Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and critical praise through the 1950s, particularly for albums featuring his vocals: Chet Baker Sings (1954) and It Could Happen to You (1958). Jazz historian Dave Gelly described the promise of Baker's early career as "James Dean, Sinatra, and Bix, rolled into one". His well-publicized drug habit also drove his notoriety and fame.

Over the years, there have been a surplus of Fleetwood Mac compilations but prior to 2018's 50 Years: Don't Stop, very few have attempted to tell the band's story from beginning to end. There was only one, actually: 25 Years-The Chain, released two years into the Mac's uncertain post-Lindsey Buckingham era. Buckingham rejoined the band in 1997 but he was kicked out prior to the November '18 release of 50 Years: Don't Stop, his departure coloring the perception of the triple-disc compilation in the sense that Fleetwood Mac's story doesn't belong to him. 50 Years proves this through its chronological sequencing, which underscores the group's evolution from blues-rockers to album rock titans and, finally, to pop superstars (its accompanying single disc of highlights, in contrast, is deliberately front-loaded with hits, so it's not as instructive).

With Revolver, the Beatles made the Great Leap Forward, reaching a previously unheard-of level of sophistication and fearless experimentation. Sgt. Pepper, in many ways, refines that breakthrough, as the Beatles consciously synthesized such disparate influences as psychedelia, art song, classical music, rock & roll, and music hall, often in the course of one song. Not once does the diversity seem forced – the genius of the record is how the vaudevillian "When I'm 64" seems like a logical extension of "Within You Without You" and how it provides a gateway to the chiming guitars of "Lovely Rita."

During times of extreme political and social change, Stevie Wonder's voice and songwriting served as cultural and spiritual guideposts to many a listener, often lending insight and a barometer with which to measure the ways of the world. But that was largely during the golden phase of his career, generally regarded as being the late '60s through 1980's Hotter Than July. His work in the mid-'80s through the '90s was marginal in comparison, only hinting at glimpses of former brilliance, sugar-coated by over-polished production and radio-friendly content.

Psycho Fantasy is the fourth studio album by rock group Phenomena, released in 2006 on Escape Music label. Phenomena is a rock concept around a supergroup formed by record producer Tom Galley, Metalhammer magazine founder Wilfried Rimensberger and Tom's brother, Whitesnake guitarist Mel Galley. Contributors were leading rock musicians such as Glenn Hughes, Brian May, Tony Martin and John Wetton amongst others. In a cover story, run by Kerrang! magazine in 1985, Phenomena's production of rock songs based on a story line running through a whole album, attached to artworks and other multi-media aspects was credited for the "return of the concept album" in the 1980s.

Albert Hammond is one of the more successful pop/rock songwriters to come out of England during the 1960s and 1970s, and has also enjoyed a long career as a recording artist, his work popular in two languages on three continents across four decades. Hammond was born in London in 1944 – his family actually came from the British colony on Gibraltar, but wartime considerations caused his mother to be evacuated to London, where she gave birth. He spent his childhood and youth on Gibraltar, where he became fluent in both English and Spanish – that bilingual ability would serve him well in his later career. His family lived modestly on his father's fireman's pay, and one of his early diversions was music – he sang in church and became head choir boy. He also became interested in popular music, sang for his own enjoyment, and also took up the guitar.

In 1995, A&M released Every Breath You Take: The Classics to replace the original album. It features a slightly different track listing: the original version of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" replaces the 1986 recording at track 5; the '86 version appears at track 13. A 'New Classic Rock Mix' of "Message in a Bottle" is included as track 14.

Once the heart of America's motor industry, many of Detroit's production lines are derelict and 30,000 houses are empty or demolished. Neighbors now grow vegetables for neighbors, while industrialised farming waits to take over. The inner city tries to regenerate itself but wholesale bankruptcy acts as a deterrent. Music and gas-guzzling cars stagger on but the city that nurtured the talents of the artists featured here has all but vanished. As well as automobiles, there was music. But until Motown, Detroit even lacked a major record label. Activity - and there was plenty - came from a handful of independents - Fortune, JVB, Sensation and Staff among them - who relied on local talent. Then there was Elmer Barbee, the owner of a record store with a studio in the rear. He it was who found John Lee Hooker playing a little bar on Monroe Street. The pair persisted for a year before - through the success of Boogie Chillun - Hooker's talent became increasingly widely known. Here are many of Hooker's early Detroit recordings and of the many - Sylvester Cotton, Bobo Jenkins, Eddie Kirkland, Eddie Burns among them - who hoped to achieve, and occasionally did achieve - similar success.

Can't Play A Playgirl: 1960s Girl Goodies Lost & Found continues in the Teensville tradition of spotlighting obscure female pop productions from the greatest decade in music. Almost all of the tracks make their digital debut, including a few by the likes of Ellie Greenwich and The Darlings that have never been anywhere until now. The CD features 34 tracks and includes a 20-page booklet with a 6,000+ word essay and plenty of photos.

This limited-edition four-LP box set from Mosaic has all of the early Blue Note recordings of tenors John Hardee and Ike Quebec. The little-known three sessions from Hardee are all from 1946 (one is under the leadership of guitarist Tiny Grimes) and find him in top form on a variety of swing-based originals, along with a few standards. In addition to Grimes, the sidemen include trombonist Trummy Young, guitarist Jimmy Shirley, and pianists Marlowe Morris and Sammy Benskin. Hardee would eventually settle in Texas as a full-time educator. In contrast, Ike Quebec, who is showcased on five dates (including 11 previously unissued performances), would achieve a bit of fame (his recordings of "Blue Harlem" and "If I Had You" gained some attention) before drugs forced him off the scene in the 1950s; he would make a brief comeback in the early '60s prior to his premature death. Quebec's early Blue Note dates are superior examples of small-group swing and have solo space for some notable stars: guitarist Tiny Grimes; pianist Ram Ramirez; trumpeters Jonah Jones, Buck Clayton, and Shad Collins; and trombonists Tyree Glenn and Keg Johnson. This 1984 box is certainly definitive but promises to be difficult to find.

One of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Alice Coltrane's 4th Impulse! album finds her on piano and harp in the company of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. "Almost 50 years after [it] was released, the album remains a vision of universal healing, spiritual self-preservation in times of trouble and the god that appears when you seek her out." (NPR). Verve's Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.

20 tracks new to CD. Includes dub versions of numerous major dancehall hits. Most tracks unavailable for over 45 years. By 1980, the roots sound that had dominated Jamaican music for much of the 70s had been largely superseded by dancehall, a new, driving style that would remain in favour until the arrival of the digital era in 1985. In the years leading up to dancehall’s arrival, few, if any of the island’s producers had enjoyed greater success than Joe Gibbs, whose hit-rate throughout the previous decade included international chartbusters from the likes of Nicky Thomas, Dennis Brown, Althea and Donna and Culture. Determined to retain his position at the top of the Jamaica music tree, Gibbs was swift to embrace the new dancehall sound, securing the talents of its most accomplished exponents as well as almost every up-and- coming young artist of note. As a result, he remained one of reggae music’s premier producers until his dramatic retirement in 1984, by which time he had released numerous major hits in the style.

25th anniversary edition of Ronan Keating’s eponymous debut album – Ronan25 features the original 15 track extended album alongside Ronan’s 2000 Royal Albert Hall performance on CD & vinyl for the very first time.

5 CD set includes the albums 'Out Of The Silent Planet,' 'Gretchen Goes To Nebraska,' 'Faith Hope Love,' 'Kings X' & 'Dogman'.

Born at the end of the 60s, Acid Jazz is one of the most distinguished and seductive styles of all times. With its mix of soul, jazz, hip hop, funk and house, Acid Jazz attracts the attention of dance culture and those who likes good songs, well played, with fascinating arrangements. Acid Jazz Trilogy is a magnificent summary of this culture as it travels through the origins of the genre, with Joe Bataan and Cal Tjader, to the absolute classics (such as the Brand New Heavies, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, Incognito and many others) and the evolution of the genre, where Acid Jazz combines with electronic music. Acid Jazz Trilogy is an album out of series, a very valuable piece to collect and enjoy.