The Ritchie Family - Arabian Nights (LP) (1976) - €10,00

Arabian Nights is the second studio album recorded by American female vocal trio The Ritchie Family, released in 1976 on the Marlin label. 

During a recent couple of years the pop world had seen numerous big hits representing a new style of soul-based music that was completely, or almost completely, directed to the dance floor. 

Why not make a song about "The Best Disco in Town" playing all those early disco triumphs? Added to the song were parts of "Reach Out, I'll Be There" (as a Gloria Gaynor version), "T.S.O.P.", "Fly, Robin, Fly", even the "Brazil" version that had been taken to the charts by this same vocal group – The Ritchie Family. The extended version, as heard on the album Arabian Nights, features more of those: "Love to Love You Baby", "That's the Way (I Like It)", "Lady Bump", even "Lady Marmalade (Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir)" which actually wasn't a disco song but, naturally, played a lot in the discos. A guaranteed smash hit? You bet. 

"The Best Disco in Town" made Top 10 in countries like UK, Australia, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands, in which it even made No. 2. In the US it was #17, in Sweden #13 and so on.

For a long while I thought I didn't like this album very much. I considered the fragments of all those disco hits inside one song slightly annoying, and the "Arabian Nights (Medley)" that covers the whole Side B just isn't my cuppa tea. 

However, now that I listen to the album, I notice that "Baby I'm on Fire" and especially "Romantic Love" are very good Ritchie Family songs, while the 'new' composition inside which the disco hit fragments are placed in "The Best Disco in Town" is quite excellent. So, although "Arabian Nights (Medley)" still sounds extremely average and I am still not amazingly fond of certain parts of "The Best Disco in Town", I must admit that there is and will be a place for Arabian Nights in my vinyl LP shelf.

The album features the track, "The Best Disco in Town", which peaked at No. 1 on the Hot Dance/Disco chart, No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 12 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

Side one

1.  The Best Disco In Town - 6:39  

2.  Baby I’m On Fire - 5:05  

3.  Romantic Love - 5:53  

Side two

1.  Arabian Nights (Medley) - 14:26 

    (a)  Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - 4:22  

    (b)  Lawrence Of Arabia (More Than Yesterday, Less Than Tomorrow) - 3:57  

    (c)  In A Persian Market (Show Me How You Dance) - 6:07 

Personnel

• Cheryl Mason Jacks, Cassandra Ann Wooten, Gwendolyn Oliver – vocals
• Don Renaldo – strings, horns
• Richie Rome – electric piano, acoustic piano
• Earl Young, Charles Collins – drums
• Ron Baker, Michael "Sugar Bear" Foreman – bass
• Craig Snyder, Norman Harris, Bobby Eli – guitars
• Nick D'Amico – percussion
• Larry Washington, – congas
• Buddy Turner, Johnny Belmon, Jerry Atkins, James Gitp, Craig Jamerson, William Brown – male vocals

Production

• Jacques Morali, Richie Rome – producers, arrangers
• Henri Belolo – general supervisor
• Joe Tarsia, Jay Mark, Ken Present – engineers
• Michael Hutchinson, Jeff Stewart, Pete Humphreys – assistant engineers
• Vivian Abbott – time coordinator
• John Galluzzi – photographer

Notes

Release:  1976

Format:  LP

Genre:  Disco

Label:  Philips Records 

Catalog#  6412902 

Vinyl:  Excellent

Cover:  Excellent

Prijs: €10,00