Monday, February 28, 2022

CoronaVinyl Day 396 (S): Can't Shake This Feelin' by The Spinners

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "S," and I have a couple late-career records by The Spinners that were among the stack I most recently got from my neighbor.  I went with their 14th studio album, 1981's Can't Shake This Feelin'.

The Spinners were founded in the Detroit suburbs in the mid '50s, and they released a few singles in the '60s.  They signed to Motown in the mid '60s, but then moved to Atlantic in 1972.  With Atlantic, they released 14 studio albums between 1973 and 1984 and had their biggest success in the mid to late '70s.  All in all, they had 14 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including 7 Top 10s and one #1 (1974's "Then Came You" with Dionne Warwick).  Their other Top 10 hits were 1972's "I'll Be Around" (#4) and "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" (#3), 1975's "Game People Play" (#5), 1976's "The Rubberband Man" (#2), 1979's "Working My Way Back to You" / "Forgive Me, Girl" (#2), and 1980's "Cupid" / "I've Loved You For a Long Time" (#4).

By the time they put out Can't Shake This Feelin' in 1981, they were on their downturn.  The album barely cracked the Billboard album chart, reaching #196, and of the three singles released from the album, only one reached the Billboard Hot 100, again barely ("Never Through I'd Fall In Love," #95).  The album is a little schizophrenic, with the group both trying to hold on to what made them successful and also trying to tap into the early '80s.  There's soul, a little funk, and a little post-disco R&B.  It's not bad, but it's not up to the standard they set in the mid '70s.

After Can't Shake This Feelin', they released two more albums on Atlantic, then switched labels twice and released albums in 1985 and 1989 before taking a 10-year hiatus until their next album and then a 22-year hiatus until their next album, which was released last year.  Importantly, they also performed the theme song to Spaceballs in 1987. 

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Love Connection (Raise The Window Down)"
The last track on the first side is the funkiest song on the album.  It has kind of a Cameo and Kool & The Gang feel to it, so I enjoyed it.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Send a Little Love"
This one reminds me the most of their "old" sound, with a nice little horn riff intro, though updated a little with disco guitars.

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