The Class Of Mayfield High - Billy Butler - Major Lance - Otis Leavill (Demon-Westside - 1999)

The Class Of Mayfield High

The Class Of Mayfield High is an excellent compilation digging 60's and 70's singles of Billy Butler, Major Lance and Otis Leavill released on the Brunswick and Dakar Chicago imprints. The three guys shared a common master, Curtis Mayfield, who was barely their age but was affirming himself already as the undisputed leader and choice songwriter of the chicagoan soul scene. If Billy Butler, Major Lance or Otis Leavill had a voice a bit too common, to pretend to Curtis throne, they nonetheless scored a handful of smoking deep soul scorchers, backed by Brunswick and Dakar first class studio musicians, as good as the Funk Brothers ,while Willie Henderson Carl Davis were sharing the producer seat. Really, really good.

The Troggs - Cellophane (Page One - 1967)

The Troggs - Cellophane

The Troggs (Reg Presley, Chris Britton, Pete Staples, Ronnie Bond) have a true garage rock name and the reputation to be one of the first punk rock band ever. They had it all 10 years before the punk revolution: the stupid name begining with "the", raw, basic and lubricious rock'n'roll songs but were still dressed like your average British Invasion pop band with stupid Joan Of Arc style haircuts. Cellophane had the reputation to be record hard to find but not that good, even if one of The Troggs best song, Love Is All Around, is included. Influenced by the psychedelic sound of their London peers, The Troggs didn't really convinced psych specialists with Cellophane even if I find personnaly the album really good. On the reedition I posted, you'll find interesting bonus tracks: 8 single only sides and 2 singles released by Ronnie Bond and Reg Presley while trying to go solo.

New York Noise - Dance Music From The New York Underground 1978-1982 (Soul Jazz Records - 2003)

New York Noise

Released in the middle of the punk funk revival, the first volume of the New York Noise serie is probably the best compilation ever devoted to resurrect New York forgotten underground heroes of the 80's. Often imitated but never matched, Soul Jazz genius gathers tracks everybody must possess. From the seminal Optimo, by Liquid Liquid, a song James Murphy listened really a lot, to Baby Dee by Konk, a mix between electro and Manu Dibango, from the proto techno of Material to the noisy sound of Glenn Branca, from the afro disco of Dinosaur L created by Arthur Russell to the amazing sisters of ESG, all those artists were announcing the Yk music scene twenty years before. A compilation that made me immediately forget all the shitty acts that emerged in the 80's (remember Dire Straits?) and disgusted me from this decade.