Surface Thrills
Surface Thrills | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by The Temptations | ||||
Released | February 18, 1983 | |||
Recorded | November 1982-February 1983 | |||
Studio | Bill Schnee's Studio, Hitsville Recording Studios, Artisan Sound Studios | |||
Genre | Rock/soul | |||
Length | 37:20 | |||
Label | Gordy | |||
Producer | Dennis Lambert, Steve Barri | |||
The Temptations chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Surface Thrills is the first of two 1983 albums released by the American R&B vocal group, the Temptations, on Motown Records' Gordy label.
Overview
In this album, the group attempted to fuse their vocal harmonies with rock music production, resulting in a radical departure from the Temptations' signature soul sound. It was produced by Dennis Lambert and Steve Barri[2] and features musical contributions from Jeff Porcaro of Toto, Raymond Lee Brown of Earth, Wind & Fire, and longtime James Brown collaborator Fred Wesley.
Surface Thrills yielded two singles, the title track and "Love on My Mind Tonight", with only the latter being moderately successful. This is the last Temptations album to feature falsetto Glenn Leonard, who departed from the group after eight years. Leonard's replacement would be singer-songwriter Ron Tyson, who made his Temptations debut with the following album, Back to Basics, though the group had worked with Tyson when they were with Atlantic Records on the Hear to Tempt You album where Tyson co-wrote a majority of the songs.
Track listing
Superscripts denote lead singers for each track: (a) Dennis Edwards, (b) Glenn Leonard, (c) Richard Street, (d) Melvin Franklin, (e) Otis Williams.
All tracks produced by Dennis Lambert and Steve Barri except where noted.
Side one
- "Surface Thrills" (Lambert, Harold Payne) – 4:30 a
- "Love on My Mind Tonight" (Lambert, Peter Beckett) – 4:57 a
- "One Man Woman" (Lambert, Beckett) – 5:13 a, b, c, d, e
- "Show Me Your Love" (Terry Skinner, J.L. Wallace, Ken Bell) – 4:02 c
Side two
- "The Seeker" (Lambert, Michael Price, Dan Walsh) – 4:30 a
- "What a Way to Put It" (Steve Dees, Ron Kersey) – 4:37 a
(produced by the Temptations and Benjamin Wright) - "Bringyourbodyhere (Exercise Chant)" (Otis Williams, David English, Benjamin Wright, Louis Price) – 5:13 a, b, c, d, e
(co-produced by the Temptations and Benjamin Wright) - "Made in America" (M. Price, Walsh) – 3:58 a
Personnel
Performers
- Dennis Edwards - vocals (baritone/tenor)
- Melvin Franklin - vocals (bass)
- Glenn Leonard - vocals (first tenor/falsetto)
- Richard Street - vocals (second tenor)
- Otis Williams - vocals (baritone)
- Clydene Jackson, Julia Waters, Maxine Waters - background vocals ("Bringyourbodyhere")
Musicians
- Raymond Lee Brown, Nolan Smith - trumpet
- George Bohanon, Fred Wesley - trombone
- Robbie Buchanan - drums, Linn computer, Moog bass, synthesizer, Fender Rhodes synthesizer, percussion synthesizer
- Paulinho da Costa - percussion
- Richard Elliot - saxophone, lyricon
- Gary Herbig, Terry Harrington - saxophone, flute, piccolo
- Paul M. Jackson, Jr. - guitar, rhythm arranger
- Gabe Katona - synthesizer
- Dennis Lambert - vocal arranger, synthesizer, percussion synthesizer
- Roger Nichols - percussion synthesizer-Wendel
- Jeff Porcaro, John Robinson - drums
- Freddie Washington - bass
- Benjamin Wright - arranger
Charts
Year | Album | Chart positions[3] | |
---|---|---|---|
US | US R&B | ||
1983 | Surface Thrills | 159 | 19 |
Singles
Year | Single | Chart positions[3] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US R&B | US AC | UK | ||
1983 | "Love on My Mind Tonight" | 88 | 17 | — | — |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
References
External links
- Surface Thrills at Discogs
- Surface Thrills at Rate Your Music
- v
- t
- e
- Otis Williams
- Ron Tyson
- Terry Weeks
- Tony Grant
- Jawan Jackson
- Melvin Franklin
- Eddie Kendricks
- Paul Williams
- Elbridge Bryant
- David Ruffin
- Dennis Edwards
- Ricky Owens
- Richard Street
- Damon Harris
- Glenn Leonard
- Louis Price
- Ali-Ollie Woodson
- Theo Peoples
- Harry McGilberry
- Barrington "Bo" Henderson
- Ray Davis
- G. C. Cameron
- Joe Herndon
- Bruce Williamson
- Larry Braggs
- Willie Green
- Mario Corbino
- Meet the Temptations
- The Temptations Sing Smokey
- The Temptin' Temptations
- Gettin' Ready
- The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul
- The Temptations Wish It Would Rain
- Cloud Nine
- Puzzle People
- Psychedelic Shack
- Sky's the Limit
- Solid Rock
- All Directions
- Masterpiece
- 1990
- A Song for You
- House Party
- Wings of Love
- The Temptations Do the Temptations
- Hear to Tempt You
- Bare Back
- Power
- The Temptations
- Reunion
- Surface Thrills
- Back to Basics
- Truly for You
- Touch Me
- To Be Continued...
- Together Again
- Special
- Milestone
- Phoenix Rising
- Ear-Resistible
- Awesome
- Legacy
- Still Here
- Temptations 60
- The Temptations in a Mellow Mood
- For Lovers Only
- Reflections
- Back to Front
- All the Time
- Temptations Live!
- Live at the Copa
- Live at London's Talk of the Town
- The Temptations in Japan
- Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations
- TCB
- The Temptations Show
- Together
- On Broadway
- The Temptations Christmas Card
- Give Love at Christmas
- Lost and Found: You've Got to Earn It (1962–1968)
- Greatest Hits
- Greatest Hits II
- Anthology
- Emperors of Soul
- The Ultimate Collection
- My Girl: The Very Best of the Temptations
- Psychedelic Soul
(US/UK Top 10)
- "My Girl"
- "Get Ready"
- "Ain't Too Proud to Beg"
- "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep"
- "(I Know) I'm Losing You"
- "All I Need"
- "You're My Everything"
- "I Wish It Would Rain"
- "I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)"
- "Cloud Nine"
- "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"
- "Run Away Child, Running Wild"
- "I Can't Get Next to You"
- "Psychedelic Shack"
- "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)"
- "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"
- "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"
- "Masterpiece"
- "Let Your Hair Down"
- "Happy People"
- "Shakey Ground"
- "Treat Her Like a Lady"
- "The Motown Song"
- "My Girl" (reissue)
- Band members
- The Temptations (miniseries)
- Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations
- Discography
- The Supremes
- The Undisputed Truth
- Smokey Robinson
- Norman Whitfield
- Barrett Strong
- Sly Stone
- George Clinton
- Category