Romantic tunes played a big part in British reggae charts in the late '70s and early '80s as a new generation of aspirational, British-born black kids abandoned roots reggae in favour of our first indigenous black pop style—lover's rock.
Many of the tunes were nothing more than insipid cover versions of UK pop or US soul hits, but the movement yielded a clutch of genuinely moving songs such as Sharon Forrester's "Silly, Wasn't It?" (incidentally, Melody Maker's reggae single of 1974) and Janet Kay's 1979 Top 3 hit "Silly Games", both featured here.
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Accompanied by bassist Jimmy Bond and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath the 24-year-old Simone works her way confidently through a program of 11 numbers, every aspect of her highly personal style already in place at the very start of her career. The album includes her hit version of "I Loves You Porgy", the track that drew Colpix to sign her up for the early-'60s.
In an ideal world, Blondie would have existed only on video. The golden Deborah, adored by the camera, would now live forever as a shimmering punk siren, blessed with a voice of both honey and crystalline clarity. Harry fronts Blondie at their 1983 farewell concert in Toronto uncomfortably, inelegantly, and sings without any of the vitality of the sassy little Kittens whose success has prompted this release.
