Love Unlimited Orchestra - White Gold

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I've been redecorating the hallway and it's turned out to be a large task...Anyway, here's a little of Barry White's special orchestral smoochy soul in the form of 'White Gold', the second (or third if you count the 'Together Brothers' soundtrack) Love Unlimited Orchestra album. I don't think this quite scales the heights of their 'Rhapsody In White' debut, but it's still a good'un. It's worth it just for Barry's priceless intro to 'Spanish Lei'. Barry lets various collaborators get more of a look in on the credits here, including contributions by Ray Parker Jr, Gene Page and Tom Brock.

1. Barry's Love (Part 1)
2. Satin Soul
3. Always Thinking Of You
4. Power Of Love
5. Spanish Lei
6. You Make Me Feel Like This (When You Touch Me)
7. Only You Can Make Me Blue
8. Dreaming
9. Just Living It Up
10. Just Like A Baby
11. Barry's Love (Part 2)

Have you ever had a SPANISH LEI?

Dan Hartman - Instant Replay

10...9...8...7...6...5..4..3..2..1! Now here's some proper disco courtesy of Dan Hartman. The 'Instant Replay' title track single was massive and made Dan an instant disco star. The follow-up 'This Is It' (no relation to the Melba Moore song of the same title) is here to in an epic 14-minute mix with 'Countdown'. 'Double-O-Love' and 'Chocolate Box' see a more funk-rock direction and then it's time for a couple of slower numbers to close the album out. Hartman attempted to repeat the disco formula with follow-up album 'Relight My Fire' but the album, which is probably a superior disco album, disappointingly failed to gain the same commercial success.

1. Instant Replay
2. Countdown/This Is It
3. Double-O-Love
4. Chocolate Box
5. Love Is A Natural
6. Time And Space

Bonus track: Instant Replay (12" version)

Got to have your love AGAIN!

Pointer Sisters - Priority

I must have bought this album at some point for the sake of completeness and never really listened to it - there were no hit singles from it and tracks from it rarely turn up on compilations. But reading some reviews while writing about the sisters' other albums, I became intrigued by its good reviews - some even going as far as to say that it's a candidate for their best album. And now I've listened to it a few times I can see their point. Well, it's 1979 and the world has gone disco crazy - so what do the Pointer Sisters do? They make an album of rock covers. No wonder it wasn't a great success, not even making the US top 50 albums. But it is an excellent album - the songs suit the sisters perfectly: plenty use is made of Ruth's deep and bluesy voice and June makes a great Keef Richards on the cover of the Stones' 'Happy' (draw your own parallels)! Others to get the treatment are Bob Seger ('All Your Love'), The Band ('The Shape I'm In), Graham Parker ('Turned Up Too Late') and Springsteen again ('The Fever'). There's not a duff track in sight...and I'm saying that even though, like Chris Lowe, I don't LIKE rock music!

1. Who Do You Love
2. All Your Love
3. Dreaming As One
4. Turned Up Too Late
5. Happy
6. Blind Faith
7. Don't Let A Thief Steal In Your Heart
8. (She's Got) The Fever
9. The State I'm In

Keep me HAPPY!

Pointer Sisters - Energy

I know, I've developed a new obsession! Bear with me though, I'll soon be moving away from the Pointers and Love Unlimited! I found a copy of 'Priority', the Pointers Sisters' 1979 album that's supposed to be something of a lost classic and I wanted to share it around as it's supposed to be quite an obscurity. Firstly though, here's their 1978 album and their first working with Richard Perry. It's mixture of rock numbers ('Lay It On The Line', 'Come And Get Your Love', 'Angry Eyes'), with just a touch of a disco influence (Alan Toussaint's 'Happiness') and some more downtempo material (the big hit cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'Fire' and of Sly and the Family Stone's 'Everybody Is A Star', complete with traded vocals in the style of the original). It's covers a-go-go, with Steely Dan ('Dirty Work') and Fleetwood Mac (the eerie 'Hypnotized' - my favourite track - or is it the great harmonizing on Stephen Stills' 'As I Come Of Age'?) numbers also putting in an appearance.

1. Lay It On The Line
2. Dirty Work
3. Hypnotized
4. As I Come Of Age
5. Come And Get Your Love
6. Happiness
7. Fire
8. Angry Eyes
9. Echoes Of Love
10. Everybody Is A Star

Bonus track: Happiness (12" version)

Keep that goodness...COMING!

Love Unlimited - From A Girl's Point Of View We Give You...

Another poor-quality cover picture. Sorry. Anyway, as requested, here's the first Love Unlimited album from 1972 and marking the breakthrough of Barry White as a musical force to be reckoned with! Oddly, my vinyl of this album is entitled 'Walking In The Rain With The One I Love' by Barry White presents Love Unlimited and appears to be a German pressing on MCA Coral. I don't know whether it's a poor pressing or a worn LP, but the quality could be better. I've done my best with it - see what you think. The album is something of a love concept album with lots of spoken musings on love by one of the ladies (Glodean?) and by Barry himself. 'Are You Sure' was written by Love Unlimited themselves and they also cover Marvin Gaye's 'If This World Was Mine' and the Gamble/Huff composition 'Together'. Of course, the song everyone remembers is 'Walking In The Rain With The One I Love', with its famous telephone conversation..."Oh YES. It was so beautiful."

1. I Should Have Known
2. Another Chance
3. Are You Sure/Fragile - Handle With Care
4. Is It Really True Boy - Is It Really Me
5. I'll Be Yours Forever More
6. If This World Were Mine
7. Together
8. Walking In The Rain With The One I Love

Did you get CAUGHT IN THE RAIN?

Pointer Sisters - Black And White

That's the best picture I could find! So, I've exchanged my Sylvester obsession for the Pointer Sisters and Love Unlimited. We'll get on to something else soon I promise. Here's the sisters' 1981 album. 'Slow Hand' was a massive hit and sets the tone for the album, which is more of a soul-style effort than their previous albums, and unusually for their albums, which usually share out vocal leads equally, the late June takes lead vocal on the majority of the tracks. I think my favourite track is the mellow 'What A Surprise'. I downloaded this album from somewhere (thanks, whoever) and cleaned it up and was pleasantly surprised to find that the version of 'What A Surprise' is slightly longer than the version on my UK issue vinyl. I've added the B-side of 'Slow Hand', the Ruth-lead 'Holdin' Out For Love', which was also recorded by Cher, as a bonus track. I've stuck it before the dread rock and roll pastiche 'Should I Do It' which I think is probably my least favourite track the sisters have ever recorded. Still, someone must like it as it was a middling hit on single release...

1. Sweet Lover Man
2. Someday We'll Be Together
3. Take My Heart, Take My Soul
4. Slow Hand
5. We're Gonna Make It
6. What A Surprise
7. Got To Find Love
8. Fall In Love Again
9. Holdin' Out For Love
10. Should I Do It

What a SURPRISE