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Solomon Roberts, Jr. (vocals/guitars/producer), Anibal Sierra (guitars/keyboards), Gerald Lebon (bass), Larry Greenberg (keyboards), Tommy McConnell (drums) and sisters Denise, Bonnie, and Delores Dunning (vocals) proclaimed “This Groove Is Bad” as the first track of their band Skyy’s debut album in 1979.  Indeed, the scorching slice of funk was so “bad” it was good, and Skyy embarked on a musical journey that would take them through seven albums on the Salsoul label plus further recordings for Capitol and Atlantic Records.  Now, all of those Salsoul LPs have been collected on a new 4-CD box set from Cherry Red’s Robinsongs imprint.

The simply-titled The Salsoul Albums takes Skyy from 1979 to 1984, with two albums per disc.  (The fourth and final CD is rounded out by six bonus tracks.)  The band, put together by songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Randy Muller, signed to Salsoul as the disco boom was seemingly coming to an end.  Adaptable to changing R&B tastes, Skyy mastered the art of blending dance rhythms with funk and rock.  At first, the band spun a fantastical science-fiction tale.  The members of Skyy were said to be emissaries of the planet Yen Zalia. Though their home planet had been destroyed by war, they came to Earth to spread their message of love.

The futuristic dress in which the bandmates were clad on the cover of Skyy (1979) got at least somewhat more earthbound on Skyway and Skyyport (both 1980), but happily, their brand of dance music stayed in the stratosphere.  They notched such infectious hits as Muller’s “First Time Around” (R&B No. 20, Disco No. 50) and “Let’s Turn It Out” (R&B No. 65, Disco No. 50) off Skyy, Solomon Roberts’ “Skyyzoo” (R&B No. 32, Disco No. 41) from Skyway, and Muller’s “Superlove” (R&B No. 31) on Skyyport.  Notably, they crossed over to the pop chart with another two compositions from Muller, both featured on Skyway: “High” (No. 102) and “You Got Me Up” (No. 61).

By the time of 1981’s Skyy Line, the band’s fourth album, most of the Star Wars-inspired trappings had been replaced by a more cosmopolitan milieu, but the wholehearted messages of joy and love were unchanged.  The album yielded Skyy their first and only top 40 hit when Muller’s persuasive plea to “Call Me,” set to a Stevie Wonder-inspired riff, placed at No. 26.  The track also went to No. 1 R&B and No. 3 Disco, solidifying Skyy’s place on the post-disco R&B scene of the 1980s.  (While disco may have ostensibly gone away, its spirit most definitely remained.)

Skyy branched out considerably on Skyy Line, such as with the smoldering ballad sung by Delores Dunning, “When You Touch Me.”  McConnell’s “Let’s Celebrate” had the right trappings for the 1980s, with slick bass, grounded drums, swaggering vocals, and soon-to-be-ubiquitous electronics.  A Rick James feel popped up on Muller’s “Girl in Blue,” while Roberts’ “Jam the Box” took the funk one uninhibited step further.  Skyy tipped their collective hat to reggae on Roberts and Lebon’s “Gonna Get It On” while throwing back to disco on “Get Into the Beat.”  With such stylistic diversity, it’s no surprise that Skyy Line became the band’s biggest commercial success, earning a Gold certification and reaching No. 1 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart.

As Denise Dunning (now Denise Wilkinson) comments in the liner notes of choosing the name of Skyy, “The idea was, music just like the sky and the universe, is ever-changing and has various elements available to it, so we wanted to be able to do different types of music, provide different types of feelings, and I think we accomplished that.”

Though Skyy never reached the heights of Skyy Line again, the hits kept on comin’: “Movin’ Violation” and “Let Love Shine” (penned by Solomon Roberts and Tommy McConnell, respectively)” from Skyyjammer (1982) both went to the R&B top 40.  So did Roberts’ “Bad Boy” and Muller’s “Show Me the Way” from 1983’s Skyylight.  “Dancin’ to be Dancin'” from 1984’s Salsoul swan song, Inner City, became the group’s final hit at the label when it peaked at a respectable No. 49 R&B.

Skyy’s story didn’t end there, though.  Following the Salsoul years, Skyy recorded one album at Capitol Records (1986’s The Left Side) and two for Atlantic (1989’s Start of a Romance and 1992’s Nearer to You). Though Nearer to You has proven to be Skyy’s final album to date, one can’t say that the band didn’t go out in their prime. The title track of Start of a Romance took Skyy to pole position on the R&B chart, and “Up and Over (Stronger and Better)” from Nearer to You climbed to No. 14.

The Salsoul Albums adds six bonus remixes of the many issued by the band: extended 12-inch versions of “First Time Around,” “Skyzoo,” “Let’s Celebrate,” and “Bad Boy,” plus the 7-inch single mix of “Call Me” that made the pop airwaves, and John Morales’ JM After Session M&M Mix of “Because of You.”  The Morales mix was first issued in 2009 and illustrates the longevity of Skyy’s funky dance grooves.

The clamshell box contains each two-fer in an individual paper sleeve with small reproductions of the original cover images.  The enclosed 20-page booklet has a new essay from Charles Waring as well as photos and memorabilia images.  Full credits are included, but discographical annotation is absent.  Oli Hemingway has remastered the audio.

The Salsoul Records legacy thrives today, both for its groundbreaking fusion of Philadelphia soul and Latin rhythms as epitomized by the original Salsoul Orchestra and for its deeper dance cuts that continued to flourish even after disco.  Skyy’s The Salsoul Albums is one-stop shopping for the group’s core discography at the label.  It’s available now from Cherry Red and Robinsongs.  (And there’s more Salsoul to come from Robinsongs; watch this space for more on the label’s similar collection for Philadelphia’s own Instant Funk!)

Skyy, The Salsoul Albums (Cherry Red/Robinsongs ROBINBX64, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1:

Skyy (Salsoul LP SA 8517, 1979)

1. This Groove Is Bad
2. First Time Around
3. Let’s Turn It Out
4. Fallin’ in Love Again
5. Stand by Me
6. Disco Dancin’
7. Let’s Get Up (S-k-y-y)

Skyway (Salsoul LP SA 8532, 1980)

8. High
9. Skyyzoo
10. Dance
11. Don’t Stop
12. Love Plane
13. You Got Me Up
14. Who’s Gonna Love Me
15. Music, Music

CD 2:

Skyyport (Salsoul LP SA 8537, 1980)

1. Here’s to You
2. I Can’t Get Enough
3. Superlove
4. No Music
5. Easy
6. Sun Won’t Shine
7. For the First Time

Skyyline (Salsoul LP SA 8548, 1981)

8. Arrival
9. Let’s Celebrate
10. Call Me
11. Girl in Blue
12. Jam the Box
13. When You Touch Me
14. Gonna Get It On
15. Get Into the Best

CD 3:

Skyyjammer (Salsoul LP SA 8555, 1982)

1. Movin’ Violation
2. Won’t You Be Mine
3. This Song Is for You
4. Miracle
5. Skyyjammer
6. Let Love Shine
7. Together
8. Freak Outta

Skyylight (Salsoul LP SA 8562, 1983)

9. Bad Boy
10. Married Man
11. Questions, No Answers
12. Now That We’ve Found Love
13. Hey Girl
14. Show Me the Way
15. She’s Gone
16. Swing It

CD 4:

Inner City (Salsoul LP SA 8568, 1984)

1. Because of You
2. Two Hearts
3. Dancin’ to Be Dancin’
4. Pay Up
5. Passion in the Night
6. I Got Your Number
7. Love Is Blind
8. Slow Motion
9. It’s My Life

Bonus Tracks

10. First Time Around (12″ Version) (Salsoul 12″ single SG 215, 1979)
11. Skyyzoo (12″ Version) (Salsoul 12″ single SG 329, 1980)
12. Let’s Celebrate (12″ Version) (Salsoul 12″ single SG 364, 1981)
13. Call Me (7″ Version) (Salsoul single SB 9000, 1981)
14. Bad Boy (12″ Version) (Salsoul single SG 402, 1983)
15. Because of You (JM After Session M&M Mix) (from The M&M Mixes: NYC Underground Anthems + Previously Unreleased Exclusive Salsoul Mixes, BBE CD 129CCD21, 2009)