Customer Reviews

Woman Need Love

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

as far as I know this album used to be amongst the most requested black album charts back in the very early of '81 at several disco's in my hometown.. I've been digging the melodies, arrangements, all the things and vibes since the first time I got nearly half of it, and years gone by I got the full album..and surely all the things they did are simply outstanding.. apart from chartbuster 'a woman needs love', rest of the album filled with cozy slow jams and cool uptempo jam's. especially 'all in the way you get down' sounds fresh with it's mellow string arrangements.. 5 stars for Ray Parker & Co.

A woman needs love mixes ballads and dance music with the Funk of the early 1980's. My favorites on this album are the title song, "It's your night", "I'm so into you" and "still in the groove". This is a classic.

I'm sorry to say that you will not find brand new copies of this CD in America where compact discs are sold. But you would possibly find a used CD copy in thrift stores and stores where used CD's are sold. This album was originally released on Arista Records in or around March 1981 and then the CD was not yet invented. Detroit-born Ray Parker Jr. scored previously with his Raydio hits such as JACK AND JILL,YOU CAN'T CHANGE THAT and TWO PLACES AT THE SAME TIME. Hits from this album include the title track and THAT OLD SONG. Those songs would appear on Parker's GREATEST HITS album,released in 1993. The rhythm heard on the title track inspired another one of Parker's compositions,MR. TELEPHONE MAN,made famous by Boston-based New Edition in late 1984. Parker's fellow Arista labelmates include Barry Manilow,Dionne Warwick and Air Supply. The other songs are funkily great. No R&B fan should be without this album.

Music must have magical powers. Listening to this, one of my favourite albums ever by my favourite male vocalist of the eighties, teleported me back to my (almost) carefree childhood. An incredibly moving experience (do you feel me Kayode? :-)). I just reviewed Ray's most recent CD, 2006's I'm Free which I got last week, along with this Japanese import.

Comprising just 8 tracks, there's no slack as every song stands out. Title track "A woman needs love" is a midtempo groove with a subtle Jazz feel and soothing harmonies, much like his other hits "Two places at the same time", or the top 10 hit he penned for New Edition "Mr telephone man".

Next up is the extremely groovy "It's your night" with an incredibly funky bassline and lyrics urging one to loosen up because "Even Cinderella gon' have to funk". This was one of the most played songs everywhere in Nigeria.

"That old song" is a sweeping ballad about how a particular song keeps reminding him of an old flame, something most of us can relate to. The harmonies are superb. Closing what was then side A is the upbeat "All in the way you get down" which always reminded me of Michael Jackson's "Off the wall".

"You can't fight what you feel" is another groovy dance number which to me sounded like he was influenced a wee bit by Chic's "Good times". Another fantastic funky dance number with lyrics threatening "You can run, but you can't get away".

Next up, the stunning ballad "Old pro", one of my favourite ballads by him. Again, with a subtle smooth jazz feel (a direction he would pursue a bit more on his most recent afore mentioned album).

Another scorching funk number that ruled the airwaves is the instrumental "Still in the groove" (with some wicked keyboard), showing off his fantastic session skills. (He would go on to play guitar on "Woman" by Donna Summer on her "She works hard for the money" album, and pen 2 songs, "Love or loneliness" and the Rock-tinged "Up front" for Diana Ross, all in 1983). Closing is the slow shuffling ballad "So into you", completing this perfect album.

As for issues with sound quality/remastering mentioned by another reviewer, this is no worse than the quality on most CDs from the late eighties/early nineties. This is simply a superb album, and I'm glad I can listen to it again.

This is truly the male artist of the 70's and 80's. Having played with great artists in the likes of Miles Davis, Steivie Wonder,Micheal Jackson, etc Ray is truly a talented individual that is really under rated in his home country. I have the complete collection of his albums and just finalising my cd collection. From the first to the last cd every song is great. It really is a pity that his maxis are not long enough (6-8 minutes). just as you about to enjoy and get into the groove of his songs, they end off. I personally feel the the After Dark cd is a real gem. Every track is WOW. It would really be great if I see a 12"collection of Ray Parker Jnr on cd. Thiswould really be a collector's item. Ray Parker jnr is a must have for all collectors. Really happy its avaialbe on cd. In time, this will be a rare hard to find item. I am waiting for the Ray Parker Jnr DVD collection. The only cd I havent seen as yet is the greatest hits that came out on vinyl in 1982. I really love that album. SO DONT REGRET LATER WHEN THIS IS UNAVAILABLE. Go Get It Now.

This is one of the greatest R&B albums of all time. Ray Parker Jr., along with Barry White, Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross was one of the artists who set the mold for what a romantic musical setting should be.
The title cut is among Ray's most meaningful and best songs. Some of the obscure cuts on here like "It's All In The Way You Get Down" and "You Can't Fight What You Feel" are much more than just filler material. The former is a song that would've fit well on Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" album and even has a similar groove to the title cut of that now famous album, which was still hot about the time this was released.
There isn't a bad cut on this entire CD. It's just unfortunate that if we want this in CD format, we have to tolerate price gouging under the guise of it being an import. Arista needs to release Ray's entire catalog stateside. If you're a true fan though, it might be worth shelling out the thirty bucks for this one, as it is a classic.

I have always been a huge fan of Ray Parker, Jr. and I remember having this CD on LP back in 1981 and I finally saw it on here on amazon.com by a seller and I brought immediately LOL!!! And I love the album.

Hello. By now you may already know that all of Raydio and Ray Parker's original albums are now released on CD as imports from the UK, Argentina, Japan and Britian. You can obtain them through Ebay as there are several stores that are selling them. OBI listings (a favorite collectors label attached to the CD in a foreign language) are more expensive, however, you can still get them at a reasonable price-without this coveted label.

If you are a longtime, huge fan such as myself, still keep up with this maestro as I do, are an all around lover of his past and present creations, and lastly can afford them, the price may not matter. Bottom line, they are available and reasonable. I have ALL of his original albums now on CD format: From the first 'red' Raydio album through the last one called I'm Free - most recent solo release in 2006. Also, there are several compilations of his on CD format as well. The compliations can be found here in the U.S.

Personally, I think it is a shame that the U.S. doesn't value his recordings enough to format them onto CDs to be available right here in this country where he made his fortune and brought huge, musical entertainment to the masses as well as help increase the financial wealth and success of the labels he was signed with. The U.S. seemed to love him and marketed him accordingly, during his heyday and we are advanced in technology, so I don't know what the slack is and it never made any sense. To me, that speaks volumes!!

Though this was Raydio's final album (before Ray Parker Jr's solo album, "The Other Woman) the group had by no means lost its steam. It features "barn burners" such as "You Can Fight What You Feel", "Still in the Grove" and the grove of "It's Your Night" - butressed against ballads such as "A Woman Needs Love." Since hell will probably freeze over before we get a US domestic version, my advice is to buy this

there are some good songs here but Ray Parker Jr&Raydio found a Formula vibe&ran with it on this Set."A Woman needs Love" was a Good Song.but you can tell Ray struck Cross-Over Pay Dirt&wasn't looking back.this is a Bit Pricy lucky Me I heard the album back in the day&still can hear the Jams on LP.but i like the Raydio&Ray Parker Jr stuff from 78&79 better overall.