After more than a year of reissues of the Tabu Records catalogue by Edsel - reissues that have been relatively lavish but particularly divisive for their occasional lapses in audio quality - the label has prepped a thorough career-spanning box set.
The Tabu Records Box Set is a 6CD/1DVD affair collecting tracks from all of the label's major releases between 1977 and 1991. Each disc will be broken down by theme; the first focuses on early soul albums by the likes of The S.O.S. Band and Brainstorm plus more left-of-center instrumental albums by Manfredo Fest and noted composer Lalo Schifrin. (Some of these tracks, particularly those by Schifrin, have not been celebrated with individual reissues, making their inclusion a particular treat.) Disc 2 highlights dance tracks from that early era ("Lovin' is Really My Game," "Groovin' (That's What We're Doin')") while Disc 3 showcases the romantic side of the label's roster.
Discs 4 and 5 highlight Tabu's biggest peak in the '80s, when producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, formerly of The Time, set up shop as writers/producers for Alexander O'Neal, Cherrelle and The S.O.S. Band. Hits like "Just Be Good to Me," "Never Knew Love Like This," "Saturday Love" and "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" blossomed from this period. The set closes with some of the lesser-known acts from the label's twilight years, including Demetrius Perry, Kathy Mathis and Rhonda Clark.
Also included in the box is a DVD featuring promo videos (mostly by O'Neal) and interviews with label founder Clarence Avant as well as Jam & Lewis, and a bonus 7" single featuring two of the label's more obscure grooves, "Changin'" by (Ms.) Sharon Ridley and "Jungle Kitten" by Manfredo Fest. A 60-page booklet features notes by box compiler Ralph Tee plus an extensive label discography.
The whole affair is available February 24 and can be ordered after the jump, where you'll find an exhaustive breakdown of the tracks!
The Tabu Records Box (Tabu/Edsel TABUBOX0001 (U.K.), 2014)
Disc 1: Introducing Tabu
- Wake Up and Be Somebody - Brainstorm
- No One Home - Lalo Schifrin
- Take Your Time (Do It Right) - The S.O.S. Band
- Universal Love - Woods Empire
- Jungle Kitten - Manfredo Fest
- Changin' - (Ms.) Sharon Ridley
- Middle of the Night - Lalo Schifrin
- Waiting for Someone - Brainstorm
- Are You Ready? - The S.O.S. Band
- Full Moon - (Ms.) Sharon Ridley
- Enchanted Flame - Lalo Schifrin
- Stormin' - Brainstorm
- Koko and Leeroe - Manfredo Fest
- Guess I'm Gonna Have to Say Goodbye - (Ms.) Sharon Ridley
- Journey to the Light - Brainstorm
Disc 2: At the Dance
- S.O.S. (Dit Dit Dit Dat Dat Dat Dit Dit Dit) - The S.O.S. Band
- Lovin' is Really My Game - Brainstorm
- Sweet Delight (Special Mix) - Woods Empire
- Groovin' (That's What We're Doin') - The S.O.S. Band
- Knock Down the Walls - General Caine
- Sister Fine - Lamont Johnson
- Can't Get Enough - The S.O.S. Band
- Your Unchanging Love - Anacostia
- Oh Darlin'...Life Goes On - Lalo Schifrin
- Girls - General Caine
- Love Won't Wait for Love - The S.O.S. Band
- Who Needs It - Manfredo Fest
- Hangin' On - Brainstorm
- Looking for You - The S.O.S. Band
- Hot for You - Brainstorm
Disc 3: Romancing & Mellow Grooves
- If You Were Here Tonight - Alexander O'Neal
- I Will Wait for You - Cherrelle
- This Must Be Heaven - Lamont Johnson
- Loving Just You - Brainstorm
- Memory of Love - Lalo Schifrin
- Do You Wanna Like I Do - Alexander O'Neal
- Upside Down - General Caine
- What's Wrong with Our Love Affair? - The S.O.S. Band
- Easy Come, Easy Go - Lamont Johnson
- Destiny - Woods Empire
- Ain't Nothing to It - Anacostia
- Just You and Me - (Ms.) Sharon Ridley
- Look At Us Now - Alexander O'Neal
- Stay with Me - Cherrelle
- You Put a Change in My Life - Brainstorm
- I Need You Now - Cherrelle
- All for You - Anacostia
Disc 4: The Jam & Lewis Sessions
- High Hopes - The S.O.S. Band
- What's Missing - Alexander O'Neal
- I Didn't Mean to Turn You On - Cherrelle
- Just Be Good to Me - The S.O.S. Band
- Saturday Love - Cherrelle & Alexander O'Neal
- Never Knew Love Like This - Alexander O'Neal & Cherrelle
- No One's Gonna Love You - The S.O.S. Band
- Weekend Girl - The S.O.S. Band
- When You Look in My Eyes - Cherrelle
- A Broken Heart Can Mend - Alexander O'Neal
- Tell Me If You Still Care - The S.O.S. Band
- Will You Satisfy? (Remix) - Cherrelle
- Just the Way You Like It - The S.O.S. Band
Disc 5: Jam & Lewis and Beyond
- The Finest - The S.O.S. Band
- What is This Thing Called Love? - Alexander O'Neal
- Keep It Inside - Cherrelle
- Fake '88 (Remix) - Alexander O'Neal
- One of Many Nights - The S.O.S. Band
- The Lovers - Alexander O'Neal
- Sands of Time - The S.O.S. Band
- Can-Do Can-Do (Anything for You) - Demetrius Perry
- (What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me - Alexander O'Neal
- State of Attraction - Rhonda Clark
- Thin Line - Kathy Mathis
- Just What I've Been Missing - James Robinson
- Automatic Stop & Go - Kathy Mathis
- Criticize - Alexander O'Neal
- Love Festival - Kathy Mathis
- Another World - Demetrius Perry
- Sunshine - Alexander O'Neal
Disc 6: The Final Years
- Still in Love with You - Cherrelle
- Feeling - The S.O.S. Band
- Everything I Miss At Home - Cherrelle & Alexander O'Neal
- Can We Do It Again - James Robinson
- Separate Ways - Mary Davis
- Lady - Alexander O'Neal
- You're My Everything (feat. Chuck Howard) - Rhonda Clark
- Can't Explain - The S.O.S. Band
- Tears of Joy - Cherrelle
- Guilty - James Robinson
- Sentimental - Alexander O'Neal
- Broken Promises - The S.O.S. Band
- Breathless - Demetrius Perry
- Now That You're Gone - Kathy Mathis
- My Gift to You - Alexander O'Neal
- We're On Our Way Home (Part 1) - Brainstorm
DVD: A Selection of Tabu Music Videos plus new interviews with Clarence Avant and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis
- Just the Way You Like It - The S.O.S. Band
- Innocent - Alexander O'Neal
- If You Were Here Tonight - Alexander O'Neal
- Borrowed Love - The S.O.S. Band
- Fake - Alexander O'Neal
- Criticize - Alexander O'Neal
- Never Knew Love Like This - Alexander O'Neal & Cherrelle
- Affair - Cherrelle
- (What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me - Alexander O'Neal
- Htimix - Alexander O'Neal
- What is This Thing Called Love - Alexander O'Neal
- Tears of Joy - Cherrelle
- Sentimental - Alexander O'Neal
- Love Makes No Sense - Alexander O'Neal
- Aphrodisia - Alexander O'Neal
Disc 1, Tracks 1, 8 and 12 and Disc 2, Tracks 2 and 13 from Stormin' (Tabu Records BQL1-2048, 1977)
Disc 1, Tracks 2, 7 and 11; Disc 2, Track 9 and Disc 3, Track 5 from No One Home (Tabu Records JZ 36091, 1979)
Disc 1, Track 3; Disc 2, Tracks 1 and 11 and Disc 3 ,Track 8 from S.O.S. (Tabu Records JZ 36332, 1980)
Disc 1, Track 4 and Disc 3, Track 10 from Universal Love (Tabu Records FZ 37334, 1981)
Disc 1, Tracks 5 and 13 and Disc 2, Track 12 from Manifestations (Tabu Records JZ 35636, 1979)
Disc 1, Tracks 6, 10 and 14 and Disc 3, Track 12 from Full Moon (Tabu Records JZ 35377, 1978)
Disc 1, Track 9 from The S.O.S. Band Too (Tabu Records FZ 37449, 1981)
Disc 1, Track 15 and Disc 3, Track 4 from Journey to the Light (Tabu Records JZ 35327, 1978)
Disc 2, Track 3 from Tabu 12" single 4Z8 02131, 1981
Disc 2, Tracks 4, 7 and 14 and Disc 4, Track 1 from S.O.S. III (Tabu Records FZ 38352, 1982)
Disc 2, Tracks 5 and 10 from Girls (Tabu Records FZ 37997, 1982)
Disc 2, Track 6 and Disc 3, Tracks 3 and 9 from Music of the Sun (Tabu Records JZ 35455, 1978)
Disc 2, Track 8 and Disc 3, Tracks 11 and 17 from Anacostia (Tabu Records JZ 35570, 1978)
Disc 2, Track 15 and Disc 3, Track 15 from Funky Entertainment (Tabu Records JZ 35749, 1979)
Disc 3, Tracks 1, 6 and 13 and Disc 4, Tracks 2 and 10 from Alexander O'Neal (Tabu Records FZ 39331, 1985)
Disc 3, Tracks 2, 14 and 16 and Disc 4, Tracks 3 and 9 from Fragile (Tabu Records PZ 39144, 1984)
Disc 3, Track 7 from Dangerous (Tabu Records FZ 38863, 1983)
Disc 4, Tracks 4 and 11 from On the Rise (Tabu Records FZ 38697, 1983)
Disc 4, Track 5 from High Priority (Tabu Records FZ 40094, 1985)
Disc 4, Track 6 and Disc 5, Tracks 6, 9, 14 and 17 from Hearsay (Tabu Records FZ 40320, 1987)
Disc 4, Tracks 7-8 and 13 and Disc 6, Track 2 from Just the Way You Like It (Tabu Records FZ 39332, 1984)
Disc 4, Track 12 from Tabu U.K. 12" single QTA 6927, 1985
Disc 5, Tracks 1 and 7 from Sands of Time (Tabu Records FZ 40279, 1986)
Disc 5, Track 2 and Disc 6, Track 11 from All True Man (Tabu Records Z 45349, 1991)
Disc 5, Track 3 and Disc 6, Track 3 from Affair (Tabu Records FZ 44148, 1988)
Disc 5, Track 4 from Tabu Records U.K. single 652949 7, 1988
Disc 5, Track 5 and Disc 6, Tracks 8 and 12 from One of Many Nights (Tabu Records 28965 4003 2, 1991)
Disc 5, Tracks 8 and 16 and Disc 6, Track 13 from Another World (Tabu Records FZ 44333, 1990)
Disc 5, Track 10 and Disc 6, Track 7 from Between Friends (Tabu Records FZ 40882, 1989)
Disc 5, Track 11 from A Woman's Touch (Tabu Records Z 44335, 1988)
Disc 5, Track 12 and Disc 6, Tracks 4 and 10 from Guilty (Tabu Records Z 40823, 1987)
Disc 5, Tracks 13 and 15 and Disc 6, Track 14 from Katt Walk (Tabu Records FZ 40539, 1987)
Disc 6, Tracks 1 and 9 from The Woman I Am (Tabu Records 28965 4005 2, 1991)
Disc 6, Track 5 from Separate Ways (Tabu Records Z 40978, 1990)
Disc 6, Track 15 from My Gift to You (Tabu Records OZ 45016, 1988)
Disc 6, Track 16 from Tabu Records single ZS8 5502, 1978
patrick says
FYI: Two Lalo Schifrin CDs are scheduled for release on March 4, 2014.
Giuseppe says
How could they leave off the "Saturday Love" video?!
Ian Dewhirst says
There is no video to "Saturday Love". The only form it exists in, is a Soul Train clip which couldn't be licensed.
james says
actually that videoclip you speak of is from an episode of Top Of The Pops from England
Myles Matisse says
Is there a reason why Cherrelle's videos for "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On" and "Everything I Miss At Home" as well as S.O.S. Band's "Tell Me If You Still Care" were left off the DVD? All three videos were made and can be found on YouTube. Also, in a perfect world, the set would've included TWO DVDs with more videos and many TV appearances back in the day by Tabu Artists. As it stands, the DVD is missing many TABU artists entirely. Even if no music videos were made, I'm quite sure the artists performed on various TV shows from back in the day. Licensing could be an issue, I'm sure.
Kenneth Williams says
hi guys this is DJ Kenlove from Philadelphia, I would love to get the box set of TaBo box set will it come available again soon ?
Timothy V Kiah says
You can get it now at discogs.
https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Tabu-Records-Box-Set/release/2551165