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Sending Out an SOS!
S.O.S. Band - Greatest Hits EMI/The Right Stuff Out 23 August
Allying business nous with educated ears, one-time chairman of Motown Records Clarence Avant is one of the most successful and influential figures in the music industry and his reputation as a pioneer and mentor to generations of African American musicians is legendary. As his friend Quincy Jones once wrote: "He's been there for everybody, and if he'd helped himself as much as he's helped everyone else along the way, he'd be a billionaire by now." He started out in the early 60s, managing artists of the calibre of blues singer Little Willie John, jazz giant Jimmy Smith, Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin and super-producer Creed Taylor. In 1971 he formed his own record company, Sussex Records, home to Bill Withers and Dennis Coffey, and in 1975 he incorporated Tabu Records, an even more successful venture. Tabu signed a number notable artists including the S.O.S. (Sounds Of Success) Band and Alexander O’Neal, whose Greatest Hits is also out now. Both recorded some their finest work with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the Grammy-winning producers who helped to popularise the now-classic sound of Roland TR-808 drum machine and owe much of their success to Avant. The more laid back, shimmering and super-soulful flip side to the macho throbfests of contemporaries like Slave, Rick James and Zapp, the S.O.S. Band was originally known as Santa Monica. They were founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977 by Mary Davis, an irresistible, all purpose vocalist, Jason “T.C.” Bryant (keyboards), Billy R. Ellis (sax) and James Earl Jones III (drums). When they signed with Tabu, Avant suggested a change of name and a creative liaison with Sigidi Adullah, best known for penning two jazz-funk classics for Donald Byrd, Think Twice and (Fallin’ Like) Dominoes. Both were smart moves. “Don’t even take a bath until you have a hit for me!” were allegedly Avant’s instructions to Sigidi and he was good enough to oblige - although history doesn’t record whether he bathed before he’d finished it. Reworking a song idea called Sho’ You Right which his friend and former band-mate Harold Clayton had brought to him, Sigidi produced the powerfully funky Take Your Time (Do It Right) using horn and string charts contributed by James Brown’s bandleader Fred Wesley. It sold two million copies, peaking at number three in the Billboard pop charts in spring 1980; the beginning of the five year run of success documented here. Borrowing some equipment from fellow Atlanta band, Brick, S.O.S. immediately hit the road, playing with the likes of The Isley Brothers, Cameo, The Commodores and the GAP Band. The many hard hours spent on stage at an Atlanta club called The Regal Room had honed their live act to perfection. “We were so tight we’d blow everybody away!” says Mary. “Because we only had one hit at the time, promoters booked us for 15-20 minute sets. Audiences complained so they had to move us up so more people could see us. Some of the acts were downright evil to us, pulling the plugs before we finished our set.”
Their second LP, S.O.S. Band Too, featuring the evergreen, It’s A Long Way To The Top, was one of the first albums to be digitally mixed and their third LP (S.O.S. III) was where they took up with Jam and Lewis. Both members of the group The Time (alongside Alexander O’Neal) and part of Prince’s creative caravan, they flew to Atlanta during a Prince and The Time tour to write and produce a couple of songs. A snowstorm in Georgia caused them to miss the next tour date and his purpleness wasn’t best pleased. He fired them over the phone, but they could take some consolation from the tracks that were the beginning of a stellar production career. The duo took the helm for the 4th, 5th and 6th S.O.S. Band LPs.
Those LPs provide the bulk of this collection, beginning with lead track and classic 80s groove Just Be Good To Me, which Davis sings with such conviction you’d swear she’d written it herself. Tell Me If You Still Care, a ballad that is sunny and romantic but also recalls the cool detachment of Chic, was another deserved smash. As were Just The Way You Like It, title track from album number five, the bittersweet “make-out” anthem Weekend Girl and both the strutting Borrowed Love and The Finest from the Sands Of Time LP. One of their most assured productions, the latter was brilliantly redone by Kelis and spliced with The Human League (another Jam and Lewis client) by Richard X for one of the singles of last year, Finest Dreams.
Protection - we do a lot of it these days. Sun cream for our skin, sunglasses for our eyes, condoms for you know where - but do you remember to protect your hearing?
Click to find all the information you need to look after your hearing now so you can enjoy music for years to come
The Raft has discovered The CarbonNeutral Company
They help business, government and individuals to tackle their contribution to climate change. In addition to forestry projects, their work includes carbon emissions reduction, renewable energy and biomass schemes, as well as carbon management and risk consulting
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