02 Mar 2024
Donna Summer – 1979 – Bad Girls
Upon its release in 1975, “Love to Love You Baby” was an instant sensation that put the burgeoning disco format to exquisite use. For some critics though, particularly those of an American persuasion, the song was seen as a novelty. They were wrong. As for...
23 Jan 2024
9th Creation – 1977 – Reaching For The Top
1977 album from Stockton, California multi-piece band 9th Creation. This 9 track set offers disco, funk, soul and a touch of gospel and bears the hallmarks of the 9th Creation’s signature style: snappy, funky and driven. ‘Reaching For The Top’ is a bustling funker that...
21 Nov 2023
Stephanie Mills – 1980 – Sweet Sensation
Stephanie Mills in fine formation here – working with the team of James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, who helped the lady reach the heights of her career in the early 80s! The sound here is catchy and contemporary, but hardly ever too commercial – just...
27 Oct 2023
GQ - 1979 – Disco Nights
Just four guys – keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, hardly any overdubbing (brass added only on Spirit and Wonderful) – but they were able to create one of the hottest Disco albums in 1978 with their debut record. Disco Nights (Rock Freak) has always been a disco anthem, This Happy Feeling almost...
28 Sep 2023
Morris Day – 1985 – Color Of Success
Funk band frontman Morris Day was a star well before his 1984 role in Purple Rain made it obvious. His stage presence with The Time was undeniable, so Prince kept them on his shortest leash. That meant no writing, no producing, and no creative input...
14 Sep 2023
Johnnie Taylor – 1973 – Taylored in Silk
With Don Davis behind the panel, Taylor followed his wonderful ‘One Step Beyond‘ with another divine collection of Southern Soul with a tad of Detroit gloss. Its predecessor had its powerful moments of melancholy, but ‘Taylored in Silk’ takes it up a notch or two....
28 Aug 2023
Chaka Khan – 1980 – Naughty
Born Yvette Marie Stevens, Chaka Khan first came to the world’s attention in the early ‘70s as the lead singer of the legendary funk band Rufus. With an incredibly powerful voice, unique tone and a presence that couldn’t be bottled, it was inevitable that Khan’s...
11 Mar 2023
Gene Dunlap – 1981 – Party In Me
The 2nd capitol lp from the amazingly unrated mistro of soulful music. Every song is worth ur ear! Party In Me, Take My Love, This One’s On Me, There Will Never Be Another, each have a distinct sound of there own. The ballads are even...
18 Oct 2022
Earth, Wind & Fire – 1977 – All ‘N All
“I believe in goodness, I believe in truth, and I believe in love,” Maurice White told Rolling Stone magazine in early 1978. “I am not a man of any denomination because there’s too many things about each that I believe and disbelieve. So, I’ve found...
06 Sep 2022
The Ingram Kingdom – 1976 – The Ingram Kingdom
This was the debut from Norman “Butch” Ingram and his funky family. Butch strarted the band after an accident forced him to give up a career in professional basketball. He taught himself how to play the bass, bought some recording equipment, and got the family...
20 Jan 2022
Jimmy Ruffin – 1970 -The Groove Governor
Jimmy Ruffin’s The Groove Governor, although it didn t chart, ‘Let’s Say Goodbye Tomorrow‘ has a good chorus and should have done better. The producer employs a spoken intro on Burt Bacharachs’ ‘This Guy’s In Love With You‘, to good effect. ‘Living in a World...
17 Nov 2021
L.T.D. - 1976 – Love To The World
The Mizell Brothers (Larry and Fonce) put L.T.D. on the right track, after the self-contained unit had stagnated on two subpar albums. Jeffery Osborne sang lead, and the Mizells spotlighted the North Carolinian’s powerful tenor. This album spawned the endearing, sentimental “Love Ballad“, a majestic piece that...
