A real stormer from Melba Moore – brilliantly-arranged dancefloor soul with beautiful lead vocals by Melba – on one of her best records of the 70s! Melba is straight-up amazing here, bringing genuine soul to feverish dancefloor gems and otherwise soaring numbers. This Is It was produced and arranged by Van McCoy, who was at the peak of his disco-era popularity at the time. We'd call this work here on Melba's record a creative peak for Van – even though if it didn't break Melba out in a big way commercially at the time. It includes the McCoy-penned should-be classic "This Is It", plus "Free", "Stay A While", a sweet cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Make Me Believe In You", "Lean On Me" (one of the greater showpieces for Melba's incredible voice), "Blood Red Roses", "Brand New" and more. This 2012 CD edition includes the bonus "This Is It (12" Version)" and "Free (Extended Version)". ~ Dusty Groove
Hey, now – this is much more than merely Words & Music – it's a solid further step into a sweet 80s groove for the Tavares brothers! Their status as one of the great sibling vocal groups in R&B is on full display on this final album for RCA. The production is right at home in the keyboards-heavy 80s modern mode – but it's the vocals lead the way! Butch, Tiny, Chubby, Pooch and Ralph Tavares are such pros, and such a tight unit, there's really nothing they couldn't pull off! They still sound great here with a stylistic update of their sound – without ever compromising the classic R&B-styled vocal groove! Includes "Ten To One", "Deeper In Love", "Caught Short", "You're My All In All", "Baby I Want You Back", "I Really Miss You Baby", "Don't Play So Hard To Get", "Us And Love (We Go Together)" and more. 3 bonus tracks: "Deeper In Love (12" Version)", "Words And Music (12" Spoken Intro/Pop Version)" and "Words And Music (12" Spoken Intro/R&B Version)". ~ Dusty Groove
The record that forever put George McCrae on the map – and a crossover bit of Miami soul from the 70s with all the key elements of the TK sound firmly in place! George's vocals are nicely flanged out in that cool production mode that TK was using with its big acts of the time (an approach that was perfect for AM radio, by the way) – the backings of the tunes have the chugging electric rhythms shared by Timmy Thomas and other acts at the label, spiced up by a bit more warm guitar to give the record a deeper southern soul vibe. The record features a 6 minute version of George's super-huge hit "Rock Your Baby", plus a "Rock Your Baby Reprise" – and it's also got a great little version of "I Get Lifted", one of those Miami funk classics that sounds great no matter who does it! Other tracks include "Look at You", "Make it Right", and "I Can't Leave You Alone". Also features 2 bonus tracks – single versions of "Rock Your Baby" and "Look At You". ~ Dusty Groove
A monumental bit of 80s soul – the first solo album from Kashif – issued hot on the heels of a few years spent penning and producing work for a range of bigger artists! Given his experience with the pros, Kashif's emerging here as a very fully-formed talent in soul – a singer with a way of keeping things real, even when the tunes are catchy – and a producer with a great ear for the changing styles of soul at the time. The grooves are often nicely spare and stripped down, yet never without a good sense of feeling – and titles include "I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On)", "Stone Love", "Say Somethin' Love", "All", "Help Yourself To My Love", "The Mood", "Don't Stop My Love", and "Rumors". 5 bonus tracks on this FTG CD version: "Help Yourself To My Love (12" Version)", "I Just Gotta Have You (Lover Turn Me On) (Instrumental)", (Lover Turn Me On) (Single Version)", "Stone Love (Instrumental)" and "Say Somethin' Love (Single Version)". ~ Dusty Groove
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