Lady Torch

Intense, Soulful and Sassy, Alice Marie is endowed with incredible agility and wile flexibility. The singer, songwriter, and classically-trained violinist is fully equipped, whether nimbly oozing her way through the complexities of a classical cadenza, or ricocheting off the backboard of those tricky, oddly-timed rhythms of traditional Celtic music.

The received wisdom on the tragic torch singer's later work–of these 35 tracks, six were recorded in 1946 and '47, and the rest in the '50s is that her interpretive skill made up for the collapse of her voice. In fact, the serious cracks in her pitch don't appear until the second disc of this set, and it doesn't approach the febrile croak of Lady in Satin until the END. But she relies on a handful of vocal tricks, and some numbers that had been in her repertoire for ages, to approximate the glory that her voice once was. At times, though, the results are lovely and heartbroken rather than saddening, especially with the simpatico musical backing she got in these sessions.

Funny Lady, the follow-up to the 1968 Funny Girl which made a movie star of Barbra Streisand, picks up the character of Fanny Brice in the 1930s. Although she is a tremendously famous Broadway star, she has suffered from the stock market crash and needs to boost her finances. Even Ziegfeld, who soon will pass away, is having a hard time raising money for a show. Into this scene bursts brash young Billy Rose (James Caan), an egotistical lyricist with unrestrained ambition. He cajoles and charms Fanny into linking up with him, convincing him that he can produce a revue that will showcase her to their mutual advantage…

George Sanders was the classic screen Cad, Mountebank, whatever you want to call him. He was a complex individual, but he had a lovely, rich baritone voice, and could play decent piano, too. This album of show tunes and torch songs is a very underrated thing - the arrangements are subtle, but sweeping and grand when they need to be, and George weighs in with some fine vocalising.

The Odyssey: A Northern Soul Time Capsule is the single most comprehensive overview yet of a truly unique UK musical culture which has now lasted over 45 years and has spread across the world. The music follows the evolvement of Northern Soul, from it's early beginnings at Manchester's Twisted Wheel club in 1968, through to The Golden Torch, Blackpool Mecca, Wigan Casino and Cleethorpes Pier in the 1970s, Stafford Top Of The World and The 100 Club in the 1980s and the huge dearth of Soul weekenders and the 100 Club again from the 1990's to the present day. Featuring a mind-numbing 222 tracks, all licensed from legitimate sources. The most comprehensive Northern Soul track-listing ever. The Odyssey: A Northern Soul Time-Capsule truly does what it says on the tin. This is the most exhaustive history of the Northern Soul scene ever released.