EU Import
A 3-fer set from BGO Records. Clarke is a bass player who was a founding member of the jazz fusion group Return To Forever. Duke was a keyboard player whose background was with Frank Zappa and Jean-Luc Ponty and would go on to work with the likes of A Taste of Honey, Jeffrey Osborne, Deniece Williams, Anita Baker, The Pointer Sisters, Smokey Robinson, et. al. Solo artists in their own right, these three efforts saw the duo striving for a more mainstream, commercial, R&B sound.
Volume 1 (1981)
9 tracks, 37 minutes
9 tracks, 37 minutes
A mixed bag, but not too bad overall. Starts off with a funky little instrumental, followed by one of the more puzzling covers of Louie Louie I've ever heard, followed by one the "shoulda charted higher" singles of '81. That single is Sweet Baby (#19 pop, #6 R&B), four minutes of smooth goodness written and sung by Duke and featuring one of the few Top 40 appearances of an electric sitar solo (courtesy of Clarke). Of the remaining tracks, I don't care much for Let's Get Started, despite a nice chorus. I was previously familiar with track 8, the ballad Touch And Go, from it's inclusion on the Clarke-produced album, Hollywood, by Maynard Ferguson. I dig the album closer, Find My Way, an uplifting tune both lyrically and musically.
This album was nominated for Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, eventually losing to The Dude.
Press of the time:
- Stereo Review: Best of the month
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard Top 200: #33
- Billboard Jazz: #1
- Billboard R&B: #7
- CashBox: #31
- CashBox Jazz: #1
Volume 2 (1983)
9 tracks, 38 minutes
9 tracks, 38 minutes
The duo adds some New Wave sounds/drum machine/production - reminds me quite a bit of Richard Perry's production on Pointer Sisters releases of the time. The opener, Put It On The Line, is high energy and wouldn't have been out of place on the '84 Olympic compilation album. The singles released from this album were The Good Times and Heroes (#37 R&B) and, like most of the album, are pleasant, just not very memorable. For me, the highlight of the album is I've Got Every Reason To Smile. Not only is it an upbeat tune with great bass work from Clarke, we treated to vocals from Jefferey Osborne, Howard Hewlett of Shalamar, and Lynn Davis. It's so good that even the kid 'vocals' don't bother me much. Again, the album closer is a winner - this one a pulsating instrumental from Clarke.
About this album, Duke once wrote,
Although there were some special moments on this LP, overall it didn't make a statement and as a result was a failure as far as I'm concerned. The year was 1983. I was exerting so much energy producing Deniece Williams, Jeffrey Osborne and others, that in terms of focus, I let this one slip away.
Press of the time:
- Billboard: "fresh fusions with dazzling virtuosity"
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard Top 200: #146
- Billboard Jazz: #19
- Billboard R&B: #44
- CashBox: #133
- CashBox Jazz: #3
3 (1990)
12 tracks, 46 minutes
12 tracks, 46 minutes
Music of its time, the first half of this album is heavily-produced dance late '80s R&B/hip-hop/rap. Things calm down and get slightly more jazzy in the second half, but the sweet spot here is tracks 5-8: a cover of Parliament's Mothership Connection, Right By My Side with vocals from Gerald Alston (The Manhattans), a tasty but brief Clarke instrumental titled From The Deepest Corner Of My Heart, and a smooth Duke feature, Lady.
Press of the time:
- CashBox: "boasts some dope R&B thangz"
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard Top 200: Did not chart
- Billboard Contemporary Jazz: #7
- Billboard R&B: #52
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, although I really don't have a good excuse as to why I didn't buy the Sweet Baby single back in '81.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Hideaway (1986)
A Brazilian Love Affair (1980)
