Alan Bown is most known - certainly in the United States - for his late '60s recordings as leader of a group (actually called the Alan Bown) that played psychedelic pop. The trumpeter had already been recording since 1965, however, with a group called the Alan Bown Set from 1965-1967 in a far more soul-influenced style. This compilation gathers both sides of all five singles the Alan Bown Set released on Pye in the U.K. during that time, along with the seven live songs from the London Swings: Live at the Marquee Club LP they shared with Jimmy James & the Vagabonds, and the French-only single "Jeu De Massacre (The Killing Game)," from the soundtrack of the French film of the same name. The group were in the same general territory as other British combiners of soul, jazz, and blues from the period, such as Georgie Fame and Zoot Money…

The 2006 version of The Ultimate Luther Vandross swaps out some of the earlier cuts contained on the 2001 version in favor of later material, such as "Dance with My Father" and he and Beyoncé's version of "The Closer I Get to You". What's baffling is that it leaves out some major hits in favor of a pair of previously unreleased tracks (including the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced, Chic-sampling "Shine"), and the ballad Got You Home which could serve as a sequel to Take You Out (from 2001's Luther Vandross), both of which are front-loaded in the sequence. Vandross was clearly one of the greatest singers of all time and this collection shows it.

Rhino's Very Best of Betty Wright collects some of the soul diva's definitive tracks, including her first Top 40 hit "Girls Can't Do What the Guys Do," her 1971 Top 10 hit "Clean Up Woman," "Let Me Your Lovemaker," her 1974 Grammy winner "Where Is the Love," and "I'm Gettin' Tired Baby." Though it's not as extensive as the label's earlier compilation The Best of Betty Wright, this album does present most of her major singles as well as a few representative album tracks.

Columbia's 1998 collection of Earth, Wind & Fire's Greatest Hits in many ways stands as the group's definitive compilation. Even though there have been more extensive overviews of the group's work, such as the triple-disc set The Eternal Dance, this is the first collection to contain all of the group's biggest hits on one disc. All but one ("Love Music") of the ten songs from 1978's The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire are included, while six of the ten songs from The Best Of, Vol. 2 are featured; the remaining two cuts on the 17-track collection are the minor early single "Kalimba Story" and the album cut "Gratitude." These are fine additions to the album, but the true meat of the collection lies in the hits – "Shining Star," "That's the Way of the World," "Sing a Song," "Getaway," "Got to Get You Into My Life," "September," "Boogie Wonderland," "After the Love Has Gone," "Let's Groove," and so many others. They might not be presented in chronological order (the only flaw in this otherwise flawless collection), but it's a sheer delight to have all of the hits on one terrifically entertaining and valuable disc.

A 9CD collection entitled 'My Song' is the first and definitive Labi Siffre box-set and is released to celebrate 50 years of an outstanding musical career.A total of 146 recordings - compiled by Labi and including 44 bonus tracks - together with a 32-page picture booklet in which Labi speaks candidly about his career. This exclusive edition contains a photo personally signed by Labi Siffre, limited to Just 500 copies. Containing all of Labi's nine albums: Labi Siffre (1970) The Singer and The Song (1971) Crying Laughing Loving Lying (1972) For The Children (1973) Remember My Song (1975) Happy (1975) So Strong (1988) Man of Reason (1991) and The Last Songs (1998), all of which presented individually in its own CD wallet facsimile of the original album sleeve artwork.