Heatwave’s sophomore LP CENTRAL HEATING (R&B #2/Pop #10/UK#26), released in 1977 on GTO Records, more than lived up to the group’s breakthrough album from the year before. All but two of the tracks were penned by Rod “Thriller” Temperton with the remainder from the hand of lead vocalist Johnnie Wilder. The stand out tracks include the funk smash and disco-era anthem “The Groove Line” (R&B #3/Pop #7/UK #12) and the quiet storm classic “Mind Blowing Decisions” (UK #12/R&B #49) as well as party grooves “Put Out The Word,” and “Party Poops” and the smooth soul of “Happiness Togetherness” and “The Star Of A Story,” which was later covered by George Benson on his Quincy Jones produced Give Me The Night album.
ELIZA NEALS is a dynamic front woman, multi-talented musician, confident producer and outstanding live performer plus the voice of the ‘new blues’ for this generation. The award winning sultry and powerful blues rock soul vocalist, recording artist, composer, performer, publisher and producer is being compared to greats like Etta James, Janis Joplin and Ricki Lee Jones among others.
Third release on Ondine by the Austrian star violinist Benjamin Schmid contains fresh arrangements of well-known piano pieces by Shostakovich and Prokofiev for violin and piano. Also included is a suite transcribed from Kurt Weill's iconic ‘The Threepenny Opera'. All the three original works by the composers were written during the 1910s and 1920s.
From the dawn of doo-wop to the death of disco, the Notations saw—and sang—it all. Persisting through changing trends and technologies, on major labels and minor ones, produced by both Syl Johnson and Curtis Mayfield, nothing could stop the Notations from representing Chicago’s Southside for decades. The first overview of their indie label golden age, Still Here 1967–1973 finds the Notations at a musical crossroads, turning from simmering R&B ballads to socially-conscious soul. Offering up a platter of golden-dipped harmonies, inventive arrangements, and super-powered soul, the Notations survived as unheralded legends in their own time.