The Three Degrees - You're The Fool

MP3 link removed


Time to get some more of that sweet Sisterfunk. The term was coined by the venerable Ian Wright, scourge of Essex, and evil sniper-supreme of eBay, on his excellent eponymous compilation from a few years ago.Unavailable now, but worth scouring for, not least for the fact that it has the unbelievable rare "Chauffeur" by Monica.

This I don't think was on the comp, but it deserves to be on the sequel. The Three Degrees' "You're The Fool"is a masterpiece. Sassy attitude, heaps of front, killer harmonies, backed by sharp horns, underpinned by one giant bassline...

All together now..."HAH !"

Sheila Ferguson, one of the Three Degrees, and now resident in England, wrote a great cookbook, "Soul Food", available here

Rumours persist of a Sisterfunk 2 soon - lobby BBE intensively now

Donny Hathaway - I Believe To My Soul

MP3 link removed


The album "Everything Is Everything" by Donny Hathaway is one contentious album : those who have it, treasure it, and get fairly righteous on those that don't.

It's a $7 album, you can score it easily, and many have, simply to own the soulful conciousness, and utter groove of "The Ghetto". But every track, and I mean every, is a stonecold bonafide beauty. It was hard fidgeting over which to pick, and I've chosen "I believe", as it captures the...

...ahh fuckit. Have two. I can't leave either of them off. Just do me a favour - snap up the album, and everything you can find by this prodigious talent.

Donny Hathaway - Voices Inside (Everything is Everything) mp3


Two facts : King Curtis tried to poach Hathaway for his crack session band over at Atlantic, that he was assembling to back Aretha and everybody else ; Hathaway turned him down to maintain focus on his solo output.

And on January the 13th, 1979, Hathaway carefully removed the pane of glass from his window, and jumped. He was 33.