AMY WINEHOUSE
BACK TO BLACK (2007)
Laying the blueprint was this heady cocktail of vintage '60s R&B.
Key track: "Rehab," a saucy girl-group throwback
PAOLO NUTINI
THESE STREETS (2007)
With shades of Ray Charles and Otis Redding, this Scot's debut went under the U.S. radar.
Key track: the breakup ballad "Last Request"
ESTELLE
SHINE (2008)
On her sparkling U.S. debut, this jazzy singer (and sometime rapper) fuses hip-hop and reggae with Motown.
Key track: "American Boy" with Kanye West
DUFFY ROCKFERRY (2008)
The Welsh chanteuse sounds like the second coming of Dusty Springfield on this Grammy-winning set.
Key track: the shimmying "Mercy"
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