Mickey Finn

One of the best female vocalists of the last 30 years, and still to be featured here - Lalah Hathaway:

Still on the Ws - Donna Washington:

Viola Wills:

Vince Montana magic, with Carol Williams:

Nancy Wilson, here with the Crusaders:

Spanky Wilson:

Athene Wilson:

A great album from 2004 by Penny Wells:

Back to S - while she did an album with Mtume & Lucas that had a few very good tracks on it, this duet with Michael Henderson still stands tall for Rena Scott:

And while we're on the Mtume & Lucas tip, what about Tawatha (Agee), who appears on this gem by Gary Bartz:

Back to M - did we really miss Stephanie Mills?

And forward to T - Dawn Tallman:

Back to M - Temika Moore:

Remember buying this blind and being very taken with the whole album - Vivienne McKone:

Dennis Coffey says as much in his autobiography. Considering how eager Gordy was to prevent the Funks from performing on sessions for any other labels in Detroit (those he hadn't already bought up), treating them like that doesn't look so good from this distance. Equally, having bought up most of the competition only to move lock stock and barrel westwards didn't do much for Detroit. And LA didn't do so well for Motown eventually either, although it took time for that to become more obvious - maybe 10 years before the obvious A&R mess of the 80s.

I was given this years ago by a friend who bought some Technics kit but wanted to play only classical on it. Terrific cd, mainly or even exclusively pulled from the Timeless label. Like the Move Records catalogue, that would be worth a serious revisit - just in case a stray record company executive looking for reissue ideas is visiting the site

Too jazzy? Well not for me at least... Add Gene Harris, "Tone tantrum" (among many others, featuring great version of Stevie's "As" and Donald Byrd guesting on remake of his "Cristo redentor") Joe Sample, "Carmel" David Benoit, "Heavier than yesterday" Michael Henderson, "Do it all" Norman Connors, "You are my starship" Santana, "Welcome" Herbie Hancock, "Headhunters" Lonnie Liston Smith, "Exotic Mysteries" (among many others) Brass Construction, "II" (among many others) Eddie Henderson, "Coming through" and "Mahal" Charles Earland, "Perceptions" (among others, produced by Randy Muller) Walter Jackson, "Good to see you" (for me his most consistent LP)

Have to add Melba Moore, "A Portrait of Melba", produced by McFadden & Whitehead with the full Philly ensemble. As well as "Standing right there", a beautiful version of Santana's "You are my river", "Promised land", "Is this the end", "Living free"... class from start to finish. Originally picked up on a bargain bin cassette, which got worn out just in time for the cd reissue a few years back. Another bargain bin staple for many years was George Benson's "Living inside your love" - there's some terrific instrumentals on that as well as his peerless version of Skip Scarborough's "Love ballad", "Hey girl" and "Welcome into my world". For a double LP its quality level stayed very high.

Backtracking again - no way we're missing Kym Mazelle. She did a very respectable version of "Was that all it was", but this earlier recording sweeps all before it:

Thanks Josep - eclectic is how I like it and it's part of the fun of attending weekenders or events where different styles are represented. Those albums I listed were mostly those that I had found second hand cheaply in the relatively small soul sections of record shops that were otherwise stuffed full of the usual suspect stuff. Found some real gems blind at silly prices and worked on the basis of following the producers, musicians and writers on the albums as a guide to the sort of quality that could be expected. That Al Jarreau LP is particularly special for me - he did other great ones (esp his Warner Bros debut "We got by") but "All fly home" feels like such a complete album. It features Freddie Hubbard on a few tracks and has a quite haunting version of "Dock of the bay" to close. The Casino Lights LP deserves some kind of reissue or revival - surprising how relatively little known or played it is. There are various others I could add to this list once I have a look through the collection but these came quickly to mind, along with many of the others previously listed. Northern is relatively new to me and it's like having yet another dimension open up (and swallow lots of cash ... but it has to be done!). Not such an album sport, however, apart from the great releases from Kent especially.

With a face to match:

So many great albums listed so far, will try not to duplicate those, but seeing Lou Courtney's several times reminds me of another great Jerry Ragovoy production: Dionne Warwicke - "Then came you" Also, Bobby Womack, "Roads of life" David Ruffin, "In my stride" Roy Ayers, "No stranger to love" (among many others) Barry White, "Is this whatcha wont?" (among many others, featuring the amazing "Your love - so good I can taste it") Leon Ware, "Musical massage" (agree with earlier comment about this guy being up there with the very best) Al Jarreau, "All fly home" Chic, "C'est Chic" Sister Sledge, "We are family" (both of these Chic productions proper albums that just happened to have great hit singles) Choice Four, self-titled and "On top of clear" The Dells, "Freedom means..." (among many others) Earth Wind and Fire, "I am" (among many others) Dee Dee Sharp, "What color is love" The Crusaders, "Free as the wind" (among many others) William Bell, "Relating" Bill Withers, "Menagerie" The Impressions, "First impressions" Lou Rawls, "Let me be good to you" (among many others)

This track closes the recent excellent Kent comp of Nashville soul producer Bob Holmes' work. This was recorded in Wisconsin and was supposed to be followed by an album which seems never to have been released. Stuff in the can, perhaps? Let's hope so - would be nice to hear more of Ruthie:

She has recorded more recently as Mashaa, and there's a nice 7 on Hit and Run recorded in 1979 but only released around 2011 ("You're gonna lose my love"), but Erma Shaw is probably still best known for her work with Canadian disco legend Gino Soccio:

Maybe not the sound of Detroit normally featured here, but it's a U and a Y so deserves entry on that basis alone - Underground Resistance featuring Yolanda: