Latest release from SOUL INTENTION RECORDS features a brace of cuts from T.F.O. Soul anoraks might know that the abbreviation stands for The Floaters Orchestra – yep, the backing band for the group.
Based in and around Detroit, T.F.O. recorded in their own right and in 1981 they released a single on Venture Records that paired ‘Happy Family’ with ‘Let Love Come Right On In’. The band re-recorded the tunes in 2020 with an ear/eye to the discontent/aggro that the US presidential election was then causing.
The line-up for the retread included drummer Ronnie Nelson (also the drummer of Posse, a junior Motown funk brother and former Temptations Musical Director), Detroit singers Spyder Turner, Pat Lewis, Carolyn Crawford, Willie Kendrick, Greg Mathis alongside T.F.O. vocalist Esther Todd. Its’s those two re-recordings that are set for a Soul Intention 7” release on October 8th. If you don’t know the tunes, ‘Happy Family’ is a groove-based mid-tempo cut with a positive message about togetherness and its benefits while ‘Let Love Come Right On In’, after a slowish start, builds into a busy, bustling dancer with a hint of Philly despite its Detroit provenance. Vocals on both tunes are spot on…as you’d expect with that aforementioned line up!
