LADY JANE - Here I Am Baby - Athens Of The North - LP

Detroit soul and funk vocalist Lady Jane could be considered a US answer to lovers rock music. Her distinctive high notes and told-you-so lyrics have an uncanny UK knack to them, and would fit the many transmissions of studios like Ariwa had she recorded in Peckham, not Dearborn Heights. Alas, different places, different timelines: these Detroit soul songs are extremely rare, thanks to an unbeatable survival story: many surviving copies were destroyed in a flood, the master tapes lost for years before their recovery and return to Jane herself. It's a fantastic record, luckily with no trace of waterlogging, packed with sprightly, beat-breaking songs for change and spiritual upheaval.