Not long after the Cherry Red labels update their calendars for April, their ever-busy Big Break Records imprint preps a set of R&B reissues for May. And there are quite a few hits contained therein.
No less than six new expansions are on the label's schedule in the next month, most of them from the Sony catalogue. The biggest hits by far would be Back Stabbers, the sophomore release by The O'Jays and the album that spun off the immortal chart-topping hit "Love Train," and Deniece Williams' Let's Hear It for the Boy, the title track of which featured as one of many hits in the 1984 film Footloose. Each of those albums will be expanded with single edits and remixes. There are two other dance-heavy titles on the roster, too. The Gap Band's Gap Band VI had the Top 10 R&B hits "Beep a Freak" and "I Found My Baby," while the relatively obscure Linx had a raft of U.K. hits with debut album Intuition, newly expanded with six bonus remixes.
If full-on dance/funk isn't your thing, there are the chilled-out sounds of Jon Lucien, the singer from the Virgin Islands whose Song for My Lady album is due for expansion from the label (his second, after an expansion of hit album Rashida for the label last year), or Linda Lewis, the British singer-songwriter whose Woman Overboard, featuring production by Allen Toussaint and Cat Stevens, will be expanded with non-LP material (again, following an expansion of her first album for Arista from Big Break last year).
The O'Jays, Lucien, Lewis and Linx all drop in the U.K. on May 23, with Williams and The Gap Band following a week later on May 30. And of course, each of them come to the U.S. through Amazon a week after their British release dates (May 31 and June 7, respectively). Order them from the label here and hit the jump for the track lists!
The O'Jays, Back Stabbers: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0051, 2011)
- When the World's at Peace
- Back Stabbers
- Who Am I
- (They Call Me) Mr. Lucky
- Time to Get Down
- 992 Arguments
- Listen to the Clock on the Wall
- Shiftless, Shady, Jealous Kind of People
- Sunshine
- Love Train
- 992 Arguments (Single Version)
- Who Am I (Single Version)
- Love Train (A Tom Moulton Mix)
Tracks 1-10 from Philadelphia International Records LP KZ-31712 (U.S.)/PIR-65932 (U.K.), 1972
Track 11 from Philadelphia International Records 7" single ZS7-3522, 1972
Track 12 from Philadelphia International Records 7" single S PIR-2213 (U.K.), 1972
Track 13 from Philadelphia Classics promo compilation - Philadelphia International Records PZG-34940, 1977
Jon Lucien, Song for My Lady: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0052, 2011)
- Soul Mate
- Dindi
- You Are My Love
- Creole Lady
- Song for My Lady
- Mother Land
- Maiden Voyage
- Follow Your Heart
- Creole Lady (Single Version)
- Follow Your Heart (Alternative Version)
Tracks 1-8 from Columbia LP PC-33544, 1975
Track 9 from Columbia single 3-10232, 1975
Track 10 possibly from Love Everlasting: The Very Best of Jon Lucien (BMG 74321 66043-2 (U.K.), 1999)
Linda Lewis, Woman Overboard: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0053, 2011)
- You Came
- Shining
- Bonfire
- Come Back and Finish What You Started
- No. 1 Heartbreaker
- Dreamer of Dreams
- Moon and I
- Light Years Away
- My Love is Here to Stay
- My Friend the Sun
- So Many Mysteries to Find
- Flipped Over Your Love
- Never Been Done Before
- Can't We Just Sit Down and Talk It Over
Tracks 1-11 from Arista LP SPARTY 1003 (U.K.), 1977
Track 12 from Arista single 100 (U.K.), 1977
Track 13 from Arista single 125 (U.K.), 1977
Track 14 from Arista single 170 (U.K.), 1977
Linx, Intuition: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0054, 2011)
- Wonder What You're Doing Now
- I Won't Forget
- Intuition
- There's Love
- Rise and Shine
- Throw Away the Key
- Together We Can Shine
- Count on Me
- You're Lying
- Don't Get in My Way
- You're Lying (U.K. 12" Mix)
- Throw Away the Key (U.K. 12" Mix)
- Together We Can Shine (U.S. Recording)
- Wonder What You're Doing Now (U.S. Remix)
- You're Lying (U.S. Remix)
- Throw Away the Key (U.S. Remix)
Tracks 1-10 from Chrysalis LP CHR 1332 (U.K.), 1981
Track 11 from Chrysalis 12" A-side CHS 12 2461 (U.K.), 1980
Track 12 from Chrysalis 12" A-side CHS 12 2519 (U.K.), 1981
Tracks 13-16 from The Last Linx - Chrysalis CHR 1409 (U.K.), 1983
Deniece Williams, Let's Hear It for the Boy: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0055, 2011)
- Let's Hear It for the Boy
- I Want You
- Picking Up the Pieces
- Black Butterfly
- Next Love
- Haunting Me
- Don't Tell Me We Have Nothing
- Blind Dating
- Wrapped Up
- Whiter Than Snow
- Let's Hear It for the Boy (12" Dance Mix)
- Next Love (12" Dance Mix)
- Black Butterfly (Single Version)
- Let's Hear It for the Boy (Instrumental)
- Next Love (Instrumental)
Tracks 1-10 released as Columbia LP FC 39366 (U.S.)/CBS LP 26010 (U.K.), 1984
Tracks 11 and 14 from Columbia 12" single 44-04988 (U.S.), 1984
Tracks 12 and 15 from Columbia 12" single 44-05043 (U.S.), 1984
Track 13 from Columbia 7" single 38-04641 (U.S.), 1984
The Gap Band, Gap Band VI: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records CDBBR0056, 2011)
- Interlude - The Sun Don't Shine Everyday
- Video Junkie
- Weak Spot
- The Sun Don't Shine Everyday
- I Believe
- I Found My Baby
- Beep a Freak
- Don't You Leave Me
- Disrespect
- The Sun Don't Shine Everyday (Vocal)
- Beep a Freak (12" Dance Mix)
- I Found My Baby (12" Dance Mix)
- Disrespect (12" Dance Mix)
Tracks 1-10 from Total Experience Records LP FL-89426, 1984
Track 11 from Total Experience Records 12" A-side TED1-2606, 1984
Track 12 from Total Experience Records 12" A-side TED1-2613, 1985
Track 13 from Total Experience Records 12" A-side TED1-2615, 1985
RoyalScam says
Back Stabbers was such a well recorded album...and it's sure to be remastered with a sledgehammer like past BBR releases. What a shame Legacy just can't do this themselves, with Mark Wilder or Vic Anesini doing it justice.