🎵 AotW Howard Johnson - KEEPIN' LOVE NEW (SP-4895)

[LPJim]

Howard Johnson
KEEPIN' LOVE NEW
A&M SP-4895

SIDE ONE:

So Fine 5:32
Take Me Through the Night 3:50
This is Heaven 5:22
Jam Song 3:48

SIDE TWO:

Keepin' Love New 4:05
So Glad You're My Lady 4:35
Say You Wanna 4:44
Forever Falling in Love 4:16

Vocals: Howard Johnson (lead), Fonzi Thornton, Freddie Jackson, Kashif (piano, co-producer), Michelle Cobbs, Phillip Ballou, Regi King, Paul Lewis Jones (piano, co-producer)

Piano- Ralph Shuckett
Bass- Kevin Jenkins, Tinker Barfield, Wayne Brathwaite
Percission- Bashiri Johnson, Russell Robertson
Guitar- Ira Siegel, Jeff Simon, Morrie Brown (co-producer), Ted Perlman, Thom Rotella

Drums- Leslie Ming & Trevor Gale
Design- Malie Nissen
Photography- David Vance
Art Direction- Chuck Beeson

Executive Producer- Howard Smiley
Recorded & Mixed at Celestial Sound & Media Sound
Mastered at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs

Released 1982
Reached # 122 in the Billboard Top 200
Reissued on CD in 2005 by PTG Records (#34014)

JB

 

[Rudy]

"So Fine" was a popular R&B and club hit in 1982, courtesy of producer Kashif who had also worked with Evelyn "Champagne" King, Melba Moore and George Benson. This album was Johnson's successful debut, which unfortunately would be the peak of his career recognition-wise. His second album Doin' It My Way would be produced by The System (David Frank/Mic Murphy), whereas the third would feature some tracks produced by John McClain, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. No idea if he's had other albums beyond these three...

 

[Dave]

The conventions of Kashif w/ Johnson worked very well, and to the point where it should have earned another...

This is a good album, w/ the title track bubbling under the charts & a few other catchy numbers that should have but this artist among the ranks of the soon-to-be-late Marvin Gaye...

Howard had a good enough range, and too distinctive to be buried under the orange-tiled roof of the emerging R&B artists up-and-coming... And not half as true as to the original origin of the genre, in this & the succeeding decades...


-- Dave