Move over Dyke & the Blazers!

I seem to have many "hometowns." Today, we'll consider the hometown where I attended high school, Phoenix, Ariz.
A community that gives the world Alice Cooper, Marty Robbins, Jodie Foster's Army and the Tubes, among others, Phoenix is not well known for its soul scene.
The best-known of the Valley of the Sun's soulsters, Dyke & The Blazers, great as they were, weren't even from Arizona. They were famously stranded in Phoenix during a tour with the O'Jays, and the Blazers, the originators of "Funky Broadway," decided they might as well make the best of a bad situation and settle down.
What is not generally known is that Phoenix had its own, home-grown soul scene, led by bands such as the Soulsations (pictured), Soul Patrol, Lon Rogers and Michael Liggins.
I listened to these bands and more while on the treadmill just now, thanks to the "Eccentric Soul: Mighty Mike Lenaburg" compilation from Numero Group records.
Lenaburg was a British-born transplant to the Valley who went to West Phoenix High School on Thomas Road (I went to relatively nearby Phoenix Central, along with the sons and daughters of every doctor and lawyer in town).
Lenaburg dreamed of creating a Phoenix soul scene to match any in the country, but limited funds and relatively poor distribution meant the songs he produced never reached his intended, national audience.
Until now.
If you love soul music (that happens to provide an excellent soundtrack to a 30-mile spell on a treadmill), I IMPLORE YOU to purchase "Eccentric Soul: Mighty Mike Lenaburg."
You will be glad you did, and Lenaburg's dream of a nationally known Phoenix soul scene will come THIS MUCH closer to reality.