(4 / 5)
Never thought I’d live to see the day I was writing the following words: Inky Dinky Wang Dang Doo for any reason.
But I just did! Why? No, not been drinking. Not had too much sunshine. Not picking words at random in a fit of boredom or mischief.
It’s the title of a song. A song by Shalamar. A song by Shalamar from their debut album “Uptown Festival” released in 1977. The opening track, in fact.
Which appears on this super’ three albums on two discs’ package; “Uptown Festival” and their next two albums “Disco Garden” (1978) and “Big Fun” (1979).
Shalamar were formed in 1978 by Don Cornelius, the producer and host of the legendary TV music show “Soul Train”, and featured Howard Hewett, Jeffrey Daniels & Jody Watley.
“Uptown Festival” got the group off to a great start as it featured the single of the same name, a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic – a medley of some of the greatest Motown hits. This package includes the 7” single version as a bonus track.
Shalamar followed “Uptown Festival” with “Disco Gardens”, which included their next hit “Take That To The Bank”, which was Top 20 in the UK & # 11 in the U.S. R&B chart.
The third album on this package is “Big Fun”; chock-full of hits and dance grooves, including “I Owe You One”, “Right In The Socket” and the # 1 R&B hit “The Second Time Around”.
This package also features the 7” & 12” mixes of the hit singles, as bonus tracks. There’s 14 tracks on disc one and 12 on the second CD; including the five bonus tracks.
New York based music journalist Christian John Wikane penned the sleeve notes, including an interview with Jody Watley specially for this package.
By Christopher Weston
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’
(3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’ (4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’
(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
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