Friday 24 February 2017

Allee Willis's 2 LP Sampler / Compilation from 1979









Again, thanks to the anonymous requester earlier who brought this artist to my attention.  And while I'm at it, thanks to all those who requested some pretty fabulous artists in the lifetime of this blog, most especially the recent finds of Simon and Bard, a totally neglected band indeed.

After the first record from Allee (that song Childstar should've been a megahit!) I was intent on collecting more if more there was.  This particular album with the plain black cover I presumed was privately pressed, since it mostly consisted of demos, but it turns out it was produced by Irving as can be seen on this page.  And that label was responsible for some pretty big blockbusters.

As usual, from the blurb on the back:

"Allee had three top 10 singles in 1979.  EW&F's September, M. Nightingale's Lead me On, and EW&F with the Emotions'  Boogie Wonderland...  [all of which appear here save the latter in a different version.]

"The songs in this two record set include a sampling of successful recordings as well as an extensive group of new songs, which appear as demos and await commercial recording. They represent some of Allee's finest work and give credence to her reputation as a songwriter adept in all areas of popular music."

Of course we are dealing with ordinary songwriting here, and in particular the pop style of the late seventies.  Not necessarily the inventiveness and quirky Laura Nyro edge to the Childstar record.  But that's OK, right?

Or is it? After listening to an hour and a half of this AM radio material I think I am convinced as always of the huge gulf that separates our taste here evident on this blog from popular music (here I invariably picture Celine Dion 'belting out' the smash hit "My heart must go on" and my own heart, of course, automatically having yet another instantaneous & fullstop cardiac arrest even while sitting hooked up to the crash cart as it drops 100,000 leagues downwards in the direction of the core of the earth...)  Anyways, when I woke up and changed those sweaty sheets I came to realize there is a song sample worth posting here, namely this one, called Come What May:





Some quick research shows this song was on a late 70s Patti LaBelle album.  In this case without a doubt the producer went overboard with the AM radio soul dreck on Patti's version and the simplicity of the demo makes it clearly superior.  I like that in the lyrics instead of the conventional type of trite Hallmark / Valentines commentary, the chorus states, somewhat defiantly

"--but I'll never be afraid of who I am, 
who I'm not, 
come what may."

Great track.

9 comments:


  1. https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/envng8

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Julian, this post is awesome! Is it possible to upload this Allee Willis 2 LP sampler 1979 compilation in lossless and maybe cleaner quality? I have tons of albums for sharing. Hope you will read this message. Greetings from Italy, Lorenzo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't mind posting a limited time lossless, the size of the file especially since this is 2 lp means it's impossible to maintain a longer link, especially since no one else out there seems to have noticed this album which I've grown now to love

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Dear Julian! Sorry, I have just seen you had posted it in lossless in October and I lost it, sorry!!!! :( May I kindly ask you to post it again in lossless? Sorry again, I did not receive any notification. Hope You can do it again, thanks a lot, my friend! All the best from Italy, Lorenzo

      Delete
    4. Dear Julian, I have tried to reply at your message here but I don't know if you got it. I wanted to ask you if you kindly could reupload this Allee Willis 2 LP sampler in lossless quality. I have unfortunately lost your upload, I was not noticed of your post. Thank You!!!All the best from Italy, Lorenzo Settepanella

      Delete
    5. as before, limited time only:
      https://we.tl/t-dWT8aU5CR9

      Delete
    6. Thanks a million, my brother! What can I offer in return? Is there anything you are searching for? Hope to hear from You, all the best from Italy, L

      Delete