Friday, April 19, 2013

40 Year Itch : This Is Our Fork In The Road





The Spinners self titled Atlantic label debut would top Billboard's Soul Album charts for most of May 1973 thanks to its mother lode of singles ("I'll Be Around", "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love", "Ghetto Child", "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" and "How Could I Let You Get Away"). 




 For The Spinners, success was a long time coming. They'd been together for more than ten years with just one hit to show them: 1970's Stevie Wonder produced "It's A Shame" on the Motown VIP label. 

    When they teamed up with Thom Bell at Atlantic they began a hit making streak. It was Bell who made the thinly-voiced but radio friendly Phillippe Wynne the band's frontman. Not sure if Bell would want to take credit for sequencing The Spinners .Typically, you want the lead off track to be the strongest tune. Instead it's the decent "Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind".




 "I'll Be Around" (US #3/ R and B #1) is buried as the last cut on Side One. The rest of the singles can be found on Side Two. Originally a B Side, "I'll Be Around" only became The Spinners's first million selling single because of the deejays who flipped the single. 

To me, The Spinners have always been just faceless enough that listeners could project their songs of love and celebration in their own lives.

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