This is an album I have ALWAYS wanted to see the light of day on CD, and thanks to the good guys at Funkytown Grooves USA in conjunction with Sony Music US we now have this 1985 gem on CD for the very first time AND digitally remastered from the original master tapes and not some tatty old record! The quality speaks for itself. Deep, rich and crystal clear there is no muffled sounds, no distortions and no sibilance. This, dear readers is what our music deserves. It doesn't matter a tuppenny jot if the artwork is first-rate...if the recording quality is not up to par I see no point! This, though, is sublime and thanks to all concerned for this and many more releases of the same high quality to come! A gem from 1985, the late, great Carl Anderson served up some superb uptempo soul on here and this is exactly the kind of material I had always thought criminally ignored in the past! This album has many highlights, and we open up with one that is called "Don't Stop This Feeling". Very much of it's day, and produced by Al McKay hot from the studio with Motown legends The Temptations and Finis Henderson! This has a super buoyancy that carried over into the popular music world at that time. Nowt wrong with that - Kenny Loggins would have done a great job on this, equally. As an added extra we have the 12" extended version too!My cream cut, as well as being one of my all-time favourites is the Gary Taylor written and produced "Let's talk". I worship the work that comes from Gary Taylor, and although I love his new material I really do think that he would benefit from re-appraising his 1980s material and this killer tune in particular. This has Gary Taylor stamped all over it...and once the bridge kicks in I am in Gary Taylor heaven! This is definitely my kind of 80s groove and thank you Matt and Tony sooooo much for having it properly on CD!!! "Love On Ice" still stands it's ground a quarter of a century on (man, is that not a scary thought...25 years!) and sounds as splendorous to me now as it did then. The three bonus songs are also here for you to enjoy - I've already highlighted one; the other two being "Light Me" which did not appear on the original album. This is not the greatest track Carl Anderson ever laid down but still a bubbly uptempo track that would have suited any soundtrack from that glorious period. The UK remix of "Let's Talk" is also here but is, for me, a very poor relation to the album mix. Still, nice to have it here and hats off to all players involved in this re-release.
Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe
The Vibe Scribe
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