Title - We’re Getting Stronger: The Gold Mind/Salsoul Box
Artist - Loleatta Holloway
For those unaware, SoulMusic Records (SMR) in association with The Second Disc presents this definitive, first-time-ever 5CD box set by this Grammy-nominated artist believed to be the most-sampled female singer in popular music.
A total of 58 tracks which includes expanded editions of the four full-length albums recorded during her association with Salsoul’s Gold Mind Records and a specially curated fifth disc that includes remixes, instrumentals, acapellas and reinventions from her Gold Mind/Salsoul catalog. All audio has been newly remastered by Nick Robbins.
Key tracks include her #1 Dance smash, ‘Love Sensation’, written and produced by Grammy-nominated multi-hyphenate Dan Hartman, her first Top Three dance hit, ‘Hit and Run’, and her cover of Debby Boone’s ‘You Light Up My Life’, which earned Ms. Holloway her singular Grammy nomination.
It also includes productions by Norman Harris, Ron Kersey, Bunny Sigler, Ron Tyson and Vincent Montana Jr., all synonymous with the Philly Sound, as well as Floyd Smith, Bobby Womack, Tom Moulton and Patrick Adams, with mixes and re-edits by Larry Levan, Walter Gibbons, Shep Pettibone, Danny Krivit, and others.
Indeed, every album features legendary musicians including The Trammps’ Earl Young, Bobby Eli, Ron Baker, Steve Gadd, Cornell Dupree, Richard Tee, George Bussey, Larry Washington and Gordon Edwards of Stuff with The Waters and The Sweethearts of Sigma (Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson and Evette Benton), among others, providing background vocals.
Disc One: LOLEATTA (EXPANDED EDITION) (1973)
1. Hit and Run (5:59)
2. Is It Just a Man’s Way (3:44)
3. We’re Getting Stronger (The Longer We Stay Together) (4:34)
4. Dreamin’ (6:19)
5. Ripped Off (4:52)
6. Worn Out Broken Heart (5:36)
7. That’s How Heartaches Are Made (3:03)
8. What Now (6:19)
9. Hit and Run (Original Walter Gibbons 12” Mix) (10:57) [Bonus Track]
10. We’re Getting Stronger (The Longer We Stay Together) (Original Walter Gibbons 12” Mix) (7:18)[Bonus Track]
11. Dreamin’ (12” Disco Mix by Carl Paroulo) (8:51)[Bonus Track]
12. Hit and Run (Unreleased Walter Gibbons Jungle Mix) (8:51)[Bonus Track]
Synonymous with Disco Diva, Loleatta Holloway was a gospel-trained powerhouse with a full-bodied vocal style - and a knack for entertaining monologues - who was also successful with her deeply impassioned ballads.
The first disc is her self-titled Loleatta, which was released after she has just signed with Gold Mind, the Salsoul Records subsidiary run by producer Norman Harris, and thus was embraced by DJs and dancers alike.
Featuring a club-tailored trio of Dreamin’, Hit and Run, and Ripped Off that altogether nearly topped Billboard’s disco chart, Holloway’s voice, however full of strident indignation and volcanic sexuality, is always the dominant force in her songs, going toe to toe with even the most pounding pianos and lushest orchestras.
Disc Two: QUEEN OF THE NIGHT (EXPANDED EDITION) (1978)
1. Catch Me on the Rebound (6:08)
2. Only You (Guest vocalist: Bunny Sigler) (6:15)
3. Good, Good Feeling (4:14)
4. Mama Don’t, Papa Won’t (4:58)
5. I May Not Be There When You Want Me (But I’m Right On Time) (7:33)
6. You Light Up My Life (4:03)
7. Two Sides to Every Story (4:29)
8. I’m In Love (4:15)
9. Catch Me on the Rebound (Original Walter Gibbons 12” Mix) (10:47) [Bonus Track]
10. Catch Me on the Rebound (Instrumental) (7:19) [Bonus Track]
11. I May Not Be There When You Want Me (Original Tom Moulton 12” Mix) (10:19) [Bonus Track]
After Gold Mind folded, all of their acts were transferred to Salsoul and Holloway’s first Salsoul album once again reunited her with Salsoul stalwart Norman Harris, who took on the production duties, and with this now being her second album for the Disco-dominated label, it confirmed her transformation from Southern Soul songstress to Disco royalty!
With Queen of the Night, Holloway scored the number 11 R&B hit Only You and earned a Grammy nomination for her version of You Light Up My Life. In addition to the Salsoul Orchestra’s number three disco single Run Away, it also contained the disco hits Catch Me on the Rebound, Mama Don’t, Papa Won’t, and I May Not Be There When You Want Me.
This is one of those albums where everything worked. If you like a great voice, great Disco and you are familiar with names like Vince Montana, Tom Moulton, Salsoul Orchestra and The Philadelphia Sound, then you have purchased the right Box-Set here, my friends!
Disc Three: LOLEATTA HOLLOWAY (EXPANDED EDITION) (1979)
1. The Greatest Performance of My Life (6:59)
2. All About the Paper (6:11)
3. There Must Be a Reason (6:13)
4. That’s What You Said (6:48)
5. Baby It’s You (3:55)
6. There’ll Come a Time (3:21)
7. Sweet Mother of Mine (4:39)
8. The Greatest Performance of My Life (Larry Levan Remix) (6:48) [Bonus Track]
9. That’s What You Said (12” Disco Version by Rick Gianatos) (10:07) [Bonus Track]
10. All About the Paper (Extended Version) (7:09) [Bonus Track]
11. The Greatest Performance of My Life (12” Disco Version) (9:26) [Bonus Track]
12. That’s What You Said (Special Edit) (3:26) [Bonus Track]
Her next album, the again self-titled Loleatta Holloway includes the disco hits All About the Papers, That’s What You Said (another Holloway/Sigler duet), The Greatest Performance of My Life, and the deep-soul ballad There Must Be a Reason.
Around 1979, Holloway contributed vocals to Relight My Fire, a massive disco hit for Dan Hartman (Instant Replay, I Can Dream About You). Indeed, Hartman produced the singer’s signature tune, Love Sensation, which topped the club chart and the song was also the title of Holloway’s 1980 LP (see below).
Disc Four: LOVE SENSATION (EXPANDED EDITION) (1980)
1. Love Sensation (6:02)
2. Long Hard Climb to Love (4:34)
3. Short End of the Stick (3:23)
4. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (4:42)
5. Two Became a Crowd (5:22)
6. Dance What ‘Cha Wanna (5:10)
7. My Way (5:25)
8. I’ll Be Standing There (4:50)
9. Love Sensation (Original Tom Moulton 12” Mix) (6:31) [Bonus Track]
10. Love Sensation (Original Shep Pettibone 12” Mix) (7:46) [Bonus Track]
11. Love Sensation (Unreleased Tom Moulton Mix) (8:36) [Bonus Track]
12. Love Sensation (After Hours Mix) (6:51) [Bonus Track]
13. Love Sensation (Acapella) (3:30) [Bonus Track]
On an album that spawned the disco hits Dance What Cha Wanna and Short End of the Stick, Holloway takes the utopian ideals of clubland – sex, community, abandon – and massively amplifies them back at the dancers, singing to each one of them and the club as a whole. As her voice surges onto and fills the dancefloor, it really does feel like we’re all getting stronger.
As for the album’s stand out tracks, well for me, Love Sensation itself is one of the most thrilling dance songs recorded in the age of early club music! But also take a listen to her cover of Otis Redding’s I’ve Been Loving You too Long and you’ll see she is a phenomenon with a quite unparalleled depth.
Disc Five: REMIXES AND REINCARNATIONS
1. Catch Me on the Rebound (Original Walter Gibbons Disco Madness Version) (7:34)
2. Hit and Run (Joey Negro Dub Sensation) (5:12)
3. Runaway (Danny Krivit Re-edit) (8:37)
4. We’re Getting Stronger (Instrumental) (6:04)
5. Mama Don’t, Papa Won’t (Mama’s Mix) (6:18)
6. Love Sensation (Shep Pettibone Rough Mix / Dim’s DJ Friendly Re-Edit) (7:31)
7. Stand Up (Pangaea’s Mix) (5:44)
8. Short End of the Stick (The Reflex Edit) (5:43)
9. Seconds (Special Club Version) (8:57)
10. Dreamin’ (Jazz N Groove Mix) (6:48)
11. We’re Getting Stronger (Acapella) (5:51).
A deluxe booklet designed by Ray Curenton includes comprehensive notes by the collection’s producer, God’s Music Is My Life’s Tim Dillinger creating the most in-depth biographical account of Holloway’s career on record with rare photographs and artifacts.
Official Purchase Link
www.cherryred.co.uk