"Keep Your Eye On Me" video

[AM Matt]

Just saw the video for "Keep Your Eye On Me" on the Herb Alpert Presents website. Haven't seen that video since the Summer of 1987 when TBS did the video show "Night Tracks" every Friday & Saturday night back then. Matt Clark Sanford, MI

 

[Harry]

That video was included in the VERY BEST OF HERB ALPERT video package in the UK and Japan, so I've seen it there a number of times. Still it is a fun video. And they used our Captain Bacardi's Amazon review for text!

I posted a note on the herbalpertpresents.com site for that video, letting them know they got the title a bit wrong. It's "Eye", not "Eyes".

Harry

 

[Dave]

It's a song almost like "Diamonds", except it's a little bit more distinctly Herb's song...!


-- Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

And they used our Captain Bacardi's Amazon review for text!

I guess I can retire now that I'll be amassing huge royalties from that....

Uhhhh - no.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I like the video more than the song. I never could see the appeal of that song...it just seems to go on forever for me.

I have mixed feelings about the Keep Your Eye On Me project. On the one hand, it's great music --- "Diamonds" is a great tune. But it's the first time Herb sounded like a guest artist on his own album. It seemed more like "Jam and Lewis feat. Herb Alpert." I realize those two didn't produce the whole album...I need to give the record another listen. Haven't heard it since the LP days! If it ever sees the light of day I'll definitely pick up a digital version.

 

[Harry]

I really enjoyed KEEP YOUR EYE ON ME from the first time I heard it. It's odd too, because I'm not much of a funk/R&B guy, but there are so many varied styles here - and it all seemed to hang together well. I really like the side one closer "Cat Man Do."

Harry

 

[jfiedler17]

Yeah, I'm with Harry; Keep Your Eye on Me is one of my favorite Herb albums of the '80s. I'm sure it helps, though, that I'm a huge Jam and Lewis fan. (Two of the most gifted producers of the last thirty years, for sure. I still find it amazing that they could coax a vocal like "Human" out of a singer as typically robotic as Phil Oakey. No easy feat! ) I'd agree that Herb is practically a cameo on "Diamonds" and that it's essentially a Janet Jackson single in everything but name, but it's a great single all the same. And they do give Herb much more of a showcase in their other productions, like the title track and "Making Love in the Rain," which uses his trumpet to amazing atmospheric effect. "Our Song" has got a killer melody to it, "Cat Man Do" is equally incredible, and "Pillow"'s a fun listen, if just to hear him and Lani singing together. It's a strong album, I think.

 

[Rudy]

Yeah, I'm with Harry; Keep Your Eye on Me is one of my favorite Herb albums of the '80s. I'm sure it helps, though, that I'm a huge Jam and Lewis fan. (Two of the most gifted producers of the last thirty years, for sure.

This album came at a time when Jam and Lewis were burnin' hot, and this fit right into what I was listening to at the time. Granted they only produced four of the tracks, but it has their signature sound (and attitude ) all over those four.

Just knowing the whole Prince organization, and how The Time came about (and having seen both on the "1999" tour), The Time was one of the tightest funk outfits when they played live. On record, it was primarily Prince on the instrumentals, Morris Day on vocals, and a few scattered guest shots by various Time members. It wasn't until Pandemonium that The Time finally got on record (and even there, not all tracks were pure Time: "Jerk Out" was a leftover track from the What Time Is It? album, and "Chocolate" was definitely a Prince/Morris Day work). If I recall, it was that lack of appearance on record (and the controlling/perfectionist nature of Prince at the time) that made Jam and Lewis leave for greener pastures and start on their production career.

I always seem to miss The Time's reunion tours when they happen...