Is Phyllis Hyman's lovely LOVING YOU LOSING YOU something of a continuation of :

[remicks]

*****


......the Spinners' RUBBERBAND MAN !!! ????


Give it a listen and you tell me !!

An aside :
( It's a 7:30 song with a long intro ....so,
Q: How far into the song would you guess Phyllis begins singing??? ....
A: Be patient ! )







.... well, both songs are written and composed by Mr. Thom Bell....



******

[Disco Kicks]

Of course not everyone knows the Rubberband man, so it might help to show the song you want people to compare it too.
The Spinners. Rubberband Man.


Phyliss Hyman is my all time favourite artist.

[needlefingers]

Someone gave me this just a few weeks ago.






She didn't finish her last name, but I'm not sure when it was signed and what condition she was in at the time.

Still, gotta love it.

[Disco Kicks]

I would give my right arm for that, especially as my names carl too.

[remicks]

Originally Posted by Disco Kicks

Of course not everyone knows the Rubberband man, so it might help to show the song you want people to compare it too.

Thanks ! I did want to post the song but couldn't find a well recorded one of the studio version .....

Neat acquisition needlefingers ....think she was having trouble with the pen and gave up ??


Seems Phyllis was drawn to Thom Bell songs .Too bad the two of them never got to hook up .....who knows how history mighta ......... ( She would've been perfect for THEN CAME YOU )

Thom Bell's
BETCHA BY GOLLY WOW :

Phyllis Hyman


Original Stylistics version : (sorry for the unrelated "other song" intro)



Thom Bell's I DON'T WANNA LOSE YOU :
Phyllis Hyman:



original version by The Spinners :



as for LOVING YOU LOSING YOU .... I'm not sure how she came unto this Thom Bell song .... can't find it as having been recorded previously ...(??)..... unless its the same song done by The Delfonics in 1968 called LOSING YOU? .....


*****

[keefelc]

Hey Remicks, I take it you don't have the "Goddess of Love" album - Phyllis worked with Thom Bell on many tracks on that album!

[markydefad]

"Loving You, Losing You" is one of the greatest opening tracks to ever appear on a debut artist's LP...talk about a fanfare for a new artist....just gives me goosebumps as it builds and builds, adding instrumentation, hyperactive swirling strings and tympanii pounding...and repeating that vamp of the chorus over and over...until finally several minutes into it, back-up vocalists sing a heralding "Dut-DAH..Dut-DAH..Dut-DAH"...... then, at 2:49 into the track, it's like a pinspot light apears out of the darkness on the lovely Miss Hyman and she starts to sing..."In the middle of my life I had nothing to lose".... goosebumps!!! Talk about getting one's attention!!!

The track screams Thom Bell, at his most ornately extravagant, but, strangely, he is not the producer...Jerry Peters is given that credit. Maybe a protege'???

As Keefe pointed out, Mr. Bell met Miss Hyman on side 2 of her "Goddess Of Love" LP + the final track on side 1--the other 3 LP tracks were produced by Narada Michael Walden ["Riding The Tiger," "Goddess Of Love," and "Why Did You Turn Me On."]

These are the Thom Bell produced, arranged & conducted tracks:

4 Your Move, My Heart Merrill, Rubicam
5 Let Somebody Love You Glass
6 Falling Star Merrill, Neale, Rubicam
7 We Should Be Lovers Jefferson, Marshall, Simmons
8 Just Me and You Bell
9 Just 25 Miles to Anywhere Bell, Jefferson

The critical assessment below from AMG is way too harsh, IMHO...if you like Miss Hyman, check it out...some gems are to be found here...

3 stars out of a possible 5...

This 1983 set was Hyman's last effort for Arista. During the early '80s she easily maneuvered between R&B and jazz with a skill few artists possessed. This regrettably takes Hyman away from jazz and often puts her knee-deep in pabulum. The album splits the production duties between Narada Michael Warden and Thom Bell; the tracks with Warden still may be a little too mainstream for Hyman acolytes. Glossy '80s dance exercises "Riding the Tiger and "Goddess of Love" have Hyman singing goofy lyrics like "You'll feel the fear of my name" and "My skin never lies." Even Grace Jones couldn't do anything with that. Warden acquits himself nicely with the good, hooky ballad "Why Did You Turn Me On," a song he put on one of his own albums a few yeas before. The work with Bell is below his customary excellence. He and his writers must have used all of their best tracks for Deniece Williams' classic My Melody, because Hyman is left with mostly re-treads. After a few so-so tracks, Goddess of Love does go out with a bang. The sparsely arranged "Just Twenty Miles to Anywhere" has Hyman finally getting lyrics of a substantive nature so she could soar. Tt displays all of the greatness Hyman had to offer; it's too bad that most of this album didn't follow suit.

[remicks]

******

Good info !! Yep that's some intro!!!

keefelc , I'm not sure that I have that album .....must not ....??

How wonderful that Miss Hyman and Thom Bell did indeed get a chance to work together . I'm wondering if that was by her specific request ... if it came about because she pursued it, since she seemed to like his music. If so, it then only adds to the total tragedy of her story . How disappointing that the results of their collaboration were so lackluster .... with no hits . Are any of those tracks exemplary ?? I wonder why they didn't redo at least one of his older songs as was Phyllis's tendency and why they only did a partial project?

I can only find this one cut from that album on Youtube:



... with Narada providing that simpler Kashif like sound of the day . (Sounds like Marlena Shaw meets Elvira ! )


_________________________



Back to
LOVING YOU LOSING YOU :

Markydefad: The track screams Thom Bell, at his most ornately extravagant, but, strangely, he is not the producer...Jerry Peters is given that credit. Maybe a protege'???

I at first assumed LOVING YOU LOSING YOU was Thom Bell produced ...apparently a purposeful attempt being made here to sound as such ... not so sure incorporating Thom's bouncy rubber band sound played well to the song's serious sentiments though ...

Now as for Jerry Peters I'm finding his name popping up here and there .... particularly it is he providing those commanding keyboards on Eddie Kendricks BOOGIE DOWN as well as on Marvin Gaye's I WANT YOU .

Disco standouts :



and :




Not bad !!!


*****

[PhyllisHyman]

Is this doesn't bring a tear to your eye then you've no heart (and I'm not referring to the shoulder pads).
Does anyone know if this concert is available as a dvd?

YouTube - Phyllis Hyman Old Friend live!!

[remicks]

*****

It's rather painful to watch isn't it ....
........What year was that?

PhyllisHyman : it'd be most interesting to learn what your thoughts are about the songs she and Thom Bell put together for the GODDESS OF LOVE LP.

*****

[discokicks]

It's so remarkable to see an artist expressing herself so open and candidly in song....such intense emotion pouring from the heart but somehow managing to keep the voice in control...pure natural talent that thankfully was left behind in recordings.

[SandraDee]

Gosh, that clip's brought a lump to my throat.

[markydefad]

remicks, I'm telling you that you would like the Thom Bell/Phyllis Hyman LP...

one of my fave tracks "Falling Star"... is on YouTube..I don't know how to embed ithere...but check this out...

YouTube - Falling Star by Phyllis Hyman

And you must hear "Just 25 Miles From Anywhere" & "Just You & Me"

All the Thom Bell produced stuff is superior to the Narada Michael Walden tracks which sound very dated today...ersatz Kashif is dead-on.

[remicks]

Originally Posted by markydefad

remicks, I'm telling you that you would like the Thom Bell/Phyllis Hyman LP...

one of my fave tracks "Falling Star"... is on YouTube..I don't know how to embed ithere...but check this out...

YouTube - Falling Star by Phyllis Hyman

And you must hear All the Thom Bell produced stuff is superior to the Narada Michael Walden tracks which sound very dated today...ersatz Kashif is dead-on.

Oh dear .....I must not be in the mood for this one... ... gee its a rainy day and everything .
But it starts off ....flat and just kinda stays there .... ....not bad ...not great . (sorry!)
"you're my falling star " ... What does that mean anyway ..... is there a point to this meteor metaphor ???




....... but I'm gonna hold out hopeful for the other two songs ....
"Just 25 Miles From Anywhere" & "Just You & Me"


*****

[keefelc]

Mark is absolutely right, Remicks! The Thom Bell tracks makes the "Goddess Of Love" album worth owning. Those tracks can also be found on the many Phyllis "best of" CDs that have been released through the years.

As for the "Old Friend" clip, that's from a Live At The Blue Note in Tokyo concert that was filmed for a television special in Japan (lucky them!). For awhile the DVD was available on Ebay and I grabbed one as soon as I was able to win an auction! In the show, Phyllis talks about the "Prime Of My Life" album coming out hopefully in 1990.

One of the tracks she sings in "My Funny Valentine" which reminded me of seeing her at the Circle Star Theater (remember that place in San Carlos?) as part of a show with Roy Ayers. During her set, she sang with Roy and his band. Mmmmmmmm... Phyllis's voice floating over Roy's vibes! Just beautiful, but apparently she didn't think so because as she sang "My Funny Valentine" with him, she turned around with an angry look on her face. From his reaction, you could tell she was saying something unpleasant to him and the band. Later, he started fussing with the vibes and eventually switched to an electric piano. So, some technical problems and Phyllis knew it!!