THELMA HOUSTON “Summer Nights” CD

★Supervision and commentary: Kanazawa Toshikazu (Light Mellow)

"Here we unearth the treasured recordings Thelma Houston made in Muscle Shoals. In addition to covers of Robert Byrne's classics, the album also features killer tunes by BAMA, a group known only to a select few in the rare groove scene, such as "Summer Nights," once covered by Marine with Seawind, and other favorite numbers with a connection to the area, sung with Thelma's supple voice." - Kanazawa Toshikazu

Thelma Houston x Muscle Shoals! Thelma, who is popular for her work on Motown, including the hit "Don't Leave Me This Way," and her work as a disco queen in the 80s, has unearthed a completely unreleased recording (recorded in 1980) of astonishing content, and is now available as a 5-song EP exclusively for Japan! The two biggest killers of this album are the irresistible title track with its tropical mellow summer groove, and the famous "No Love In The Morning" by Robert Byrne (Byrne & Burns), which is familiar to AOR fans. However, the remaining three tracks are also wonderful, including "Slippin' Up, Slippin'Around" with its tight funk groove, "Touch Me While I'm Dancing" with its soothing and affectionate singing voice, and "Regrets." It's amazing that such a recording has remained unreleased until now. Just like James Walsh Gypsy Band's "I've Got the Feelin'," a premium, unreleased album also recorded in Muscle Shoals that was released worldwide for the first time in 2016 and became a hit, this album is sure to be even more talked about and create a buzz among both soul and AOR fans!

■Track list