Living All Alone

About

The first album she recorded for Philly International may not be her best seller, but it def shows the distinction between Thom Bell's and Dexter Wansel's productions with her. Thom Bell let go of his Philly Sound starters of smooth strings and horns to a more updated '80's synthesized sound like on "Old Friend" (thank you Linda Creed), and "Ain't You Had Enough Love Baby." Thom didn't skip a beat on the, "First Time..., or "You Just Don't Know". My favorite song without the over the top sound and arrangements--the Philly Sound tended to do this--is Thom's production of, "Slow Dancing." Simple, romantic and sweet. The vocals of Phyllis yearning totally convinced me with his productions. He's a true genious. Dexter Wansel is too. Dexter was never really a strings and horns kinda guy unless he workerd with another great Philly music guy/arranger: Jack Faith. So Dex dove into the synthesized stuff he's famous for. I loved his thumbing bass and vibes on, "Living All Alone." Which turned out, weirdly enough, Phyllis Hyman's death song. Obviously and vocally she meant what she said. Who knew? Oh to be an entertainer! Still the album is another brilliantly engineered, " Philadelphia Sound," musical recording classic.

via Last.fm

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