Recueil Des Coursvolume 170 (1981 I)

A sumptuous two-disc set that brings together all three of Patti's albums for the Philadelphia International label from the 1980s. The Spirit's In It from 1981 features stellar performances of the title track, "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu," "Here You Come Again," and a powerful recut of "Over the Rainbow." Patti's second album, 1983's I'm In Love Again, spills across both discs, with the title track and a nice reading of "Lover Man" being the highlights. This anthology finishes out with 1985's Patti, an album of leftovers which nonetheless sports strong material in Bobby Womack's "Love Symphony," Gamble and Huff's "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "Shy," and the standard "Look to the Rainbow." An interesting chapter in this soul diva's career.

"Mistaken Identity" is the 6th studio album by American singer Kim Carnes. It was released in April 1981 by EMI America Records. It was one of 1981's biggest albums and produced Billboard's number-one song for the entire year, "Bette Davis Eyes". It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The album spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200, and was subsequently certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album spawned three singles, "Bette Davis Eyes", "Draw of the Cards" and the title track, which peaked at # 1, 28 and 60 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. The Mistaken Identity Tour found Carnes at the peak of success, selling out arenas and large venues.

With few exceptions, greats who established themselves during soul's golden era were not well served by the disco era, when arrangements and material often poorly suited their abilities. Such was the case with the final two albums by Esther Phillips, Here's Esther…Are You Ready (1979) and Good Black Is Hard to Crack (1981), here combined onto one CD with historical liner notes.

Here are the first two albums from pioneer smooth jazz unit Pieces of a Dream on a single disc. Produced and mixed by the late Grover Washington, Jr., Pieces of a Dream/We Are One combine soulful, tight arrangements, spirited and inspired playing, and a canny knack for grooves, Pieces of a Dream and We Are One endure as gems of the genre.

About the time of this album's release, Barry White was beginning his love affair with South America, specifically the country of Brazil, where he had tremendous popularity. This can be obviously experienced in the jaunty "Rio de Janeiro" and a cool remake of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie. The title cut, another remake, is, by far, the reason to make this CD a part of a Barry White collection. The song begins with the trademark White rap and proceeds into a well-crafted "warning" to a future paramour.