Mary Clark
Take Me I'm Yours

This is the peak of George Benson's courtship of the mass market -- a superbly crafted and performed pop album with a large supporting cast -- and wouldn't you know that Quincy Jones, the master catalyst, is the producer. Q's regular team, including the prolific songwriter Rod Temperton and the brilliant engineer Bruce Swedien, is in control, and Benson's voice, caught beautifully in the rich, floating sound, had never before been put to such versatile use.

That Friday Pay (Eagle Flying Day) by Sonny Jenkins and the New York Potpourri Strings produced by August Darnell

In the summer and fall of 1982, "Love Come Down" was all over Detroit and environs radio. At the Genopolis bar and club in Detroit's famed Greektown area, the disc jockey would spin this record early in the evening and when the opening chimes came through the loudspeakers, the patrons would throw down their drinks and cigarettes and rush to the dance floor. This record would get the party started. Slower in tempo than King's smash "Shame," but with a funkier groove, King proved that she was more than just a one-hit wonder with this release. Her strong and vibrant vocals are spot on and give the record the extra oomph that is needed to keep the listener interested - and dancing.

In all, Got To Be Real: The Columbia Anthology is a welcome addition to any R&B fan's music library, a comprehensive survey of Cheryl Lynn's best-known work that never fails to get the toes tapping and hips swaying. The impressive collection is available now wherever good music is sold.

Sounds a bit like a more relaxed cousin to "Heartbeat", due to its soulful vocals, disco rhythm, and upbeat plinking synth riff during the chorus. The jazzy electric piano chords are a nice touch as well. This original release can be distinguished from the reissues/bootlegs by a few characteristics. While the original has a color-gradient label-background with a light green/grey undertone the reissues have plain black background. The text alignment is different as the original has a full line-spacing between "Records & Filmworks Inc." and "Chemise". On the reissues there is only a 1-2 milimeter spacing. Also the original says "33 1/3 RPM" and the reissues say "331/3 RPM". The lower round-text ends next to "Vocal" on the originals while it ends at the height of "RPM" on the reissues.

Nearly every one of Patrice Rushen's R&B hits -- including the Top Ten singles "Haven't You Heard," "Forget Me Nots," "Feels So Real (Won't Let Go)," and "Watch Out" -- are featured on the single-disc anthology Haven't You Heard: The Best of Patrice Rushen. With the exception of "Watch Out," her only Top 40 hit for Arista, the material is entirely drawn from Rushen's heyday at Elektra, when she was fusing jazz with R&B and pop. The songs on Haven't You Heard represent the high watermark of her fusions, which makes the compilation both an excellent introduction and a comprehensive career retrospective.