What’s now playing on BBC Radio 6 Music?

Soul II Soul is a two-time Grammy winning act that emerged at the end of the 1980s from London. The group initially attracted attention as a sound system, playing records at house and street parties (where their clothing style - dubbed "Funki Dred" - quickly made a splash, inspiring them to start a line of clothing). Founded by Jazzie B and featuring a changing roster of other musicians - notably Nellee Hooper, Simon Law, Phillip 'Daddae' Harvey and Read more on Last.fm

Imagination was a three piece soul music band from the United Kingdom in the early 1980s, sometimes described as Britain's first black supergroup. They had chart hits in 28 countries, earning four platinum discs, nine gold discs and over a dozen silver discs between 1981 and 1983. The band consisted of: * Leee John was born John Lesley McGregor in Hackney, London, on 23 June 1957, of St Lucian descent. He was educated in New York, later studying drama at the Anna Scher Theatre School. Read more on Last.fm

Cymande was an eclectic band who released several albums throughout the early seventies. They arrived in London, England from Guyana and Jamaica and developed a subtle, deep funk style heavily influenced by Calypso rhythms, Jazz, African music, and American Soul. Cymande can now be seen as one of the most sophisticated of the heavy funk acts that evolved in the early 1970s. By the mid-seventies the band members were going their separate ways. It wasn't until 20 years later that they reaped any financial rewards Read more on Last.fm

1) A group of session musicians paired with vocalist Jon Allen to rerecord a track called "Mercy." 2) Out of the ashes of nothing in particular, not really a revival of anything, and not claiming allegiance to any stodgy point of view, The Third Degree is rather quite an original band in a rather rehashed market. They're punk, and aside from a rather healthy affinity towards skateboarding, their style of music is not geared toward some predefined mold Read more on Last.fm

The Artistics were an American R&B vocal group in the 1960s and early 1970s. Their biggest hit was "I'm Gonna Miss You", recorded in 1966. The group was formed in 1958 at Marshall High School in Chicago, Illinois with a line-up of Curt Thomas (lead), Larry Johnson (first tenor), Jesse Bolian (second tenor; June 8, 1941 – August 24, 1994) and Aaron Floyd (baritone bass). In 1960 Thomas left and was replaced by lead singer Robert Dobyne. The group performed at the 1960 Democratic National Convention Read more on Last.fm

Gwen McCrae (née Mosley born in Pensacola, Florida, on 21 December 1943; died February 2025) was an American singer remembered for her 1975 hit "Rockin' Chair". McCrae grew up singing in her Pentecostal church and later discovered secular singers like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin. She began performing in local clubs as a teenager, and singing with local groups like the Lafayettes and the Independents. In 1963, she met a young sailor named George McCrae, whom she married within a week. Read more on Last.fm

Read more on Last.fm

Read more on Last.fm

Read more on Last.fm

Edna Wright, Carolyn Willis, and Shellie Clark comprised the vocal trio Honey Cone, which only stayed together for four years. Although Honey Cone (which lead singer Wright formed in 1969) was based in Los Angeles, their recordings were Northern-style soul — specifically, Detroit soul. Martha & the Vandellas and the Marvelettes — two of the female vocal groups that epitomized Motown Records' sound in the '60s — were among Honey Cone's main influences Read more on Last.fm