” I never knew love like this before
Now I’m lonely never more
Since you came into my life”

A simple song of love that could relate to a lover, a friend, a child, or even to God for that matter, this lovely little unassuming disco tune makes me feel good every time I hear it. It also makes me think of Janet Jackson’s “Together Again” for some reason. I suppose it’s a bit girlish but I don’t mind. Music brings out some of my more feminine sides - my wife sometimes laughs in disbelief at the pure unmanliness of my playlists. Oh well.

Stephanie Mills, 23 at the time of this release, was already well into her career. She first caught attention at age 9, appearing in the Broadway play “Maggie Flynn”. In the early 1970s she was the opening act for the Isley Brothers, and her 1975 sophomore album was produced by by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

“Never Knew Love Like This Before” was one of the last disco crossover hits of the era and Mills’ biggest hit to date. It’s written by James Mtume and and Reggie Lucas, who also produced most tracks on her four albums between 1979 and 1982. According to Wikipedia it reached #12 on the U.S. R&B charts and went all the way up to #6 on the pop charts. How does that work, anyway?

The song also won her a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance in 1981. She’s been nominated several times before and after, but this is her only win.

Production-wise it’s a lavish disco arrangement with strictly by-the-numbers guitar-bass-drums accompaniment, a tambourine, background vocals and strings and horns a-plenty.

I’ve often wondered how they could afford to hire a full orchestra on every single disco session at the time. Did they throw in the horn and string players on some special offer when they offered studio time? “Pay Now - Get 40 String Players Cost-Free!”

And what happened to all of those guys when Mellotron’s cheaper heirs finally replaced them in the 1980s? Did they all grow mullets and change their job title to “Synclavier consultant”? Hardly.

In their album review of “Sweet Sensation”, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews - an excellent and entertaining resource - point to “the bell-like keyboards that Madonna would soon turn into a trademark.” They’re right - the keyboards here are straight out of Madonna’s “Borderline.”

Mills has continued as a recording artist until the present, but she’s only released two albums after her last album on a major label in 1992.

She actually revisited the lyrics of this song in a more recent one, “Never Knew Love” from her 2004 album “Born For This!”

“Splashdown” is a great funk tune from Breakwater’s similarly titled swansong album.

Breakwater was formed by Kae Williams, Jr. in Philadelphia in 1971. Veteran record executive Clive Davis - in the news these days because of his public row with Kelly Clarkson about the quality of the songs on her new album - had just started Arista Records, and Breakwater was the first black act to be signed to that label in 1977.

They only released two albums throughout their career, “Breakwater” in 1978 and “Splashdown” in 1980, but they were renowned for being one of the best live acts in the Philadelphia area.

After a futuristic space intro with really annoying synth noises and robot voices, “Splashdown” moves into a seriously groovy landscape with a big, fat horn section (they brought in Quincy Jones regulars Jerry Hey, Gary Grant and Bill Reichenbach to flesh out the sound) and a great production - EW&F, Brothers Johnson, Ohio Players and Kool & the Gang come to mind. At about 4:00 they even set off into a cool soul-jazz groove. The lyrics are as silly as the album cover photo - they’re in the “atmosphere of pleasure” - it’s party-time in space!

The science fiction theme and their freaky costumes was probably inspired by George Clinton and Parliament, but then again, who wasn’t on that wave in the late 1970s?

The “Splashdown” album was produced by frontman Williams, Jr. and Rick Chertoff - Chertoff who, of all things, produced AIR SUPPLY’s “Lost in Love” at the same time! Now that’s versatility!

Among the other cuts on the album is “Release the Beast”, which Daft Punk sampled in their song “Robot Rock” in 2004.

It seems that Breakwater was all about the talents of mr. Kae Williams, Jr. He was the founder and leader of the band, he was the songwriter, arranger, producer, keyboardist, and vocalist. His father, Kae “Loudmouth” Williams, Sr., was a radio personality and a record producer in Philadelphia in the 1950s and 1960s. Kae’s godfather was B.B. King, which of course must be a great start for a young aspiring musician.

After Breakwater split up in the early 1980s, Williams was a member of Change, an Italian/American R&B group where Luther Vandross was also briefly involved. According to his website (nice layout, Kae!), he worked under the Philadelphia-based producer Nick Martinelli for a while and did sessions, production work and writing for acts like U.K.’s Loose Ends and their mid 1980s hit “Hanging on a String”,  BB&Q Band for which he wrote “Imagination”, and he also worked for Bootsie Collins, George Howard, Cyndi Lauper, Pia Zadora and Stevie Nicks (!)

His site further informs us that his career as a producer hit its peak with The Pretty Poison’s crossover hit “Catch Me I’m Falling” in 1988. According to Billboard, it peaked at #104.

I tried to find out, but I really don’t know what he’s been up to in the past 20 years.

Breakwater consisted of Williams, Jr., Gene Robinson (lead vocals/trumpet), James Gee Jones (drums), Linc Gilmore (guitar), Steve Green (bass), Vince Garnell (woodwinds), Greg Scott (woodwinds) and John ‘Dutch’ Braddock (percussion).

Random Tracks: I enjoyed this! Here’s another one. Once in a while I’ll let my mp3-player select a random file from my collection. Then I’ll try to dig up some information on the track and share it with you here. It’s a self-educational project - I’m getting to know my own mp3 collection. No downloads, sorry.

Andy Gibb - Fool for a Night (from “Shadow Dancing”, 1978, RSO)

Andy Gibb had a few glorious years from 1977 to 1979. In fact, all of the first three singles from his 1978 album “Shadow Dancing” went to number one in the U.S., and he was the first artist ever to achieve it.

He had a breezy, comfortable voice, charisma, and his music was boosted infinitely by the magical stardust and impossibly ethereal and glamourous disco sound of his Bee Gees big brothers at the time.

Sadly, the fairy tale only lasted a couple of years for Andy; by 1980 it was pretty much over. Maybe it had a little to do with changing musical trends - but mostly it had to do with Andy himself. Andy Gibb had, so the story goes, serious problems dealing with his success. He developed a massive cocaine addiction and died of an inflammatory heart disease only 30 years old in 1988.

“Fool for a Night” is my least favorite tune on “Shadow Dancing”. The album is a very light but generally pleasurable affair. It reminds me of happiness, summer, childhood and ice cream. It has a couple of gorgeous Bee Gees leftovers, some decent tunes by Andy himself and a few not so great. “Fool for a Night” was penned by Andy and is a slight piece of pop pap clocking in at 3:20.

Listening to it, I imagine a positively happy-go-lucky blond guy strolling along on his toes to this limp, tip-a-ti-toe rhythm arrangement. Sporting a pink t-shirt, 501 jeans and white sneakers he’s desperately trying to put on a serious face as he’s singing along.

It’s the kind of song it’s absolutely impossible to move around to, let alone dance to - even though it’s a pretty up-tempo affair.

It’s more of a “move your head from a side to a side with a dorky smile and raise your eyebrows” kind of song - especially so if you have a decent mop.

Basically, the song is about a guy warning someone against following their impulses without considering the consequences - “you’d be a fool to fall for a night” - but still offering them a safe haven if they should fail - “time will turn you back to me.” I guess it could be the words of a protective ex-lover or a dad - but I can’t help imagining it’s Andy impersonating the wiser and older Barry (in white spandex pants, no less) giving advice to the young, impressionable Andy.

The chorus introduces some advanced interplay between music and lyrics. Whenever Andy sings “why be a fool for a night” and “you’d be a fool to fall for a night”, the string section promptly emphasize the protagonist’s concern for his subject with downward glissandi - thus suggesting the potential fall (from grace, or whatever.) The sheer whimsicality of the chorus is a bit confusing to me. Maybe it’s referring to the impulsive nature of its subject? Whatever…

Towards the end of the song a couple of clever key changes lift up the bridge, thus adding to the drama of the lyric, along with a little more somber string chords: “…if you run away / you can’t escape from the price you pay…” and so on - this is the moral of the story - finally returning us to the chorus, bringing it up a half tone.

Andy then putters through the chorus a couple of times - aand fadeout. Done!

“Fool for a Night” was never released as a single in the U.S., and it’s easy for me to understand why. It was, however, released as a B-side to the single “Why” in the U.K.

This track was produced by Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson and arranged by Galuten. Musicians: Joey Murcia and Tim Renwick on guitars, George Bitzer on keys, Harold Cowart on bass and finally Ron Ziegler on drums along with Joe Lala on percussion.