This is a nice little LP I happened upon recently at a car boot sale - and all for a mere 50 pence! See, it is worth clawing through all the James Last and Mrs Mills albums in the semi-drizzle! Being well known for my frugalness (others say I'm tight, but I will not accept that) it just shows that you don't have to sell a few organs and re-mortgage your house to pick up a quality album. I know very little about this duo, but all I can say is that the LP is well worth tracking down, should you not own this already. Full of quality ballads and some nice mid tempo efforts, Carter and Chanel were a fine coupling who recorded on the small, and aptly-named, Sweet City label back in 1981, although the overall flavour is more in tune with what we were listening to circa 1978. As per usual, I definitely prefer the ballads to the uptempo efforts on here, but taken in its entirety the album is jolly listenable. The title track of this LP, "Midnight Love Affair", is sheer heaven: the spacey synth and freaky, flirtatious keyboard touches lead into some sublime flute action and great dialogue interplay between the two; the rapport is truly evident between them. Vocally they are excellent, and I am, in more than one instance, reminded so much of James "D-Train" Williams and Rena Scott in places! "Tonight Is Right" is yet another classy track - a smouldering, brassy effort that has an Mtume / Lucas feel to it, and is a song I have found myself playing a lot. Better still (as far as my 50p is worth at any rate!) is the brilliant Phyllis Hyman-ish "You And I Together". This is just classy early 80s soul at its very, very best. I doubt that anyone reading this will dislike this particular song. If only this would come out on CD - the 80s are such an overlooked era!
The sweet saxy opening to "Don't Let Love Go" leads into a classy Collins & Collins styled effort that will definitely please. "Together Forever" bounces along nicely with some jazzy phrasing and is nicely juxtaposed to the more uptempo material that is fine in places, and also reminiscent of some of Lee Ritenour's late '70s work. In fact, fans of guitarist Carlos Rios will hear similarities with his work too, especially on "I Can't Live Without Your Love". The guitar work does a lot of justice to what could have been, otherwise, a semi-disco filler. All in all, "Midnight Love Affair" is a cracking example of soul music at the opening of the 1980s, and well worth picking up. I'm not usually one to attend boot sales, BUT....I wonder when and where the next one is?!
Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe
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