Splendid UK indie soul label DOME RECORDS is 30 years old this year and what better way to celebrate this auspicious anniversary than with a retrospective album! ‘DOME 30 YEARS’ will be released this Friday, 29th April and the 25 tracker offers an impressive sweep of quality soul music from the label’s storied 30 years.
From Dome’s early years there’s things like the Lulu/Bobby Womack duet ‘I’m Back For More’, Richard Darbyshire’s ‘This I Swear’ (a sort of template for the classic, smooth Brit soul sound) and Hil St Soul’s acoustic version of ‘Until You Come Back To Me’.
There are plenty more tracks that will be familiar with soul collectors – stuff like Beverlie Brown’s ‘Gonna Get Over You’, Rosie Gaines’ ‘Honey Child’, Drizabone Soul Family’s “other” ‘Real Love’, Brenda Russell’s ‘Make You Smile’ and the Omar-vocalised JTQ cover of ‘After The Dance’.
But not everything on the 25 tracker will be that familiar. The Dome team have commissioned some classy new stuff to sit alongside their perennials. So enjoy Jarrod Lawson’s cover of the Isley’s ‘Footsteps In The Dark’, Incognito’s take on Idris Muhammad’s ‘Could Heaven Ever Be Like This’ and a Nigel Lowis mix of Dennis Taylor’s era-defining ‘In The Mood’ – remember, it was Dome who made Mr Taylor a big name in his day!
Dome is also known for dipping its collective toe into the world of soulful dance – so here enjoy a Tee Club mix of Shaun Escoffery’s ‘Nature’s Call’ and the same team’s re-imagining of Full Flava’s ‘Was That All It Was’.
Wow… quite a sweep of sounds and plenty of big names – all pleased to be working with Dome and their genial head boy Peter Robinson. Peter worked for many years as A&R man for some big labels. In 1992 he decided to go out there on his own. We’re wondering if back then he’d have thought it would all last for three decades and that his imprint would attract plenty of “names”? Well it has – and ‘DOME 30 YEARS’ is the proof. Congrats all round!
