Keep On Keepin' On: The Atlantic Years (Phase 2, 1979-1984)
complements
Ain't No Price on Happiness: The Thom Bell Studio Recordings 1972-1979
as the second of two thoroughly annotated boxed sets covering
the Spinners
' long run on
Atlantic
. It contains seven discs, like the first volume. Expanded editions of the group's last six
studio albums are joined by a straight reissue of
Live!
, originally released in 1975, before frontman
Philippé Wynne
left to pursue a solo career.
The Spinners
exited their post-
Thom Bell
era by uniting with
Michael Zager
, a writer, arranger, and producer who had just topped the disco chart and hit the Top 40 with the commercial if quasi-Baroque "Let's All Chant." Just as indicative of
' future,
Let's All Chant
ended with a disco medley (of Disney tunes). Out of the gate,
and
Zager
scored a hit together at the tail-end of 1979 with "Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me Girl," a medley that wove the oddly cheerful and repentant
Sandy Linzer
-
Danny Rendell
composition popularized by
Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
with a
original. It highlighted
Dancin' and Lovin'
and went over well enough that the group and producer put the same concept to use for "Cupid/I've Loved You a Long Time" and "Yesterday Once More/Nothing Remains the Same," the most successful singles off the next two albums,
Love Trippin'
Labor of Love
. Although
' didn't score another Top Ten (or even Top 40) hit after "Cupid/I've Loved You a Long Time," their subsequent collaborations with other producers were hardly fruitless in terms of creativity.
Can't Shake This Feelin'
, made with the dynamite team of
James Mtume
Reggie Lucas
, isn't a career highlight for any of the involved parties but includes fine post-disco soul cuts like "Got to Be Love" and the
Tawatha Agee
-written "You Go Your Way (I'll Go Mine)."
Grand Slam
, a
Freddie Perren
production, at least has some strong harmonies to make up for a shortage of quality material.
swan song
Cross Fire
is a
Solar Records
release in disguise, given that it involved the efforts of
Leon
,
James
, and
Ricky Sylvers
, plus those of
Dana Meyers
William Zimmerman
Keg Johnson
-- all names common to
Solar
sessions. As a consequence, it's not unlike a
Whispers
LP given similarly crisp production with drum machines and synthesizers not crowding out the impeccably arranged vocals.
Keep On Keepin' On
lovingly ties together these varying chapters of
Spinners
history that were previously reissued only in fragmentary and often unappealing form. ~ Andy Kellman