We had a 5 year wait from Gary's A+M set, "G.T.", and the summer of 1988 delivered, on Virgin Records, the brilliant "Compassion" album. Gary Taylor is one of those artists, like Chris Jasper - recently reviewed - who is immediately recognisable and, as importantly, equally dependable. As writer Steven Ivory states, Gary Taylor has the luxury of creating music on his own terms. And he is much stronger for it, even though Virgin Records could not see that at the time, stating something along the lines of his music not being "black enough". Whatever that means. Stylistically, "Compassion" was totally different to "G.T.", but akin to his productions. Take a listen to Carl Anderson's "Let's Talk" and you will here the roots of "Compassion" and in "Compassion" the roots of Gary's finest ever work, "Take Control". This is a seriously essential album, and it was one of those albums to trigger my conversion to CD.The B-Side of the "Compassion" 12" was a devastatingly haunting track called "Follow", which did not appear on the LP. It was, however, on the CD! It was a no-brainer for me and so the conversion process started. This simple, beautiful and timeless piece of music renders the CD essential and thankfully the latest version of the CD, available on CD Baby contains ANOTHER bonus track, "My Heart, Your Heart", which you will already be familiar with from the Whispers' 1990 Capitol set, "More Of The Night". If you don't have this wonderful Gary Taylor version then you really do need it to complete your collection! "Compassion" itself is a toothsome brew of dancers and ballads and all essential. The KILLER title track, as you can hear below, is still a monster today, and "Lonely Heart" and "Love You To The Limit" are also top-draw. As you will see in my 90s reviews, The Mac Band resurfaced with a mighty Taylor-produced version of "Love You To The Limit" and floored me totally. "Tease Me" was part of my soundtrack to the summer; a relaxing, cool number with an unbeatable arrangement as only the Great man can provide. "I Won't Stop" is great but, I fear, pales into insignificance by his very own handiwork a year later on the Manhattans who covered this and totally steal the song (see previous review.) Albums like this are a real joy and make life well worth living, especially when the world seems so glum and downbeat. We need the likes of Gary Taylor more today than ever before.
Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe
The Vibe Scribe
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