Billy Stewart

2003 restored & remastered reissue of 1985 compilation, that's unavailable domestically, featuring 29 tracks recorded during 1964-1968, packaged in a digipak. Includes 12-page full color booklet with photos & other memorabilia.
Like a majority of up-and-coming British bands of the 1960s, the Zombies made nearly two dozen BBC Light and Radio 1 transmissions between the fall of 1964 and the spring of 1968. The 29 cuts hail from a variety of those programs. In many cases their alternate persona as a consummate and immensely soulful cover combo is likewise illuminated. The contents are presented in a relatively chronological manner, commencing with one of the group's earliest shots (if not the earliest shot) on Saturday Club, broadcast on October 3, 1964…

GQ - Two (1979) {2012 Remastered & Expanded - Big Break Records CDBBR 0155}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 348 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 114 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 60 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1979, 2012 Arista / Big Break Records / Cherry Red Records | CDBBR 0155
Disco / Soul / Funk / R&B / Quiet Storm

GQ originally formed in 1968 as Sabu & The Survivors. Their biggest hit was "Disco Nights (Rock-Freak)” single from their debut album which peaked at R&B #1, Disco #3 and Pop #12. The debut album peaked at R&B #2 and Pop #13. GQ TWO was their second album and reached R&B #9 and Pop #46 shortly after it’s release in 1980. It was produced by Jimmy Simpson who also produced Candi Staton, Ashford & Simpson and Deodato.

GQ are remembered for two very different things: uptempo disco-funk jams ("Disco Nights," "Standing Ovation") and covers of Billy Stewart ballads. And they excelled in both areas. But by 1981 (the year in which Face to Face first came out as a vinyl LP), the popularity that GQ had enjoyed in 1979 and 1980 was starting to fade. Face to Face, which was the Bronx outfit's third album as GQ (in 1976, they recorded an album titled Soul on Your Side as the Rhythm Makers), wasn't as commercially successful as 1979's Disco Nights or 1980's Two. Unlike those albums (both of which went platinum in the United States), Face to Face didn't contain any blockbuster hits. But Face to Face did make it to number 18 on Billboard's R&B albums chart, and it contained the number 23 R&B hit "Shake."

The "In Crowd - The Ultimate Collection" from the original style movement 1958-1967 was a monumental music collection, and the fact that it managed to collect such a wide and eclectic movement made the album essential. What stood out was the fact that the album for the most part stayed away from the obvious tracks and wasn't simply a greatest hits of the sixties album.

After the success of "Disco Nights" taken from their debut album, GQ's follow-up album, Two, led off with another upbeat number, "Standing Ovation." Not as groovin' as its predecessor, it nonetheless managed to stand in at number 12 after 15 weeks on the Billboard R&B charts. The quartet followed with a remake of a song that Billy Stewart made popular among R&B lovers, "Sitting in the Park." The patient rhythms of the track provide a humble foundation for Emmanuel Rahiem LeBlanc to display his appealing vocals. Along with these two songs, another standout track is "Don't Stop This Feeling." With a combination of R&B and smooth jazz, this composition maintains a steady rhythm seasoned with LeBlanc's placid articulation of each lyric and improvising guitar solo.

Recorded in Chile 2008. Earth, Wind & Fire are captured live offering their funky fusion to an enthusiastic crowd!
Earth, Wind & Fire were one of the most musically accomplished, critically acclaimed, and commercially popular funk bands of the '70s. Conceived by drummer, bandleader, songwriter, kalimba player, and occasional vocalist Maurice White, EWF's all-encompassing musical vision used funk as its foundation, but also incorporated jazz, smooth soul, gospel, pop, rock & roll, psychedelia, blues, folk, African music, and, later on, disco.