Ji | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 1982 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:51 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Producer | Bob Carter | |||
Junior chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Ji | ||||
|
Ji is the debut studio album by English singer Junior (Junior Giscombe), released in May 1982 by Mercury Records. The album was recorded with producer Bob Carter after the pair initiated their collaboration with the single "Mama Used to Say" (1981), which was remixed for Ji and became a transatlantic hit. A Britfunk record, the album mixes styles of soul and funk, with expansive synthesised production and a funk backing group. Giscombe and Carter's lyrics were based on realist stories. Music critics compared the singer's voice and melodic style to Stevie Wonder.
Upon release, the album was a commercial success, reaching number 28 in the UK Albums Chart and number 71 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. A further single from the record, "Too Late", made the UK Top 20. The album was generally praised by music critics, with attention given to its soulful style and inventive dance rhythms. Ji was re-released in 2012 by Soul Music in a deluxe edition.
Born and raised in Clapham South, London, Junior Giscombe left school as a fan of reggae and frequented sound systems. In this period, he was a pickpocket, but began making music as a way of moving past his crimes, forming an eleven-piece vocal group with his friends with similarly dubious operations; he explained: "I started it in the sense that I wanted to keep them off the streets, so that I wouldn't end up inside." [1] While working as shoemaker, Giscombe would tire of the job and spend time writing songs. [2] He moved away from the reggae scene because of what he perceived as widespread "anti-white" attitudes, [1] and moved into soul music, [2] taking inspiration from Philly soul writers Gene McFadden, John Whitehead, Thom Bell and Linda Creed as he turned music into a full-time career after finishing college. [3] Wanting to form a rock-leaning R&B band, he formed the band Atlantis as an outlet for his songs. [4] He released a solo single, "Get Up on Dance", on the American label Fireside but it was unsuccessful, and the singer soon left Atlantis due to creative differences. [5]
Giscombe began recording solo demo tapes and sent material to Phonogram, who offered to sign him as a singer, working with writer Ken Gold of Aretha Franklin fame, but he turned the offer down as he wanted to coin his own material, feeling that although Gold was "a great writer," "there was something growing from the kids which was a bit different to what writers like himself were doing." [2] He took note of the rise in young Britfunk bands such as Linx, Light of the World and Imagination and took inspiration to work in a similar idiom. [2] In an interview with Chris Salewicz, he said that, unlike the previous generation of British black groups, who he felt played for a white audience, Britfunk bands like Linx and Beggar & Co "are playing music that both black and white kids can get into... We all live here, we all come from the same areas, we all know where these guys are coming from." [1]
Phonogram remained persistent in pursuing Giscombe, and via their label Mercury Records they offered Giscombe to record a single with Bob Carter, [5] producer of Linx. The pair wrote and recorded "Mama Used to Say," whose style Giscombe compared to a "lightweight Parliament" with "maybe a bit of Gap Band in there too, but it still has a distinctive sound, which is me." [1] Issued as a single in the UK on 27 July 1981, [6] it sold 10,000 copies. Following this, Phonogram sent the song over to the United States, where it was remixed, [2] while Giscombe was touring as Linx's backing singer. [6] This version became a much larger success there, reaching number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 [7] number two on the Soul charts, [8] and number four on the disco charts. [9] Early in the song's American success, while Giscombe and Carter were working on a follow-up single, Phonogram requested they work on an album, allowing them three weeks, which the pair spent working frantically. [5] Giscombe spent early mornings writing lyrics and tunes which he then took to Carter's studio, where the pair would exchange ideas and develop arrangements. [2] The singer is backed on Ji by a British funk sextet. [10]
Ji is a Britfunk album that fuses funk and soul music, [11] applying musical versatility to the format of dance music, according to critic Geoffrey Himes. [10] Carter's production features synthesizers, [11] which reveal a new wave influence, [10] and Mellotrons, [11] as well as incorporating accents to contrast the chunky rhythm section, including "glowing bass slides, ringing guitar tones and short horn phrases." [10] "My inspiration comes from what's happening on the street," Giscombe explained, "whereas Bob Carter comes from a middle-class white set-up. Because of that, we're able to teach one another a lot." [12] The singer felt the album had "enough different rhythms and a distinctive sound" to make him unique. [5] While Ji is characterised by dance beats and foreground melodies, each song features what Himes describes as "odd harmonies," counter-rhythms and variations. Bassist Keith Wilkinson reveals influences of Motown. [10]
"I would like to be able to write music where I don't need to be stagnant, I don't need to search for the goal, get the goal and then stay on that level. I'd like to be able to pull people through change."
Critics compared Giscombe's singing to Stevie Wonder. [10] [13] [14] Himes highlighted "Let Me Know" for this comparison, despite having a "fatter and funkier" dance beat than Wonder's music, as Giscombe's supple voice "can glide through tricky melody maps and smoothly shift from silky crooning to gruff barking." He wrote that Giscombe's distinctive vocal phrasing "breaks up ordinary lines into revealing pauses, drawn-out syllables and compressed syllables." [10] "Mama Used to Say" and "Too Late" appear on the album remixed by Tee Scott. [11] Journalist Barney Hoskyns compared "Love Dies" to the Jacksons, "Darling You" to Chaka Khan and the disco song "Let Me Know" to "1969-period" Wonder, while describing "Down Down" and "I Can't Help It" as dance ballads. [11]
Giscombe said most of the songs, which incorporate themes of realism, are based on real-life situations; "Too Late" was inspired about a woman Giscombe met in Scotland who told him of the assumption that only Scottish men mistreat their wives. He said: "I thought to myself how ironic that is. It's very true. It happens in every race, it happens with everybody and that's what 'Too Late' is all about. I like writing like that, trying to fantasise on a situation and putting it into much more real circumstances than you get with ordinary soul." [2] "Mama Used to Say" was inspired by a 18-year-old Giscombe dated when he was 22. He pretended he was 20 to "make it more feasible for me and her to go out," which inspired him to think about "things that my mother would say to me about rushing to get old, getting to 16 and wanting to get to 25 and when you look back you’ve killed 10 years of your life rushing to get to this particular age." [15] The album also features themes of romance. [10] "I Can't Help It" features a guest appearance from David Grant on backing vocals. [16]
By the release of Ji, the success of "Mama Used to Stay" in the US afforded Giscombe stardom there, and became the first British singer to appear on Soul Train since David Bowie. While pleased with his US breakthrough, he was disappointed with his relative lack of success in England, especially given the successes of Linx and Imagination, nonetheless hoping that second single "Too Late" would "be easier for the kids to latch onto at home." [2] Released by Mercury Records in May 1982, [13] Ji proved to be a transatlantic commercial success. [17] The album reached number 28 on the UK Albums Chart, spending fourteen weeks in total, while "Mama Used to Say" eventually peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart in June. [18] The album also peaked at number 71 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, staying on the chart for sixteen weeks. [19] "Too Late" peaked at number 20 in the UK in July, while a double A-side of "I Can't Help It" and "Let Me Know" reached number 53 in September. [18] In the US, "Too Late" reached number eight on the soul charts [8] and number 67 on the disco charts. [9]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Record Collector | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Smash Hits | 6/10 [13] |
The Village Voice | B+ [14] |
The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
In a contemporary review, Ian Birch of Smash Hits described Ji as "a delicious mix of well meaning words, ferocious dance rhythms and soaring vocals," further praising it for its "ideal summer sound," [13] while Newsweek described the album as "one of the year's brightest recording debuts" on which the "splendid cacophony" of "Mama Used to Say" is the highlight. [23] In The Washington Post , Geoffrey Himes praised the "British funkster" for matching Stevie Wonder's "intoxicating melodic gift", hailing the warmth and "credibility" of Giscombe's singing for equalling the ambitions of the music and concluding that Ji ranks with Prince's Controversy and Wonder's Hotter Than July as "the most progressive soul albums of this young decade." [10]
Robert Christgau of The Village Voice said that while Giscombe, a "Stevie Wonder surrogate", is clearly England's "most impressive recent export," Ji forgoes the effervescence and spaciousness of Wonder's lyrics, with only the two hits showing "the gift for the ordinary bewitching." [14] While praising several songs, particularly "Mama Used to Say," Barney Hoskyns of NME felt Giscombe's lyrics were largely ineffective, and panned Carter's production for "coating Ji in a patina of muso varnish that does ill credit to its few stirring chunes." He however felt that "patient investigation" was required as Giscombe was a newcomer. [11] In another NME article, Paolo Hewitt hailed Ji as "a varied collection of great songs" and "probably the best testament yet to the so-called British funk movement." [2] Billboard editor Leo Sacks named Ji his third favourite album of 1982, [24] while Enrique Fernandez named it his fifth favourite. [25]
In a retrospective review, Alex Henderson of AllMusic named Ji an "Album Pick" and highlighted "the charismatic Junior" as a major British R&B talent who showed "considerable promise" on the album, which "remains his most essential release." [20] Soul Music re-released the album in 2012, adding bonus material including the non-album single "Fame" and alternate versions of the album's songs. In a review of the reissue, Kris Needs of Record Collector described Ji as a "Brit-soul landmark", writing that Giscombe's lyrics and "soulful delivery" elevated the songs from their "early 80s synth sheen coating," and describing the exploration of domestic violence in "Too Late" as bold for its time, concluding that the reissue is "a worthwhile document of a time when UK soul came of age." [21]
All tracks written by Junior Giscombe and Bob Carter, except where noted
Adapted from the liner notes to Ji [16]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Throughout his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA-certified platinum albums and sold over 40 million records worldwide. Known as the "Velvet Voice", Vandross has been recognized as one of the 200 greatest singers of all time (2023) by Rolling Stone, as well as one of the greatest R&B artists by Billboard. NPR additionally named him one of the 50 Great Voices. He was the recipient of eight Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year in 2004 for a track recorded shortly before his death, "Dance with My Father". In 2021, he was posthumously inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, new jack swing was most popular from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
Brit funk is a musical style that has its origins in the British music scene of the late 1970s and which remained popular into the 1980s. It mixes elements from jazz, funk, soul, urban dance rhythms and pop hooks. The scene originated in southern England and spread with support from DJs including DJ Froggy, Greg Edwards, Robbie Vincent, Chris Hill and Colin Curtis. Major funk acts included Jimmy James and the Vagabonds, Average White Band, Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Carl Douglas, Hot Chocolate, the Delegation, Hi-Tension, Light of the World, Level 42, Central Line, the Pasadenas, Beggar and Co and Soul II Soul. The genre also influenced 1980s new wave/pop groups such as Culture Club, Bow Wow Wow, Pigbag, Dexys Midnight Runners and Haircut 100.
June Deniece Williams is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC.
Innervisions is the sixteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on August 3, 1973, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. A landmark recording of Wonder's "classic period", the album has been regarded as completing his transition from the "Little Stevie Wonder" known for romantic ballads into a more musically mature, conscious, and grown-up artist. On the album, Wonder continued to experiment with the revolutionary T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer system developed by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, and Innervisions became hugely influential on the future sound of commercial soul and black music.
Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming is a collaborative studio album by Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins. It was released on May 26, 1986, by America/Smash Records, a subsidiary of Polygram Records. The album was produced by Chips Moman.
G.I.T.: Get It Together is the eighth studio album by the Jackson 5, released on September 12, 1973 for the Motown label. The album featured the minor hit "Get It Together" and the original version of the subsequent major hit "Dancing Machine", which was later re-released in edited form on a tie-in album of the same name. Get It Together has sold an estimated two million copies worldwide since its release.
Black Ivory is an American R&B group from Harlem, which had a number of hits in the 1970s, including "Don't Turn Around", "You and I", "I'll Find A Way", "Time Is Love", and "Will We Ever Come Together".
Norman Washington "Junior" Giscombe is an English singer-songwriter often known as Junior who was one of the first British R&B artists to be successful in the United States. He is best known for his 1982 hit single, "Mama Used to Say".
Carl Carlton is an American R&B, soul, and funk singer-songwriter, best known for his hits "Everlasting Love" and "She's a Bad Mama Jama ".
Linx were a British soul/Brit funk band consisting of David Grant, Bob Carter (keyboards), Andy Duncan (drums), Canute Edwards (guitar), Peter Martin (bass) and Junior Giscombe. Carter and Duncan were session musicians who were known for their contribution to Hazel O'Connor's Breaking Glass album and film.
Con Funk Shun is an American R&B and funk band from Vallejo, California, formed in 1969. They were influenced by funk progenitors James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. Signed to Mercury Records in 1976, the band had numerous successful national and overseas tours, eleven albums, and a number of hit singles. The group formally disbanded in 1986.
Peaceful Journey is the third album by American rap group Heavy D & the Boyz. It was released on July 2, 1991, for Uptown Records and was produced by Pete Rock, DJ Eddie F, Teddy Riley, Marley Marl and Howie Tee. This marked the group's first album since the death of member Trouble T Roy, who died almost a year before the album's release, and several songs on the album pay tribute to him. Though not as successful as the group's previous album, Big Tyme, the album was able to reach Platinum status and made it to number 21 on the Billboard 200 and number 5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
Brass Construction is the self-titled debut album by the American funk band Brass Construction, released in autumn 1975 by United Artists Records. Recorded with producer Jeff Lane, the album weaves different influences, including Latin music and jazz, into the band's rhythmic funk style, and emphasises the group's brass section. The album's songs, all of which are named using a single verb, feature simplistic, repetitive lyrics, reflecting the group's desire for audiences to interpret the songs as they wish. Critics noted themes of social awareness in the lyrics.
S.I.O.S.O.S. Volume One is the debut album by American hip-hop group Spooks, released on February 8, 2000 by Antra, Artemis and Sony Music. The title is an initialism for "Spooks Is On Some Other Shit". The album launched the single "Things I've Seen", which charted at number 11 on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart and number 94 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart as well as went to number 1 in Europe and became the most played song internationally from 2001 to 2002. Spooks went gold in 5 countries and became eligible for a European platform plaque. Spooks eventually sold several million records.
"Mama Used to Say" is the debut single release by the British R&B recording artist Junior, taken from his debut studio album Ji.
"Why So Lonely" is a song by South Korean girl group Wonder Girls. It was released via JYP Entertainment on July 5, 2016, and was distributed by KT Music. The song was written by group members Hyerim, Sunmi, and Yubin, along with songwriter Hong Ji-sang who also handled the track's production. Musically, "Why So Lonely" is a reggae-pop dance track that lyrically depicts the "lonely feeling after a romantic relationship". The recording was distributed as a standard CD and was made available to digital outlets. The single album includes the two B-side tracks "Beautiful Boy" and "Sweet & Easy"; the former track was released on a limited edition vinyl at the 6th Seoul Record & CD Fair a month prior.
Breaking Point is the debut studio album by Britfunk band Central Line, released by Mercury Records in February 1982 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it was released under the name Central Line with a different track listing and artwork. Recorded with producer Roy Carter, formerly of Heatwave, the album features a distinctly English style of synth-funk similarly to contemporaries Hi-Tension and Light of the World. The record was well-received and reached number 64 on the UK Albums Chart and 145 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart. The hit single "Walking Into Sunshine" was also remixed by Larry Levan and became a popular club hit in New York. In 2007, The Guardian included Breaking Point on their list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die".
Intuition is the debut album by Britfunk band Linx, released in March 1981 on Chrysalis Records. Produced by David Grant, Peter Martin and Bob Carter of the group, the record followed the popular success of their UK hit single "You're Lying", which features on the album, and incorporates styles beyond funk music, such as rock, jazz and soul. Linx preferred to think of their style as simply pop music.
Hi-Tension is the sole album by Britfunk band Hi-Tension, released in 1978 by Island Records. Following the domestic success of the band's hit single "Hi-Tension", considered the first Britfunk song, the band recorded the album with producers Alex Sadkin and Kofi Ayivor at Island Studios, London. Disagreements arose between producer Sadkin, who proposed a commercial direction, and band leader David Joseph who wanted the album to retain the band's strong vibrant live sound. Hi-Tension reached number 54 on the UK Albums Chart, while "British Hustle" provided the band with their sole Top 10 hit. Despite its muted reception, and the group subsequently disbanding, Hi-Tension has since been regarded as a key and influential album in Britfunk and British R&B.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)