L.J. Johnson & Barbara Pennington [2021] - Twenty Four Hours A Day [Soul Purpose #SPR 2002]

Ian Levine is a bit of a 'marmite' character on the Northern Soul scene, mainly because he is accused of splitting the scene in the mid 70s by playing 'modern soul' at the legendary Highland Room (Blackpool Mecca) to the distaste of the 'purists' and then went on to make 'tailor made' NS tunes (his first being The Exciters "Reaching For The Best" in 1975).. He later moved on to Hi-NRG music in the 80s and also produced for Take That and The Pasadenas. His contribution to NS though is indisputable as he discovered many of the big tunes in the early 70s with an enviable collection.

The reason for the pre-amble is because one of those early tailor mades by Barbara Pennington "Twenty Four Hours A Day" has been mixed with L.J. Johnson's (another of Levine's tailor made protégés) 1979 version by Paul Mooney for release on Neil Rushton & Phil Dick's Soul Purpose imprint on 5 Jul 2021. It's only the second release, on the label, the first being Gloria Jones' version of Rita & The Tiara's "Gone With The Wind Is My Love" way back on 31 May 2012.

Barbara Pennington's version was originally released in 1976 in UK which I thought made the pop charts, but upon checking it didn't, but Levine got a deal with United Artists in the states where it topped the US Disco charts for seven weeks in 1977.

The flip side is L.J. Johnson "Gambling On Your Love" from his 1979 "L.J.'s Love Suite" album (and was also recorded by Jessica Williams) and is best left where it originated i.e. 1979 disco era!

The Jessica Williams version was released with a track titled "Queen Of Fools", which at first sight I thought might have been a hideous disco version of the Barbara Mills NS classic, especially when I saw writing/production/arranging credits for one Simon Soussan (a renowned figure for bootlegging), and I was half right i.e. it is hideous, but not the Barbara Mills song.

Click icons below for further information or to connect with the artist.

Details

Rating:	7.8
Genre/Style:	Disco / Remix
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	Soul Purpose
Cat No:	None
Year:	05/07/2021
Key/BPM:	N/A
Value:	£12