Buy That Funky Music

Thanks to the CD boom, a lot of long-unavailable 1970-74 soul is back. Soul Hits of the '70s is merely the latest in a recent spate of new compilations and reissues of milestone LPs that recapture the era in all its funky glory.

Gladys Knight and the Pips Soul Survivors: The Best of Gladys Knight and the Pips (1973-1988)
''Midnight Train to Georgia'' and other examples of Knight's beautifully sung Vegas soul. B

The O'Jays Collectors' Item
The Spinners The Best of Spinners
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes Collectors' Item
The heyday of Philly Soul. Each: A

Various Artists Billboard Top R&B Hits 1970-1974
Five volumes of vivid sociopolitical observations (Marvin Gaye's ''What's Going On''), dance workouts (George McCrae's ''Rock Your Baby''), and simple declarations (the Chi-Lites' ''Have You Seen Her'') Docked a notch for being a skimpy 10 tracks each. A-

Curtis Mayfield Superfly
The ultimate blaxploitation soundtrack reappears, its antidrug tales more potent than ever. A

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