Music On Vinyl Vinilo y CD

Review: Collins & Collins was a short-lived but no less significant collaboration between American soul brother-sister duo Bill and Tonee Collins. They've been the subject of many-a-reissue over the years but none so far have harked back to the obvious: their debut, self-titled album, which contained a wealth of slick covers of soul standards like 'Top Of The Stairs' and 'Can't Turn Down Love', effectively amounting to a wordless masterclass in loving cool. The sound is snappy and high-fidelity, owing to the unsung but rather lengthy production going in, and it's beautifully backed up by both members' sweet voices, which resonate in a high-low, yin-yanging, equal-opposite musical dao.

Review: Heatwave's cult classic debut album Too Hot to Handle is a glorious ode to funk-disco sounds from the American outfit. It was recorded from 1975 to 1976 and arrived that same year in the UK, a year later in the Us, and remains a much-loved album all these decades later. The Dayton., Ohio-formed band features well over 10 different members in its time but this album was written exclusively by songwriter/keyboardist Rod Temperton who hooked up with the band when the founding member, Johnnie Wilder, had relocated to London, England after being in the services and based in West Germany.

Review: Heatwave's greatest hits collection from 1984 is a perfect embodiment of their sound. Disco, soul and funk all combine to thrilling and floor filling effect across nine tracks. The band formed in the mid-70s in Europe but had members from all over the world. Johnnie Wilder was the founder and an American serviceman based in West Germany who stayed put after the war and sang in local clubs before hooking up with Rod Temperton in the UK. 'Boogie Nights' is their most iconic and successful hit and it opens this collection in gloriously uplifting fashion.

Review: The backstory to this one is great. It starts in 1978 when a New York producer was in need of some studio musicians to lay down some fast and funky rhythms for a band he was working with, The Imperials. Minneapolis talents Andre Cymone and Prince Rogers Nelson duly stepped up and recorded 'Fast Freddy The Roller Disco King'. An album from the Imperials was set to follow but it never did, leaving us with this one majestic cut. It's soul-drenched and cosmic disco with a killer vocal back with a more leggy and slow-motion cosmic wonder, 'I Just Wanna Be Your Lovin' Man.'

Review: KC

Review: American rap outfit Sugarhill Gang changed music history with their fresh hip-hop sounds and never more so than on their self-titled album. It is often said to be the first rap full length and it came in 1980, a full four-plus decades ago now so gets a special, if possibly slighty late, 40th-anniversary reissue on limited edition and numbered heavyweight vinyl. It, of course, includes the band's most seminal tune, 'Rapper's Delight', in two different versions, as well as equally timeless joints like 'Rapper's Reprise (Jam-Jam)' and the much loved 'Sugar Hill Groove'. A bona fide classic, this one.