THE DELLS-ONE STEP CLOSER.
THE DELLS-ONE STEP CLOSER.
The last time I reviewed an album by The Dells, it was their 1978 album Love Connection. Like their previous album, They Said It Couldn’t Be Done But We Did It Anyway, it was produced by Norman Harris’ The Harris Machine. Along with some of Philly’s finest musicians, The Harris Machine gave The Dells a Philly Sound makeover. Sadly, neither albums was the commercial successes the music deserved. Love Connection was The Dells’ final album for Mercury. After this, they signed to ABC, releasing two albums, New Beginnings and Face To Face. New Beginnings released in 1978, saw an upturn in The Dells’ fortunes, reaching number 169 in the US Billboard 200 and number fifty-five in the US R&B Charts. Face To Face, released in 1979 reached reaching number 203 in the US Billboard 200 and number seventy-one in the US R&B Charts. For 1980s I Touched A Dream, The Dells signed to 20th Century Fox. It became their most successful album since The Mighty Mighty Dells, reaching number 137 in the US Billboard 200 and number twenty in the US R&B Charts. Thinking their career was on an upturn, The Dells released Whatever Turns You On, but it failed to chart. Without a record deal, The Dells didn’t release another album for three years, until 1984s One Step Closer, which was released by SoulMusic Records on 18th June 2012. Would One Step Closer, The Dells’ twenty-second album, get their career back on track?
After a two year absence from the recording studio, the five members of The Dells Marvin Junior, Mickey McGill, Verne Allison, Johnny Carter and Chuck Barksdale signed to Los Angeles based Joe “Hitman” Isgro’s Private I Records. Since the release of their last album for Cadet, 1975s We Got To Get Our Thing Together, The Dells had spent time on Mercury, ABC and 20th Century Fox Records. Their previous album, 1981s Whatever Turns You On had been the least successful album of their career. Now thirty-one years after forming in 1952, The Dells were ready to record the twenty-second album of their career for Private I Records. Their new label had previously revived the careers of The Chi-Lites, Staple Singers and Bonnie Pointer. Could they do the same with The Dells?
For what would become One Step Closer, a number of producers and songwriting teams would work with The Dells. Chuck Jackson and Martin Yancy cowrote three song and produced five of the songs on One Step Closer. David Williams wrote one track, cowrote another and produced two tracks on the album. The other track, I’m Your Man, written by Ashford and Simpson, was produced by David Johnson and Archie Russel. These eight tracks would becme One Step Closer, The Dells twenty-second album of their thirty-two year career. However, unlike their previous albums, One Step Closer was recorded on a budget.
Whereas The Dells had been used to recording albums for big labels like Chess, Mercury, ABC and 20th Century Fox, Private I Records didn’t have such deep pockets. Recording was taking place in Chicago and California, but during the recording sessions, The Dells felt violins were needed for a track. This needed more money, $2,500 to be precise to pay the arranger. After a trip to see label owner Joe “Hitman” Isgro, The Dells had the money to pay their arranger. Even then another problem arose. The booth was really small. Indeed, it was so small, that the strings had to be recorded sitting on the steps inside the building. Eventually, the sessions were completed and One Step Closer was One Step Closer to being released.
One Step Closer was released in 1984, reaching number forty-nine in the US R&B Charts. Three singles were released from One Step Closer. You Just Can’t Walk Away reached number twenty-three in the Us R&B Charts. The title-track One Step Closer reached number forty-six in the US R&B Charts. Love On was the final single released from One Step Closer, reaching number sixty in the US R&B Charts. After the disappointment of Whatever Turns You On not charting, One Step Closer saw The Dells making a comeback. However, what did One Step Closer sound like?
Opening One Step Closer is the title-track One Step Closer, one of the three singles, and a track Chuck Jackson and Martin Yancy cowrote and produced. The tempo is quick, with the rhythm section and washes of synths giving way to The Dells’ tight, urgent harmonies. Then comes Marvin Junior’s lead vocal. He’s lost none of his vocal prowess during their three year absence from recording. Very different is the arrangement, with its reliance on synths and drum machines. It’s very difference from The Harris Machine productions on Love Connection, with Philly’s finest musicians. Having said that, Marvin’s vocal and the harmonies are just as good. Welcome back The Dells.
Love On was the third single released from One Step Closer. It has a dramatic introduction, designed to grab your attention. This it does. What follows is one of Marvin’s best vocal. His vocal has a tenderness, but is impassioned and full of sincerity. Stabs of keyboards,a rhythm section that’s both soulful, but slightly funky provides a fitting backdrop. The rest of The Dells add equally tender, impassioned harmonies. Bursts of punchy rhythm section ensure The Dells have your attention. This they do, on one of the highlights of One Step Closer, delivering vocals and harmonies like only The Dells can.
You just know when the mid-tempo You Just Can’t Walk Away begins, that this is another gem from The Dells. Comparisons can be drawn with Teddy Pendergrass in the with its subtle heartfelt delivery. The other Dells deliver some tight, tender harmonies, while the arrangement sees keyboards and the rhythm section playing around The Dells, allowing them to do what they’d been doing so well since 1952. As the song progresses, Marvin’s vocal grows stronger, full of feeling, longing and love. Realizing just how good Marvin’s vocal is, the rest of The Dells lift their game. Their harmonies are the perfect accompaniment, fries to Marvin’s burger. No wonder this track gave The Dells their biggest single since 1980s I Touched A Dream, reaching number twenty-three in the US R&B Charts.
Even though One Step Closer is made on a budget, with synths and drum machines replacing what many people would call “real musicians,” Come On Back To Me still works. Here, the synths and drum machines are augmented by bass and guitars, giving the track a real eighties synth sound, this doesn’t matter. They provide the appetizer, while The Dells vocal talents provide the main course and dessert. Drums pound, while washes of synths and keyboards precede the vocal. Soon, Marvin takes over the lead vocal, throwing himself into the vocal, combining power and passion. Quickly, the vocal changes hands again, with the other Dells adding punchy harmonies, accompanied by equally punchy drums which crack. It’s the vocal that grab your attention, and what you focus on. However, I wonder what the song would’ve sounded like with the musicians that played on Love Connection?
A piano meanders in, before lush strings cascade and Holdin’ On, a dramatic, heartfelt and emotive ballad unfolds. The vocal is shared, with each Dell adding to the drama and emotion. They deliver the lyrics as if they mean every word, getting across the subtleties and nuances of the lyrics. One of the best arrangements on One Step Closer unfolds. There’s less reliance on synths, with a the piano and rhythm section providing the perfect backdrop for the vocal. Then there’s the strings recorded on the studio’s steps. Even they work really well, adding to the track’s irresistible sound.
Don’t Want Nobody sees a change in producer, with David Williams taking over. Straight away, a very different sound emerges from your speakers. Gone are the synths and drum machines. Instead, percussion, a pounding, funky rhythm section and keyboards combine. There’s even a Latin feel and sound to the arrangement. You sense this will lead to The Dells raising their game. Marvin grabs the song by the scruff of the neck, his vocal powerful and passionate. Tight, soaring harmonies augment his vocal, while the percussion heavy arrangement is enchanting and beguiling.
I Am Your Man written by Ashford and Simpson, sees the introduction of another production team, with the track produced by David Johnson and Archie Russel. They’re responsible for an arrangement that features keyboards, rhythm section and slow, sweeping strings whose lush sound are perfect for The Dells’ vocals. Marvin’s vocal is slow, heartfelt and sincere, delivering the vocal as if he means it. The when the other Dells add harmonies, they match Marvin stride for stride, their delivery just as intense and fervid. Of the eight songs on the album, Ashford and Simpson provide the
Closing One Step Closer is Jody, which was produced by David Williams. It sees another change in sound. Percussion, rhythm section and rocky guitars combine, with the bold guitar sound dominating the arrangement. Marvin’s vocal is equally bold. Quickly, the vocal changes hands, with each vocal probing, questioning “who is this Jody?” Although very different, with its marauding, rocky guitars, adds to the drama and of the arrangement, which incidentally, has a much more electronic sound than the other David Williams produced track.
Although The Dells had been without a recording contract since the commercial failure of 1981s Whatever Turns You On, The Dells that can be heard on 1984s One Step Closer, hadn’t lost any of their vocal prowess. Marvin Junior’s vocals were just as emotive, impassioned and sometimes, powerful as on Love Connection. However, the production style on One Step Closer was very different from The Harris Machine produced Love Connection. On Love Connection, Norman Harris and some of Philly’s finest musicians produced a really polished album where he gave The Dells a Philly Sound makeover. It wasn’t possible to produce as polished a sounding production on One Step Closer given the much lower budget available for The Dells. They’d even to ask for just $2,500 to pay someone to arrange the strings. So instead of the big production of Love Connection, synths and drum machines replaced what some people call “real musicians.” What the three producers or productions came up with were a variety of production styles. Sometimes synths and drum machines were used, other times the rhythm section, had percussion and strings added. While this wasn’t what many people must have expected from a Dells’ album, it worked well, with The Dells’ trademark vocals still of the quality you’d expect. Tracks like Love On, You Just Can’t Walk Away, Holdin’ On, Don’t Want Nobody and I Am Your Man may have differing production styles, but they’re a fitting accompaniment to The Dells. While One Step Closer is quite different from albums like They Said It Couldn’t Be Done But We Did It Anyway and Love Connection, one thing stays the same…The Dells vocals and harmonies. For anyone whose a fan of The Dells, R&B and soul music, then The Dells twenty-second album One Step Closer released by SoulMusic Records on 18th June 2012 is something of a hidden gem in their long and illustrious back-catalogue.To me, it’s hidden gem that’s well worth unearthing and comparing to They Said It Couldn’t Be Done But We Did It Anyway and Love Connection, when The Harris Machine gave The Dells a Philly Sound makeover. Standout Tracks: Love On, Holdin’ On, Don’t Want Nobody and I Am Your Man.
THE DELLS-ONE STEP CLOSER.
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