Universal/Hip-O Select continue apace with their reissue of SMOKEY ROBINSON’S solo work by releasing a fourth “twofer”. This new set pairs the great man’s ‘Love Breeze’ with ‘Where There’s Smoke’. The former was released in February 1978 and, surprisingly, the ballad highspot of the set is not one of SMOKEY’S own songs. The wonderful ‘Feeling You, Feeling Me’ was written by JERRY BUTLER (pacted to Motown at the time) and it really is one of SMOKEY’S finest moments. Elsewhere, ‘Love So Fine’ sees our man in an almost jazzy mood.
‘Where There’s Smoke’ was first released in 1979 and the album’s big tune was, of course, ‘Cruisin”. SMOKEY admits the song came to him as a mix of THE YOUNG RASCALS’ ‘Groovin” and THE TEMPTATIONS’ ‘Just My Imagination’ and at first other Motown execs weren’t too keen on it. When it was eventually released as a single, it became SMOKEY’S biggest hit to date and propelled the album into the top 20. The album buyers were able to enjoy many more classics – like ‘Ever Had A Dream’, though the jury has always been out on the discofied version of ‘Get Ready’. .. well it was the high watermark of disco! Here the instrumental version of that track is included as a bonus.