Angela Bofill - Something About You (1981)

Japanese Import

I'm not sure if this album sounds incredible or if it simply is a good match with my aging, pre-existing tastes and does it really matter if I like it? Bofill has strong voice that is equal parts sweet and sexy, plus, for this album, she was paired with R&B writer/producer (and current drummer for Journey) Narada Michael Walden. Lots of smooth grooves and familiar names: Earl Klugh, Paulinho Da Costa, Andy Narell, and Tower of Power horns, as well as former American Idol host and current bassist for Journey, Randy Jackson. Wish I'd been turned on to this one back in '81 or, better yet, to Angel Of The Night back in '79. Why Bofill wasn't a constant presence on the pop and AC charts in the late '70s/early '80s is just one of those things I struggle to understand.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "Bofill owns a rich voice that flutters with fresh feeling."
• Stereo Review: "a natural delight"
• Record World: "Sure to be a big breakthrough"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #61
• Billboard Jazz: #4
• Billboard R&B: #13
• CashBox: #66
• CashBox Jazz: #5
• Rolling Stone: #50

Tracks: Of the original ten tracks, there's not a stinker to be found on what was side one (tracks 1-5). The title track peaked at #21 on the R&B chart and the ballad Break It To Me Gently should have cracked the top ten on the pop chart and been a #1 AC hit for Bofill. There's also fantastic cover of Earl Klugh's song Balladina to which lyrics have been added and retitled You Should Know By Now.

Side two starts off strong with Only Love and there's a beautiful cover of The Stylistics tune Stop Look Listen. The only tune I don't care much for is Holdin' Out For Love (#26 R&B) and that's mainly because of the dated arrangement - it just doesn't fit on this album. The album closes with Time To Say Goodbye, a sublime ballad written by Bofill that reminds me of the sort of thing Anita Baker would be recording later in the decade.

Bonus tracks:

1. Never Wanna Be Without Your Love - a duet with Narada Michael Walden released in 1983 under Walden's name "with Angela Bofill"
2. Esperando Al Amor - Spanish version of track 7, Holdin' Out For Love, released as a 12" single in 1982
3. Love Light - a gorgeous cover of a Yutaka Yokokura tune. Produced by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen, so this samba is more jazz-tinged and drenched in electric piano.
4. Rhythm Of Your Mind - I can't find any additional info on this Bofill-penned filler tune, but the production leads me to believe this is also a Grusin/Rosen/GRP cut.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Around the time this album was released in 1981, I was scheduled to be on the lighting crew for my high school's fall production of Grease. I had attended after school rehearsals and diligently honed my spotlight skills. However, when I took on this responsibility, my mother warned me that if I didn't bring home straight A's for the first grading period of the school year, she would pull me from the production. (Public schools in Texas later adopted a "no pass no play" policy, but my mother was ahead of the curve with her own "no A no play" edict). I wasn't too concerned despite the fact I was spending around 20 hours a week outside of school with band and theater rehearsals/performances.

What follows is ridiculously unbelievable yet 100% true: I had a horrible history 'teacher' during my sophomore year who literally didn't teach, he would sit at his desk and read the newspaper or organize/catalog his stamp collection while he played reel-to-reel tapes of himself lecturing, recorded years earlier. No real instruction to speak of, but he proudly boasted that all his students would get a grade of 85 on their first report card while we became 'accustomed to his teaching style.' Like many bad high school teachers to this day, he excused away his poor instructional methods by claiming that he was simply "getting the students ready for college." Sheesh.

Anyway, an 85 certainly wasn't the A that my mother expected, but I thought I was in the clear because nobody in my grade level would be making straight A's that term. I was mistaken. Despite my pleading and explaining, my mother yanked me from that show and sent me in tears to the director as I explained my situation. Then I was less than pleased with my mother (for keeping her word?) while the drama director hated my whole family because we disrupted her show preparations. A most unpleasant time around our house. But that really doesn't have much to do with this wonderful album other than coincidental timing, so never mind. As you were.