Reviewing Ellis Taylor’s Kansas City imprint — from prime Marva Whitney all the way through to Sharon Revoal’s ace, slinky, early-eighties disco-funk.

‘Laura liberated musicians to employ all their influences in crafting a pop song – as she had combined jazz, folk, classical, 60s soul, the Beatles, Dylan, Tin Pan Alley… so ahead of its time it’s still ahead…’

Plenty of killers, old friends like The Soul Children and William Bell alongside nuff new discoveries. Check the samples (if you think you’re hard enough).

Fabulous survey of Allen Toussaint’s Sansu label, from 1965 on, mixing one-aways with legends.

Jackie Wilson, Gladys Knight, Erma Franklin, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Butler, Esther Phillips, Irma Thomas, Chuck Jackson… This guy wrote Giving Up, the Donny Hathaway masterpiece, for crying out loud.