Following the release of
The Mansion
last November, Soul Junction's latest release consists of another two
sides from Energy MC2 who have featured on the label previously with "If You Break It" / "Other Side Of The Mirror" (SJ536) back in Dec 2016 .
The full story regarding the group can be read on
Soul Junction's website, but in summary they started out as a group of kids aged 10 and
11 whilst still at elementary school named Congressional Funk. They were
entering and winning local talent shows and came to the attention of Ernest
and Barbara Burt's Magic City label and featured on the first three singles
for Mad Dog & The Pups. On the third single they had one side dedicated
to them under the name The Soulful Hounds on an instrumental of "Why Did You
Leave Me Girl". They were noticed in a performance by Barrett Strong
and Norman Whitfield of Motown and were asked to sign for Motown but were
under contract to Magic City who weren't prepared to release
them.
Upon eventually leaving the label they underwent several name and line-up
changes recruiting Ben Adkins from Energy and changed their name to Energy
MC2 (after Einstein's E=MC2). Adkins would later leave to join Creative
Source. He also worked with Lonnie Smith and then replaced Jermaine
Jackson in The Jacksons.
As Energy MC2 they recorded a number of unreleased songs, four of which
now appear on Soul Junction 7" singles for the first time along with
another "Juliane" which featured on Soul Junction's CD compilation "We Got A Sweet Thing Going On Volume 2" (SJCD 5011) in 2016.
The group moved to Atlanta, GA, and signed with The Greer Agency who
also represented, The Commodores, Brass Construction, Mother's Finest,
New Birth, Brick and Little Richard etc. Around 1974 some of the members
went on a road trip to L.A. and hooked up with Ray Parker Jr (who was
the brother of member Opelton Parker and later joined Michael
Stokes in Natures Divine). It was in these sessions that they recorded
the two songs on Soul Junction's latest release "You And Only You" and "Love To Make Love To You". Label owner Dave Welding already knew about these songs which were brought
to his attention by DJ Dave Thorley and wanted to release them earlier but
had to track down Ray Parker Jr., who wrote and arranged them, to seek
approval for their release.
The A side "You And Only You" was recorded by Pockets on their 1978 album "Take It On Up" (included below).
After the sessions two members, Vince Bonham and Arnell Carmichael, joined
Ray Parker Jr. and Jerry Knight in Raydio who were formed in 1977. Raydio
went on to have several R&B Top 10 and Hot 100 hits such as "Jack And
Jill", "You Can't Change That", "Two Places At The Same Time", "A Woman
Needs Love (Just Like You Do)" and many others including of course their #1
hit "Ghostbusters".
The single is available to pre-order now from vinyl retailers for release
on 6 Feb 2023.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
| Rating: | 8.5 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Modern Soul |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | 7" Vinyl |
| Label: | Soul Junction |
| Cat No: | SJ549 |
| Date: | 06/02/2023 |
| Key/BPM: | N/A |
| Price: | £15 |
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