In the wake of Madonna's success, many dance-pop divas filled the charts, but out of them all, Paula Abdul was the only one who sustained a career. The former L.A. Lakers cheerleader and choreographer scored her first hit in 1989, when "Straight Up" shot to Billboard's number one spot, becoming the first of four U.S. chart-toppers from her 1988 debut, Forever Your Girl; the others were "Forever Your Girl," "Cold Hearted," and "Opposites Attract," each earning a gold certification from the RIAA. This success laid the groundwork for her second act as a judge on American Idol, the televised singing competition that began in 2002 and kept Abdul in the spotlight throughout the decade.

Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, voice actress, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 before rising to prominence in the 1980s as a highly sought choreographer at the height of the music video era…

Patti LaBelle's entry in the Universal Masters Collection is a decent compilation that covers most of her hits from the latter half of the '80s and the whole of the '90s, containing singles like "New Attitude," "Kiss Away the Pain," "Oh, People," "Feels Like Another One," "Stir It Up," "Yo Mister," "Beat My Heart Like a Drum," and "When You Talk About Love." Though it's not comprehensive with this phase of LaBelle's career, it's one of the better sets available with this kind of scope. This is a European release, so it is slanted toward the singles that made a big impact outside of the U.S., but there isn't a great deal of variance between what was most popular in the two territories.

The group Full Moon represented one of the first attempts at fusing jazz, blues, and rock in the very early 1970's. The group's members consisted of some surivivors of the 60's, mainly from the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Buzzy Feiten, a guitar legend at age 18 played lead guitar for Butterfield from 69-71, and then went on to record two albums with Stevie Wonder, and even toured with Stevie Wonder in the Rolling Stones tour of 1972. Phil Wilson was the original drummer for Butterfield, and wanted to write songs and do something other than blues. "Brother" Gene Dinwiddie was a consumate and perfectionist sax player who also wanted to write songs. Freddie Beckmeyer on drums, and a young Neil Larsen on keyboards rounded out the group. Neil Larsen was a keyboardist with no bounds, and a favorite of jazz producer Tommy LiPuma…

Perpetual Presents Ghostly Grooves A Funky Soulful Halloween album 14 original hits and the original artists. Includes tracks by Al Wilson, Betty Harris, The Escorts, Otis Blackwell, Maxx Kidd, The John Wagner Coalition, Retta Young and the Devotions and more.

The popularity of Earth, Wind & Fire's biggest hits - 'September', 'Boogie Wonderland', 'Let's Groove', 'Got To Get You Into My Life', 'Fantasy' and 'After The Love Has Gone' - will never diminish! Formed in Chicago in 1969 by Maurice White, with a blend of soul, funk, R&B, pop, rock, jazz and ultimately disco, they had hits in the US and UK through the '70s and '80s. Aside from the unique combination of White's baritone and Philip Bailey's falsetto vocals, the ensemble also featured the tightest horn section ever, playing the most exciting arrangements. The band won six Grammys, and sold over 90 million records. This 45-track compilation contains their 17 UK hits and 38 US hits, and features extended 12" versions of 'Boogie Wonderland' and 'Let's Groove'.

Cafe d' Afrique Volume 3 is a 2007 compilation album released by Savoy Jazz Worldwide. Some of the people on this gem include New Mastersounds featuring Corinne Bailey Rae, Christian Falk featuring Robyn, Schwarz And Funk featuring Ange Boxall and Mint Royale featuring no one at all.

Mojo Club presents Dancefloor Jazz Volume Four: Light My Fire is a 1995 compilation CD released through Verve Records in Germany. This is part of a series of discs released through Mojo Club and features a mixture of funk, bossa nova, soul, and a bit more, primarily taken from the Polygram/Universal library.

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. So with a decade passing since his last full-length, 1995's Conversation Piece, people waited with bated breath for a sign of his return…and wondered which Wonder would show up: would it be the socially conscious genius who wrote anthems for a generation, or the R&B crooner who dominated quiet storm radio?

Although 1979's "I Will Survive" is Gloria Gaynor's most famous recording, it was hardly her first. In 1975, the singer established herself as one of disco's early divas with her debut album Never Can Say Goodbye, which dance club DJs went wild over. With side one of this LP, Gaynor helped to popularize the art of the nonstop dance mix, a concept that was still alive and well when the 21st century arrived 25 years later. There are no breaks between songs on side one; the intoxicating opener "Honey Bee" segues into Gaynor's hit remake of "Never Can Say Goodbye" and that Clifton Davis gem (which had been recorded by the Jackson 5 and Isaac Hayes in the early '70s) segues into a stunning interpretation of the Four Tops' "Reach Out, I'll Be There." Put those three gems together and you have a nonstop 19-minute dance mix that thrilled the club DJs of 1975 to no end. Meanwhile, side two isn't as club-driven; all of the songs are under four minutes, and there are breaks between them. In other words, side two is more typical of R&B LPs from the mid-'70s.

The difficult second album by Natasha Bedingfield, titled N.B., was released in April 2007. Her brother Daniel had already been there with Second First Impression which was nowhere near as successful as his first album Gotta Get Thru This. Since her debut album Unwritten, a whole series of similar female singers had broken through, including Amy Winehouse, Corinne Bailey Rae and Lily Allen and this was the market Bedingfield was now competing in. The songs on NB focus on relationships from the very start of the ballad "Soulmate," the first single to be lifted from the album, about being on your own and wondering if there is a soulmate for everyone, through to "When You Know You Know" about breaking up, set to a soundtrack reminiscent of early-'70s soul bands like the Delfonics or Bloodstone.

There's lots of good stuff on this double CD, which features 33 songs, including all six of the group's top-ten U.K. hits, and all the singles the Drifters recorded for the Bell, Arista, and Epic labels.

It is an undeniable fact that the history of Motown Records was developed by "men" such as The Temptations, Four Tops, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye. However, if you explore the flow of history a little deeper, you can actually confirm the existence of "women" there. According to the popular phrase “a woman in the shadow of history,” the history of this model record is no exception. On the surface, it is known that the female “stars” such as Diana Ross and The Supremes, The Marvelettes, and Mary Wells, who conquered the world, form an important part of history. Actually, there were more "women" playing an active part under the surface. The history of Motown Records may actually have been supported by them.

Motown considered this Michigan family to be the heirs apparent to the Jacksons; they even let them write, produce and arrange their songs (a luxury they did not afford the Jacksons). Here are the four LPs born of that fruitful relationship, all in print for the first time in years, plus remixes and unissued versions of their key dance cuts and ballads. The Debarges ('81) and the Top 40 LPs All This Love ('82), in a Special Way ('83) and Rhythm of the Night ('85) include the R&B hits Stop! Don't Tease Me; I Like It; All This Love; Time Will Reveal; Rhythm of the Night; Who's Holding Donna Now; Love Me in a Special Way; You Wear It Well; the Heart Is Not So Smart, and more, and you also get extended, instrumental and alternate mixes of their biggest hits!

A collection of later Donna Summer material, including such song as "On the Radio," "I Feel Love," and "Bad Girls." Although disco was beginning to peak, Summer was riding high, dominating the R&B and pop charts. In some ways, these songs were more varied than her pre-'77 cuts, because only "Love to Love You Baby," from her Oasis material, was a major hit.