To prove that the good, old Philly labels are still active and not just relying on recycling old material here’s a brand new album from Jamie-Guyden. Sadly though, in this case, maybe it would have been better if they hadn’t bothered. Linda Laws, it seems, originally hailed from the Philadelphia area. For some time now, however, she’s been an entertainer in the lounges of Las Vegas. There, apparently, she’s developed an audience participation dance called ‘The Las Vegas Groove’. Its success with the punters led the Jamie-Guyden people to send over Tom Moulton to record it and the cut is this LP’s lead offering. It’s catchy and infectious with decent beats but, in honesty, there have been many better steppers tunes this year. One track, though, does not an album make and the record people hurriedly cut another nine tunes on Ms. Laws. To be frank, they shouldn’t have bothered. The backing tracks sound like they were bought off the shelf at Poundland while the lady has trouble holding anything that resembles a tune – not that there’s too many decent melodies to hold in the first place. Best of a very poor punch is the ballad that is ‘Let It Go’. It’s almost dreamlike but the programmed backing destroys anything the vocalist tries to create. And the worst? Well that dubious honour goes to the album’s title cut. It starts with some decent beats but soon a disastrous vocal makes me think it might have all been a joke in the first place. Butterfly-like, it certainly isn’t. Here’s an album that should never have been made. Moulton and the Jamie label would have been better advised running with ‘Las Vegas Groove’ as a 12″ and hoping for the best….
(BB) 1/5
