Perfect Combination
Perfect Combination is a duet album by Johnny Gill and Stacy Lattisaw, the childhood friend who first brought Gill to the attention of Cotillion Records.
Reception
| Professional ratings |
| Review scores |
| Source |
Rating |
| Allmusic |
[1] |
Joe Brown of the Washington Post wrote, "producer Narada Michael Walden, who has written six of the eight songs on the album, crams these two impressive voices-in-progress into a constricting selection of tired trends. The idea seems to be 'something for everyone,' but the result is not enough for anyone. The synths, sound effects, speeded-up beats and computer drums rob the duets of what they're ostensibly all about—the interplay of two human voices. Lattisaw and Gill divide their time between trying to be heard over the din and trying to add some personal style to the mechanical lines Walden has 'programmed' for them....Gill, 17, has a deep, muscular, elastic baritone, but shows off a bit too often on the gospel glissandos after the shortest phrases. Lattisaw, a pop music vet at 17 years, is more polished and assured than ever, and shows a sense of restraint, making melody her strong point. However, because of Walden's knob-twirling tyranny, Lattisaw doesn't have the freedom her voice deserves...There are several pleasant surprises—the gossamer ballad 'Falling in Love Again,' by folkies Eric Kaz and Tom Snow, and a version of Burt Bacharach's 'Baby It's You.' On '50/50 Love,' the two voices, to quote one of the many clichés the song spouts, 'go together hand in glove,' with Gill scatting and growling to rival Al Jarreau, and Lattisaw purring and swooping. But most of this record is given over to competent, if tedious, Shalamar-style electropop."
--Excerpted from "Disk Duos: Do's and Dont's," Washington Post, March 15, 1984
Track listing
- Block Party
- Fun N Games
- Falling In Love Again
- 50/50 Love
- Perfect Combination
- HeartBreak Look
- Baby It's You
- Come Out Of The Shadows
Personnel
- Stacy Lattisaw - Lead and backing vocals
- Johnny Gill - Lead and backing vocals
- Narada Michael Walden - Percussion, drums, keyboards, Simmons drums, computer sequencing, sequencing
- Randy Jackson - Bass
- Preston Glass – Acoustic guitar, Glockenspiel, background vocals
- Bobby Black – Pedal steel, slide guitar
- David Sancious – Piano, keyboards
- Frank Martin – Synthesizer, keyboards
- Joaquin Lievano, Corrado Rustici - Guitar
- Alan Glass – Electric guitar
- Marc Russo - Saxophone
- Mingo Lewis – Percussion
- Vicki Randle, Jim Gilstrap, Bonnie Boyer, Myrna Matthews, Carla Vaughn, Linda Imperial, Kevin Walden, Ben E. Epps, Dennis Saunders, Frank Loverde, Yolanda Glass, Leslie Ann Jones, John Lehman - Backing vocals
Charts
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Chart positions[3] |
| US |
US
R&B |
US
Dance |
| 1984 |
"Perfect Combination" |
75 |
10 |
— |
| "Baby Its You" |
102 |
37 |
— |
| "Block Party" |
— |
63 |
48 |
References
External links