Seawind - Light The Light - 1979 - A+M

Seawind have, on the quiet, turned out some phenomenal tunes throughout the 70s and 80s and never to my mind get the attention they deserve. Best known for their 1976 CTI cut, "He Loves You", they moved to Herb Alpert's brilliantly eclectic A+M label and issued this superb soulful jazz-fusion set in 1979. With horns led by Jerry Hey - who is still VERY active today, and lead vocals by the very talented Pauline Wilson, "Light The Light" should be an album that you own on CD. As far as I am concerned most of this album is essential, so when it was re-issued on CD in Japan it wasn't a case of whether I would order a copy. The Brazilian samba rhythms on "Free" are punchy and suit Pauline's voice so well. The rhythm is almost like Eddie Russ' "See The Light" and the vocals border on Angela Bofill.

"Sound Rainbow" is a very mellow funker with some subtle yet alluring synth and a funky bass line. This is great, and the piano-led "Light The Light" owes a lot to what Melissa Manchester was giving us on "Don't Cry Out Loud". Brilliant. If you like more of a jazz-0fusion flavour then "Morning Star" will definitely be your cup of tea. More soulful, however, is "Imagine" which has a Minnie Riperton / Ricard Rudolph feel and vocals reminiscent of Carole Bayer-Sager. "Enchanted Dance" has some cool flute work, reminding me of Dave Valentin's contemporaneous work such as "Pied Piper" or "We'll make Love", so if you like your jazz-fusion with a smattering of flute, Jerry Hey's trumpet and a summery vibe then this track is for you. Sadly we don't get sets like this any more. It's about time we did.

Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe

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David Ruffin - So Soon We Change - 1979 - Warner Brothers

Who can doubt that David Ruffin is one of THE voices of our time. He ranks with such giants as James Ingram and Peabo Bryson for possessing one of the best voices ever to grace the music scene. His troubled personal life make it a wonder in itself that he was able to record as much material as he did, and one can only wonder what he could have brought to us had he not passed away so tragically and needlessly back in 1991. It's not the Motown era we look at here, but the first of 2 albums he scored for Warner Brothers. This album, released in 1979 is possibly, by a whisker, the weaker of the two but still very much an essential album. If you take into account the opening track, "Let Your Love Rain Down" then you are not going to turn this down. The track simply oozes quality, class and dance floor sophistication. The irresistible mellow disco groove with slap bass, swirling strings and soulful sax is a fine match for David's ultra-soulful voice and along with tracks such as "Don't It Feel Good" by Booker T. Jones (see review) would make up a brilliant dance floor couplet today.

If you love quality ballads from this great era then "Break My Heart" is going to really appeal to you. Not far in style from what the likes of Michael Stokes was producing at the time. In fact, this album was produced by Detroit's very own Don Davis, and if tracks such as "Welcome Back Home" from the Dramatics are to your liking then so, too, will this be. The clomping hand clapper could work well in a modern room today. In a similar vein to the great "Caught Up In A Whirlwind" by Richard Stepp (also 1979) this could still prove a monster. The track that I really dig for it's lyrics and vocal style is "Morning Sun Looks Blue". This man really was a giant, and I miss him so much. The grand upbeat "Let's Stay Together" is a Don Davis-penned dancer and not the Al Green song. This is another candidate for a modern dancefloor. The melancholic title track is a good'un and sees the Man let rip fantastically over a horn-based downtempo number. Slightly schmatzy but still a good example of the man.

Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe

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The Isley Brothers - Winner Takes All - 1979 - Epic

This double album saw the Isley Brothers see out the 1970s on very fine form, perhaps less raucous that they had been, and a lot more soulful and thanks to a certain mega-talent called Chris Jasper. This album gave them a smash hit in the form of "It's A Disco Night (Rock Don't Stop)", and I have to say that back in the 80s when played alongside the dance cuts of the day tracks such as this sounded horrendously dated. Odd, is it not, with the passage of time that today in 2009 this track sounds as fresh as a daisy! I suppose the fact that most new stuff sounds old has something to do with it! Whatever the case, this track can get a new lease of life and the flares can be dusted down and allowed to flap again, unfettered, over the dancefloor! I always thought it unfair that The Isleys were always remembered for their uptempo cuts where I feel their real strengths were in the bedroom department. Don't get me wrong, I love their uptempo stompers, but their ballads are completely out of this world.

A set, primarily, of two halves, "Winner Takes All" scored highly on both levels. The title song, "It's A Disco Night" and "(Can't You See) What You Do To Me" are classic 70s Isley Brothers at their best, and still get the old blood pumping when the volume is pumped up. It's the ballads that grab my attention though...the dreamy and spaced out beats of "Let's Fall In Love" pair Ronald Isley's angelic voice with Marvin Isley's laid back guitar work and the result is that I sit back in the chair and simply melt. There is real tenderness here and in the right company could prove the right ingredient to get some real magic made. This is but one of many truly memorable ballads. Unlike my local bus service, you don't have to wait long for the next one to come along. Following this is a devastatingly simple yet deeply erotic ballad "How Lucky I Am (Parts 1 and 2)" with a rich, deep and horny bassline, distant and wistful electric guitar and Ronald doing what he does best. Simply magic. See? Who needs the ridiculous Mr. Biggs moniker when there is some real talent in the first place? The real show-stopper as far as I am concerned is the heartfelt and beautifully segued "You're The Key To My Heart" and "You're Beside Me". On both tunes the tempo is up a notch and the guitar is summery to the extreme. This is another song that makes me close my eyes involuntarily. Simply essential and as beautiful today as it ever was. The tempo ups again with two funkier tunes, "Let Me Live In Your Life (Parts 1 and 2)" and "Go For What You Know", both of which are spot on. This, too, is dirt-cheap on CD and on iTunes, so there's no excuse for harbouring dusty old vinyl that takes up space!

Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe

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