GQ - Face To Face (LP) (1981) - €10,00

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GQ was an American group, formed in The Bronx, New York, primarily noted for its success in funk, R&B, soul music and disco. 

The core membership of the group commenced playing professionally, under different group names, as of 1968.

Face to Face is the third and final album by American soul/disco group GQ, released in 1981 on the Arista label. It peaked at #18 on the R&B chart and #140 on the pop listing. 

 Two singles, "Shake" and "Sad Girl", were released; the latter became the group's third to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #93.

Known as a four-piece band in their heyday, by the release of this album, GQ had been reduced to a trio, with the departure of drummer Paul Service. Service was not officially replaced on this release, and thus, only the remaining three members are featured on the cover. 

The drum work on the album was performed by session drummers Howard King and Chris Parker.

GQ are remembered for two very different things: uptempo disco-funk jams ("Disco Nights," "Standing Ovation") and covers of Billy Stewart ballads. 

And they excelled in both areas. But by 1981 (the year in which Face to Face first came out as a vinyl LP), the popularity that GQ had enjoyed in 1979 and 1980 was starting to fade. 

Face to Face, which was the Bronx outfit's third album as GQ (in 1976, they recorded an album titled Soul on Your Side as the Rhythm Makers), wasn't as commercially successful as 1979's Disco Nights or 1980's Two. 

Unlike those albums (both of which went platinum in the United States), Face to Face didn't contain any blockbuster hits. But Face to Face did make it to number 18 on Billboard's R&B albums chart, and it contained the number 23 R&B hit "Shake." 

Stylistically, Face to Face (which Funky Town Grooves reissued on CD in 2011) isn't a major departure from Disco Nights or Two. 

There are glossy funk/dance grooves (including "You've Got the Floor," "Boogie Shoogie Feelin'," and the Chic-influenced "Shake"), and while Face to Face doesn't contain any Billy Stewart covers, GQ's proficiency with romantic soul ballads is evident on "Sad Girl" and "Dark Side of the Sun" (which has a Stylistics/Blue Magic type of feel and is quite Philadelphia-sounding). 

Meanwhile, "You Put Some Love in My life" is a romantic slow jam with a Caribbean flavor (the tune draws on both Jamaican reggae and Trinidadian calypso/steel band music). 

Side A

A1.  Shake - 5:01  

A2.  You Put Some Love In My Life - 3:42  

A3.  Shy Baby - 3:58  

A4.  Sad Girl - 3:04  

A5.  I Love (The Skin You’re In) - 4:51  

Side B

B1.  Boogie Shoogie Feelin’ - 5:27  

B2.  Dark Side Of The Sun - 5:04  

B3.  Face To Face - 4:35  

B4.  You’ve Got The Floor - 5:08

Companies, etc.

• Recorded At – Sigma Sound Studios, New York
• Recorded At – 39 St. Music Production
• Recorded At – Sunset Sound
• Mixed At – Sigma Sound Studios, New York
• Mastered At – Sterling Sound
• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Arista Records, Inc.
• Copyright © – Arista Records, Inc.
• Produced For – Tony Productions Co.

Credits

• Arranged By [Horns, Strings] – Josef Joubert, Josef Joubert (tracks: B1, B2), Ray Chew
• Arranged By [Strings] – Josef Joubert (tracks: A1), Ray Chew (tracks: A2, A3)
• Backing Vocals [G Q Is] – Emanuel Rahiem LeBlanc, Herb Lane, Keith Crier
• Bass – Keith Crier
• Contractor [Strings, Horns] – Sephra Herman
• Coordinator [Album] – Dexter Cruzado, Vicki Manuel
• Coordinator [Studio] – Barbara Tiesi
• Drums – Chris Parker (tracks: A4 to B2), Howard King (tracks: A1, B3, B4)
• Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Herb Lane
• Engineer [39 St. Music Production] – John Rhodes
• Engineer [Additional] [Sigma Sound Studios, New York] – Michael Hutchinson
• Engineer [Assistant] [39 St. Music Production] – Alan Michalak
• Engineer [Assistant] [Sigma Sound Studios, New York] – Carla Bandini, Craig Michaels, Jerry Block, Jay Marks, Joan Meisell, John Convertino
• Engineer [Chief, Recording, Mixing] [Sigma Sound Studios, New York] – John Potoker
• Engineer [Mastering] – Ted Jensen
• Engineer [Sunset Sound Studios] – David Leonard
• Executive-Producer [Assistance] – Tony Lopez
• Guitar – Emanuel Rahiem LeBlanc
• Lead Vocals – Emanuel Rahiem LeBlanc
• Percussion – Jimmy Maelen (tracks: A3 to A5), Ralph Mac Donald (tracks: A1, A2, A5, B2, B4, B5)
• Photography By – Gary Gross, Pinderhughes, Mel Dixon
• Piano [Acoustic] – Josef Joubert (tracks: A1)
• Producer [Associate] – GQ
• Producer, Mixed By – Jimmy Simpson
• Soloist, Synthesizer – Paul Griffin (tracks: A2, A5)
• Synthesizer – Ed Walsh (tracks: A4, A5, B1, B2, B4, B5)

Notes

Release:  1981

Format:  LP, Vinyl

Genre:  Soul, Disco

Label:  Arista Records

Catalog#  204095

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover:  Goed (VG)

Prijs: €10,00