Retro Spins: Kool & The Gang - Something Special

With James "J.T." Taylor on vocals, Kool & The Gang continued to fire off the hits with subsequent albums. Riding the waves of their previous number one hit, Celebration, the group returned to the studio to record 1981's Something Special. With it came the top ten hit, Get Down On It, and the top twenty hit, Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It). While a third single followed, Steppin' Out, this wouldn't make much traction on the charts, stalling out at number eighty-nine).

Mind you, that was just their positions on the Billboard Hot 100. Over on the R&B charts, their singles were hitting harder. Get Down would peak at number four, Steppin' Out at twelve, and Take My Heart grabbing the number one spot. Something Special would also become the band's first album to peak in the UK, at number ten, making it their first big hit in that country.

Initially, the album contained eight tracks. However, when the CD age was ushered in, and a repressing of the album occurred, bonus track, Stop, was added at the end. This being the version I have, means I'll be taking a look at all nine tracks, versus the original.

Things start out with Steppin' Out, and the funky groove of disco is in full effect. It's an okay tune and got me in a better mood than their previously released Celebrate (1980).

Things ebbed and flowed, with tempos slowing down for the occasional ballad. Those didn't land to well with me, but then again, they typically don't. Ballads have never been my thing.

I did, however, find some tunes worth consideration for my now non-existent shuffle (still haven't found that IPOD). Those were: Be My Lady, Get Down On It, and Stand Up And Sing.

Overall, it was a step up from my prior listening experience, and it didn't make me hopefully that there's more good stuff to come from The Gang. There's not much more to say about this one, so I'll leave it there.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Comics Corner: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man 99

   

Title: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man
Issue Number: 99
Release Date: February 1985

Highlights

• First appearance of Candi Muggins, Randi Cooper, Bambi Modica, and Leonard Eikhart
• First battle between Spider-Man and Spot
• First appearance of the cloth black and white Spider-Man suit
• Spot gains an understanding of how his spotted form works
• Reference is made to Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man 96
• Spot considers not telling Kingpin about his powers, thinking they shouldn't be shared
• Peter meets his new neighbors, Candi, Randi, and Bambi
• Sha Shan comes to see Peter, and he promises he'll find out what's going on with Flash Thompson
• Flash witnesses the interaction from a distance, concluding that Peter is messing around with his girl
• Peter confides in Joe Robertson that he's having all kinds of issues with life, which are now messing up his work for the Bugle, Robertson tells him not to be so hard on himself
• Joe in turn apologizes for giving Peter such a hard time as of late, and says it's because of the strain on him as the new editor-in-chief of the paper, and nothing Peter did
• Black Cat sews, and gives Spider-Man a cloth version of his symbiote suit, but it freaks him out, and he refuses to wear it
  
• Black Cat begins to think that Spider-Man and her aren't meant to be, not happy with him constantly trying to change who she is / was
• Spider-Man and Black Cat head to Kingpin's headquarters to confront the man about the debt Cat owes him
• The symbiote ensnares an unnamed man from Arizona visiting New York, and takes control of his body
• When Spider-Man hears the Spot's name, he laughs in his face
• Spider-Man realizes that his spider senses don't warn him in time about Spot's attacks because they aren't a threat until they materialize through the holes
• Regardless, Spider-Man considers the villain weak, stating he hits so soft that he wouldn't hurt a Smurf
• Though unhurt, Spider-Man technically loses the battle, unable to land one punch on Spot

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• Editor's Day Off: A portion of Spots leg is not colored in during his fight with Spider-Man

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: Kool & The Gang - Celebrate!

Kool & The Gang have never really been my thing. They had their hits, I thought they were okay, but nothing that I necessarily walked around humming all day. As I worked to fill gaps in my CD collection, I eventually turned by sights towards the band, first picking up their albums that had the hits, and then filling in a couple more from there.

Celebrate marked the second from the band to feature new singer, James "J.T." Taylor. High on their success from their 1979 entry, Ladies Night, The Gang were keen to strike hard and keep this resurgence of relevancy to their career high. The end result of their efforts was a platinum selling album, as well as their first, and only, Billboard Hot 100 number one, Celebration.

Both the album and band were highly praised, noted as one of the few funk bands of the 70's to successfully transition into the disco scene. However, it would also mark the end of an era, as their move away from their funk roots brought with it an adoption of a more dance-oriented sound. This wasn't something that some of their prior fans appreciated, but as a whole, paid off in a wave of hit singles.

If you were to ask me what my favorite song from Kool & The Gang was, I wouldn't say Celebration. In fact, I'm not necessarily a fan of that track at all. Truthfully, this album ended up in my collection to check a box, and I wasn't expecting much from it.

It's definitely driven by a funky groove of bass, and a lot of ballads. Sadly, it's also quite generic in nature, at least for me. Personally, I didn't really hear anything on the record to make me jump up and down for joy, but frankly, I didn't think I would.

That's what happens when you buy an album just because you know that one song on it. That's totally my fault. I got an itch to buy their albums, and being the impulsive type that I am, immediately dove in full bore. Candidly, it's why it's taken me so long to get around to playing through their albums, and why, to date, I've only played through Emergency, the aforementioned having my favorite song from the band.

I'm still committed to making my way through the remainder of their albums that I have, and I'll be back at it tomorrow with 1981's Something Special. I'm hoping that I start to find some hidden gems as I progress.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Comics Corner: The Amazing Spider-Man 262

   

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man
Issue Number: 262
Release Date: March 1985

Highlights

• First appearance of Jack "D.J." Jones, Roberto DeNatale, Bluto, and Cheo
• First appearance of "Scurvy Jack's" Tavern, and St. Rudolph Hotel
• Photograph cover featuring Scott Leva as Spider-Man, who was planned to star in a Spider-Man film for Cannon Films, but was eventually scrapped
• He does dawn the costume for the 2000 X-Men movie as a gag, and is featured in the blooper real
• Elliot R. Brown is the photographer on the cover, and you can check out his story about the shoot, "HERE"
• D.J. Jones walks in on Peter Parker half dressed as Spider-Man with his mask off, and quickly snaps a photograph
• Jones gets away, and later that evening heads out to find a buyer of his negatives
• Peter identifies Jones with the help of Ben Urich
• When Roberto DeNatale finds out about the negatives, he sends his men to take them from Jones
• Spider-Man bursts in at the last second, and takes out the thugs, but Jones quickly escapes again
• When DeNatale finds out about what happens, he deduces that Jones set him up, and orders is men to kill the would be criminal
• Spider-Man saves him again, this time tricking the thugs by saying that Jones is his prey, not theirs, in an attempt to lure them off the man
• Spider-Man gets the original negatives, and let's Jones go
• Jones realizes that between Spider-Man and DeNatale, he needs to get out of town fast

Low Points

• It feels like a story someone wrote in ten minutes to meet a deadline, and collect a check
• Zero relevance or impact to the overall Spider-Man universe
• It's not believable that Spider-Man would be so reckless as to be changing in an unlocked room, and ignore his spidey sense, allowing someone to walk in on him

Oddities

• None

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.