Brenda Russell (1979)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2000 re-release with a bonus track.

Even though Get Here was one of the first CDs I ever purchased, I never went into Russell's back catalog. That all changed during the COVID-19 pandemic when I discovered the brilliant Love Life album. Then it was suggested that I pick up Two Eyes. While I was at it, I went ahead and picked up a copy of this self-titled debut. It's more good stuff and makes you wonder why its creator needed another nine years to achieve her greatest commercial success. Russell immediately proves herself to be a gifted songwriter in the jazzy pop/R&B/adult contemporary genre. Love Life continues to be my favorite Russell album, but there's some tracks here that certainly hold up against that standard.

Here's the original 1979 album cover. Not sure why they felt the need to "update" it for this CD release.

Press of the time:

• Robert Christgau (B+): "If it's pop you crave, slow down a minute and check this out--eight love songs, all in sensual-to-pert medium tempos, all sweetly hooky."
• DownBeat (★☆☆☆☆): "A very pretty face and a waste of time"
• Billboard: "showcases her smooth and sensible vocal style which recalls Chaka Khan at her more subtle"
• CashBox: "romantic jazz tinged ballads"
• Record World: "a standout effort"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #65
• Billboard R&B: #26
• CashBox: #81

Tracks: The lead track, So Good So Right (#30 pop, #15 R&B, #8 AC), is the single mentioned in the above album advertisement. It's the best cut here although it isn't without some serious competition. Close runners-up include In The Thick Of It, Way Back When, You're Free, and Think It Over. No skips. In fact, why don't you go ahead follow it up with the Love Life and Two Eyes albums in their entirety. That's what I'm gonna do.

Bonus track: For this reissue, the decision was made to tack Russell's 1988 hit, Piano In The Dark (#6 pop, #8 R&B, #3 AC), to the end of this 1979 release. I can't say that it really fits, but it's one of the best songs of the 1980s, so I'll allow it. Most anytime is a good time for that song.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Get Here (1988)
Two Eyes (1983)
Love Life (1981)

Pages - Future Street (1979)

Japanese import

After discovering the self-titled 1981 Pages album, I slowly dove into their back catalog, which included this Future Street album. Comparisons to Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, and Ambrosia are appropriate. The band was still refining its sound - they can't all emerge fully-formed like, say, Boston or The Cars.

More on the band can be found in a 'New Faces To Watch' feature from the November 17, 1979 issue of CashBox magazine. The group would eventually split and band members Richard Page and Steve George would form Mr. Mister, seeing major chart success in 1985.

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "commercial, musical wonderment"
• Billboard: "At times the band sounds like a hybrid between the Eagles and Steely Dan, though it is not nearly as distinctive as either."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• CashBox: #183

Tracks: A brief release, clocking in at only 34½ minutes. The lead track, a Toto-ish rocker titled I Do Believe In You, was released as a single, peaking at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100. The best track, however, is Who's Right Who's Wrong, featuring Michael Brecker and Kenny Loggins. In fact, Loggins released his own version of Who's Right Who's Wrong almost simultaneously on his Keep the Fire album and then Al Jarreau, Randy Crawford, David Sanborn, & Pages themselves recorded a fantastic live version of the tune on the Casino Lights album. I struggle to understand how that song was never a hit for somebody. The other tracks here are hit-or-miss. Heck, let me go ahead and rank 'em.

1. Who's Right, Who's Wrong
2. The Sailor's Song
3. Two People
4. I Do Believe In You
5. Keep On Movin'
6. Future Street
7. Take My Heart Away
8. Chemistry

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but the overall sound of this thing takes me back to Spring 1980 real quick even though I never heard this album until decades later. Funny how the mind works.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Pages (1981)
Pages (1978)

Seawind - Light the Light/Seawind (1979/1980)

UK import

A remastered two-fer reissue from the Hawaiian band (1974-82) who created sophisticated, uplifting soft rock featuring silky harmonies, jazz-funk grooves, polished arrangements, and - most importantly - tasty horn licks. Why are the horn parts so important? Founding band member and trumpeter Jerry Hey wrote most of the band's characteristic horn arrangements. When Seawind moved from Hawaii to California in the mid-1970s, the "Seawind Horns" quickly developed a reputation among studio musicians and producers. Quincy Jones discovered Hey's talents and he became the go-to horn arranger/player in many Los Angeles studios.

It's not an exaggeration to call Hey one of the most important horn arrangers in the history of pop music. He's been nominated for 11 Grammy awards and won 6 of them. Yeah, that's Jerry on albums by Michael Jackson, Al Jarreau, Toto, Chicago, and Earth, Wind & Fire, among many others. When I was in high school, I read a lot of album credits (because I didn't have many dates but that's a story for another time), and noticed the same three names appeared with some frequency on many of the records I purchased: guitarist Steve Lukather, bassist Nathan East, and Jerry Hey. More on Hey from this 2016 interview.

The above band photo was taken from an article in DownBeat magazine (August 8, 1979) titled "The Second Generation of Fusion" that featured Seawind along with Spyro Gyra, Auracle, and Caldera. As you might imagine, the article's tone was passively condescending and dismissive. Screw 'em - I dig this stuff.

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LIGHT THE LIGHT (1979)
8 tracks, 37 minutes

Produced by Tommy LiPuma, this was the band's third album release and the only one on Horizon, a subsidiary imprint of A&M Records.

Press of the time:

• CashBox: "Seawind's first album for Horizon may be the label's best effort yet."
• Billboard: "aiming toward a more pop commercial idiom"
• Record World: "the debut for their new label is an auspicious one"
• DownBeat (★★½): "rhythm section is authoritative on funk yet durable on ballads"
• High Fidelity: "essentially derivative"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #143
• Billboard Jazz: #8
• CashBox: #127
• CashBox Jazz: #9
• Record World Jazz: #7

Tracks: The lead track, Hold On To Love, was released as a single and peaked at #70 on Billboard's R&B chart, but didn't see the Hot 100. The whole thing is very 'yachty' and all 8 tracks go down smooth. Reminds me more than a little of stuff from Crackin'. According to the seven pages of informative liner notes, the centerpiece of the album is the ballad Follow Your Road. The most jazz-oriented pieces are the instrumentals Morning Star and Enchanted Dance.

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SEAWIND (1980)
9 tracks, 39 minutes

Produced by George Duke, this was the band's only release on A&M and is pop-oriented compared to its predecessors. I'd compare it more to the sound of The Dude or Sergio Mendes. I wouldn't call this jazz by any means, but it did well on the jazz charts, so what do I know. And as much as I like Light The Light, I prefer this one.

Press of the time:

• Record World: "this group's heartbeat is in the rhythm section"
• Note: I find it odd that the group's first release on a major label got so little press coverage. And yet it turned out to be more successful. Go figure.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #83
• Billboard R&B: #20
• Billboard Jazz: #13
• CashBox: #101
• CashBox Jazz: #6
• Record World Jazz: #5

Tracks: Again, the first track on the album was released as a single. A great, funky track titled What'Cha Doin', it peaked at #18 R&B and #28 dance. The next track, The Two Of Us, was also released as a single and although deserving, it failed to chart. The rest is more of the same and that's a good thing. Only one instrumental this time around, Pra Vosé written by the band's guitarist Bub Nuanez, which sounds like a Brazilian tune from an Earl Klugh album.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but I sure wish someone had given a copy of that Seawind album to young Mark back in 1980.

Minnie Riperton - Stay In Love/Minnie (1977/1979)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2004 UK reissue.

Many years ago while visiting a fantastic record store in Chicago, I purchased a similar Riperton Twofer (Perfect Angel/Adventures in Paradise) disc and it gets a lot of spins around here. One of those many, many spins led to the ordering of this similar CD. If a little bit is good, more is better, right? And while it's not quite as good as the earlier stuff, there's still nothing to skip among these two albums and they make great companions to the earlier disc. Since I first received this disc, I normally listen to both discs in succession and it usually makes for a wonderful afternoon of soul, R&B, soft rock, and in the case of the later albums, disco. Both compilations are highly recommended.

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STAY IN LOVE (1977)

Subtitled "A Romantic Fantasy Set to Music," this album was produced by disco legend Freddie Perren. I dig the disco feel throughout but the critics didn't care for it because of the critical bias against disco at the time.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "Riperton's singing is, as usual, just fine - it's the rest you'll have to block out."
• High Fidelity: "Aretha she ain't, but Minnie she is - and that's a plus"
• Billboard: "uncluttered and easy to listen to."
• CashBox: "unquestionably an album for romantics"
• Record World: "not so much a concept album as one given over to a particular subject and outlook - the many sides of love"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #71
• Billboard R&B: #19
• CashBox: #81

Tracks: Three singles were released: Wouldn't Matter Where You Are, Young Willing And Able, and Stick Together (#57 R&B, #23 dance), a collaboration with Stevie Wonder using the pseudonym El Toro Negro. I think the best cut is Young Willing And Able, followed closely by Gettin' Ready For Your Love, Stick Together, But as I wrote earlier, don't skip any tracks.

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MINNIE (1979)

This was Riperton's first album on the Capitol label and the last to be released during her lifetime. This is the better of the two albums included on this CD.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: Best of the Month
• High Fidelity: "too ornate and cure to be convincing, despite a fine set of pipes"
• CashBox: "it is the warmth and vitality she conveys via her singing approach, along with her striking compositions, that truly merit attention"
• Record World: "she has a way with ballad material that makes a song all her own"
• Billboard: "may be this singer's strongest work on disk to date."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #29
• Billboard R&B: #5
• CashBox: #43
• Rolling Stone: #37

Tracks: Two singles were released: Memory Lane (#16 R&B) and Lover And Friend (#20 R&B). Those two songs are also the first two tracks on the album and it's a heckuva way to open a LP. Such great, timeless grooves. I also enjoy the bossa feel of Never Existed Before, the highly danceable tunes Love Hurts and I'm A Woman, plus the disco funk of Dancin' & Actin' Crazy. The album closes with a cover of The Doors' Light My Fire and José Feliciano drops by the studio to help out.

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Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Perfect Angel/Adventures in Paradise (1974/1975)

Buddy Guy - Stone Crazy! (1979)

This album was released in 1979 in France and the UK, later released in the US by Alligator Records in 1981.

Guy really lets loose on this one with some extended, scorching, electrifying guitar work. Soulful pyrotechnics. The album was recorded in Toulouse, during a time when Guy was underappreciated in the American mainstream but still revered among blues fans and European audiences.

The liner notes explain better that I can:

This is the one. This is the album that his fans have been waiting for -- the album that finally captures the raw, almost-out-of-control guitar genius of Buddy Guy. It's simply Buddy and his own touring band -- no studio musicians, no ''special guests": just the solid skin-tight backing of brother Phil and one of Chicago's hottest young rhythm sections. The tunes were cut in a studio in France, but they feel just like the last smoky set at the Checkerboard Lounge, Buddy's own club in the heart of Chicago's South Side.

Buddy's fans have been waiting a long time. His last album, recorded with longtime partner Junior Wells, was an all-star jam featuring Eric Clapton, Dr. John and the J. Geils Band, but not really a guitar showcase for Buddy. In fact, it's been fourteen years since the classic album, A Man And The Blues, when Buddy, inspired by the late keyboard wizard Otis Spann, really let go in the studio. It's been twenty years since his wildman guitar and manic vocals were first heard on those great Chess 45s like The First Time I Met The Blues, My Time After Awhile and Stone Crazy.

It's his frenzied live performances that have made Buddy legendary. First, during his years of residency at Theresa's in Chicago, taking on every guitar player who passed through the Windy City. Then over a decade on the road with Junior, barnstorming through the U.S., Japan and Africa, and touring Europe with the Rolling Stones. He devastated the Montreux Jazz Festival, with the Stones sitting in. He's won the admiration of everyone who ever tried to pick the blues on guitar, from B.B. King to Eric Clapton. And always the question -- "When will Buddy really cut loose like those blazing nights on the bandstand, and get crazy again on a record?"

Here's the answer.

Reviews/ratings:

• Robert Christgau (B+): "With or without Junior Wells, Guy hasn't put so much guitar on an album since A Man and the Blues in 1967, and if anything this is wilder and more jagged."
• Coda: "a monster of a heavy urban blues release"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½ "though somewhat self-indulgent, it's an adrenaline-fueled, rough-edged gem."

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Top picks are the opening one-two punch of I Smell A Rat followed by Are You Losing Your Mind?. You've Been Gone Too Long has a great groove and She's Out There Somewhere is the most traditional blues cut. The final track, When I Left Home, lets us down kinda easy at the end and that's for the best because if you're not exhausted after listening, you weren't really listening.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Not with this particular album, but allow me to recount my experiences of December 20, 2023, a heckuva good day. On that date, I flew solo from San Antonio to Chicago, headed to a music conference/clinic. First, there was no line at TSA, the flight was on time, AND I was bumped to first class for the flight. After checking into my hotel in Chicago's theater district, I walked about 5 blocks to the south to Buddy Guy's Legends club to check out some blues. For Chicago in late December, the weather was unusually mild with highs in the 40s so the walk wasn't uncomfortable. It was early evening, and there were the usual tourists sitting at tables ordering dinner and enjoying some acoustic blues before the headliner came on. I was alone, so I just sat near the end of the bar and ordered a bourbon. I had just ordered a second drink when an older man sat in the chair at the end of the bar between me and the wall. We very briefly exchanged pleasantries but I didn't think much of it until the club employees started approaching him and saying, "Merry Christmas, boss!" Then it hit me that I was sitting next to Buddy Guy. I was able to keep my wits about me and didn't bother him again because I thought I might gush if I spoke to him again. I finished my drink, nodded to him and said "Good Night" and headed back towards the hotel. Then I had the best chicken parmesan I've ever tasted in my life at the Italian Village on Monroe St. Like I said, a heckuva good day.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Alone & Acoustic (1991)
Damn Right, I've Got The Blues (1991)

Robben Ford - The Inside Story (1979)

Looks like I've stumbled upon a bootleg copy of this one. Writing on the back cover is in Russian while the booklet info is written in Japanese. The only code I've found is "FJ-0001029" if that helps any. But, hey, the front cover claims it's a "Limited Edition" so I've got that going for me.

I sought out this album after I discovered that it was the recording session that brought together keyboardist Russell Ferrante, bass guitarist Jimmy Haslip, and drummer Ricky Lawson, the trio who would become Yellowjackets (the earliest edition of Yellowjackets included Ford). The Inside Story was produced by fellow guitarist and Stax legend Steve Cropper. It seems reductive to say that this album sounds like early Yellowjackets with a dash of mid-70's Jeff Beck, but I'm going to write that anyway. As noted in the DownBeat review below, the backing band often steals the show; Ferrante's contributions are obvious and welcome. I'm glad I was directed to the thing via the notes on the back of a Yellowjackets CD longbox (courtesy of Dirk Digglinator). It has become a welcome addition to my summer playlists.

Reviews/ratings:

• DownBeat (★★★½): "There's enough of a steady groove to give the album good listening continuity, and this is due to the alert, aggressive rhythm section."
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: did not chart
• Billboard Jazz: #36
• Cashbox: #183
• CashBox Jazz: #34
• Record World Jazz: #27

Tracks: My top pick today is There's No One Else. The two vocal tracks (North Carolina and Need Somebody) are the bluesiest cuts. The most Beck-ish cut is Magic Sam while the most like Yellowjackets is Tee Time For Eric. There's two tracks that owe a lot to Steely Dan arrangements: 1) For The One I Love sounds much like the song Aja, and 2) the arrangement of North Carolina resembles Black Cow.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but since it sounds so much like the first couple of Yellowjackets albums, I've seen flashes of 1984 while listening.

Joe Jackson - I'm The Man (1979)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2001 reissue with a bonus track.

Despite the terrible cover photo, this album fits in somewhere among my top 3 or 4 Joe Jackson albums. (Night And Day is far and away at the top of that list, but the others vary depending on my ever-changing moods.) In any case, it contains 3 of my favorite Jackson songs: the title track, It's Different For Girls, and On Your Radio. Jackson's own thoughts on the album as found on Jackson's website:

This is really Part Two of ‘Look Sharp’ – it was released less than a year later. I don’t know how I even had the time to write and record a slightly more mature record, but I think it is, and the best of the first three.

I'll agree, especially with that last part. A fun new wave rocker that's an amalgam of power pop, '60s R&B, reggae, punk, and maybe even jazz, played with minimal instrumentation.

Press of the time:

• High Fidelity: "as brilliant as its predecessor"
• Smash Hits (7½ out of 10): "Good album - investigate."
• CashBox: "one of the most accessible and commercially viable new wave rockers around"
• Record World: "Jackson shows off added sophistication (albeit anger) in his lyrics."
• Record Mirror (++++): "offering confirmation and extensions of the man's validity"
• Rolling Stone: "Overall, the music, though it remains derivative and broadly stroked, is more forceful and zesty than Look Sharp!'s"
• Stereo Review: "it's a superb album"
• Robert Christgau (C+): "Oh yeah?"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #22
• CashBox: #25
• Rolling Stone: #22

Tracks: My favorite cut is It's Different For Girls, closely followed by the other two songs mentioned above. Also good are Kinda Kute, Get That Girl, and Friday. I'm not much of a fan of Geraldine And John.

Bonus track: A live cover of Chuck Berry's Come On, recorded at Hollywood's Whisky a Go Go on Saturday, May 12, 1979. It was the b-side to the It's Different For Girls single and appeared on the 1979 A&M sampler album, Propaganda.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I didn't have this album back in '79, but somehow I heard the title track on the radio and was immediately hooked. The single was listed in the December 15, 1979 issue of Billboard (p. 70) so that must have happened around that time. The single failed to chart in the US. If only I had been bothered to seek out whose song it was.

I read Jackson's autobiography, A Cure for Gravity, back when it was released in 2000 and, if I recall correctly, was greatly disappointed he chose to end it after the recording/release of Look Sharp. So no mention of I'm The Man.

Previously revisited for the blog:

Rain (2008)	Big World (1986)
Volume 4 (2003)	Body and Soul (1984)
Night And Day II (2000)	Night and Day (1982)
Tucker Soundtrack (1988)	Look Sharp! (1979)

Pat Metheny - New Chautauqua (1979)

In which Metheny plays all the parts (electric 6 and 12 string guitars, acoustic guitar, 15 string harp guitar, electric bass), overdubbed many times over in a studio in Oslo, Norway. Part of the allure of jazz is the interplay between musicians and, of course, that's missing here. However, Metheny is so talented as to mostly make up for that. Truly a solo release, Metheny begins toying with more of a heartland/Americana style of playing that incorporates elements of country music.

According to my copy of Top Pop Albums, this album has been Metheny's highest charting album on the Billboard 200 to date. It's not my favorite Metheny, but it's perfectly enjoyable and pairs well with American Garage and/or what was side 2 of Wichita. I could do without the superimposed negative image of Metheny on an otherwise appropriate album cover image, but word has it that Metheny doesn't like it either and unsuccessfully attempted to change it.

Finally, a little bonus ECM trivia courtesy of the July 28, 1979 issue of Billboard magazine:

Ratings/reviews:

• Rolling Stone: "prototypical chamber jazz - and if somebody has to lull and wheedle the masses with it, better Metheny than Mangione."
• CashBox: "should continue the growth pattern of Metheny's career"
• High Fidelity: "Once the initial astonishment over Metheny's mechanical skills wears off, surprisingly little musical fascination remains."
• Record World: "Metheny is fast becoming a major progressive jazz soloist."
• Walrus!: "Impressionistic jazz."
• Billboard: "Each of the six original compositions are tasty with crossover potential."
• DownBeat (★★★): "Metheny remains a conceptual lightweight with a heavyweight technique, appealing to a listenership far wider than it is deep."
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #44
• Billboard Jazz: #3
• Record World Jazz: #6
• CashBox: #67
• CashBox Jazz: #5
• Rolling Stone: #42

Tracks: The title track is easily my favorite, followed by the delicate Country Poem, then Sueño Con Mexico and the second half of Daybreak. My least favorite cut is the New Agey noodling found on track 3, Long Ago Child/Fallen Star.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

:rarum IX (2004)	Travels (1983)
Different Trains (1989)	Offramp (1982)
Letter From Home (1989)	As Falls Wichita... (1981)
Still Life (Talking) (1987)	80/81 (1980)
The Falcon & The Snowman (1985)	American Garage (1979)
Rejoicing (1984)	Watercolors (1977)
First Circle (1984)

Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady (1979)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1992 CD release.

A simple enough formula for introducing a British pop-punk band to the US: compile their singles on one album with the A-sides on side A and corresponding B-sides on side B. Produced by Martin Rushent (Human League, Altered Images, The Stranglers), the 16 songs fly by in only 48 minutes and it's the perfect serving. Play loud.

In its 2020 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone ranked Singles Going Steady at #250, writing that the compilation "collects eight British 45s into a perfect punk album."

"With hindsight, the Buzzcocks' influence upon British 'indie-pop' of the late 80s ranks alongside that of the Ramones or the Velvet Underground."

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone: "documents Shelley's development not only as a lyricist but a songwriter with a remarkable grasp of how a simply constructed melody or riff can drive his point home."
• Billboard: "the band plays very fast and is very intense, but the melodies, the tight harmonies, and the pop hooks are there."
• CashBox: "hook laden melodies that are layered over tight, adroit playing which embodies a creative freshness."
• Robert Christgau (A-): "their high-speed, high-register attack sounds powerful indeed."
• RPM Weekly: "The music is of the new wave persuasion, up-tempo tunes with infectious melodic hooks and strong lyrics."
• Musician: "the best rock and roll album of the year."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: Did not chart
• CashBox: #166

Tracks: My top picks are What Do I Get? and Ever Fallen In Love? followed closely by Everybody's Happy Nowadays, Orgasm Addict, Just Lust, and Why Can't I Touch It?. Don't skip any tracks.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Grover Washington, Jr. - Inside Moves (1984)/Paradise (1979)

Two Elektra releases from the master of smooth jazz saxophone. An odd album pairing for a couple of reasons: 1) the overall sound of the two albums are very different, from production style to mix to instrumentation, and 2) the newer album is first on the CD - should have been the other way around, in my opinion. You can never go wrong with chronological order.

I enjoy his entire œuvre, but there's just something different about Washington's releases on Elektra (1979-1984). I prefer Inside Moves to Paradise, but with a total running time of around 80 minutes, this is easily a top-to-bottom listen that offers up just the right amount of variety.

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INSIDE MOVES (1984)
7 tracks, 52 minutes

Washington hit his commercial peak with 1980's Winelight album and the hit single Just The Two Of Us. He spent his remaining time on the Elektra label chasing that success and hoping lightning would strike twice. Can't say as I blame him - I'd have done the exact same thing. Inside Moves has plenty of good stuff from great musicians, including Ralph MacDonald, Marcus Miller, Richard Tee, Eric Gale, Steve Gadd, and Jon Lucien. The latter provided the vocals for the single release When I Look At You, which unfortunately didn't dent the charts.

Reviews/ratings:

• Billboard: "flawless, smooth crossover"
• Downbeat (★★★): "Real good album, all in all"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #79
• Billboard R&B: #21
• Billboard Jazz: #3
• CashBox: #60
• CashBox Jazz: #1
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #4

Tracks: It's all good 'n' smooth, but my favorites today are Dawn Song, Secret Sounds, and Jet Stream.

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PARADISE (1979)
10 tracks, 36 minutes

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by a CD.

This album has a very different sound when compared to Inside Moves and utilized a completely different backing band, most notably electric violinist John Blake, who is featured prominently on each cut. 

Reviews/ratings:

• CashBox: "a provocative showcase"
• Record World: "could prove to be one of his biggest"
• Downbeat (★★½): "one man's boredom can be another man's gold"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★½

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #24
• Billboard R&B: #15
• Billboard Jazz: #2
• CashBox: #33
• CashBox Jazz: #1
• Rolling Stone: #36
• Record World Jazz: #1

Tracks: Of the seven tracks on Paradise, my top picks are Tell Me About It Now, the title track (written by Blake) and Asia's Theme.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The little town where I attended undergrad had - for a brief time - a record store that stocked both new and used. I don't remember buying anything there but a used copy of Culture Club's Colour By Numbers LP. The guy in the next room over, nicknamed Buffalo Tom, was starting to develop a taste for the smooth stuff in late '84/early '85 and picked up copies of Inside Moves and David Sanborn's Straight To The Heart. On my fairly new Fisher all-in-one, I promptly dubbed Inside Moves to one side of a blank cassette then dubbed Sanborn on the flip. That tape got a lot of playing time; it's nice to have this album handy again.

Previously revisited for the blog:

Prime Cuts 1987-1999 (1999)	The Best Is Yet To Come (1982)
Soulful Strut (1996)	Come Morning (1981)
All My Tomorrows (1994)	Winelight (1980)
Time Out of Mind (1989)	Skylarkin' (1980)
Anthology (1985)	Mister Magic (1975)

Kool & The Gang - Albums 1979-1984 (2020)

UK Import

Some records are bathed in such a happy spirit that listening to them is like taking a short, revitalizing vacation. The effect has nothing to do with the loudness of the music or the heaviness of the beat; it's all in the spirit of the performance.

Review of As One in Stereo Review, February 1983, p. 76

I was in down mood recently and arbitrarily spun the Kool & The Gang compilation The Dance Collection and found my spirits immediately lifted. Not only were there many comforting, familiar tunes, almost all the tunes were positive, happy, major-keyed, at dance speed or midtempo. So I ordered this 6 albums on 3 CDs set from BGO and the albums have been in steady rotation ever since. I didn't have any of these albums back when they were originally released and boy did I ever miss out on some good stuff. The dates perfectly cover the years I was in grades 8-12 in middle/high school and on into my freshman year at university.

Why start the set in 1979 with the group's 11th studio album? Ladies' Night marked the beginning of the group's most successful era which (probably not coincidentally) also marks the debut of lead vocalist James "J.T." Taylor and the use of Eumir Deodato as producer. All six albums here peaked in the top 30 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned multiple top 40 singles on both the pop charts (14) and the R&B charts (17).

Excellent remastering job on these plus a fantastic liner note booklet that includes full credits as well as a nice essay by Charles Waring, columnist for Record Collector and contributor to MOJO and Wax Poetics. Well done. I'll probably never listen to all three discs consecutively, but just putting one CD in and enjoying 2 albums is just the right amount of good vibes. Or maybe shuffle tracks from all six. I prefer the first two CDs to the third, but it's all just a big box of feel good.

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LADIES' NIGHT (1979)
6 tracks, 34 minutes

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone: "It's clearly a long way from 'Jungle Boogie'"
• Billboard: "The group effectively fuses funk and disco with jazz, r&b and pop"
• CashBox: "worth the wait"
• Record World: "slick rhythmically and vocally with Deodato's production to match"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #13
• Billboard R&B: #1
• CashBox: #14
• Rolling Stone: #32

Also, the album as a whole made the Disco Top 100 chart, peaking at #5.

Tracks: The singles are fantastic - Ladies' Night (#8 pop, #1 R&B), Too Hot (#5 pop #3 R&B, #11 dance), Hangin' Out (#36 R&B) - but the other three cuts are just as good and discolicious. The smooth grooves of Too Hot take me back to 8th grade dances/parties in a big hurry.

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CELEBRATE! (1980)
8 tracks, 35 minutes

Press of the time:

• Record World: "winning combination is back"
• CashBox: "The band continues to craft top-flight R&B/pop songs"
• Stereo Review: "the music is never very heavy, never very hot, never very anything except comfortable"
• Robert Christgau (C-): "they've adapted painlessly, nay profitably, to disco"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #10
• Billboard R&B: #2
• CashBox: #12
• Rolling Stone: #19

Tracks: The title track has become the group's signature tune and wedding reception staple. Case in point: my lovely wife and I attended a wedding last month and all the 20-somethings in attendance at the reception flooded the dance floor when this song played and they knew every word of the lyrics. (Oddly enough, they belted out Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody even louder than Celebration, but that's neither here nor there.) The truth is, I've heard Celebration thousands of times by now yet I never tire of it and it never fails to improve my mood. A rare thing, indeed.

Celebration (#1 pop, #1 R&B, #1 dance, #34 AC) was the platinum-selling hit, but there were two other singles from the album: Jones Vs. Jones (#39 pop, #33 R&B) and Take It To The Top (#11 R&B, #1 dance) - of those two, the latter gets the nod from me. But that's just the first three cuts on the album. We're then treated to the tasty dance instrumental Morning Star (that sounds like it was lifted from a Tom Browne album of the time), then the funky Love Festival. There isn't much going on in the remaining tunes, but they're certainly enjoyable enough filler.

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SOMETHING SPECIAL (1981)
8 tracks, 36 minutes

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone (★★½): "finds the band comfortably rehashing the successful pop-soul formula they launched with 'Ladies' Night'"
• Billboard: "light, lilting tempos, sprightly jazz tinged horn lines and simple good time messages"
• CashBox: "looks like it will continue the hot streak"
• Stereo Review: "These are nearly all monotonous, thumpy productions of songs about steppin' out an' gettin' down."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #12
• Billboard R&B: #1
• CashBox: #10
• Rolling Stone: #19

Tracks: The lead track, Steppin' Out (#89 pop, #12 R&B, #16 dance), is a fantastic opener and I can't believe it didn't chart higher than it did. The other singles from this album were Take My Heart (#17 pop, #1 R&B, #16 dance) and my personal favorite from this release, the funk-fest of Get Down On It (#10 pop, #4 R&B, #16 dance). Take My Heart is a fantastic shuffle for sure and might have the best arrangement on the album, but "Get your back up off the wall!" is so dang catchy, the English teacher in me will even excuse the two consecutive prepositions. ;-) Good Time Tonight is the obvious attempt at duplicating the sound and feel of Celebrate and almost succeeds; Be My Lady and the super-positive Stand Up And Sing could each have been chosen for a single release; No Show is as close to a ballad as the group gets around this time and it's a dang good one, at that. The bonus track, Stop!, is a driving instrumental in search of lyrics and a melody but it's catchy enough that I'm glad it's included here.

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AS ONE (1982)
7 tracks, 36 minutes

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone (★★★): "slick but substantial R&B-fueled pop"
• Billboard: "their best bid yet to make a substantial splash"
• Stereo Review: "one of the best dance records in many months"
• CashBox: "a best bet"
• Smash Hits (9 out of 10): "What more can you ask for?"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #29
• Billboard R&B: #5
• CashBox: #36
• Rolling Stone: #24

Tracks: Street Kids is just an okay opener, but that's followed by Big Fun (#21 pop, #6 R&B) - which is indeed big fun with great horn licks and falsetto vocals. We're later treated to two entirely different but equally fantastic dance tunes with silly lyrics: Hi De Hi Hi De Ho and, my favorite cut on the album, Let's Go Dancin' (Ooh La La La) (#30 pop, #7 R&B). There's a nice variety here with some balladry, a little pseudo-reggae, funk-lite, some disco strings, the familiar Celebration and Too Hot grooves, and "I find its uncomplicated optimism heart-warming and irresistibly danceable."

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IN THE HEART (1983)
9 tracks, 35 minutes

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "a disappointment"
• CashBox: "takes them even further into the pop territory"
• Rolling Stone (★★★½): "state-of-the-art soul, brimming with optimism"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #29
• Billboard R&B: #5
• CashBox: #30
• Rolling Stone: #50

Tracks: Joanna (#2 pop, #1 R&B, #2 AC) and Tonight (#13 pop, #7 R&B) were the big singles while Straight Ahead (#103 pop) didn't quite make the Hot 100. Regardless of chart success, those three are the cream of the crop here. Definitely my least favorite of the six albums included in this set.

In the late fall/early winter of 1983, I was briefly interested in a girl named JoAnn. She was a couple of years younger than me and, in her father's opinion, too young to go on a "car date" so that relationship never got off the ground. Other than the similar names, the girl and the song have nothing to do with each other. However, I'm always reminded of JoAnn when I hear this tune. The trombone solo, the sappy lyrics, the constant eight note electric piano motif - it all works for me.

The dance-rock sound of Tonight certainly laid the groundwork for the next album...

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EMERGENCY (1984)
7 tracks, 36 minutes

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "can always be counted on to deliver easy-to-listen-to r-&-b dance music"
• Billboard: "the group continues to develop"
• CashBox: "one of the strongest song-for-song B/C collections of the year"
• Robert Christgau (B-): "anonymity is their signature"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #13
• Billboard R&B: #3
• CashBox: #19
• Rolling Stone: #17

Tracks: This double-platinum album became the group's all-time biggest seller on the strength of four hit singles:

	Pop	R&B	Dance	AC
Misled	10	3	9
Fresh	9	1	1	5
Cherish	2	1		1
Emergency	18	7	41

For those keeping track, the above four singles make up over 57% of the whole album; they're all great and I can't imagine 1985 without them. They're also the first four track on the album. So what about the remaining three tracks? Surrender is a danceable attempt at Minneapolis funk, Bad Woman is a poor man's Careless Whisper, and You Are The One is a prayer set to a manic-synth-Latin-syncopated accompaniment. Still, 5 out of 7 ain't bad.

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Previously revisited for the blog:
The Dance Collection (1990)