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Elly Roberts reviews
Sanctuary Urban Records Group
- Cat.no: SANPR322
- Released: October 2004
- Rating: 6/10
Starting out in 1960 as The Mascots, they changed their name to The OJays, and became one of the most popular black vocal groups of the 70s.
After much label hopping, they landed a deal with CBS, then moving on togreater things with Philadelphia International. It all began for them in theUK when the sublime Back Stabbers burst onto the chart in September 1972.
From then on they released stunning ballads or out-and-out dance hits, untilit all came to an end in 1983. 1973s Love Train is a staple diet atweddings and nightclubs, and one of my favourite party records of all time.Theyve still been recording, but have failed to make the impact of theirheyday.
Into their fifth decade as recording artists, this 12-tracker, theirfirst in three years, I fear, will do little to do much to address theirformer impact. That said, having witnessed the mutation of Soul into thehideous genres of Hip-Hop and Rap, its great to see theyve not succumbed tocurrent trends.
Theres a distinctive loungy feel, which brings the classic Soul sound bangup to date. They have touched briefly, and thankfully briefly, on RnBwith Separate Ways and Why You Wanna Settle For Less. Reggae-tingedBusy Tonight is an absolute classic. If you want to hear them go into”sexy overdrive”, check out the silky smooth I Would Rather Cry. Taggedon the end is a great Christmas song done in a Harry Connick Jnr big-bandstyle.Commercially, track 5 Chauvinistic is the possibly the only potentialsingle. Production is of the highest order, as is the fabulous vocal quality.
So far it hasnt reached the BBC Top 40, so its possibly one for the fans.
The full list of tracks included are :
1. Made It Back
2. Repair Man
3. Make Up
4. Imagination
5. Chauvinistic
6. Separate Ways7. Why You Wanna Settle For Less
8. Busy Night
9. One Good Woman
10. I Would Rather Cry
11. Bonus Track The Christmas Song
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.