Lynden David Hall - Sexy Cinderella 1997

Cooltempo Records CDCOOL 328

The 1997 debut album Medicine 4 My Pain by Wandsworth-born singer/song-writer Lynden David Hall made an unprecedented impact on the discerning tastes of the Brit-Soul fraternity. At the time of completing that album he was still young, having just signed his first record deal at just 21. Sexy Cinderella (featuring Me'shell Ndegeocello on Bass) was the first single release, remixed for the dancefloor by CJ Mackintosh but including the superb album version.

In October 2003, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma; he died on 14 February 2006, at the age of 31

• Radio Edit
• Album Version
• Cosmack Radio Edit
• Cosmack 12" Mix
• Cosmack Instrumental

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: LDH - Sexy Cinderella.rar Filesize: 27.75 MB

Culture Beat - (Cherrylips) Der Erdbeermund 1989

Epic Records 655633 2

Long before they recorded Mr Vain, (well, three years, that's a lifetime in the music world....) Culture Beat were way cool! We're still in the 2nd Summer Of Love and anything goes. Smiley is on everything, the 808 rules and Bass, Breaks & Bleeps are on the horizon. Suddenly, from Germany of all places, the most beautiful instrumental piece of music slips from my radio and reminds me that all is well with the world!

Culture Beat was formed in 1989 by Torsten Fenslau, who had been working as a deejay at the Frankfurt nightclub Dorian Gray. His first single, the ambient house track Der Erdbeermund, with a spoken vocal in German by Jo van Nelson, peaked at number 11 in the German singles chart. It was also released in English and French titled Cherry Lips & Les Lèvres Cerises. The Instrumental Magic version was a club hit in the UK.

• Instrumental Magic
• Get Into Magic Vocal Mix

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Culture Beat.rar Filesize: 42.54 MB

Du, Du, ich bin so wild nach Deinem Erdbeermund
Ich schrie mir schon die Lungen wund
Nach Deinem Leib - Du Weib

Im Klee da hat der Mai ein Bett gemacht
Da blüht ein süsser Zeitvertreib
Mit Deinem Leib - Die lange Nacht
Da will ich sein im tiefen Tal
Dein Nachtgebet und auch Dein Sterngemahl

Im tiefen Erdbeertal im schwarzen Haar
Da schlief ich manchen Sommer lang bei Dir
Und schlief doch nie zuviel
Komm - komm - komm her
Ich weiss ein schönes Spiel
Im dunklen Tal im Muschelgrund,

Ach, ach, ach Du, ach Du, Du
Ach ich bin so wild nach Deinem Erdbeermund

Ach, ach...
Die graue Welt macht keine Freude mehr
Ich gab den schönsten Sommer her
Und Dir hat's auch kein Glück gebracht nicht war
Hast nur den roten Mund noch aufgespart

Für mich, für mich, für mich,
So tief im Haar verwahrt
Ich such ihn schon die lange Nacht
Im Wintertal im Aschengrund
Ich bin so wild nach Deinem Erdbeermund

Im Wintertal im schwarzen Erdbeerkraut
Da hat der Schnee ein Nest gebaut
Und fragt nicht wo die Liebe sei
Ich habe doch das rote Tier so tief erfahren
Als ich bei Dir schlief
Ach oh wär der Winter erst vorbei
Und wieder grün der Wiesengrund

Und Du, Du ach Du
Ich bin so wild nach Deinem Erdbeermund

Lewis Taylor - Whoever 1996

Island Records PY 940

Lewis Taylor began musical life playing in The Edgar Broughton Band, an unlikely apprenticeship when you listen to his self titled debut, if you enjoy this, buy that. Coming over like a modern day Marvin; he has Gaye's passionate, creamy inflections down pat yet this is so much more. Taylor's prowess as a multi-instrumentalist and a highly eclectic musical sensibility also echoes the Beach Boys, Joe Meek, prog rock and psychedelia. Whoever is as wonderful a slice of soul as you are likely to hear. The other three tracks were not released on any of his albums, to my knowledge but give an interesting insight into his diversity. Listen in wonder to the psychadelic Pie In Electric Sky and marvel at how it becomes the wonderful soulful gem If I Lay Down With You. Waves is classic soul and then Trip So Heavy comes on like Marvin on LSD.... Taylor suffered commercially because programmers didn't understand where he was coming from. Stop trying to figure it out and just enjoy, every track is a gem!

BTW, the cover was designed to look ruff like that, it's in good condition, honest?

• Whoever
• Pie In Electric Sky/If I Lay Down With You
• Waves
• Trip So Heavy

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Lewis Taylor.rar Filesize: 25.05 MB

"Thanks Frank!"

Street Sounds Edition 13 1985

Street Sounds STSND 13

Another iconic release from the Street Sounds stable. Packed full of goodies, as usual, although the big tracks Steve Arrington - Dancing In The Key Of Life, Atlantic Starr - Silver Shadow, Colnel Abrams - Trapped, Cool Notes - In Your Car and BB & Q - Genie are all fairly common place nowadays, I think Cheryl Lynn - It's Gonna Be Alright (yeah, I know?), Skool Boyz - Superfine (From Behind), One Way - Let's Talk and Rodney Franklin - Fiesta are not heard enough and Billy Griffin's Electrified still sounds so fresh!

• Steve Arrington
• Atlantic Starr
• Cheryl Lynn
• Billy Griffin
• Change
• Colnel Abrams
• The Cool Notes
• Skool Boyz
• Brooklyn Bronx & Queens
• One Way
• Rodney Franklin

...and Oh My Gosh!

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Street Sounds Edition 13.rar Filesize: 105.54 MB

Sha Lor - I'm In Love 1989

De Construction Records ZT 42892

Vocal house with beautiful vocals and a gorgeous haunting refrain that is as contagious as the common cold. The vocals were performed by Laurie Maynard, who along with Sharmelle John made up the group Sha-Lor. Sharmelle performed the spoken word and "in love ooooooh"s. The track was produced by Ben "Cozmo D" Cenac for Jam-On Productions, the Brooklyn DJ collective behind Newcleus (Wikki Wikki Song) published by Jump Street Records. Enjoy!

• I'm In Love (Remix)
• I'm In Love (Classic)
• I'm In Love (Harmonic Mix)

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Sha-Lor.rar Filesize: 33.22 MB

Adeva - I Thank You 1989

Cooltempo COOLX 192

Adeva (born Patricia Daniels) is an American singer from New Jersey. Her big voice debuted on a Smack Productions dance cover of the Aretha Franklin/Otis Redding hit "Respect" in 1989 her debut album, Adeva!, came out in the same year. A critical and commercial success in the UK, it contained several hit singles of which I Thank You was the fourth reaching #17 on the UK chart. Along with Troy Patterson, Kevin Lewis & Brenda Mickens on backing vocals Adeva kicks up a storm but this 12" release fares well due to the additional production of SimpHouse legend Paul Simpson and engineer Dave Darlington who's name always seems to be on the best tunes. Respect is still a favorite, especially for New York City radio but for my personal preference, this beats Musical Freedom (another SimpHouse production) for the dance floor and I'd much rather hear the sublime Beautiful Love than Respect anyday.

Despite collaborations with Frankie Knuckles and being much sampled by numerous artists including Onephatdeeva, she allegedly now teaches 7th graders.

• I Thank You (The Philadelphia Mix)
• I Thank You (Philly Dub)
• I Don't Need You

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Adeva.rar Filesize: 28.11 MB

Jody Watley - Off The Hook 1998

Atlantic Records 7567-84091-2

Jody Watley got her start as a dancer on the hit TV show Soul Train at the age of fourteen. From 1977 to 1984, she was a singer in the R&B group Shalamar with Howard Hewett and Jeffrey Daniel. In late 1986, Watley released her first single off her debut solo album called "Looking For A New Love", which became a hit followed in 1989 by Real Love from her second album Larger Than Life. After 1990 she lost the interest of the music scene, possibly due to her dance fitness video and tv ads?

Jody spent most of 1997 recording her sixth studio album, Flower, and was back on the scene in early 1998 with Off The Hook and If I'm Not In Love. Off The Hook fared well, propelled by remixes from Masters At Work and Soul Solution, the track reached #1 on the US dance chart, making it her first #1 in nine years. In the UK it was the Booker T mixes that created the fuss and are still of interest now.

Big Beat Records was absorbed into its parent label, Atlantic Records, which then shelved the albums U.S. release. Flower was, however, released in Canada, Great Britain and Japan. The critically-acclaimed release was championed by many UK magazines, including Blues and Soul, and Echoes magazine among others.

• Radio Edit-US Version
• Booker T Remix
• KenLou Mix
• KenLou Dub
• Soul Solution Mix

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Jody Watley - Off The Hook 1998.rar Filesize: 39.32 MB

Chaka Khan - Love You All My Lifetime 1992

Warner Brothers 9362-40412-2

Yvette Marie Stevens was born on a Naval Training Station, Illinois. She adopted the African name Chaka Khan while working for the Black Panthers circa '69-70-ish. A few years later she teamed up with Kevin Murphy and Andre Fisher to form Rufus, debuting in 1973 the group earned a few gold & platinum albums before she went solo in 1978.

Chaka kicked off her own career with I’m Every Woman (written by Ashford & Simpson) and has never looked back. 1984 was such a great year for her that following it successfully was virtually impossible. In comparison, she could only go downhill. In 1989, after a couple of flakey albums, a concerted effort was made to put Chaka Khan back in the public eye. The excellent Life Is A Dance - Remix Project, was a retrospective of a decade in the hands of 11 acclaimed remix producers of the era. It scored well and her name was back on the front page, just as well really coz....

Chaka Khan returned to form with this 1992 gem. The Woman I Am is one of Chaka's best ever solo albums, her voice crystal clear and the tunes consistently melodic. Khan co-wrote five of the songs and the strong songwriting and vocal performance more than compensate for the early 90's production. This one of Chaka's most cohesive solo albums, despite having eight different production combinations on thirteen tracks, it all goes together well. This album just shows Chaka Khan at her best, Songs like Love You All My Lifetime, the single from the album, puts Khan's voice out in the forefront where it belongs. The album cut is a powerful and stunning R'n'B number with a very infectious hook. On this release, Ben Wolf & Andy Dean have done a great job on The Diva Edit. This 8 minute Boilerhouse opus utilises all the strongest aspects of the song while remaining faithful to its original purpose. Elsewhere, The Love Suite is handled by a backroom team of some repute. The mix is credited to David Shaw & Winston Jones (the only team to contribute a second track on The Remix Project album) but... a young Cevin Fisher (Burnin' Up) is on the keyboards along with Fred McFarlane (Somebody Else's Guy & Show Me Love) and the whole deal is engineered by Dave Darlington (NYC's busiest engineer, has his name on more vinyl than Porky Prime Cut). As you would expect with those names involved, this is a House remix, built for the dancefloor and it does the job well. The Woman I Am won a Grammy Award back around 1993 and is probably Chaka at her finest. If you like the album version I'd reccomend the album.

Three decades and five Grammy Awards down the line she is still going strong. Chaka's latest album, Funk This celebrates 30 years of solo career and it sounds pretty damn good, I guess she's set for a few more years in the public arena.

• Album Version Edit
• The Diva Edit
• Garage Mix With Strings
• Love Suite 12" Mix Act 1
• Love Suite 12" Mix Act 2 Dub

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Chaka Khan.rar Filesize: 45.72 MB

Cold endless summer days
Since you went away
Tore my heart in two
And now wandering through the night
I see the city lights
Feelin' so in need
I'll never be at peace

Love you all my lifetime
Lost to you eternally
Everything in my life
Tells me we were meant to be

Strange, something's always wrong
Dreams don't last that long
What part did I play in that game
And now, now you turn away
Excuses are too late
Feelin' so in need, i'll never be at peace

Love you all my lifetime
Lost to you eternally
Everything in my life
Tells me we were meant to be

I hope you can remember
Hopin' for another chance,
I hope that you can see that
We can start a new romance

You make the rain and the night go away
You make the sun rise up in my sky
You make the rain and the night go away
You make the sun rise up in my sky

Carlton - Do You Dream 1990

3 Stripe Music SNMX 1

Another oddity from 1990 was this offering by Carlton. From the album, The Call Is Strong, produced by Smith & Mighty, the Bristol based 3 Stripe Studio production team who's signature style consisted of adding dubby sounds and trippy atmospherics to the very fashionable Soul II Soul beats of the era. Carlton had limited but effective success. Smith & Mighty had far more longevity, pioneering Drum & Bass via Trip Hop.

Not for the purists, I would have preferred to have started with Cool With Nature or even Love and Pain but I can't find them at present so I'm limited to Do You Dream which can be a bit overwhelming. High BPM's here and a frenetic percussion style, Part 2: Can't Pay Won't Pay is a dancefloor marathon with lots of breakdowns. Come On Back gives you a better idea of Carlton's style but if in doubt, listen to the Accapella. Carlton McCarthy has soul!

• Do You Dream
• Come On Back
• Do You Dream Part 2
• Do You Dream (Accapella)

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Carlton - Do You Dream.rar Filesize: 31.5 MB

Maybe we could leave the crowd
Bodies talk, without sound
All alone out on the street
As we breathe, through the rain

When you hold me, do you dream
Does it seem, that you'll stay
Come together's what I dream
Linked together, like a chain

Can't break free, have to play
Can't be dreaming, its too real
How you feel, got to stay

When you hold me do you dream
We're linked together, like a chain
Inside my dreams,
We're linked together
Like a chain

Wop Bop - Something Special 1991

Ten Records TENX 375 DJ

Wop Bop Torledo are Maryanne Morgan and Gary Stoner. Morgan provides Keyboards & Vocals while Stoner plays Bass, Guitar & Drum Programming, Both write, produce and arrange. Other musicians involved on their album include Michael Ruff (Keyboards), Jess Bailey (Keyboards), Gary Barnacle (Saxophone), Chris "Snake" Davies (Saxophone), Ron Asprey (Saxophone), John Thirkell (Trumpet), Louis Jardim (Percussion) and Mick Talbot (Style Council) plays Piano on Kissaway. The self titled album, Wop Bop Torledo, produced and engineered by Curtis Schwartz, was released in 1990 on Atlantic Records as was the original Kissaway 12" and previous releases. Something Special is released under Wop Bop. Still Something Special is included on the album and Kissaway is included on this 12". I suspect the 12" A - part of the remix title refers to the original Kissaway 12" placing. You can see from this here White Label Promo, that my information is zero?

Something Special is remixed by Carl McIntosh of Loose Ends fame and his Bubbler Extended Version is easily the better mix. The Kissaway (Soulamuffin Mix) was crafted by Femi Fem of the Young Disciples and is definitely the track that makes this release worth having. The Accapella Mix of Something Special may come in handy for the mixes though. Enjoy Nitro. ;-)

• Something Special (Carl McIntosh Bubbler Extended Version)
• Something Special (Wop Bop Extended Version)
• Kissaway(12" A-Soulamuffin Mix)
• Something Special (Accapella Mix)

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Wop Bop.rar Filesize: 32.23 MB

Soul II Soul - Just Right 1992

Ten Records TENDG 410

Jazzie B's voice was a driving force behind the early Soul II Soul sound. With his unique accent and smoky vocals he was able to incorporate a reggae influence reflecting the sound system roots, His unique brand of soft rap was very poetic that meshed well with the dance music but he also looked forward and strived to remain original.

"As soon as people think they have deciphered the entire Soul II Soul vibe, my goal is to add something unexpected,"
Jazzie B

Before the release of Volume III: Just Right in 1992, Nellee Hooper left the group to pursue a career as a producer. The third album reflected some other changes too, SIIS introduced the use of male vocalists for the first time, Kofi, and Richie Stephens share vocal duties with Caron Wheeler. This single features the title track from the album featuring UK soul legend Rick Clarke on vocals. Jazzie B also takes the lead on Intelligence and on this release, works well with Gang Starr's Guru on the Jazzie II Guru Mix remixed by DJ Premier. The 9 am Mix, by the Funki Dreds, is a pretty cool 8 minute plus affair which starts of as a nice vocal bubbler then breaks down into an old school dub plate. Nice!

If It's Teaching That You Need
Then I Hope That You Can See
Time Is Not A Shadow
If You Can Stand The Test Of Time
Then I Hope That You Can Find
The Truth That You've Been Searching For
Make Everything Just Right

There Will Always Be A Fountain
As Big As A Mountain
Where The Flow Of Love Will Grow
Just To Capture All This Pleasure
As Much As You Can Measure
Will Take Something To Know

Make Everything Just Right
Make Everything Alright
Make Everything Just Right

Bridge Is Not A Shadow
Keep It Up
You Got To Keep It On
Keep It On The Ground
Move On Keep On Moving
Jazzie B Groove On
Jazzie

The Vibes Alive On Which We Thrive
Doctor Fish Is Our Favourite Dish
Which Rely On To Be Strong
Just To Carry On Doing What
We Do Best I Guess Just To Keep
Rick In Check And Make Sure You
Watch Every Step You Take
To Make Everything All Right
Like A Peaceful World In The Sunlight

Now If You Put Your Hands In Mine
We'll Stand The Test Of Time
And You Know Our Love Will Grow
Just Like The Hands Of Time
Our Love Will Always Shine
Shine On Through The Night
Just Right

• Just Right (Club Mix)
• Just Right (Jinx Mix)
• Intelligence (9 am)
• Intelligence (Jazzie II Guru Mix)

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: SIIS Just Right.rar Filesize: 35.89 MB

The James Taylor Quartet - Love Will Keep Us Together 1996

Acid Jazz Records JAZID 112 CD

Featuring Alison Limerick on vocals. Alison is a London girl, who started out as a backing vocalist in the 80s. She is best known for her 90s club anthems, her most successful being Where Love Lives, which was originally a massive club success in 1991. After her appearance on this track, Where Love Lives was remixed and made the top ten smash in 1996.

• Ian Green Radio Mix
• Full Length Album Mix
• Mean Streets Mix
• Love Ballad

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: JTQ Love.rar Filesize: 28.91 MB