Despite a string of quality hits, exquisite Philly harmony group, BLUE MAGIC never quite made soul’s Premier League. Their music though is right up there with the genre’s very best as this wonderful new box set proves. Released via SoulMusic Records (SMR) in association with The Second Disc, this six CD set delivers a massive 74 tracks – in essence all the group’s output during their tenure at Atco and WMOT (We Men Of Talent) Records – the quintet’s heyday, if you would.
Blue Magic were formed in 1972 when members of two Philly groups, the Toppiks and Shades of Love came together. Thus the original and classic line up was Ted “the Wizard” Mills, Keith Beaton, Richard Pratt, and brothers Vernon and Wendell Sawyer. Signed to Atlantic subsidiary, Atco and fronted by Mills’ remarkable falsetto, Blue Magic enjoyed an enviable run of hits – things like ‘Look Me Up’, ‘Sideshow’, ‘Start To Stop’, ‘Chasing Rainbows’, ‘Three Ring Circus’ and ‘Love Has Found Its Way To Me’ epitomise the classic sound of 70s Philadelphia soul and on the back of the singles’ success. Blue Magic released 5 albums and it’s those LPs that form the focus of this box set. A live album recorded by the group alongside Major Harris and Margie Joseph is also featured.
All the hits, of course, are in there and they’ll still bring a knowing smile to real soul lovers but the albums yielded plenty more treasures like the Stylistics’ flavoured ‘Stringing Me Along’, their cover of ‘Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely’ and the harmonic masterclass ‘Tear It Down’. There is of course the deeper soul duet with Margie Joseph, ‘What’s Come Over Me’. On the face of it – an odd pairing – a Southern soul diva and a Philly group but it works beautifully! That one, when released as a single in 1975, had the disco flavoured collaboration, ‘You And Me Got A Good Thing Going on’ on the flip. That one didn’t appear on any album by either Blue Magic or Ms Joseph, so, here it is in its first CD appearance. It’s one of many bonus cuts – including rare single versions and B-sides plus remixes from Tom Moulton and Mike Maurro.
All the music has been freshly remastered and the box includes a deluxe booklet that includes liner notes by The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese drawing on extensive new interviews with WMOT Records co-founder Alan Rubens and acclaimed songwriter Vinnie Barrett (‘Sideshow’, ‘Three Ring Circus’) as well as archival quotes from Bobby Eli, Ted Wizard Mills, Vernon Sawyer, and other members of Blue Magic. The booklet also features rare and unseen photos of the group.
(BB) 4/5
