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The Feelin’ On
has a nice rare groove sound
typical of the group’s other songs. The record
hit the bottom of the Billboard R&B Charts
in December of 1975. Polydor released an
entire album titled
Pass The Feelin’ On
in 1975
and a second album ’Consider the source’ in
1976 without releasing any more singles. The
group disbanded after their second Polydor
LP – it’s not clear whether any of the members
remained active in the music scene, as most
of them were already singers who had been
active in the industry for 15-20 years.
7. ALVAREZ:
SOONER OR LATER
(Jesus Alvarez)
Not much is known about artist Alvarez, aka,
Jesus Alvarez. He was from the New York /
New Jersey area and spent much of his career
as a musician, writer, and producer for Joe
and Sylvia Robinson’s stable of labels (Stang,
All Platinum, Vibration, Turbo, etc.). Alvarez
was an o cial member of the disco band Shir-
ley and Company, which featured lead vocals
by Shirley Goodman (previously of the
Let The
Good Times Roll
duo Shirley and Lee); Shirley
and Company had a #1 R&B hit with
Shame
Shame Shame
in January of 1975 and several
follow-up singles capitalizing on the same lyri-
cal theme. At the same time, Alvarez released
four solo singles on the Robinsons’ Vibration
label (the first one simply crediting ’Jesus’).
Alvarez also produced, and was possibly a
member of, a couple Latin soul flavored groups
on other labels – he produced two singles by
the Nicky Newarkers on Mercury in 1975/1976
and produced a single by a group called The
Willow Band for Epic Records in 1976. Given
his clear talent and the lack of information on
him, Alvarez was probably involved in other
recordings throughout his career.
Alvarez produced one final solo single on
himself for Polydor Records in 1977 – Polydor
14381
Sooner Or Later / The Lord’s Prayer
.
The record has a nice uptempo pop / disco
/ soul sound; Alvarez’ lead is supplemented
with backing vocals and typical disco backing
instrumentation. The single failed to gain any
commercial or radio success. I’m unaware of
any other work Alvarez did in the music indust-
ry after the failure of this last single.
8. PETE WARNER:
I JUST WANT TO SPEND MY LIFE WITH YOU
(Patrick Adams-Denise Harris)
Pete Warner ultimately became an accomplis-
hed New York writer and producer; however,
in 1975 he was just starting his music career
and released his only solo recordings,
I Just
Want To Spend My Life With You / Hands
, on
Polydor 14278. The record was produced by
legendary New York producer Patrick Adams.
Adams had been producing music since
at least 1970, when he worked with Black
Ivory and other artists at Perception / Today
Records. However, some of his most import-
ant work as a producer was helping to create
and shape the New York disco / dance scene.
Adams’ mid-70s writing and productions
created a soulful sound that contrasted with
the later generic by-the-numbers mainstream
disco style that the American public came to
hate. Disco was breaking in 1975 and songs
like Sister Sledge’s
Circle Of Love
(written by
Adams) along with tracks like Pete War-
ner’s
I Just Want To Spend My Life With You
had strong, dance-oriented backbeats and
production but with soulful lyrics and backing
harmonies. Adams also helped create a New
York sound that was influenced by, but slightly
di erent and less backbeat focused than the
Philadelphia sound.
Although an excellent mid-to-uptempo soul
cut with soulful lyrics and backing harmonies,
Pete Warner’s
I Just Want To Spend My Life
With You
failed to get almost any radio play
(an internet search strangely reveals one chart
in Arizona). The cut was one of Adams’ only
(his only?) productions for Polydor Records
which might have explained the lack of pro-
motion; he had more success with other major
labels such as Roulette, Atlantic, Prelude, etc.
Although Warner did not release any more
of his own recordings, he became a session
musician, writer, and producer in his own
right. He initially worked for Patrick Adams
Productions producing disco in the late ‘70s.
He later produced Top 40 hits for such artists
as Rainy Davis in the ‘80s. The Rainy Davis
song
Sweetheart
which Warner co-wrote was
covered by Mariah Carey (and redone as a
duo by Mariah Carey and Jermaine Dupree)
in 1998 and became a hit in Europe.
9. ENCHANTMENT:
CALL ON ME
(Emanuel Johnson-Earl Thomas-Mike Stokes)
Enchantment were a vocal group formed in
Detroit in the late ‘60s, consisting of members
Emanuel ’E.J. Johnson, Joe ’Jobie’ Thomas,
Edgar ’Mickey’ Clanton, Bobby Green, and
David Banks. The group caught the attention
of producer Mike Stokes in 1973 and began to
work with him near the end of his career at
Sussex Records.
In 1975 Stokes (along with Jimmy Roach and
Paul Riser, also at Sussex Records) was working
as one of the arrangers on the low-budget
blaxploitation film ’Deliver us from evil’. The film
got a limited initial release in 1975 and Stokes
(who by that time had moved to Polydor)
managed to get an Enchantment single from the
film’s soundtrack released.
Call On Me
(with an
instrumental flip) came out on a 45 as Polydor
14287. Text on the single says
“From the Original
Sound Track Recording DELIVER US FROM EVIL
PD 6055”
– meaning the film soundtrack LP did
have a scheduled catalog number on Polydor.
This LP was never released but the single ended
up being Enchantment’s first release.
Call On Me
has an excellent funky midtem-
po group harmony feel that transcends the
stereotypical blaxploitation soundtrack sound.
However, the single received little promotion and
(probably along with the failure of the film and
the non-release of its soundtrack) got virtually no
play or sales.
Enchantment released another unsuccessful
single on Desert Moon in 1976 and, after Stokes
got them signed to United Artists later in the
year, had their mega hit
Gloria
, which charted
#5 on the Billboard R&B Charts. Their next
single
Sunshine
charted even higher (#3) and
the group achieved a #1 R&B hit with their third
single
It’s You That I Need
. Enchantment con-
tinued to be the main vocal group that Stokes
worked and succeeded with through the early
‘80s. Today Enchantment is probably best
remembered for their hit
Gloria
and for being
one of the last groups carrying on the vocal
harmony tradition in the post-disco era.
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