From 1995 untill recently I worked for several local radio stations in the Netherlands and I always tried to play as much “black” music as I could. Since April 2008 I have a daily show on Laid Back Radio - Soul Searching - where I try to play the best soul music from the last 45 years. For me soul music began in the mid sixties when James Brown invented the funk with “Papa’s got a brand new bag”. Apart from LDBK radio and the Laid Back Show, I put mixes up for Dazling Soul and Subnav.

In this mix, I tried to blend all kinds of soul. It starts with the pumping bass of Groove Theory, followed by a great new track from R&B singer Avant. Sabrina Starke is a Dutch soul singer that reminds me of Jill Scott. Her album came out on the legendary Blue Note label and she’s now trying to crack the US market. Everyone knows Serge Gainsbourg but maybe not this DJ Cam remix giving the track a pleasant hip hop vibe. The ones from Club de Belugas and Eddie Henderson are more or less mixtures of jazz and soul (funk).

Latin soul comes from Fania All Stars, Steve Winwood, Nouvelle Vague (a great cover of the electro track ‘Blue Monday’), Leon Ware and Sergio Mendes (an instrumental version of a Burt Bacharach composition). Cissy Houston is Whitney’s mum. She’s made quite a few solid soul albums. James Last put out loads of crap easy listening albums during the seventies to cash in as much as possible. So I was quite surprised when I heard “I Can’t Move No Mountains” for the first time, because it sounds like an exciting Blaxploitation soundtrack! Perhaps the best track from the mix is “You Gave Me Something” by The Fantastic Four, a song I discovered recently. It came out on Motown, so this is my way to congratulate Berry Gordy’s company for their 50th anniversary. Enjoy!

Professor Eddy - Soul Variations
Download the mix on Podomatic

Groove Theory – Tell Me (1995)
Avant – Involve Yourself (2008)
Sabrina Starke – Second Class Woman (2008)
Serge Gainsbourg – Ford Mustang [DJ Cam remix] (2002)
Club des Belugas – Frankie (2008)
Eddie Henderson – Say You Will (1978)
Winston McAnuff – Rock Soul (2006)
Fania All Stars – Fania All Stars’ Cha Cha Cha (1976)
Quantic Soul Orchestra feat. J-Live – She Said What (2007)
Sergio Mendes – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (1966)
Cissy Houston – I’ll Be There (1970)
Steve Winwood – Luck’s In (1977)
Leon Ware (feat. Flora Purim) – Somewhere (1982)
Nouvelle Vague – Blue Monday (2006)
James Last – I Can’t Move No Mountains (1975)
The Fantastic Four – You Gave Me Something (1967)

Picture by wHo?