Фирма Fantastic Voyage

Style: Soul

Compiled by reggae authority Mike Atherton, 'Mash It!' features 50 examples of prime early ska by artists including Laurel Aitken, Higgs and Wilson, Derrick Morgan, Jimmy Cliff and Owen Gray. Disc One is devoted to major players on the Jamaican production scene, WIRL records (Eddie Seaga) and Beverley's (Leslie Kong), plus four Rico instrumentals, while Disc Two investigates the work of other producers vying to make their name. Many tracks new to CD - comes with a 20 page illustrated booklet. Style: Ska/Reggae

Style: Soul

Style: Pop

Style: Blues

Artist: Various Label: Fantastic Voyage (rough trade)

Artist: Various Artists Label: Fantastic Voyage

Artist: Various Artists Label: Fantastic Voyage

Artist: Various Artists Label: Fantastic Voyage

Artist: Various Label: Fantastic Voyage (rough trade)

Style: Rockabilly

Style: Pop

Artist: Various Label: Fantastic Voyage

Style: Rockabilly

Fantastic Voyage’s new series, Soul City, explores the music being produced in key centres in the early 1960s, when R&B was evolving into the style that was soon widely referred to as soul. Having kicked off the series in Detroit, we now turn our attention to the Big Apple. While New York may not have a distinctive musical ‘sound’ or style such as those which more readily identify R&B and soul recordings made in Memphis, New Orleans, Philadelphia or Nashville, the city was the home of countless singers and musicians through the decades, and also a veritable hotbed of independent record labels and producers, all seeking to make their fortunes by creating and promoting the next million-seller. The first step towards this was getting your record into the local radio station chart, hoping to break into what was then (1962) the R&B Top 50. While this may have been an easier process away from the metropolis, the audience was significantly larger and the potential reward greater for those based in the Big Apple, and the artists and tracks in Soul City New York provide a good overview of the range of talent and relative success achieved as the world of rhythm and blues evolved towards soul. Most of the tracks in this collection, which has been compiled and annotated by soul music authority Clive Richardson, were recorded for independent labels, some of which have grown in reputation over the decades such that they are now regarded as comparable to the majors of that time, and their owners have carved their own niches in the history of soul. More is known of Juggy Murray (Sue), Florence Greenberg (Scepter/Wand) and Bobby Robinson (Fire) than of any executive of Brunswick or Roulette, and their artists have become our heroes in the annals of music history, emerging as they did from the very roots of rhythm & blues/soul music due to their mentors’ ears for talent. Here are some early tracks cut by Ike & Tina Turner, starting their hit trail on Sue, a range of songs by Chuck Jackson and Tommy Hunt, founding superstars of the soul era, breakthrough hits by the Isley Brothers, landmark recordings by Shep & the Limelites, an array of gospel-soul performances by the emergent Sam & Dave, vibrant vocals from the twilight of Dinah Washington’s career, and hard-to find gems from Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford and collectors’ items from Jackie Wilson and James Ray. Truly a ‘Voyage’ of discovery into the emergence of Soul City New York! Style: Soul

50 scene-setting singles that surfaced in the UK in the lead-up to the Rock & Roll revolution! Inspired by the 'prequel' editions of Stuart Colman’s 'I Shall Be Released' feature, which appeared in leading rock & roll magazine Now Dig This back in January Record Label: Fantastic Voyage Style: Rock' n' Roll

Compiled and annotated by Lucky Parker, the 2CD set Dancin’ Party recollects those carefree days of record hops, big boss lines and ladies’ choices with a stunning selection of the genre’s biggest hits and best-loved exponents. While it’s undoubtedly the best-remembered 60s dance, The Twist really was just the toe-tapping tip of the Terpsichorean iceberg. Its popularity defied borders, classes and age groups as it wound around the globe leaving a trail of pinched nerves, slipped discs and happy osteopaths in its wake. First Lady Jackie Kennedy gave it the establishment seal of approval when she was photographed “doing it” at a White House bash and yet, for around five years prior to the British Invasion, the US charts were awash with dance craze discs, records whose catchy appeal meant they often registered in both the Pop and R&B charts. Fuelled by teen-orientated TV shows such as American Bandstand, regional dance fads came and went with dizzying speed, all of them marketed to youngsters eager to shake a tail feather and prove they were hip to the latest moves. Lest you be a wallflower it was time to take to the floor, saddle up and Pony or just Mess Around and Shimmy. The Waddle, The Pop Pie and The Roach may have faded as quickly as last night’s prom corsage, but others like The Cha Cha Cha, The Shag (the state dance of South Carolina, in case you were wondering) and The Bossa Nova have proved more enduring. Featured artists include Chubby Checker, Dee Dee Sharp, Little Eva, Joey Dee, The Olympics and there are also hard-to-find cuts by The Dutones, Brice Coefield and The Miller Sisters. So get with, don’t quit it – it’s party time! Style: Pop

Artist: Various Label: Fantastic Voyage (rough trade)

Style: Pop

Jamaican R&B and the Birth of Ska. It took years for ska music to become an overnight success. When tunes like ‘My Boy Lollipop’ hit the airwaves in Britain in the sixties, most listeners assumed that the odd and addictive back-to-front beat was something dreamed up in the studio the month before. Some realised that the music had connections with Jamaica, but few people knew that the genre had been gestating for some years. The music owed some debt to Jamaica’s indigenous folk music, mento, but the strongest, most obvious ingredient of ska was American r&b. By the close of the 1950s the advent of record pressing facilities on the island had enabled records to be manufactured, without sending tapes to Britain and waiting for records to be shipped back. A number of enterprising Jamaicans began to supervise recording session and released the results on their own labels. Compiled by specialist black music writer Mike Atherton (Record Collector, Echoes), Youths Boogie portrays the popular music of Jamaica in the period 1959 to 1962, before it became formally known as ska, but by which time most of the characteristics of ska were present and correct, alongside the influences of American r&b. This 2LP vinyl limited edition (500 copies), features 32 tracks selected from the 50-track 2CD set. Disc One showcases the productions of Chris Blackwell, a white Jamaican who ran the local R&B and Island labels, before moving his operation to Britain, and Duke Reid, who ran the Trojan sound system, and issued many of his productions on the Duke Reid’s label, before founding the famous Treasure Isle label in the sixties. Disc Two looks at the productions of other individuals like Simeon Smith, Charlie Moo, Byron Lee, Vincent Chin and the London-based Sonny Roberts, who were all vying to make names for themselves. Taking its name from a Rico instrumental, Youths Boogie features the work of male solo artists like Laurel Aitken, Owen Gray, Derrick Morgan, Wilfred “Jackie” Edwards, groups such as Derrick Harriott’s Jiving Juniors and the Blues Busters, male/female duos Derrick & Patsy, and Keith & End, as well as a rare (for this era) solo female outing by Hortense Ellis. Style: Reggae