Lasker

With 47 Pop hits and 52 R&B hits to their credit spanning nearly 25 years of recordings, The Four Tops are one of the greatest vocal groups in the history of pop music, hands down. But a big chunk of their hits, the ones they recorded for the ABC/Dunhill label, have been almost entirely unavailable in the CD era. This 2-CD collection from Real Gone Music answers the prayers of soul fans worldwide by presenting, for the first time ever on CD, all 33 rare single sides that the Tops recorded for the ABC/Dunhill label from 1972 through 1978. Just how rare are these tracks? We'll get into that in a sec; but first, a little history. Though The Four Tops (Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Lawrence Payton, and lead singer Levi Stubbs) had dominated the charts with their classic recordings for Motown in the '60s, when the label decided in 1972 to move to Los Angeles, the group, like many of their celebrated label-mates, felt it was time for a change.

During the two decades that followed the end of World War II in 1945, independent record labels flourished. Many of these micro labels succeeded by specializing in specific types of music that the more bland-minded giants—RCA, Columbia and Decca—largely ignored. In the process, these small labels wound up establishing beachheads for new music genres and cornering the market for the genres' best musicians and singers.

Sonny Rollins & Co. - 1964 is a 1995 compilation CD by American jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Some of the people helping him out in these sessions include Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter & Jim Hall. This was released by Bluebird via RCA/BMG.