Freak Power

A promising young historian with a taste for the exotic.' Stephen Fry

This 1967 acid-rock relic floats by in a puff of harpsichord, sitar, chimes and sound effects. Meditate and hallucinate to "I've Got a Zebra-She Can Fly"; "Girl from Nowhere"; "Electric Buddha", and more flower-power freakishness.

Only Dance 1980-1984 follows the pattern of JCI's Only series, offering a seemingly random collection of 20 hits from a given genre or style for a period of five years. These songs weren't necessarily the biggest hits of these five years, although there are a number of classics and smashes here. It may be hard to deduce exactly why these songs were chosen – especially since the compilers apparently define "dance" as anything you could conceivably dance to – but the end results are nevertheless quite entertaining. All of the songs are featured in their original hit versions, not remakes, which isn't always the case with midline collections. Furthermore, there a few cuts that aren't easy to find on other collections or even greatest-hits albums, which means it's interesting to collectors as well as casual fans. Most importantly, each volume captures the feeling of the era, even if it's missing several big hits, and that's what makes the series a nice introductory overview for curious listeners.

UK three CD set from the power pop legends containing their classic Black Vinyl Shoes album complete with bonus tracks plus two CDs featuring two rare pre-BVS albums plus additional tracks. First issued in 1977 on the band's own label but not widely available until it was reissued in 1978, Shoes' first album proper, Black Vinyl Shoes, is an absolute classic of US power pop, characterized by gorgeous, Byrds-style chiming guitars, wistful, melancholy melodies and wonderful harmonies. To coincide with the 40th anniversary (ish!) of this landmark record, Cherry Red are proud to present this deluxe edition of Black Vinyl Shoes, reconfigured to present - almost - the complete recordings of the band from their embryonic home demos in 1973 through to tracks laid down on the eve of their deal with Elektra Records in 1979. These include the entire Black Vinyl Shoes album, their privately-pressed 1975 album One In Versailles, the 1975 recordings which were unissued at the time but belatedly presented as Bazooka, two tracks from their mythical 1974 LP Heads Or Tails, their one-off single for Bomp Records and a handful of previously unissued tracks. Coordinated with the original band members, Black Vinyl Shoes boasts lengthy (8,000-word) sleeve-notes by David Wells, remastered sound quality and a sizeable booklet awash with rare images from the period.

NOW Music is proud to present the next instalment in our ongoing ‘Yearbook’ series, NOW – Yearbook 1978; 85 tracks from a magical year in Pop! This special edition CD is housed in ‘hard-back-book’ packaging, including a 28-page booklet featuring a summary of the year, a track-by-track guide, a quiz, and original singles artwork.Opening with the epic ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ from Electric Light Orchestra, the timeless ‘Baker Street’ from Gerry Rafferty, and Rod Stewart’s massive #1 ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’ More #1s follow from ABBA with the brilliant Pop of ‘Take A Chance On Me’ and 1978’s biggest selling single, ‘Rivers Of Babylon’ from Boney M. Pop-Reggae chart-toppers from 10cc and Althea and Donna are up next, before a run of dancefloor fillers including ‘I’m Every Woman’ from Chaka Khan, and Donna Summer’s incredible version of ‘Macarthur Park’, before a couple of Soul ballads from Rose Royce and the huge #1 ‘Three Times A Lady’ from Commodores. The first disc draws to a close with a stack of Pop classics from Marshall Hain, Clout, Bonnie Tyler and Suzi Quatro and Wings, before the peerless ‘The Man With The Child In His Eyes’ from Kate Bush.

"Earth: The Power of the Planet" highlights the major events which have shaped the Earth's history and allowed life to flourish. Presented by Dr Iain Stewart, each episode will reveal a different force critical to the development of Earth including volcanoes, the ocean, the atmosphere and ice. The series follows Dr Stewart's personal journey to some of the most remote places on the planet, from abseiling down into a lava lake in Ethiopia to cave diving in the underwater caverns left by the impact of the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Parlophone Presents Smash Hits Girl Power 2CD album 40 original hits by the original artists. Includes tracks by the Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Girls Aloud, Katy Perry, Kate Bush, Bananarama, Sheena Easton, and more.