Customer Reviews

Look

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought I'd NEVER find this album again! THE LOOK is Shalamar's best album and one of my absolute favorites!
Like most 80's disciples, I was a Prince junkie but I played THIS cassette to death as well. The synth-driven, funky, new-wave-ish sound of THE LOOK is what made me love it - then and now. Jody Watley and (of course) Howard Hewett deliver EXCELLENT
vocal performances throughout the album. "Closer" and "Over & Over" are grooves with irresistible hooks. "Dead Giveaway" and "Disappearing Act" are straight 80's New-Wave tunes pulled off nicely. My favorite song overall on this album is "Right Here", a sweetly sung Howard and Jody duet. I played this song repeatedly in '84 when I had my first girlfriend and hearing it
now brings those sweet feelings & memories back!
In time, I lost the cassette and could never find it again - until now. This CD is the most treasured in my collection.
[....]

Finally !! I have this great Shalamar album again. It was the summer of '83 and Shalamar had the hit Dead Giveaway playing on Houston radio station Majic 102 FM, I had to get it, well I have to say, it was one of the best that I bought that summer. The tape I had was lost, and no music store could special order it for me anywhere, now 17 years later, I have it again, and those songs on that album bring back 1983. Although I was 14 at the time, I new great music. I have every solo release by Howard and Jody since the split, but, those two sound even better together. The three of them should try to get together once again and put something new out as a group. I'm sure it would sell very well. The Look is the one to have by Shalamar, I highly recommend it !!

Shalamar Sounds Tight here.THe Music&Vocals were tight.This Disc Captures The Early 80's Really well.Leon SYlvers 111 was on Top Of His Game as A PRoducer.Dead Giveaway was The Jam.A Un-Credited Guitar Solo By Jessie Johnson is SMoking.this was The Last Original Member Group Effort&A SOlid One.Jody Watley&Jeffery Daniels are Talented But Howard Hewett is The Man.His VOice is Really Strong.He is Very Underrated.so Much Talent from The Shalamar Camp.

This 1983 release would be the last with the three original members. "Dead Giveaway", "You Can't Count On Me" are the ones most remember on this one but the masterpieces on this release are "You're The One For Me" and "Over and Over". To this day I can play this wholealbum and go back into incredible memories because this group symbolized having a good time and enjoying good music. Jody Watley left the group toconcentrate on solo success. Backup singer Jermaine Stewart left to record a couple of solos as well. Howard Hewitt stayed for one more album which was a joke with 2 new Shalamar members. I don't know what happened to Jeffrey Daniels. Later they would record vocal tracks with Babyface and LL Cool J on a track from Babyface's "The Day" CD.

By the time "The Look" album was released in 1983, Shalamar were megastars and an established part of the British music scene. This album is special, as it was the last recording with the classic Hewett/Watley/Daniels line up. Unfortunately for their fans (myself included), internal relations within the group were strained, and the group were on the verge of splitting.

Musically, "The Look" was something of a departure for the group; the solid, hallmarked R&B sound was replaced with the New Wave sound (an infectious fusion of R&B with pop/rock). The results were fabulous.

That album opens with the sensual "Closer", which is very smooth, slick and sophisticated. This is followed by the awesome "Dead Giveaway", which was an instant UK Top 10 Pop hit - it had Howard and Jody rocking to great effect. What surprised die-hard Shalamar fans was the fact that the single raced up the rock charts both in the US and in the UK!

Howard takes the lead on "You Can Count On Me", but it's the duets with Jody that are outstanding. The first, "Right Here", is beautiful and it demonstrates their maturity vocally. "No Limits" is another Howard/Jody duet that is pure New Wave.

Jody takes the lead in "Disappearing Act" which was another big hit on the UK pop charts. Her voice sounds great here. The only 2 tracks that bear any resemblance to Shalamar's heritage is the cool, old school groove of "Over and Over" (one of the BEST Shalamar cuts of all time!) and the percussive "You Won't Miss Love".

All in all, this is an excellent, but vastly underrated album. I was only 14 when this was released, and I remember it just like it was yesterday. Those were the good old days! I long for the day when Jody Watley, Howard Hewett and Jeffrey Daniels reunite for a proper reunion. Until that day, I'll have to treasure the memories. I recommend this CD to any 80s R&B/Pop/New Wave fan.

This is the one effort that started my love affair with this group as well as the now departed members.Not only are the vocals good but so is the material. Leon sylvers III was one of the best producer geniuses of the eighties era;and listening to this you will see why. From the starting song to the last song;shalamar takes you on a cruise of grooves. Howard Hewitt lets you know just what he can do with a song, and that is sing the hell out of it. This album also introdces you to the enormous talent of Jody Watley.Tunes such as "you won't miss love","over and over", "disappearing act","right here",and "closer" make me long for the days when good music was just that. I highly recommend this c.d. to anyone who's a fan of the group or of the two members of the three that made something of themselves after the group dispersed. That would be Jody Watley and Howard Hewitt! In closing I want to give major props to amazon.come for making it possible for me to get my hands on this delicious piece of ear candy once again!

A brilliant blend of pop, r&b and new-wave sytlings, Shalamar's "The Look" succeeds on all levels. It is musically the most ambitious of Shalamar's cd's, yet does not stray from the Shalamar formula; wonderful harmonies over hook-laden melodies. Howard Hewett, Jody Watley, and Jeffery Daniels(Shalamar) deliver their usual quality vocal performances, and longtime writer-producer Leon Sylvers III gives them a wide range of material. From the synthesized sounds of "Now Club" and the title track, through the dance/funk "Dead Giveaway", and the haunting "You're The One for Me", this cd picks up where their 1982 cd "Friends" leaves off. There is a bittersweet aspect to this cd; shortly after "Dead Giveaway" became a smash in Europe as well as the U.S., the trio broke up. "The Look" is as good of a going away present as there can be for fans of the pop/r&b/dance genres.

When this album was released in 1983, Shalamar was gettin' ready to drift apart in a second that it almost cost the video for the lp's biggest hit, "Dead Giveaway." As usual, The Look was promoted heavily in the UK with the country's biggest hits, "Dead Giveaway," "Over & Over," and "Disappearing Act" of which only the first two were big R&B hits in the US in 1983. All three of these songs were wonderful songs done by Leon Sylvers III (of which marks his final Shalamar lp to work on as he ventured to work with mostly non-SOLAR artists like Rockie Robbins, Evelyn "Champaigne" King, Krystol, Glenn Jones, Gladys Knight & The Pips, and The Sylvers). Foster Sylvers blended New Wave with R&B/Funk on Janet Jackson's early 1983 hit single "Come Give Your Love To Me" of which inspired Leon to experiment while creating an explosive Go Gos meet Shalamar fuse with "Dead Give Away" and "Disappearing Act" as well as the energetic yet fun "No Limits (The Now club)." The New Wave/Funk mix has not been done in black music before other than Prince and Andre Cymone. My two favorite lp tracks is the groovy "You Won't Miss Love (Until Its Gone)" and the softer mid-tempo "Right Here" shared by Howard and Jody. Like their previous effort, Friends, The Look had every song that was enjoyable and would make great singles. Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniels were getting ready to leave Shalamar because of not only problems with Howard Hewitt, but because of lack of creative freedom by the record company. This could have been a bigger album in the US if the group held on a little bit more tighter anbd release more than just two videos (the second video "Over & Over" did not feature Jody Watley and Jeffrey Danielsbecause they had already quit the band). "You're The One For Me" was a beautiful ballad with intoxicating synths that broke down after the bell intro and the song was written and sang very well by Hewitt. This is the NOW CD and always have since 27 years ago. There are "no limits" on how many times you can listen to each one of these songs because they are all wonderfully done as the curtains began to fall on the classic lineup that will never reunite again (see Unsung and you'll know why).

I'm glad they decided to release this album on CD. It was the swan song of Shalamar's career as a group, in my opinion and they went out on a high note.

Out of the cataloge of Shalamar's albums from the late '70's to early '80's, I found myself playing & replaying 1983's "The Look" more often. I prefered the slick sound on this album, which was released at the time when Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniels were contemplating their mutual departure(rumored to be in retaliation of Howard Hewett's monsterous ego issues). If Hewett could have been more of a team player, Shalamar(original) may have survived longer- too bad.