A storming upbeat bossa on the A & M label, produced by Sergio Mendes. It's a short track which sounds essentially like Mendes's Brasil '66 only better. Walter Wanderley or someone who sounds very like him adds some great touches on the organ, and the singers steal a refrain from Bacharach's then-current 'Casino Royale' movie theme 'Bond Street' and work it into the chorus. Really great stuff, written by a genius: Jorge Ben.

A great, spacey, upbeat track by music business impresario Bob Crewe. This is basically just very nicely dressed up brassy easy listening instrumental music. The arrangement has a cool 'Barbarella' sheen to it, with spacey sounds alongside the bouncy strings. A nice track from a great album.

ps. the inside gatefold sleeve of this album uses the same photo as the cover of The Smiths's 'Rank.'

A nice funky instrumental with simple blues chords. Ramsey plays electric piano, and the beat is sweet, like a lot of Cadet label stuff from the late 60s. Groovy stuff, and quite easy to come by on the reissue 2 LP - 'Inside Ramsey Lewis'.

I know it's a pretty obvious choice, but this song from the Velvets' third album just gets me every time. When Lou Reed sings "I thought of you as my mountaintop/I thought of you as my peak", as ridiculous as it sounds, I can totally relate. I'm continually in awe of the beauty and tenderness this song. "The fact that you are married/only proves that you're my best friend/but it's truly truly a sin."

An amazing, slow, funky cover of William Bell's classic electric blues. The whole thing serves as a great reminder of how instrumental the rhythm section of Al Jackson, Jr. & Duck Dunn was to "the Memphis Sound".