Universal Music’s latest TV advertised soul set '60’s Soul Mix 2' is now available in the shops and sees another classic collection of soul tunes from the sixties that will have any party in full swing within minutes. This new double CD set offers fifty mindblowing grooves some of which have been actively used on the KFC adverts which has done much to enhance the popularity of sixties soul to a new breed of record buying public.

As with any collection of sixties soul you are never far away from some classic Motown and this release is well represented with the inclusion of Stevie Wonder’s 1971 in demand classic ‘If You Really Love Me’ as well as one of the all time Motown classics from Martha & the Vandellas from 1967 with ‘Jimmy Mack’ (which incidentally has been digitized somewhat to give it a much more cleaner/crisper sound) The late Marvin Gaye has his classic 1964 hit ‘How Sweet It Is’ and from 1966 ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’ before featuring two duets with Tammi Terrell in the form of ‘Your All I Need To Get By’ and the album cut ‘California Soul’

Other classic cuts from the HItsville stable include songs from the Four Tops, Velvelettes, Barrett Strong (don’t forget his greatest hits package now released) the Supremes, Smokey & the Miracles, Jr Walker. One interesting inclusion is Diana Ross & Supremes’ ‘He’s My Sunny Boy’ from 1968 which was originally featured as a flip side.

As the KFC adverts continue, so does the inclusion of new tunes to compliment – Jackie Wilson’s immortal uptempo ‘Who Who Song’ was used recently and serves as a timely reminder as to just what a major recording artist his was. This song from 1967 was recorded in Chicago and was issued via the Brunswick label at the same time as ‘Higher and Higher’, and ‘Sweetest Feeling’. The Flirtation’s whose UK recordings for Deram during the late sixties are always worth picking up and have their ‘Nothing But A Heartache’ single currently being aired, but it is the Laura Greene track ‘Moonlight, Music And You’ that is best associated with the current run of adverts.

Initial examination of the tracklisting on this CD reveals a fair amount of songs made famous via the northern soul scene and its associated clubs over the last forty years. Wigan Casino was responsible for breaking ‘Landslide’ from Tony Clarke as well as the catchy UK Liberty single ‘The Snake’ by Al Wilson. If there is one song that seems to crop up time and time again on these compilation’s ten it is Dobie Gray’s outstanding ‘Out OnThe Floor’ a song recorded for the US based Charger Records in 1966. This song has been voted time and time again as the ultimate northern soul anthem.

Moving away from Motown you will find some other interesting soul classics including the fabulous instrumental ‘Soul Finger’ from the BarKays (who were Otis Reddings backing band up until 1967) and the now hard to find Atlantic recording from Rex Garvin with his tribute to James Bond with ‘Sock It To Em’ and another instrumental this time from 1962 from Booker T & the MG’s with ‘Green Onions’.

Soul Connoissueurs will quckly point out that the inclusion of Al Green’s ‘Tired Of Being Alone’ and James Brown’s ‘Get Up Offa That Thing’ were in fact 70’s recordings and not the sixties, but hey! who cares with such a strong overall collection of songs. Don’t overlook a couple of blue eyed pop tunes that have been thrown in for good measure including Dusty Springfield’s ‘Am I The Same Girl’ and the 1969 hit UK single for Shocking Blue ‘Venus’ which also gave Bananarama a big hit too some thirteen years later.

Stevie Winwood who fronted both Traffic and the Spencer Davis Group during this period recorded a blinding version of ‘I’m A Man’ (also covered by Wynder K Frog) and his recent two appearances in the UK as guest vocalist on the Funk Brothers tour will reaffirm him as one of the great British white soul voices of the sixties.

All in all this is another brilliant collection of soul favourites that won’t cost you the earth and whilst many soul fans will already own most of these tunes already there is always a new market of up and coming soul fans who are discovering these songs for the very first time – the difference is that national TV are behind these songs something that was not available back then.

Rating 9/10
Click here to see streaming video performances of Motown acts.