Daved

Agreed. Great chart and a great show. One of the few I listen to weekly.

Soul Shine on Expansion is my favourite compo of the year. Not one bad track on it and the first 3 are excellent. I played this a lot over the summer. In fact all 3 Soul Togetherness releases this year were very good. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soul-Shine-Various-Artists/dp/B010E92GXA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450427983&sr=8-1&keywords=soul+shine+cd

There's a great clip at the beginning of Straight Outa Compton, where a very young Dr Dre is in his bedroom sifting through his LPs playing Roy Ayers "Everybody Loves The Sunshine".

There was no Marvin release at the time. It first came out when the Let's Get It On Deluxe CD came out in around 2000. Not sure is there was a Deluxe LP too at the same time.

Minneapolis churned out some great stuff in the 80s with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis on top form then. Also The Time, Prince, Alexander O'Neal & Morris Day, etc - although this wouldn't appeal to a lot of people on this site.

Not that I know of. CD only but I'm not ware of the remix.

Always There is in my all time top 10 records. My fave is the Side Effect version though.

George Benson

Smokey Robinson is still around. Maybe not the most powerful vocally but certainly a great in terms of soul music.

It was a version of "I Need My Baby" on Goldmine 7s. Can't remember by who.

You're right it is a classic. Not rare by any means but a fantastic record.

Do what you want mate. You don't need anybody's approval

I still never tire of hearing this. Smokey Robinson - Tell Me Tomorrow

I didn't realize that DSG are responsible for some of the best new music and remixes over the last 12 months like SouLutions, Samuel D Sanders, McCrei. More power to you Gary!

Yes, duh, I was confusing it with that. It's very similar particularly as the first line is almost the same. I don't like the Universal Mind version either. Roy Hamilton's is my fave.

I like a lot of the recent Nigel Lowis remixes, but not so keen on this. I think Reach Out For Me is a classic 60s song and not one that can be brought up to date with the same effect

Ha ha. Good vid. Silly haircut

Ha ha, I thought I may have got my years mixed up one one or two. I mentioned Stoke because I used to go all the time and saw always packed dancefloors to those tunes. However, when I got out and about a bit more and heard the same stuff I guess that because Stoke,was only on twice a year, that to some degree they were playing the current "best of" tunes.It was a fantastic period for new music, a real golden era.

Now that the Soul Togetherness 2015, the 16th in the annual series, has been released it made me think back to what inspired the compilation. It was essentially the tunes that became anthems n their own right played in the modern room at Stoke’s Togetherness allnighters. Before the first compilation was released in 2000, the modern room had built quite a reputation for playing the best new release soul. The events, beginning in Feb 1997, only occurred twice a year initially, in February and October. It was common practice in the 90s to have modern rooms attached the main rooms at northern soul allnighters. This practice worked well, especially for people like me who are big fans of both styles. Over the first three of four years, the DJ line up consisted of arguably the best in the country at that time. From memory the line-up ran as follows: Roger Williams Dean Johnson Richard Searling Andy Davies Terry Jones Soul Sam Gary Dennis Gavin Page Mike Stephens and Colin Curtis joined sometime later. There may have been a couple of others too. The room itself was as good as pitch black. The bar was outside and the only light in the room was a red light on the DJ stand. You couldn’t see from one end of the room to the other. It was fairly big compared to others then and I reckon it could fit about 150or so in. The music was loud, very loud. In fact, in my usual spot at the front beside the speaker, the bass to be so hard, it made my chest shudder. The atmosphere was fantastic and everyone was incredibly friendly. Despite the event only being on, twice a year certain tunes quickly became anthems and packed the dancefloor. The late 90s was a fantastic time for new releases. So much so, that only a small proportion of 70s/80s soul was played. I think this eventually led to the modern oldies special in July and the tent at The Fleetwood weekenders to cater for those whose taste in modern only stretched as far as 1982. Here’s a list of songs that I recall were massive before the first Togetherness CD was released and inspired it. Some of which got included in the series. Ivan Matthias – Somebody Knows How You Feel Kashif – It’s Alright Frank McComb – Wasting Your Time Al Green – Keep On Pushing Love Gerry Devaux - Front of the Line Rahsaan Patterson – Where You Are (Silk's Old Skool Mix) Darwin Hobbs – Everyday Be Be Winans – Thank You George Benson – When Love Comes Calling Patti Austin – Totally Unacceptable Lenny Williams – Gotta Lotta Luv Sean Oliver - You and Me Ann Nesby – In The Spirit Maysa – The Bottle Ali – Feelin’ You Soul Bros feat Joi Cardwell – Let It Go (Deep Soul Vocal Mix) Donna Allen – He Is The Joy (UBP Classic Mix) Masters At Work feat James Ingram – Lean On Me

Another excellent addition to the series. It’s incredible that it’s now the 16th! The style of which has changed over the years, as you’d expect, but the quality has always been high. It prompts me to remember the King’s Hall allnighters in the late 90s and the fantastic tunes played in the modern room which prompted the series to start. I’ll start a separate thread about it.

Yep, mentions of both.

Agree that the entire Foreign Exchange “Milk and Honey” CD is brilliant. My best of 2015 so far. The Terri Lynn Carrington CD is also superb with many great guest vocalists including Chaka Khan, Ledisi and Chante Moore. I’m also loving Walter Beasley – Music Par-Le – Exclusive JD73 – Make Your Move CD

and interesting vests ......... to quote Boris Johnson

Thanks for this. I took a trip there earlier and got one too. Inspired by the best LP's of the 70s thread, I bought a few others too for £5 each

Not a soul singer but "Heart's Desire" was quite good. https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/obituary/6721896/billy-joe-royal-dies