Customer Reviews

Stares and Whispers

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
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Freda Payne delivered three albums on Capitol from 1977-1979. On "Stares and Whispers," it's clear that she's in a Disco element, but it's the kind of Disco that's sexy and obscure. On the opening, "Master of Love," the listener is treated to an at first, very downtempo love song that morphs into a full out romantic Disco jam complete with a percussion breakdown and some of the most impressive vocal improvisation ever I've heard on wax. On the sole hit single (which tragically wasn't a hit at all), "Love Magnet," is where the magic REALLY comes into play. The metaphor itself is genius and it opens with a very orchestrated overture which brings the listener into another full out Disco jam in which she coos, "You're a love magnet...pullin' me into your range..." SO sexy! And who else, but THIS classy R&B siren could even pull something so risque as that off? Much like Thelma Houston's "Don't Leave Me This Way" or Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," "Love Magnet" had all that it took to burn up the charts, but for some reason (Ahem...perhaps Capitol's typically poor promotion) it never took off. Another similar song by labelmate, Gloria Jones, "When I Was A Little Girl," suffered the same fate. This album is soooo sensual and feminine that the element of water seems to come to mind, not to mention that she's pregnant on the front cover with little Gregory Abbott, Jr.. I've said it once or twice and I'll say it again: Disco was a very funny trend. One song may have been a hit for ONE artist and for another, a flop. It was all hit or miss and in the case of Miss Freda, the Disco hits were all misses. It's puzzling and heartbreaking. The music was spot on, contagious and meticulously arranged. In addition to the uptempo moments, there's also a nice spread of sexy, slinky balladry featured in this platter of very "Payne-ful" late 70's "bedroom" Disco/R&B similar to that of Sylvia "Pillow Talk" Robinson.

Freda Payne could do no wrong in the recording studio in the seventies, turning out classic albums such as finally released to Compact Disc "Stares And Whispers", a mesmerizing collection of memorable songs by a stunning versatile singer who clearly deserved more exposure and wide spread acclaim than she received in a period when all of her stellar recordings were filled with amazing performances, still sounding great today...opening exotic & hypnotic "Master Of Love" is a sophisicated soulful gem that sounds like it was a huge hit and would have been if given any airplay at all with its fantastic complex yet flowing arrangement framing a tremendous Payne vocal that is powerful, sensuous and all over the map! Numerous great singers were sadly ignored by radio in the seventies resulting in recording careers floundering so by the eighties many stellar artists found themselves without major recording contracts because radio dropped the ball, ignoring great collections like "Stares And Whispers" which received some exposure via slammer "Love Magnet" hit in the club circuit, sadly this was not enough for the huge commercial success this wondrous collection deserved. Too bad music lovers like David Nathan and myself didn't have a international radio station to give deserved exposure to greats like Freda Payne & a long list of other "Unsung" legendary singers, recording so many incredible Lp's only known to us hard-core collectors who appreciate those great singing wonders...before this tremendous Capitol Records debut, "Out Of Payne Comes Love" ABC Records masterpiece remains one of the greatest vocal treasures to come out of the the seventies, yet strangely this stellar vocal tour-de-force has not been released in original form on Compact Disc, let us hope this sad oversite ends soon! Freda Payne appeared in clubs around the time of "Stares And Whispers" release in Los Angeles and still remember this gifted singer performing these great songs live with lots of passion & that rangy extraordinary voice is one of the all-time greatest...thanks to David Nathan and his excellent Soul Music Records we have this stellar release back in all of its original soulful glory plus a generous addition of awesome bonus tracks. Bravo Freda Payne, you brought the joy and keep it coming!

I've waited a long to to see FP's Capitol output on cd. This cd sounds good. Now, may we get her others from both Capitol and ABC records released on cd.