Across 135th Street – Soul Extravaganza: The Sequel

In the latest installment of Across 135th Street, vinyl obsessive Jeff “Chairman” Mao delves into his cache of vintage 45s for another exploration of soulful sounds both moody and uplifting (with a few detours into the deep end of the funk pool for good measure). Melancholia is well represented in the unrequited romantic yearnings of the mysterious Archie Williams and Company, Motor City ensemble The Twenty Dollar Friendship (later known as the Ghetto Friendship) and the string-laden depression of Chicago’s The Fugitives (whose *Love Come Down* is not an Evelyn “Champagne” King cover – though that would’ve been ill). Bitterness is accounted for in the form of *Tina Turner*’s fearsome *You Got What You Wanted*. But equally musically rugged is D.C. funk pioneers The Young Senators’ *Ringing Bells (Sweet Music)*, guaranteed to be the hoardest, ass-kicking-est fuzz guitar-fueled love song you’ve heard in a District minute.