ISSUE 1044 INTERVIEWS INC: Cover artists Crowd Company, The Milk, Stone Paxton, Alex Lowes (Southport Weekender)
LIVE REVIEWS: A.J. Tracy @Alexandra Palace, London, Skepta @Olympia, London), Freddie Gibbs @Concord 2, Brighton, Soul Immigrants @PizzaExpress Live, Holhorn, London, Butlin's Soul Weekender @Bognor Regis and Frank Elson check's out Darwen Market Hall in Blackburn, Lancashire.
REGULAR FEATURE: Duncan Payne's regular feature The Blues & Soul Years takes a look at B&S charts and happenings in 1980. With the death of disco and the rise of Brit Funk, plenty was going on as hugely talented artists, who once had been members of bands, became fresh solo artists in their own right, with the likes of Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass and Michael Jackson all starting on their respective music journeys, with Jackson, in particular, having just made an album which was to change the R&B/Soul landscape forever, it's name… "Off The Wall".
CHARTS: ***THE HIP LIST***, Smoove Grooves best of 2019 R&B chart, Grooveyard Essentials Dance Chart plus Richard Searling lists his best of Cleethorpes Winter Gardens/Pier All-Nighters from 1974-1978 tracks.
NEW CHART: Upfront Urban Chart
*NEW REGULAR FEATURE: Soulful Social... B&S invites readers and artists to post and mention B&S in social platforms - the best of these are featured in each print issue.
ISSUE 1045 ADDITIONS: B&S' Ben Lovett lists his 2019 best of dance High 5s, incuding best track, best album, best event and who/what to look out for in 2020. Bigger lists his 2019 best of the best in R&B, Dave Burke lists his 20 best live shows, Ralph Tee looks at who made waves in Modern Soul in 2019 and we also present our class of 2020 - who we feel will smash it in the year ahead.
REVIEWS: The Milk "Cages", ARP “Ensemble-Live!”, Cadence Revolution "Disques Debs International Vol. 2 1973 -1981, Cry Babies, Lord Tanamo & Friends “Festival Jump-Up” and The Soul Immigrants 'Back From The Brnk"
B&S COLUMNISTS THIS ISSUE: Richard Searling (Northern Soul), Ralph Tee (Modern Soul), Ben Lovett (Dance), Frank Elson (Northern Soul) and Bigger (R&B)