Paul Simpson is back with a new dedicated website
for his releases. His latest set of Philadelphia Re-edit Sessions is
Blue Magic. You know the drill by now, available for two weeks
only and then they're gone for good!
Blue Magic were from Philadelphia and were formed in 1972
consisting of Ted Mills, Vernon Sawyer, Wendell Sawyer, Keith Beaton, and
Richard Pratt. Mills was with a group called The Toppicks and the other
four members where originally in a group known as Shades Of Soul and
essentially the execs at WMOT decided to replace the existing Toppicks
with Mills and Shades Of Soul and renamed the group Blue Magic.
They hit the R&B charts with their first three singles "Spell" (#30), "Look Me Up" (#36) and "Stop To Start" (#14) but their most notable hit was "Sideshow" in 1974 which topped the R&B chart and also made it to #8 on
Billboard Hot 100, all were produced by Norman Harris and backed by MFSB.
It didn't register in the UK and they had to wait until 1984 before
scratching the chart with an entry at #89 with "Romeo And Juliet". Two other songs made it onto the Hot 100 "Stop To Start", "Three Ring Circus" with "Grateful" just bubbling outside at #104.
They have released nine studio albums between 1974-95, a live album with
Margie Joseph and Major Harris in 1976 and their most recent album "Share A Dream" in 2020.
By 1977, with the rise of Disco, their smooth sweet soul style was going
out of fashion and in 1980 they disbanded when the Sawyer brothers left
and soon afterwards so did Pratt. Mills and Beaton recruited new members
and released "Magic#" in 1983 but by 1989 the original members got back together and released "From Out Of The Blue".
In 1990 Mills was involved in a near fatal car accident and when he
returned to music it was as a solo artist and he was replaced in the group
by Rod Wayne (aka Roderick Bronaugh) who remained in the group until 2004
and died in 2016.
During the noughties there were three variants of the group. Wendell
Sawyer and Keith Beaton trademarked the name and both Vernon Sawyer and
Richard Pratt also had their own versions of the group until Pratt died in March 2022.
The ReEdits are all from their first four albums plus three single B sides
which didn't appear on any original album but some have featured on
reissued albums as bonus tracks.
There are no sound file samples available on Simpson's website, so below or one minute samples from each.
.
* 1974 - Blue Magic (7)
** 1974 - The Magic Of The Blue (5)
*** 1975 Thirteen Blue Magic Lane (4)
**** 1976 Mystic Dragons (2)
Answer To My Prayer (Paul Simpson Edit) *
Chasing Rainbows (Paul Simpson Instrumental Edit) ***
Grateful (Paul Simpson Instrumental Edit) (1976 B side)
Let Me Be The One (Paul Simpson Instrumental Edit) **
Look Me Up (Paul Simpson Edit) *
Love Has Found It's Way To Me (Paul Simpson Edit) **
Magic Of The Blue (Paul Simpson Edit) ***
Making Love To A Memory (Paul Simpson Instrumental Edit) ****
Never Get Over You (Paul Simpson Edit) **
Sideshow (Paul Simpson Edit) *
Spell (Paul Simpson Instrumental Edit) *
Start To Stop (Paul Simpson Edit) *
Stringing Me Along (Paul Simpson Edit) **
Summer Snow (Paul Simpson Instrumental Edit) ****
Three Ring Circus (Paul Simpson Instrumental Edit) ***
Welcome To The Club (Paul Simpson Edit) *
We're On The Right Track (Paul Simpson Edit) ***
What's Come Over Me (Paul Simpson Instrumental Edit) */***
Where Have You Been (Paul Simpson Edit) (1973 B side)
You & Me with Margie Joseph (Paul Simpson Edit) (1975 B side)
| Rating: | 8.5 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Philly Soul / Re-Edits |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Simpson Uniquity |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 23/11/2022 |
| Price: | $11.99 |
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One of the best Philly groups, in line with the Delfonics, etc. All is said !!!
ReplyDeleteYves