THE SOLAR SYSTEM: SHALAMAR, LAKESIDE AND MORE...
I say down with that funky nuclear jazz; the sensible energy source is SOLAR, the record label that could well become the Motown of the '80s. SOLAR evolved from the now defunct Sou! Train label (not to be confused with Adam VIII, Ltd., the compiler of those greatest-hits-from-the-TV-show-ofthe-same-name, the best early '70s soul collections you'll ever find in a cutout bin); Don Cornelius went chugging back to his video choo-choo in 1978, leaving chairman of the board Dick Griffey with 29-yearveteran harmonizers the Whispers (who mined gold in '80 with "And The Beat Goes On"), Carrie ("It's Not What You Got") Lucas, and a promising young vocal trio called Shalamar.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM: SHALAMAR, LAKESIDE AND MORE...
DAVID KEEPS
I say down with that funky nuclear jazz; the sensible energy source is SOLAR, the record label that could well become the Motown of the '80s. SOLAR evolved from the now defunct Sou! Train label (not to be confused with Adam VIII, Ltd., the compiler of those greatest-hits-from-the-TV-show-ofthe-same-name, the best early '70s soul collections you'll ever find in a cutout bin); Don Cornelius went chugging back to his video choo-choo in 1978, leaving chairman of the board Dick Griffey with 29-yearveteran harmonizers the Whispers (who mined gold in '80 with "And The Beat Goes On"), Carrie ("It's Not What You Got") Lucas, and a promising young vocal trio called Shalamar.
SOLAR is the Sound Of Los Angeles Records Co., comprised of transplanted Midwesterners and El Lay natives who've crafted a nifty blend of the soulful and the slick. Heavy on electronics and synthesizers, sweet harmonizing and showbiz flash, the SOLAR sound ranges from lush balladry to trendy gimmickry (like the robotic voices on Midnight Star's "Freak-A-Zoid"), but it's always, in the words of funky spacemen Lakeside's 1980 hit, "A Fantastic Voyage."