Sky High: Two Classic Albums By Tavares Are Reissued and Expanded

Tucked away on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack between Walter Murphy’s “A Fifth of Beethoven” and David Shire’s “Manhattan Skyline” is where you’ll find “More Than a Woman” by Tavares.  Although the Bee Gees’ version of their own song remains a radio staple today, it was in fact Tavares’ version that was released as a single, hitting No. 32 in the United States and No. 7 across the pond.  But that essential track is just one of the famous songs popularized by Tavares.  The band of five brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts (Ralph, Pooch, Chubby, Butch and Tiny!) started their career in 1959 as Chubby and the Turnpikes, even scoring a couple of local hits on the Capitol label in the latter portion of the 1960s.  But when the group named changed to Tavares, their actual surname, their fortune soared.  Though (much like “More Than a Woman”) Hall and Oates’ version is better-remembered today, Tavares took “She’s Gone” to No.1  on the R&B charts in 1974, two years before the Philly soul duo’s own rendition took off.  In 1975, Tavares scored an R&B chart-topper that also went Top 10 pop with “It Only Takes a Minute,” but the album from which it was derived, In the City, had never been reissued on CD…until now.  The SoulMusic.com label of the Cherry Red Group will follow its reissues of Freda Payne and Al Johnson classics with two expanded Tavares albums, 1975’s In the City and 1976’s Sky High!.  The latter spawned another major hit, “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel.”

In the City and Sky High! were the third and fourth (of nine) albums recorded by Tavares at Capitol Records between 1974 and 1980.  Like its predecessor Hard Core Poetry, In the City boasted the considerable production and songwriting skill of Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter (The Four Tops, The Grass Roots, Glen Campbell).  In the City includes three Top 15 R&B hits, the ballad “The Love I Never Had,” the smash “It Only Takes A Minute” and most surprisingly, a cover of the Edgar Winter Group’s “Free Ride.”  (Both “The Love I Never Had” and “It Only Takes a Minute” were the work of Lambert and Potter.)  Tavares’ eclectic streak continued to the album tracks, with the Average White Band’s “Nothing You Can Do” covered.  For the new SoulMusic.com edition, two bonus tracks have been appended, both the U.S. single edit and extended remix of “It Only Takes a Minute.”

What came next for Tavares?  Just hit the jump!

Weekend Wround-Up: Queen Sets in September, Trent is Angry and Notable Links

• Queen have confirmed their last batch of expanded studio albums – The Works, A Kind of Magic, The Miracle, Innuendo and Made in Heaven – to be released in the U.K. on September 5 from Island/UMC. Another Deep Cuts compilation will be released as well, as seen above; neither that set nor the bonus material have gotten confirmed track lists. Note that all 15 remastered studio albums will be out before the second batch of reissues hit American shelves.
• It usually pains me to agree with Nine Inch Nails honcho Trent Reznor – the musician who rallied so hard against the superficiality of the Grammys had no problem picking up an Oscar for the score to The Social Network last year – but his latest cause is a particularly worthy one. The musician took to Twitter to urge fans not to buy a recent reissue of Pretty Hate Machine that Universal put out. The set was not sourced from the remastered tapes which were released through UMe last year, nor did the bonus track on said remaster appear. Look, maybe I’m just naive, but what does a label stand to gain from reissuing a catalogue album so soon after re-releasing it in the first place?
• Another one from the “strange tales of the industry” department: the reissue of Megadeth’s Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? sold 1,800 copies in its first week. Not sure whether that’s worthy of mention, nor if that’s even a good number for a major-label catalogue title. I’ve seen some reports damning that number, but indie reissue labels sometimes limit titles to around that quantity, and you don’t see them struggling publicly. The music business doesn’t always make sense, is what I’m trying to say.
• Let’s end on a happy note, shall we? A nice article about High Moon Records and their upcoming reissues of Love’s Black Beauty and Gene Clarke’s Two Sides to Every Story. Hooray!