24bit digitally K2 remastered.

Digitally remastered 2008 Japanese-only release, part of their excellent Soul Masterpiece series. Originally released in 1979, this release from this Soul band is appearing here for the first time on CD. Universal.

Masayoshi Takanaka is a Japanese guitarist, composer, and producer. He was born in 1953 in the Shinagawa ward in Tokyo, Japan. Takanaka's music was influential in the city pop genre of the late 1970s and '80s.

Masayoshi Takanaka is a Japanese guitarist, composer, and producer. He was born in 1953 in the Shinagawa ward in Tokyo, Japan. Takanaka's music was influential in the city pop genre of the late 1970s and '80s.

Since the mid-1980s, Earth, Wind & Fire's output had been erratic and quite uneven. One never knew whether the veteran soul/funk band would come out with something as impressive as Share the World or something as embarrassing as Heritage. After many years with Columbia, EWF switched to Warner Bros. — ironically, a label that gave Maurice White and friends the boot back in 1972 — with Millennium. While Heritage found EWF bending over backwards to appeal to urban contemporary tastes, sounding unnatural and even silly in the process, Millennium is a more honest and organic recording. Though hardly in a class with That's The Way Of The World or Spirit — or for that matter, Share The World — Millennium is a decent offering that finds the crew being true to itself. Much of the material, especially "Sunday Morning," "Chicago (Chi-Town) Blues" and "Honor the Magic," is fairly memorable. Unfortunately, the urban contemporary audience wasn't receptive to EWF's honesty. As influential as EWF had been, and as often as it had been sampled in hip-hop, the group was treated like it was expendable.

Out of over 6,000 entries — more submissions than we've ever received — Tank And The Bangas won, unanimously, this year's Tiny Desk Contest. I fully expected their victory performance here at NPR headquarters in D.C. to be celebratory. I didn't know we'd all end up in tears.
This band combines R&B with hip-hop's poetry and rollercoaster storytelling, with a flair and alchemy that could only come from New Orleans. Their winning song, "Quick," mixes liquor and revenge — a sort of modern day take on a great folk tale, but peppered with their own idiosyncratic flair and humor. What I couldn't see, until they took over my desk, was the depth of their lyricism and the versatility of their players. At one moment fun-filled funk, the next laid-back jazz, rhythm-driven blues — and it all flows seamlessly. And it's fun to watch: There's a magic kinship between Tarriona "Tank" Ball and Anjelika "Jelly" Joseph as they share singing roles, like two best friends finishing one another's sentences.
This is the third year that NPR Music has put out a call in hopes of finding a shining star. I'm still amazed how, after sifting through thousands of videos from abundantly talented musicians, we can find a common winner amongst a range of judges with such different musical backgrounds. But in the end, my All Songs Considered co-host Robin Hilton, Trey Anastasio (Phish), Miguel, Anthony Hamilton, Ben Hopkins (PWR BTTM), BANKS, and folks who listen to an awful lot of music — NPR member station hosts Rita Houston (WFUV), Talia Schlanger (WXPN), Stas THEE Boss (KEXP) — and myself were all equally charmed, delighted and captivated.
And so here it is, a chance to see an artist truly blossoming. It's just the beginning: A few years ago, for our first Contest, Fantastic Negrito won our hearts. This year he won a Grammy. Last year Gaelynn Lea, an unknown violinist, teacher and singer sent a video captured on a phone and won our affection and souls. A few weeks ago, her Tiny Desk Concert had been seen more than a million times. These days she's taken to the road, touring the world.
Tank And The Bangas will be hitting the road in April with NPR Music to find their new audience — I'll be along for the ride — visiting many of our member stations with help from those music-loving beer brewers at Lagunitas. I can't wait to see the reaction in these crowds' eyes, as they fill with wonder and tears like ours did, experiencing this band for the first time.
Musicians
Tarriona Tank Ball (vocals); Jelly Joseph (vocals); Merell Burkett Jr. (keys); Norman Spence II (keys); Joshua Johnson (drums); Jonathan Johnson (bass); Albert Allenback (saxophone)
Credits
Producers: Bob Boilen, Niki Walker; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Nick Michael, Bronson Arcuri, Morgan Noelle Smith; Production Assistants: A Noah Harrison, Ameeta Ganatra; Photo: Niki Walker/NPR.

The Bar-Kays are an American soul, R&B, and funk group formed in 1966. The group had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" in 1967, "Son of Shaft" in 1972, and "Boogie Body Land" in 1980.

Edward James Kendrick, best known by the stage name Eddie Kendricks, was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group The Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971.

Funk classic! Now if you check my pulse it beats Skull Snaps." - Beastie Boys "Unite". Skull Snaps is a legendary funk album that has long been shrouded in obscurity. The band recorded their self-titled debut and a handful of singles in 1973, and then vanished without a trace. The monstrous break that opens up their classic cut, It's A New Day, furnished the beat for countless hip-hop hits of the mid-'90s & the most sampled break in music history. Packaged in a 6-panel digipak, This deluxe version has been digitally remastered, with extensive liner notes containing new interviews and rare photos, and contains 2 bonus tracks 'Now if you check my pulse it beats Skull Snap' and 'Unite' Aztec Music. 2005.

Gilbert Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mike & Brenda Sutton was an American musical duo composed of Michael B. Sutton and Brenda Sutton. The duo are best known for both their songwriting-production work at Motown and their own recordings in the early 1980s, including the dance song "Don't Let Go of Me" as remixed by Shep Pettibone.

Remastered limited edition Japanese pressing features 9 tracks. Arista. 2005.

Edwin Starr's second album is an embarrassment of riches, soaring lyricism mated to a pounding, emphatic beat that won't let the listener go. Released in April 1969, 25 Miles was actually comprised, in part, of single sides, some going back as far as 1967, but was a more unified body of music than the preceding Soul Master LP. It embraced many of the changes that started to overtake Motown Records for the better as the 1960s came to a close, and it got a lot of what it did just right. The topical ballad "I'm Still a Struggling Man," though it didn't do that well as a single, featured one of Starr's most moving vocal performances, and in its lyric was the distant precursor to the musical/social vision that would burst forward full-force on Marvin Gaye's What's Going On -- it's still a love song, but is laced with bitter images and a social awareness that makes it all the more poignant. Aside from jewels like that, and the killer Starr original "24 Hours (To Find My Baby)," the album is also one of Starr's most rewarding vocal showcases, from the rough-hewn passion of "Backyard Lovin' Man," across the tender vulnerability of "If My Heart Could Tell the Story," to the soaring falsetto he generates on "He Who Picks a Rose"; the latter should have made great singles, as could the soaring, lushly produced "Soul City (Open Your Arms to Me)." Indeed, a good three-quarters of this LP could have been perfectly acceptable for AM airplay, so consider the album a gift in terms of accessibility and pop craftsmanship in a soul setting, as much now as then -- even the updating of "You Beat Me to the Punch," which gives it a whole new sound. Surprisingly, Norman Whitfield only produced a pair of cuts on this album, and the more startling of them is the gospel-flavored Whitfield/Barrett Strong number "Gonna Keep on Tryin' Till I Win Your Love," which is a delightful throwback to the sound of Sam Cooke; it makes a good pairing with "Pretty Little Angel," a Clarence Paul/Stevie Wonder/Mike Valvano copyright (and another lost potential single), and they flow right into "If My Heart Could Tell the Story." The whole record is a keeper, and one of the finer under-regarded albums in the late-'60s Motown library. 25 Miles was reissued in 2002 by Motown's British division in a beautifully remastered version, paired with its predecessor, Soul Master, and a trio of unanthologized singles from the mid-1960s, all on one CD.

With productions and songs from Freddie Perren and Fonce Mizell, Hell Up in Harlem is the scathing and soulful soundtrack of the motion picture starring Fred Williamson. This was Edwin Starr's last album for Motown which probably accounts for the woeful lack of promotion. Two singles were released, Hell Up in Harlem, the first, should have remained an album cut, as its appeal was limited, despite a dogmatic vocal by Edwin. However, the follow up, "Big Papa," should have been a monster. Written by Freddie Perren, it has the same power, forcefulness and drive of numbers that Norman Whitfield had produced on Rare Earth and the Temptations. The flips of both singles, "Don't It Feel Good to Be Free" and "Like We Used to Do," are mellower than the push sides. The bone picker, however, is "Easin' In," a great mid-tempo number with cool backing vocals, and a great reading from Starr, it has chart buster written all over it, yet Motown never released it as a single. Mind boggling, since Starr's final single for Berry's empire, "Who's Right Or Wrong," backed with "Lonely Rainy Days in San Diego," dropped six months after "Papa," but doesn't rate with "Easin'." Even more puzzling is why Phillips, which owns the Motown masters, hasn't reissued this winner on CD.