Pop & Rock News

Disco Collected celebrates the dance music which originally developed from r&b, soul and funk from the late 60s and 70s and turned into a mighty subculture in discotheques, with Studio 54, Manhattan, New York as one of the most famous and extravagant discos all over the world. Disco used a steady four to the floor beat, string sections, horns which created a perfect setting for DJs who mixed their special 12 inches to an eager dance crowd.

Movies like Saturday Night Fever and Thank God It’s Friday contributed to disco’s mainstream popularity. Compiled on Disco Collected are some of the best, well-known and great disco hits by Rose Royce, Chic, Kool & The Gang, The Trammps, Thelma Houston, KC & The Sunshine Band and 16 more guaranteed floor fillers.

Disco Collected is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on translucent magenta (LP1) and translucent yellow coloured vinyl (LP2) and includes an insert.

Classic Miami Soul album from the couple George & Gwen McCrae including hits as « The Rub » and « Mechanical Body ».

Any time the discerning ear of Danny Krivit turns to upper echelon artists like the two featured on this latest 12-inch single, you know you’re in for a special treat, and that’s exactly what we have here. First up is Stevie Wonder’s timeless “If You Really Love Me,” a song written in 1970 by newlyweds Stevie and Syreeta Wright and simply glowing with the warmth and soulfulness that surrounds the happiest of unions. Krivit in conjunction with Kei and Nagi of Dazzle Drums, & Me & the Gang, utilizes the entire original song structure, in the process lifting Syreeta’s soaring backup vocals to the collaborative level they deserve, while underlaying the entire affair with Dazzle Drums’ trademark percussion-heavy, four on the floor thump. The result is certainly one of the finest, most respectful efforts in a field of Stevie house remixes that has seen far too many limp entries over the years.

Filling the flip side is Mr. K’s much-loved take on Chaka Khan’s “I Know You, I Live You.” Appearing in a rather murkily EQ-ed form in the early 2000's, this new issue wipes away the sonic sludge with a sparkling mastering job that reveals the full range of Mr. K’s epic edit. With pieces seamlessly stitched together from the original song, the album-only reprise, and Tony Humphries’ remix from the 1989 Life Is A Dance Chaka remix project, this rightfully celebrated mix can lay claim to being the definitive release of this undisputed classic. There are hardly better calls to the dancefloor than this, as partygoers at countless jams can attest. Most Excellent Unlimited and Mr. K are pleased to offer DJs and listeners the opportunity to send that call out themselves with this new release, exclusively for Record Store Day 2022.

Chicago's Ten City have long been one of the most respected and successful vocal house groups to emanate from the city since the late 80s. The groups original and unique style fused elements of gospel and soul with acoustic, orchestral arrangements, underpinned by the throb of Chicago's house sound. Featuring the powerhouse production and vocal stylings of Marshall Jefferson with Byron Stingily, 'Be free’ is the first new release from the group since 1994. ‘Be Free’ - originally released in 2021 - was the sonic natural continuity of cult releases and worldwide club hits such as ‘That’s the way love is’ and ‘Devotion’ that have never left dance-floors, discerning DJs and dancers' hearts and memories since.

Dimitri From Paris has naturally been a fan of Ten City from the very beginning. Upon hearing 'Be Free' he reached out to producer Marshall Jefferson to ask him to remix his new song ‘Music Saved My Life’, and after a quick chat Marshall asked if Dimitri could remix ‘Be Free’ in return and a deal was struck. As with most of his work, Dimitri used all of the original production, respectively and intuitively adding a few extra touches for maximum dance-floor potential. It is no surprise then that this long awaited vinyl release of 'Be Free' comes with Marshall Jefferson and Byron Stingily's full approval, with Byron even being quoted as saying that Dimitri's new version is ‘one of my favourite mixes of one of my songs ever!’

Re-issue on blue vinyl of this Sabadell Sound anthem released originally in 1987 by Blanco y Negro Music.‘Crazy’ wss the follow-up of ‘In The Night’ (re-issues on picture disc) and keeps the mood of that italo inspired movement created in Spain know as Sabadell Sound. Uptempo and happy track very italoish. Limited edition!

Yo! Boombox is the new instalment of Soul Jazz Records’ Boombox series on the early days of hip-hop on vinyl and features some of the many innovative underground first-wave of early rap and disco rap records made in the USA in the period 1979-83.

The album includes the first releases of seminal groups such as Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and The Funky Four Plus One More through to a host of rarities and little-known obscurities such as the Carver Area High School band’s ‘Get Live 83’, an awesome record made at a Chicago high school.


The album is released as a deluxe triple LP complete with 3x full inner sleeves of extensive sleeve notes, exclusive photography and original label artwork. There is also a very-limited one-pressing only special deluxe version that comes with an extra bonus super-rare 7” single of ‘Magic’s Rap’ by Magic’s Trick, aka ex-marine Magic Fraga, a record that was only ever available on US military bases!


Yo! Boombox also features the stunning photography of Sophie Bramly, one of a very select group of photographers (alongside Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper, and Joe Conzo) who were allowed full access to document the exciting early days of hip-hop in New York.
These first exuberant wave of innocent, upbeat, party-on-the-block rap records were the first to try and create the sounds heard in community centres, block parties and street jams that first took place in the Bronx in the mid-1970s. Where the first DJs – Flash, Kool Herc and Bambaataa – were back-spinning, mixing and scratching together now classic breakbeat records like The Incredible Bongo Band’s Apache or Babe Ruth’s The Mexican, these first pre-sampling rap records were all made using live bands, often replaying then current disco tunes.

As Chic’s ‘Good Times’ was to ‘Rappers’ Delight’, the songs here feature then-current dancefloor hits such as the Tom Tom Club’s ‘Genius of Love’, Cheryl Lynn’s ‘To Be Real’, MFSB’s ‘Love Is the Message’ while MCs rapped over the top, creating a unique new sound. In fact, the links between disco and rap date back earlier to the ‘party style’ MCing of figures such as the legendary DJ Hollywood or radio DJs like Frankie Crocker.

This new Soul Jazz Records collection
celebrates these first old-school rap
records, bringing together rare, classic
and obscure tracks released in the
early days of rap.

The F side is a classic Venice Beach disco edit for the 1st time on 7inch and it’s a real dancefloor killer!

The FF side is the studio version of a track produced live by Jay Airiness for his live show and this is the best version, I know of this one!

Dancefloors were made for this, quality stuff.

Hand stamped records & limited press.

With some of the best DJs and selectors there is a certain mysterious sound or underlying feeling which unites the music they play, regardless of genre, year or tempo Luke Una is a master of telling a story through music and this compilation is a perfect example of his musical alchemy in action. Featuring tracks from Yusef Lateef, Airto Moreira, Crooked Man, Henri Texier and many more, it is a collection of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world, all united by Luke under the banner of "E-Soul Cultura".It's best described by Luke himself, who writes: "As the 5AM city sleeps and the strobe lights are slowly turned off, we gather on the wrong side of town in a transcendental journey alone together. We are the late night disenfranchised holding on in various after parties, flats, lofts, random kitchens and basements into the outer cosmos with É Soul Cultura.

Music from exotic tear jerkers, Afro- spiritual jazz, cosmic Brazilian celestial grooves, machine street soul, dark horses, lost B- sides, £1 bargain- bin bombs, hidden gems, late night Italo dubbing, deep velvet N.Y.C garage, bass buggin sonic futurism, wrong speed 33BPM pitched up +8 new beat, majestic sunset strings, sweet vocals from heaven, no half steppin jazz dancing in outer- space and odd numbers. Yes… magical moments, together, holding on in witness protection suburban cul- de- sacs and Castle Court flats. Cosmic É high, 3000ft above the city getting evangelical to murky, wonky timeless beautiful music. This thing of ours dreaming of better days. Fail we may, sail we must, the sun will come up again."

Volume 2! MUNIR aka MIDNIGHT RUNNERS on his 5th drop with STAR CREATURE, hits us again with some diggin' deep dug ups from his corner of the world. This one picks up where his TUGBOAT EDITS VOL 14, HAUNTING ECHOES and NUSANTARA VOL 1 left off. Tidal waves of jazz funk, space disco & boogie.

When Italian Luca “Moplen” Locatelli asked High Fashion to feast his creativity on this one, they were rather sceptical. In fact, they preferred not. But how quick things can change! Moplen brought this nevertheless classic performance of Karen Young back to it’s basis, took as a tradition all tracks and stems apart, and reconstructed it into what it should have been back in 1982. With a flavour of 2020. Bringing the record to its original speed and key, based on the cosmic feel that comes with the lyrics of the song. And the way Karen performs it.

On the B-side Moplen goes wild and makes no compromize where he brings us almost in a cosmic state of trance. But this is NO trance record. This is boogie. This is how Deetour should have basically been in 1982. But this is how Moplen and Karen Young sound in 2020!

Four DJ cuts from the crates of Tom Bolas!

Official re-release, retrieved from original cassette tape (1988). First time on vinyl! Includes Turkish musicians like jazz & percussion star Okay Temiz.

Brought to you by the compiler of the Saz Beat series as well as the Bosporus Bridges series.

A Danish-Lebanese Afro-American who has learned Turkish and knows how to play the saz? Who entered the Anatolian Pop scene in Istanbul right in the heyday, the early 1970s? And who got so much musical credit that the renowned Turkish producer Nazmi Senel released a solo album with him in 1988, recorded in Istanbul and including musicians like Turkish percussion star Okay Temiz? Sounds pretty unlikely. Sometimes miracles happen and highly improbable music gets released. A person with a diverse heritage as Nyofu Tyson can be seen as a 'melting pot', as a 'synthesis'. Yet, he can be also seen as someone who is able to step out for new paths.
This is the case for TÜRK LOKUMU - TURKISH DELITE. Like nobody before, Tyson connects and opens up Anadolu Pop towards a whole range of styles: Synth-Pop, New Wave, Reggae, Hip Hop/Break, Latin, Disco Boogie… He shows us how vital, compatible and versatile one could think Anadolu Pop at the end of the 1980s. The compositions are basically all Türkü-s, traditional Anatolian folk songs, yet updated with a poly-cultural music practice, which involved a lot of the then current musical trends. So, this is Turkish folk music and it has at the same time all what you like about the late 1980s pop music: cold electronic drum sounds, crisp-flashy synths, crunchy bass - all in contrast with warm distorted saz tones, wooden Turkish wind instruments, and a disco-soul proven female choir. This is crazy music. This is a miracle. This is Anatolian-Synth.

Long awaited re-issue of Harri Stojka Express’ “What a Funky Night”, originally released in 1983. The Austrian producer/guitarist took everyone by surprise with this huge Boogie-Disco-Funk meteorite, due to his previous releases, which were mostly jazz-rock-fusion orientated records.

Previously only pressed in Austria and Spain, Mothers I’d Like To Funk is proud to present to you an official re-issue of this Funk anthem, and the flip side features a marijuana reggae tune

Mike Maurro is back at it. Taking the keys to the Philadelphia International Records vault and plucking out two certified classics The O'Jays - I Love Music and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes feat. Teddy Pendergrass - Wake Up Everybody to give them a little Maurro re-edit magic.

Officially licensed and taken from the master tapes, Maurro extends each track in all the right places, looping sections up, echoing elements and keeping everyone calling out for more. Uplifting music for the soul, given a new lease of life.

The long awaited 5th edition in the mysterious, yet white-hot edits series "it's a feeling"
A well-supported set of secret weapons - these always sell-out super quick !

Limited edition, hand-numbered, one time only pressing

Velvet Season & the Hearts of Gold is the musical adventures of Gerry Rooney (Black Cock Records co-founder alongside DJ Harvey) & Joel Martin (aka Zeus from Quiet Village alongside Radio Slave).

Continuing their series of exceptional releases, here is the new 'Special Versions' 12" for Resista - Free Your Mind!

'Love Directions'
An enlightened journey into hedonistic nightlife sounds for the dancefloor! - The connoisseur's choice for people who love to get down!
VSHOG weave their magic and transform this monster Philly groove into a mesmerising future dance classic, to ignite the senses, mind body and soul!
Soaring strings, Jazzy Fender Rhodes licks, tight fatback drumming, and the sweet soulful chorus, 'Come Follow Me'! Give yourself up to the music! Love is the message!

'Love Jelly'
The cream of British library session musicians recording moody David Axelrod Jean-Jacques Perry vibrati for the Hip Hop break beat sampler!
'Love Jelly', VSHOG exclusive special version is the spirit of the highly sophisticated 70's/80's London Jazz-Funk Rare Groove scene & warehouse parties.
The Cote d'Azur, Seductive Italian countesses driving Ferraris, a gentle breeze over the Mediterranean, the smell of Night Panther, and Leslie Anne-Down's Lingerie drawer!
Strangers in the Night...she had a tongue like an electric Eel!

As always the artwork has been completed by the very talented Pedro Carvalho de Almeida.

Vinyl Only.

Soundway have come to their last release of 2019, and they've saved the best till last.

Ft. a 12" single with both sides absolute dancefloor belters, think Latin disco meets parang soca from Barbados (original label from Trinidad/Tobago).

Both tracks - Colleen Grant "Latin Parang", and Sandra Hamilton "Parang Jam" - are not only highly sought after on vinyl, we are also officially reissuing both tracks officially for the first time on vinyl and digital since their original early 1980s releases.

Restored, remastered and sounding as fresh if not fresher than before! Attached are the sales notes, with salient details below.

"Giorgio Records" is very proud of presenting his third release.
For the first time since 1983, the reissue of Florio Time Dj with Time Out, real Italo Disco sound, with two fantastic Remixes created by Flemming Dalum and Kid Machine. Time out, time out, music in my heart, time out, time out, music in your heart…

After the success of the first volume, the second SOUL FINGERS’S tribute compila&on is released on double vinyl too.

SOUL FINGERS is a wandering black music dancefloor that in 2023 reaches to celebrate 10 years lifelong. Soul Fingers mixes soul, disco and funk, with rap and La&n rhythms. In this brand new compila&on there are some pieces that have really marked great par&es since 2013.

This time featuring some carefully selected dancefloor music bombs directly from the hands of Claudio Cavallaro, the leader of the Soul Fingers console!

Today, LA producer and underground dance-fantasy legend Benedek has shared his new EP “Zebrano” via Steven Julien’s Apron Records. It’s his first release for the London label, and features a stellar line up of featured artists, from rising Canadian-Ghanaian LA-based singer AKUA and DC's man of the moment dreamcastmoe, to R&B future icon Devin Morrison. It serves as Benedek’s first featured release since his 2011 single with Dam-Funk.

While originally lauded for his own hybrid of boogie, garage house, and downtempo grooves, Benedek is traversing new realms with his esoteric innovations. These are all facets of Benedek's sunny and seductive hometown of Los Angeles, and are sonically expressed in his catalog. But as much as he’s embraced the shimmer on the surface, he’s also familiar with deeper, more hidden worlds. His work has found its home on such labels as PPU, LI.E.S., Leaving Records, Music From Memory and more. His expansive catalog includes collaborations with Steve Arrington, Delroy Edwards, Dam-Funk, Joyce Wrice, Tom Noble, Jamma-Dee, Kirin and more.

Those who pay close attention to DJ Harvey’s sets should already be familiar with NuNorthern Soul’s next single, a fully licensed reissue of a sought-after 1980 promotional seven-inch from legendary Spanish Flamenco singer Manuel Mancheño Peña, better known as El Turronero (‘The Nougat’).

Both ‘Las Penas’ and ‘Si Yo Volviera A Nacer’ have long been secret weapons in the sets of dusty-fingered Balearic DJs, with Harvey regularly dropping the tracks during his sessions at Pikes Hotel on the White Isle.

Both tracks first appeared on Pena’s 1980 album New Hondo, a set that updated the then veteran Flamenco artist’s sound for the disco era. Whereas most of his previous albums were more traditional Flamenco affairs, New Hondo combined his throaty, effervescent Flamenco singing style with the driving grooves, swooping orchestration and spacey synthesizer sounds of European disco.

To promote the album, Spanish label DB Belter pressed up a promotional “45” featuring two of the most club-friendly cuts on the album. It’s this release that is being reissued for the very first time by NuNorthern Soul.

A-side ‘Las Penas’ is undoubtedly an off-kilter, late-night disco classic. Built around a flanged, action-packed disco-funk bassline, metronomic beats. soaring and layered female backing vocals, intergalactic synth sounds and stirring strings, the track steps up a level when ‘El Turronero’ takes to the microphone to belt out an infectious, energetic vocal in his trademark Flamenco style. It’s the kind of cut that’s as haunting and intoxicating as it is funky and floor friendly.

Flipside ‘Si You Volviera A Nacer’, another of New Hendo’s most sought-after tracks, is another unique and righteous concoction. Looser, groovier and warmer in tone, it sees another sublime, Flamenco style lead vocal from Pena accompanied by even funkier bass, spiralling ’70s synthesizer sounds, sweaty drums and some seriously exotic instrumental flourishes (think sitar and kalimba). It’s every bit as alluring as the more driving A-side, and equally as playable.

Both tracks may be unusual in comparison to the artist’s other releases, but they expertly capture a moment in time, when disco dominated dancefloors all over the world and inspired even the most traditional and historic of European musical styles. Quite a number of flamenco-disco records were made in Spain during the late ’70s and early ’80s, but very few are quite as magical as these.

Cruisin' Records presents an exciting compilation containing six full-length extended versions of summer-ish Italo-Disco tracks, selected from its vast catalog to commemorate in advance its 40th anniversary (1983-2023). ''Takes Over'' is compiled by Nello Jay, remastered by Dom Scuteri and produced by BEST Record. Some epic Cruisin' hits right here of which most are released in 1985. Up beat tracks that havent had the same amount of shine as some of the well known hits. These tracks might be unexplored, but exactly for this reason considered more engaging and intriguing whetting the appetite of followers and lovers of true and genuine Italo-Disco. The compilation could only begin and end with one of the most representative artists of Cruisin': Max-Him, whose most loved creatures are the sensational ''Japanese Girl'', where the sublime melody and the vocal skills of Massimo Vaccari stand out, and ''Lady Fantasy'' in the amazing remix version. The sound is powerful and the rhythm is always supported by the choral and structured ''For Your Sweet Information'' by the fantastic P.J. Marcus, stage name of the singer-saxophonist James Thompson. Then, we have the pleasant surprise that comes out of Ennio Manuel's magic top hat: Roxana, sublime interpreter of a danceable piece ''In Your Eyes'', whose melodic text... Je t'aime mon amour, I love you , Ich hab dich gern... were very popular in gay clubs all over Europe. ''Heigh Ho'' is a simple and catchy theme with a great arrangement. The piece sung by Fabian Nesti has such power that even today you never get tired of listening and dancing. Another exceptional piece of pure electricity is ''I Need Your Love'' where the male and female voices of the Midnight Passion marry perfectly in this masterpiece of great energy. 6 rare and obscure tracks for all Italo aficionados.

REPRESSED !! Purple Vinyl Ltd Edition

Keni Burke's signature hit 'Risin' To The Top' gets an official remastered, reissue alongside the 12 inch mix of his '81 killer jam 'You're The Best'.

'Risin' To The Top' quickly became a clear favourite of the soul crowd back in the '80s, with Keni's sensuous vocals, a timeless bassline of epic proportions and those dreamy, sunshine chords proving a winning combination. Since then countless producers, from the likes of Doug E Fresh and Slum Village, to LL Cool J and Mary J Blige, have utilised 'Risin' To The Top' as a choice sample for their own productions. A quick glance at this seemingly endless list, just goes to show how much of an impact this record ended up having.

On the flip, 'You're The Best', takes a more boogie paved path, filled with an undeniably groove laden bass synth, cosmic keys and Keni's infectiously soulful vocals. It's early eighties synth boogie at it's best, placing the electronic elements at the forefront whilst holding onto that unquestionable funk at its core.

Two Keni Burke classics for soul heads, sample spotters and anyone with a keen ear for a gem.