Imagine I'm sitting at home desperately waiting for contributions to the Essence programme and deadline time approaching fast . In between live games on Sky Sports the last thing I want to hear from 'er indoors is "ave you done that programme yet ".

Panic begins to set in and I realise I've still got a page to fill so you're gonna have to put up with me rambling on about records as well , tunes you will hear this weekend and just maybe something you can pick up on if you don't know them already .

First up is another great West Indian record from Glen Ricketts and one I had to prise from Gary Dennis after a long wait . It is a great mid-tempo tune with a girly ooh -ooh chorus called Does it really matter on Sugar Cane Records from 1973. A hard one to get and probably a little slowish for the dancefloor , but perfect for Essence .

James Brown has given us some great tunes over the years many of which have been featured here such as "People wake up and live " " Your love was good for me" and "You took my Heart" but check out his album It's Hell for a great version of "Lost Someone " this is much more uptempo than the version that appears on the Get on the Goodfoot album and is a real winner.

A sixties thing I love at the moment is Toby Larks " Lots of Heart " on USD records from Detroit and I don't really do sixties but her voice soars up to the heights on this one and its so very catchy you can't get it out of your head .

Something I've had for a while but which has proved surprisingly difficult to break out big is Canias' Visions on Tammy Jo Records out of Ohio , quite a contemporary sound , a good dancefloor record and one that could perfectly link old and new styles in one set .

Now I love a jazzy slant on my soul and a couple of things in this style are Leon Thomas on Flying Dutchman records with "just in time to see the sun " lots of trumpets an alto sax break all driven along at pace with congas . This reminds me of Terry Callier at his best from those Cadet albums of the seventies . Also in this jazzy genre is " Sunday Afternoon " by Dennis Lee and the Notables on Jenmark a little more down tempo but worth seeking out , beware though the Funk collectors are after the other side Funky penguin .

I remember meeting the Conway Brothers in the eighties when they were on a promotional tour over here little did I know that they had something like "Gonna refuse your love " in their locker this is on Gerim records and produced by the same bloke that did their Disco hit Turn it up . Tells the story of a Guy refusing the advances of a bird who's just after what she can get out of him -sound familiar ?.

This is an essential purchase I know Plumby loves it and I believe this has been played at Essence in the past. Another that's received plays and deserves more recognition is Billy Proctors -"Keeping up with the Joneses" on Epic a guaranteed floor populator, a perfect example of mid seventies Philly soul , there's also a version of this by Adam Wade on Kirshner records which is a little slower .

An Lp cut by the Directions " She'll never say it " is making waves at the moment, this is an uptempo cut featuring banks of strings an impressive lead vocal .This 1975 Brunswick offering is a tough album to find on vinyl but it did get a Japanese CD release a few years ago .

Hope you enjoy listening and dancing to these and many others over the weekend .