reggae, jazz and many other forms in between. If you're giving gifts this season—to yourself or family and friends—here are 15 CD sets with great sound produced through licensing agreements with the music's original labels. They will knock you out:
Gerry and the Pacemakers: I Like It (1963-1966). Managed by Brian Epstein and produced by George Martin, the Liverpool group was fronted by Gerry Marsden, who also wrote their hits. While the group had an impact in the U.S., during the British Invasion, they just didn't have the look or the pipeline. But the songs they left behind still have an early 1960s innocence and charm. Three CDs. Go here.
A taste...
Having a Rave-Up! The British R&B Sounds of 1964. While the Beatles were tearing up America in 1964 and Motown hadn't quite broken through in the U.K. yet, British bands began exploring R&B. The result was soul with a snarly pop sound. Three CDs. Go here.
A taste...
BT Express: Definitive Collection. Before disco and the hustle, the big dance craze in 1973 and '74 was the bump, which began with Manu Dibango's grinding Soul Makossa. The band that had a huge bump hit was BT Express, with Do It ('Til You're Satisfied). Four CDs. Go here.
A taste...
Blue Magic: Stop to Start: The Atco and WMOT Recordings (1973-1977). This Philadelphia soul vocal group's first album, Blue Magic, came out in 1974 just before the onset of disco and was a test lab for Philadelphia International's orchestral sound. Love songs had a light disco beat, and their first couple of albums were perfect. Not a flat track among them. Many of the studio musicians on the session would go on to Philly International's MFSB. Four CDs. Go here.
A taste...
The Salsoul Orchestra: The Vince Montana Years (1975-1978). Salsoul was a record label founded by three brothers in New York as the city's answer to Philadelphia International. In fact, nearly all of the key musicians at Salsoul had left Philly International after a dispute over pay. Salsoul snapped up Vince Montana (orchestral arrangements and vibes), Norm Harris (lead and rhythm guitar, arrangements, songwriting and production), Ronnie Baker (bass guitar, arrangement and production), Earl Young (drums and percussion), Bunny Sigler and others. While Salsoul's output still didn't match the quality of soul by songwriters-producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, it took disco's commercial slickness up a level from Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra. Eight CDs. Go here.
A taste...
Double Exposure: The Salsoul Recordings 1976-1976. This high-production disco band helped pioneer the sound and production value of Philadelphia dance music in the 1970s with two huge hits mixed by the legendary Tom Moulton: Ten Percent (1976) and My Love Is Free (1977). The former has the distinction of being the first 12-inch dance single in the disco era. Four CDs. Go here.
A taste...
Loleatta Holloway: The Gold Mind and Salsoul Recordings (1976-1982). Loleatta Holloway is largely unknown today, which is a shame. A singer with a big church voice, she's among the most sampled female singers in popular music, used on house and dance tracks. Five CDs. Go here.
A taste...
First Choice: The Gold Mind Recordings (1977-1980). Of all the female disco vocal groups, First Choice was among my favorites. The Three Degrees and the Emotions were great, but First Choice leaned into disco harder and had tremendous success. Their early 1970s hits were solid (The Player, Newsy Neighbors and Armed and Extremely Dangerous). This box features Doctor Love, Tom Scott's arrangement of Love Thang and more. Four CDs, with lots of remixes. Go here.
A taste...
Swing Out Sister: Blue Mood, Breakout & Beyond. Most people in the U.S. are unfamiliar with Swing Out Sister, a British art-disco band popular in the U.K. from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. Fronted by vocalist Corinne Drewery, the sophisticated trio had it all. Hot across the pond, crickets in the U.S. Eight CDs. Go here.
A taste...
Heaven Sent: The Rise of New Pop (1979-1983). What were British music fans listening to just before the arrival of MTV and just after? Many tracks that only hit in the U.K. are here. In many respects, it was new wave with a computerized, processed pop twist. A well-edited, nifty collection at the dawn of the visual era. Four CDs. Go here.
A taste...
Cut Me Deep: A Story of Indie Pop (1985-1989). With the rise of MTV in 1981, British pop had a bucket of syrup poured over it, spread by fashion consultants and videographers. Bands that resisted the slick trend went back to pop's 1960s roots and added synths and other instrumentation to give the music more surface and texture. Four CDs. Go here.
A taste...
Cameo: Four Classic Albums on Two CDs (1981-1984). This straight-ahead funk band was formed in 1977 with a Sly Stone-meets-Kool and the Gang feel. But Cameo was more muscular and gritty. While the band turned out hit albums starting in 1979, the music didn't cross over to the mainstream until the early 1980s. While their No. 8 Billboard pop chart album Word Up! isn't included here, you do get Knights of the Sound Table (1981), Alligator Woman (1982), Style (1983) and She's Strange (1984). These albums climbed high on the Billboard R&B chart (Nos. 2, 6, 14 and 1, respectively) Two CDs. Go here.
A taste....
Roots Rock Rebels: When Punk Met Reggae (1975-1982). The rise of punk in the mid-1970s was a raw, minimalist reaction to slick sports-arena rock bands and hard economic times. This box looks at the stripped down reggae sound. Three CDs. Go here.
A taste...
Lloyd Charmers & Friends, Reggae in Wonderland: The Splash Singles Collection (1969-1971). Technically this album isn't about reggae but about Jamaica's rocksteady movement, which covered American R&B hits with a Kingston feel. And what a rocksteady collection this is. Wow. All of the tracks were produced by Lloyd Charmers and features a wide range of Jamaican rocksteady artists. Two CDs. Go here.
A taste...
John Holt: Gold, the 1980s Albums Collection. John Holt was one of Jamaica's rocksteady top recording stars, starting in the mid-1960s. Perhaps his most famous song in the U.S. with the Paragons was The Tide Is High, covered by Blondie. This box features three of his 1980s albums. Two CDs. Go here.
A taste...
For much more on Cherry Red and its subsidiary labels, go here.
