BILLY PAUL - "360 DEGREES OF BILLY PAUL"
"Me & Mrs. Jones" is the one everyone knows (and rightly so, Billy Paul's voice is all silk and cocaine and none of that gospel influenced stuff that doesn't really suit singing about affairs and shit) but "Brown Baby"? "I'm A Prisoner"? "Am I Black Enough For You?"??!!? Good lord. This is a record that keeps on giving. And the production! Classic Philly Intl. use of synths and stereo techniques that underline why they dominated 70s soul and left the Motown sound a thing of the past. Which it still is, which is why all the retro-soul being peddled at the moment can fuck off.
(AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY)

MICHAEL JACKSON - "THRILLER"
If you need me to explain anything about this record then I feel bad for you, but I suppose I'm of the last generation to really appreciate Michael as other things get in the way of the music now obviously. 7 of the 9 songs were top 10 hits in the US. That's depth right there. Whilst I could really do without the fucking Paul McCartney collaboration, getting Eddie Van Halen to lay down a solo on what was essentially a disco track is all kinds of genius and so very far ahead of its time (1982!!!) when you consider pop music today.
(AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY)