THE MAIN INGREDIENT: Shame On The World and I Only Have Eyes For You (Label: Expansion)

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THE MAIN INGREDIENT: Shame On The World and I Only Have Eyes For You

Like many soulful harmony vocal groups that were born in the 1960s, New York’s The Main Ingredient had deep doo-wop roots. The trio comprising Enrique ‘Tony’ Silvester, Luther Simmons and Donald McPherson first recorded as The Poets before morphing into The Main Ingredient when they signed to RCA in 1970. But just as they experienced their first taste of success, tragedy struck – McPherson succumbed to leukaemia in 1971. He was replaced by husky-voiced Cuba Gooding, who led the band to further chart success in the first half of the ’70s. ‘Shame On The World,’ released in late 1975, was produced by Gooding and Simmons and spawned a hit title song, which made the US R&B Top 20. Interest in the album has been re-ignited in recent times by none other than Alicia Keys, who sampled key elements (the piano and string parts) from the mid-tempo ballad ‘Let Me Prove My Love To You’ for her 2003 global smash ‘You Don’t Know My Name.’ Thanks to the UK’s Expansion label, ‘Shame On The World’ makes its CD debut alongside the group’s in-demand Patrick Adams-helmed long player from 1981, ‘I Only Have Eyes For You.’ The killer cut from that set is the infectious boogie anthem, ‘Evening Of Love,’ whose loping, bass-driven groove typifies early ’80s dance floor material. Also noteworthy is the funkier, Latin-inflected ‘Save Me’ featuring female backing vocals and ‘Party People,’ a catchy Luther Vandross-penned number aimed at the dance floor. But that’s not all – this compilation also includes the Main Ingredient’s in-demand take on the Ben E. King track ‘Spoiled’ from 1980. A good, value-for-money set this – and available from www.expansionrecords.com
(CW) 4/5

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