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Whispers - One for the money/ Open up your love- The Soul Train Recordings

Continuing the Whispers story and taking us to Soul Train and into 1976 and 1977. This is the first CD release of the two albums, and also included are a couple of bonus tracks.

Whatever your preference, be it the uptempo fledgling disco beat, ballads, upbeat or downtempo it is the vocal qualities, professionalism, slickness and harmonies that shine through on these albums but on any of their material from any era that you so choose. Personally on this CD I find that it is the ballads that I come back to, although the disco cuts are by no means throwaways. In fact the 12" mix of 'One for the money' is some cut indeed. It is however interesting to note (albeit in retrospect) how good and how prominent the slower cuts are, for what was predominantly perceived as being a disco label.

'Living together in sin' is so slow but so melodic it hurts. 'You're only as good as you think you are' and 'Sounds like a love song' and 'In my heart' complete the ballads on the first featured album. The latter being particularly excellent.

'Put me in the news' is jaunty commercial philly disco, 'I've got a feeling' is upbeat but less disco, bit of a modern soul groove in fact.

The second featured album starts with the cover of 'Make it with you' kinda works with a disco beat but doesn't do much for me. However good the vocals are it reminds me of so many such 'crap' covers that were around at the time amongst the bandwagon jumpers of the period.

'Chocolate Girl' is a pleasant enough ballad but not of the quality of some of the earlier ones. 'Love is a dream' is weak. 'Open up your love' is a ballad in a slightly different style - harder and pleading. 'I fell in love last night at the disco' is pretty average disco fayre and surely popular on the namesake Soul Train TV show.

'You are number one' and 'I'm gonna make you my wife' are fairly good ballads and a bit more of the earlier Whispers but not quite reaching those heights. 'You never miss your water Til your well runs dry' a jaunty rather twee Don Cornelius jazz tinged thing that I didn't like particularly much.

'In love forever' is featured as a bonus track being the labels 2nd release from 1975.

For lovers of male vocal harmony and more commercial 70's this album has much to commend it. For me 'One for the money' is superior to 'Open up your love' by some way.

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