Missionaria Protectiva

  SPACE  Just Blue  (Vogue,1978) - Electronic       The title track is a gentle throb, a pseudo-classical gander across a well-trodden disco path, but one with huge, echoey reverb on the bass synth, while Blue Tears is spectrally deep, a sighing cosmic breath from within a dusty, wood-covered, button-heavy synthesizer. Then there's Symphony, which redefines bombastic: this is a hands-in-the-air, multi-voiced oddity that breaks down to tick-tock tremulously along its timeline before being elevated by a glorious robot choir. Secret Dreams features two wildly contrasting (and both beautifully horrible) synth noises that rub up against some twinkling bells before breaking down into a Comfortably Numb-like axe-a-thon. But it's our old friend Final Signal that's the killer jam here featuring, as it does, a heavily processed fretless bass going buckwild over a decidedly Moroder-esque throb and a heavily stereo-panned keyboard - it is ludicrous and wonderful disco-...

  SAILOR  Sailor  (Epic,1974) - Pop       Sailor’s 1974 self-titled debut album is a delightful mix of light hearted, red light district folk tunes such as “Blue Desert” “Josephine Baker” “Sailor’s Night On The Town” and “The Girls Of Amsterdam” with its nod toward the ladies of the night in the nation where the group was to enjoy its greatest success, with the album containing no less than four Top Five hits there. One of them, the gorgeous acoustic, vocal harmony filled “Traffic Jam” was selected by Epic Records to be the band’s first UK single as well as the opening track for the album. Unfortunately the tune did not draw the attention at home that it did in the Netherlands. “Sailor” also includes some excellent cabaret style tunes, “The Street” “Blame It On The Soft Spot” to name but two. TRACKLIST: Traffic Jam                       Blue Desert                ...

  CHANTER SISTERS  First Flight  (Polydor,1976) - Soul, Funk, Pop       What if Dusty in Memphis , but glam? That’s the improbable synthesis suggested, if not entirely executed, behind the bold pop-art colors of the Chanter Sisters’ 1976 album First Flight . That cover is hard to look away from, but how can this kitschy bauble be at all listenable, much less a work of art? Yet sisters Doreen and Irene Chanter deliver an album loaded with vocal chops, heart and invention, saturated hues and big soulful pipes providing a consistent entertainment, with curious bona fides. TRACKLIST: Cuckoo-Cuckoo                         Darlin'                         Side Show                         Hound Dog                         Band O...

  GROVER WASHINGTON Jr.  The Best Is Yet To Come  (Elektra, 1982) - Jazz       As with Washington's earlier WINELIGHT, the collection includes an irresistible single; the title track is driven by one of Patti Labelle's best-ever vocals. While Bobby McFerrin is also among the guest singers (“Things Are Getting Better”), it's the instrumental work by Grover and company – bassist Marcus Miller, keyboardist Richard Tee and percussionist Ralph McDonald are among the players here – that keeps the grooves flowing. Mellow, soulful and featuring a variety of tempos and arrangements that are always light on their feet, THE BEST IS YET TO COME is a terrific display of Washington's talents as songwriter, producer and performer. TRACKLIST: Can You Dig It                         The Best Is Yet To Come                         More Than Meets The Eye ...

  MARLENA SHAW  Just A Matter Of Time  (Blue Note,1976) - Jazz       This was Ms. Shaw’s swansong for Blue Note before she jumped ship to Columbia in 1977. The album’s opener, the buoyant ‘It’s Better Than Walkin’ Out’ with its slurping hi-hat patterns finds Shaw jumping on the disco bandwagon but she adapts to her new musical surroundings with aplomb and panache. Boasting a big, anthemic chorus, dancing string lines and a throbbing dance groove, the tune was released as a single (the 12-inch single version, Blue Note’s first ever release in that format, is added as a bonus cut). Better still is the lovely Gwen Guthrie-co-written tune, ‘This Time I’ll be Sweeter,’ a song that was first recorded by the UK’s own Linda Lewis. ‘Think About Me’ struts along with a sassy funk vibe while the mid-tempo ‘You & Me’ is almost ethereal with its swirling harps. ‘Love Has Gone Away’ – a souped-up cover of a Spinners’ tune – is pure disco and ‘Take My Body’ (written b...

  MINNIE RIPERTON  Perfect Angel  (Epic,1974) - Soul       Perfect Angel owes more to a Van Morrison album of the early 70s than to any out-and-out soul record. It's bucolic, laid back, freewheeling and a pleasure from start to finish. Its mix of sultriness and innocence reminds us if just how great a loss Riperton – who died tragically young of cancer in 1979 – was to the world. TRACKLIST: Reasons                      It's So Nice (To See Old Friends)                      Take A Little Trip                      Seeing You This Way                      The Edge Of A Dream                      Perfect Angel                      Every ...