VA Essential

Strictly DJ Only! The perfect mix and summer soundtrack of, dance, pop and reggae tailormade to set the atmosphere for a big night of party fun!

Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group Presents Essential Northern Soul contains the defining tracks of the decade and features some of the biggest hits from artists including Frankie Valli, Chuck Wood, Gloria Jones, Archie Bell And The Drells and many more.

2009 three CD collection of '80s classics. This triple disc set contains 60 definitive tracks featuring cuts from Adam & the Ants, Paul Young, the Jacksons, Alison Moyet, Bros, New Kids on the Block, Nena, Bangles, Rick Astley and many others. Sony/BMG.

The great musical border crosser of the twentieth century, George Gershwin excelled in the fields of concert music and popular song alike. The son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, he was born Jacob Gershvin in Brooklyn on September 26, 1898. His father ran a great variety of small businesses, and George, in the words of the New Grove Dictionary of Music, "excelled at street sports." He also studied the piano and was introduced to the European classics by his teacher, Charles Hambitzer. Gershwin immersed himself in popular music after dropping out of school in 1914 and getting a job as a salesman for the music publisher Remick. He was influenced by ragtime and stride piano music, and as a songwriter enjoyed his first hit in 1920 with "Swanee," recorded by the leading vocalist of the time, Al Jolson.

This 40 track album features a plethora of red hot exclusives; ranging from the No.1 from Ke$ha to chart smashes from Chipmunk feat. Chris Brown, Alexis Jordan, Katy B feat. Ms Dynamite, Usher, Alexander Burke and Pitbull feat. T-Pain. Furthermore, massive Top 10 hits from Labrinth, Mike Posner, Lemar, Mark Ronson & The Business Intl and Naughty Boy feat……..

In December 1938 three pianists, Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis sat onstage at New York's Carnegie Hall and dispensed an intriguing and exciting line in Boogie Woogie. What they played is now considered to be a major influence on R&B and rock and roll. Almost overnight, eight-to-a-bar became part of America's Swing Scene, as virtually every big band dashed to the recording studio to cut a piano boogie-led hit. Enjoy!

There are literally dozens of Motown compilation CDs available, one for almost every occasion. The Northern Soul scene is the famous underground soul dance music scene that became popular in the north west of England in the late 60s and early 70s. The scene thrived on the discovery of rare American soul singles with a dance beat that was heavily influenced by the Motown label's trademark sound. Many of the more obscure least successful Motown acts became popular on the scene.

2008 was a great year for world music, with a lot of amazing CDs coming from countries who are always top producers, and some great representation from countries we don't hear nearly enough of. It also happened to be an especially good year for the ladies, with powerful female-led groups and solo artists popping up around the globe. This compilation including 3 disks of magnificent music from authors from all ends of globe.

As students of the blues will know, the best music is often made in the most oppressive conditions. Discrimination and hardship led many African-Americans to abandon Alabama; they took their music with them, and this is how Alabama's blues spread to other parts of the United States. The musicians gathered here may have made their name in other locations, but their music is a direct and immensely entertaining link back to the Yellowhammer State where they were born and raised.

The Mississippi Delta has some of the most fertile soil in the world and became one of the richest cotton growing areas in the world which, before the American Civil War, was worked exclusively by black slaves brought over from Africa. The blues was forged on the anvil of poverty and hardship the black sharecroppers and tenant farmers had to endure. Born of the harsh, brutal conditions of life in the South, and full of pain, frustration and anger, the passionate, soulful sounds of the Delta revolutionised the sound of 20th-century music. This compilation celebrates some of its greatest exponents.