Recueil Des Coursvolume 170 (1981 I)

A reissue of Dimples' album originally released in 1981. Nicknamed because he has two prominent, deep dimples, the late Louisiana-born, Oakland, CA-raised singer sung in an extra low voice that worked with the right material but sounded incredibly weak on mismatches. The material fit like a glove on this release that includes his first smash "She's Got Papers on Me," a fine update of the Penquins' "Earth Angel," and the humorous "I've Got to Learn to Say No" where he laments about all his women and his ability to turn down new desires.

"Perfect Timing" is a 1981 album by British singer Kiki Dee. The album marked a brief comeback for the singer, led by the top 20 single "Star". It was her only album on Ariola Records and reached #47 on the UK album charts. The title track was also released, peaking at #66. Two further singles were released; "Midnight Flyer" and "Loving You is Sweeter Than Ever" (a duet with Elton John). The album was produced by Pip Williams. The album was re-released in 2008 on Compact disc with four bonus tracks.

For his 3rd album "Closer", Gino Soccio hired Erma Shaw, a singer he’d met at Muscle Shoals. Shaw had been discovered as a teenager by Stax cofounder Estelle Axton and was a session vocalist at Willie Mitchell’s Royal Recording Studios in Memphis. For Soccio, she was the perfect voice to bring out his American influences: “I wanted to go ultra, ultra R&B, and she was Black as Black. She was Willie Mitchell’s girlfriend, she was from the South.” With Shaw on vocals, Soccio cut the LP Closer and the lead single “Try It Out,” which spent ten weeks at the top of the disco chart in 1981. It also crossed over to Black audiences, climbing as far as number twenty-two on the R&B chart - an achievement Soccio said is a crowning moment in his career. “I was proud of that,” he says. “I’d been criticized for being too Black: ‘It’s too Black, it’ll never work.’ Well, you can never be too Black.”

Digitally re-mastered two-for containing a pair of albums from the Soul legends: Heavenly Body (1980) and Me & You (1981). The Chi-Lites had their biggest hits in the 70s but continued as an entity through the next few decades. For these two albums, the group consisted of Marshall Thompson, Eugene Record, Robert Lester, Marshall Thompson, and Creadel Jones. Both album boast some of the finest musicians of the day, fantastic full bodied productions swimming in strings and horns. We include here the rare 12" mix of "Try My Side of Love" and showcase some luxury soul in a variety of flavors and tempos all delivered by one of the finest ever vocal harmony groups to exist.

Maywood was a Dutch pop group in the 1970s and 1980s. Their biggest hit single was in 1980 with "Late At Night". They represented the Netherlands in the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest (Zagreb) with the song "Ik wil alles met je delen" (I Want to Share Everything With You), which finished in fifteenth place. The group split up in 1995, but re-formed for a series of concerts in October 2013. In 2000, female duo Maywood released "Late At Night/Different Worlds", which contained two albums - 1980's "Late at Night," and 1981's "Different Worlds" on two compact discs.

"Africa, Center of the World" is a studio album by American musician Roy Ayers. It was released in 1981 through Polydor Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at Artisian Sound Recording Studio in Hollywood, California and Sigma Sound Studios in New York City. The album is dedicated to Fela Kuti and Bob Marley.

While the three other Con Funk Shun reissues from Cherry Red's Robinsongs division paired two albums, this one is a two-disc set that combines three of them: Touch (1980), Con Funk Shun 7 (1981), and To the Max (1982). For whatever reason, Spirit of Love (also 1980), the source of "Got to Be Enough," was left out of the series. These weren't among the band's best releases, though they did spawn hit singles like "Too Tight" and "Bad Lady," and the tremendous album cut "Love's Train." In addition to providing the albums in their entirety, there is a handful of bonus tracks, including the 12" versions of "Lady's Wild," "Body Lovers," and "Ms. Got the Body."

"Love Life" is the 2nd studio album by American singer/songwriter Brenda Russell, released in March 1981 by A&M Records. "People" described the LP as a "eight of her pleasantly upbeat songs delivered with sassy-to-soothing vocals". Phyl Garland of "Stereo Review" also called the album "fresh, accessible and delightful".

In the '80s, Klique was best known for covering Jackie Wilson songs, even though Wilson covers only accounted for a small fraction of their output. The problem (if you consider it a problem) started in 1983, when the trio's version of "Stop Doggin' Me Around" soared to the top of the R&B singles charts. Then, in 1985, Klique had another hit with a remake of Wilson's "A Woman, A Lover, A Friend." So whenever Klique's name was mentioned, many R&B fans would respond, "Oh yes, the '80s group that does Jackie Wilson covers."

Born in Newport News, VA, in 1944, Salena Jones (real name: Joan Elizabeth Shaw) would over the course of a 60-plus-year career become one of the leading vocalists of swing music, performing in a number of countries in Europe and Asia and recording a number of albums. Jones got her first break at the famed Apollo Theater in New York, winning a talent contest that resulted in a record deal. She spent the early part of her career touring and performing with such leading lights as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Duke Ellington.