As mentioned before, the second disc is primarily soul, funk and jazz covers. There are a few exceptions including Jonny Lang’s standout, swampy funk and blues take on “I Am” (an unreleased Prince cut) and Tuesday Knight’s “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?,” which veers more in an eighties pop rock direction. Some of the other highlights here include Corinne Bailey Rae’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover”, Valerie Carter’s gorgeous take on “Crazy You”, which in her hands becomes a slower, jazzy torch ballad, a soulful and slightly funky gospel version of “Walk Don’t Walk” from Traces Gospel Choir, Jordan Knight’s slowed down “I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man,” “Soft And Wet” from N’Dambi, a super funky track with some great rock guitar, Workshy’s really pretty, stripped down take on “Damn U” and “Sometimes It Snows In April from Bobby Sparks II and Lizz Wright. Rounding out disc two are Stephanie Mills’ “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?”, The Pointer Sisters “I Feel For You,” which sticks fairly close to the original, but is missing that something that made the Chaka Khan version such a hit, Meli’sa Morgan’s “Do Me Baby”, Crystal Waters’ “Uptown,” Joe Roberts’ “Adore,” Debra Hurd’s “Gotta Broken Heart Again”, Passion’s “Gigolos Get Lonely Too” (originally recorded by The Time), Mellow Man Ace’s “Irresistable Bitch” (featuring Geo) and “It’s Gonna Be Lonely” from Princess & Starbreeze.
Where a lot of the songs on the first two discs don’t stray too far from the original, and a few here still follow that same path, disc three is largely full of tunes that have been completely reinterpreted. The uniqueness and the diversity of these sixteen tracks makes this my favorite disc of the set. 7 Hurtz with Peaches and Bitch Lap Lap (aka Feist) kick things off with a super fun and funky electronic tinged take on “Sexy Dancer.” “Take Me With U” is given an upbeat James Brown funk groove by Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, while Hue & Cry give “Sign O’ The Times” a horn-driven, soulful funky bebop treatment, and Lambchop’s “When You Were Mine” is lo-fi alt country with processed vocals. Dead Or Alive takes the psychedelia of “Pop Life” and adds some Indian instrumentation giving it their unique sound, followed by Robyn’s awesome piano and vocal rendition of “Jack U Off” which has a cabaret feel, and the infectious electropop of The Dirty Monroes’ “Vibrator.” Dayna Kurt’s rendition of “Joy In Repetition” is an absolutely stunning cover that is subdued and haunting with outstanding vocals and brilliant atmospheric production. The vocals are also the highlight of the primarily a cappella “Love 2 The 9’s” from Michelle Mailhot, and Bilal’s soulful performance of “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?” which is very reminiscent of the original. Next up is Surferosa’s catchy, synth-driven alt pop take on “Controversy” followed by Morgan James’ powerhouse vocal performance on the soulful, somewhat bluesy “Call My Name.” Joe Stilgoe’s “Partyman” is a fun upbeat, Cab Calloway styled Big Band version and legendary saxophonist Maceo Parker, known for his work with Parliament-Funkadelic, James Brown and Prince, contributes a laid-back jazzy soul take on “Other Side Of The Mirror”. The disc closes extremely strong with Anne Marie Almedal’s beautiful, dreamy “Paisley Park” and the stunning “Purple Rain” featuring Amanda Palmer’s fragile, whispery vocals backed by a haunting string section composed by Jherek Bischoff. The box set is rounded out with a nice booklet from Adam Mattera, who curated the collection, and quotes from many of the contributing performers.
