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To be born blonde might be a good indication of bloodline but not necessarily of character. To dye one’s hair blonde, or to don a blonde wig, on the other hand, can be statement of intent – blonde ambition. To quote Heidi Klum, “Going blonde is like buying yourself a light bulb.” It worked a treat for the some of the former brunettes here, for sure.

Black blondes are not unusual on the music scene of today but it was a different story in the 1950s and 60s. The first was likely Joyce Bryant, the steamy “Black Marilyn”, who, in a bid to stand out above the competition, resorted to upending a tin of silver radiator paint over her head. “Joyce caught all kinds of hell for having blonde hair,” wrote Etta James in her memoir. “I dug her and copied her style.” Other black women singers followed suit, including a number of those in the James Brown Revue.

There again, a change can be as good as a rest. “I felt depressed and had to do something about it,” the newly blonde Dionne Warwick told the press in 1965. “It’s a lovely honey shade. Next time I get depressed I may change to a redhead.” Today they’d call it reinvention.

In any event, the hair colour, natural or otherwise, of the women featured in this article is of no real significance. What is important is they all have recordings available on Ace … because they’re worth it. 

Louisiana uptown, downtown and down in the Swamps – it’s all here and these nine records represent the finest artists of one of the most musically literate and distinctive States in the whole of the US of A. Be it the wheezing squeezeboxes of the Cajuns, the thundering piano and mellifluous voice of Fats Domino or the spooky blues of Slim Harpo, there is plenty of boppin’ and strollin’ to be had on a Saturday night – or any night for that matter – in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Anytown, Louisiana. The music knows no colour boundaries in the racial stew that is Louisiana and maybe this goes some way to explaining why so many came, from all over the USA, to record here. Even those who emigrated to Los Angeles, as Joe Lutcher did, took that rumba to the hi falutin’ folks of Hollywood and knocked it to them. So allons maintainent and be prepared to waltz fast, two-step with elegance and have a conspicuous good time with a lot of style.

Vintage southern soul is more popular now than at any time since its mid-60s heyday. Timeless songs and genre-defining singing enjoy an appreciation that extends way beyond hardcore devotees, and the southern soul fan club just gets bigger and bigger. The music produced by Fame Records’ founder Rick Hall and the incredible musicians, performers and songwriters who plied their trade in his studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama have contributed greatly to this growing popularity.

Although others would emerge in its wake, it was FAME Studios that put the “Muscle Shoals Sound” on the map. Artists such as Wilson Pickett, James & Bobby Purify, Arthur Conley, Clarence Carter, Candi Staton and Aretha Franklin cut some of their most important hits there in the 60s. As well as performers, Fame also cultivated the writing talents of – among others – Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, and published many of southern soul’s most revered songs.

Muscle Shoals eventually became a recording Mecca for artists from all genres of popular music, and FAME’s remit expanded to embrace Bobbie Gentry, Tom Jones, Mac Davis, Paul Anka, Liza Minnelli and – perhaps most famously – the Osmonds. These and others all made a different kind of memorable music under Rick Hall’s supervision, but it’s the incredible southern soul recordings which poured out of FAME in the 1960s upon which the studio’s reputation stands.

We’re very proud of the CDs in our Fame reissue programme. A listen to any one of the nine featured here will show why. 

Making a rare and very special appearance at the Blues Kitchen in Camden Town next Thursday (23 July) are vintage California mod-freakbeat specialists Powder, performing songs from the recent Big Beat release Ka-Pow! An Explosive Collection 1967-1968. The 2015 line-up includes founder member Rich Martin, alongside his brother Mickey on drums, singer Paul Kopf and Ace's very own Alec Palao on bass guitar. Don't miss this unique chance to hear classics like 'Gladly,' 'Magical Jack' and 'Kick Me' in person.

There was a time not so very long ago when true credibility in pop and rock music came only from success within the American or British marketplace. No matter how accomplished or innovative they might be, foreign acts and their attendant music scenes were frequently viewed with condescension, and anything not sung in English was deemed a novelty. As the development of rock music in other countries during its first two decades comes increasingly into focus, such cultural imperialism has been proved wrong time and again. Even when its native practitioners were aping American or British acts, each country added something of its own indigenous identity. In many cases it was as much the melodic approach that came with the translation of rock and pop, as it might have been simply singing in a foreign language. There were different levels of energy too. The raucous fire-fuelled abandon of Thor’s Hammer or the Antipodean beat groups contrasts with the sophisticated pop class oozed by a French chauntese. In 60s Japan, you got both sides of the coin – sometimes even within the very same record.

The meat and bones of Ace Records’ catalogue, since the company’s inception, has traditionally been American music. But we also have a divergent palate, as witnessed by our Globestyle imprint, which was a pioneer in the world music field, and is still going. Subsequently Ace developed a taste for continental cuisine of the vintage variety, and we were amongst the first UK or US reissue labels to take the subject seriously. Starting with a compilation of Uruguay’s Los Shakers (now sadly deleted), the Big Beat International sub-division set out to champion vintage 60s rock from other continents. We’ve subsequently hopped from Asia to Australasia to the far-flung reaches of the north Atlantic in the search for the wildest and wackiest rock’n’roll the planet had to offer. In more recent years a complementary subsidiary, Ace International, has emerged, focused on the distaff side via two enchanting collections of swinging mademoiselles, with similar of Italian and Australian girls planned for the very near future. Join us now for a rockin’ trip around the globe.