Explain Simply

Simply Red's second major hits collection not only celebrates their illustrious 25-year career but also marks the end of it, thanks to Mick Hucknall's announcement that he will henceforth only be working under his own name. The much more comprehensive 25 features all but two of the tracks included on 1996's Greatest Hits, plus several tracks from the commercially inconsistent last decade. Of course, it's the late-'80s and early-'90s material that made Simply Red, essentially a solo vehicle for Hucknall, a household name. The likes of "A New Flame," "Holding Back the Years," and debut hit "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)" all showcase their signature blue-eyed soul sound, which has helped to sell over 50 million records worldwide.

After 8 solo albums for Island Records culminating in the huge commercial success of 'Riptide', Robert Palmer found a new recoring home with EMI in 1988 with the release of 'Heavy Nova', but what hadn't changed was his very diverse range of material and styles, from self-penned rockers and ballads to covers of heavy funk and Tin Pan Alley. Heavy Nova includes the enduring smash hit single 'She Makes My Day'. 'Don't Explain' followed in 1990 and was also typically multi-faceted, presented in two parts: the first a rocking guitar-led set of songs, and the second half a soundtrack to an ambitious planned musical. 'Don't Explain' includes the hits 'Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You' and the collaboration with UB40, 'I'll Be Your Baby Tonight'. The ten bonus tracks include remixes and non-album single tracks.

The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever. More than a half-century after her death, it's difficult to believe that prior to her emergence, jazz and pop singers were tied to the Tin Pan Alley tradition and rarely personalized their songs; only blues singers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey actually gave the impression they had lived through what they were singing.