Any S.O.S. fans out there?

Yeah, here is a SOS Band fan! I don't know many of their albums but I know and very much love most of their hits. Can't rate the albums, but I agree they are one of Jam and Lewis's finest projects. I rate them highly!

I only liked the albums Jam & Lewis worked on. Pre and post recordings didn't do anything for me.

S. O. S. Band is arguably the greatest unsung musical act of all time, or at least in the past 35 years

they serve as a perfect example of an R&B presented as 2nd tier, a secondary act but really proved to be a major force throughout the entire msuic scene as many of the leading producers who followed their presence developed their sound from S.O.S.'s musical arrangements

and artists represented the full gamut of music from Spice 1, to Maxwell, to Scarface, to 2Pac, to Mariah Carey, to Da Brat, to Rakim, to 50 cent, to Dr. Dre, to Master P, to Destiny's Child, to Madonna, to Will I Am, to Camron, to Amerie, to Kanye West, to Compton's Most Wanted, to Snoop Dogg, to Foxy Brown, to New Edition,

almost 50 acts alone sampled S.O.S. classic "No One's Gonna love You" alone......

all time example of authenticity being tapped into to create sound

w/out the authentic framework, the way the industry has operated over the past quarter century, the industry would not exist today.......

this is how real R&B got destroyed, everyone tapped into it during a time where the impression was given they weren't...

Scorp said:

S. O. S. Band is arguably the greatest unsung musical act of all time, or at least in the past 35 years

There are plenty of people in that boat:

Mint Condition

The Family Stand

Sandra St. Vincent

Living Colour

Rashan Patterson..........2 name a few.

[Edited 3/2/15 7:37am]

Speaking of their discography, has anyone ever noticed the sad point-of-view that Mary Davis sung from. Although the grooves stand the test of time, I doubt any singer today would make it with lyrics like, "Just Be Good To Me."

-

"...I don't care about those other girls

Just be good to me."

-

I got a feeling today's women would have a problem with their lyrical content. Ladies am I wrong?

Graycap23 said:

Scorp said:

S. O. S. Band is arguably the greatest unsung musical act of all time, or at least in the past 35 years

There are plenty of people in that boat:

Mint Condition

The Family Stand

Sandra St. Vincent

Living Colour

Rashan Patterson..........2 name a few.

[Edited 3/2/15 7:37am]

there music was not as prolific or borrowed as S.O.S Band.....

Scorp said:

Graycap23 said:

There are plenty of people in that boat:

Mint Condition

The Family Stand

Sandra St. Vincent

Living Colour

Rashan Patterson..........2 name a few.

[Edited 3/2/15 7:37am]

there music was not as prolific or borrowed as S.O.S Band.....

Says u.............not my ears.

i've never listened to a complete album but i am a fan of their singles.

My brother had most of their Vinyls..

I have their Greatest Hits..

But, they are a fixture in heavy-rotation on Old-School R&B Radio formats..

I hoep they are being paid (including Jam & Lewis and some of their other producers) form people posting thier music on Youtube.

I can't find The System's 2000 CD online anywhere either.. Maybe, recent independent releases--may have to be found by contacting the artist's websites..

[Edited 3/2/15 8:02am]

kitbradley said:

I only liked the albums Jam & Lewis worked on. Pre and post recordings didn't do anything for me.

Their debut album is great and I haven't heard their final 2 releases.

Their weakest album production-wise (from what I've heard) is Too. It felt like they had no idea what they were going for with that one; it has a very sloppy, scatterbrained vibe and doesn't have the unity or timelessness of S.O.S.

Even so, I still enjoy it. Many of its compositions are interesting, at least.

On The Rise is not only their strongest album from Jam and Lewis but the strongest album in their discography. It was truly ahead of its time in 1983 and stood out with its slick futuristic production. I know a lot like Just the Way You Like It and Sands of Time and I want to like them too but I just couldn't get into them nearly as much as I could their first 4 albums when I first listened to them. The production is tight and smooth and the music is good but those albums (especially SoT) stray on the slow side a bit too much for my liking and the songs drag. It also doesn't help that I listened to both albums on the same day, which caused the sounds to homogenize. They still deserve a fair chance from me but listening to both albums back to back really lightened their impact for me, particularly SoT. It felt like more of the same.

[Edited 3/2/15 9:09am]

[Edited 4/9/15 13:06pm]

I bought all their albums starting from the debut in 1980 or so, except for III, so let's see....

- S.O.S: back then I thought "Take your Time" was the biggest fucking single in the universe (well, I was 15 or so) so I rushed out to get that album great set, still love it!

- Too: back then I felt this was a bit of a let down, and it collected dust on the shelves for quite some time, but looking back at it years later I appreciate it much more

- III: missed that, and still didn't get it

- On The Rise: freaking great. the dawning of a new era in music

- Just The Way You Like It: mostly a facsimile of OTR, but falling behind just a little bit
- Sands Of Time: loved it to DEATH when it came out, and still do. I'd rate it equal to OTR

- Diamonds In The Raw: when released it was kinda meeeeh.... I didn't have the urge to listen to it that often, so I'm probably not in a position to rate it...
- One Of Many Nights: similar to DITR... heared it only a few of times back in the day so....

[Edited 3/2/15 8:49am]

Graycap23 said:

Scorp said:

S. O. S. Band is arguably the greatest unsung musical act of all time, or at least in the past 35 years

There are plenty of people in that boat:

Mint Condition

The Family Stand

Sandra St. Vincent

Living Colour

Rashan Patterson..........2 name a few.

[Edited 3/2/15 7:37am]

Co-Sign! But S.O.S was hugely slept on by the musical masses in their day, fasho.

MotownSubdivision said:

Even back in the day they were under the radar?

Round here anyway, yeah. Pop radio spun them NOT (except "Take Your Time" which crossed over. It wasn't that that was odd, really. They largely ignored a 100 hooky R & B outfits back in the day). Clubs? Distracted with so much else....

It was the black pop / soul / R&B / Funk audience that really "got them" for most of their career, I think.

And as I remember, when the first one came out (1980, mind you)....even WE didn't know for SURE what they "were". That was the disco transition time & there were some elements of that on the first one. Great stuff in any case tho

the greatest SOS Band CDS of all time!!!

[Edited 3/2/15 18:32pm]

MotownSubdivision said:

Even back in the day they were under the radar?

I think the thing to keep in mind is that back then funk bands like the S.O.S. Band were by and large ignored by pop radio and audiences. Groups like them could be a staple at Black radio stations for years and never receive any airplay at pop radio stations other than the occasional crossover hit like Take Your Time (Do It Right). Cameo would be another excellent example of this. Think of all the songs/albums they released through the years and got plenty of airplay on r&b stations before Word Up ever came out.

I am from The Netherlands and back in the early eighties we wouldn't hear a lot of funk and RnB on mainstream radio either, it was all rock and new wave and thowaway pop music. I would listen to pirate radio stations for funk, italo and RnB, and once a week we had The Soul Show on Thursday evenings on the mainstream radio that played a lot of 'underground' black music. Tha's how I've learnt to know and love bands like SOS band. It is a shame that mainstreamradiostations didn't give that type of music more of a chance, it was often catchy and hook-laden and would have done pretty well as commercial music in my opinion.

getxxxx said:

the greatest SOS Band CDS of all time!!!

[Edited 3/2/15 18:32pm]

<3!!! A+ on BOTH!!!

S.O.S.

B+

TOO

C

III

B

ON THE RISE

A

JUST THE WAY YOU LIKE IT

A+

SANDS OF TIME

A+

I lost interest when Queen Mary left the band to go solo in 1987. No other vocalist on EARTH could EVER replace Mary Davis!!!!! My heart was broken the day I went to meet them in person in Boston and was greeted by Pennye Ford! I was like, "This ain't my sweet MARY!" Got her autograph ANYWAY tho, but it wasn't the same.

SEPARATE WAYS (MARY' S SOLO ALBUM)

B+

[Edited 3/3/15 13:17pm]

[Edited 3/3/15 13:19pm]

Musicslave said:

MotownSubdivision said:

kitbradley said:

I only liked the albums Jam & Lewis worked on. Pre and post recordings didn't do anything for me.

Their debut album is great and I haven't heard their final 2 releases.

Their weakest album production-wise (from what I've heard) is Too. It felt like they had no idea what they were going for with that one; it has a very sloppy, scatterbrained vibe and doesn't have the unity or timelessness of S.O.S.

Even so, I still enjoy it. Many of its compositions are interesting, at least.

On The Rise is not only their strongest album from Jam and Lewis but the strongest album in their discography. It was truly ahead of its time in 1983 and stood out with its slick futuristic production. I know a lot like Just the Way You Like It and Sands of Time and I want to like them too but I just couldn't get into them nearly as much as I could their first 4 albums when I first listened to them. The production is tight and smooth and the music is good but those albums (especially SoT) stray on the slow side a bit too much for my liking and the songs drag. It also doesn't help that I listened to both albums on the same day, which caused the sounds to homogenize. They still deserve a fair chance from me but listening to both albums back to back really lightened their impact for me, particularly SoT. It felt like more of the same.

[Edited 3/2/15 9:09am]

[Edited 4/9/15 13:06pm]

I agree with you about the "Too" album. I first heard it when it was reissued on CD some years ago. I thought it was really quite messy. I ended up getting rid of my copy on ebay shortly thereafter.

I really can't say that I feel The SOS Band had a definative album that was solid all the way through. The closest they ever came was "On The Rise", and even that one had several forgettable moments.

kitbradley said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Any S.O.S. fans out there?

YASSS

I love em!!! I haven't listened to all of there albums but I love them.

MotownSubdivision said:

Musicslave said:

Speaking of their discography, has anyone ever noticed the sad point-of-view that Mary Davis sung from. Although the grooves stand the test of time, I doubt any singer today would make it with lyrics like, "Just Be Good To Me."

-

"...I don't care about those other girls

Just be good to me."

-

I got a feeling today's women would have a problem with their lyrical content. Ladies am I wrong?

I guess lyrics like those are a little too real for today's female pop stars though T Swift probably comes the closest to having lyrics akin to those in "Just be Good to Me".

-

T Swizzy really? I'm not that familiar with her lyrics. I could be wrong but I recall more than one song that had a pitiful, subservient woman's position in them.

Musicslave said:

kitbradley said:

I only liked the albums Jam & Lewis worked on. Pre and post recordings didn't do anything for me.

Right on, totally concur with this assessment. for me Take Your Time (Do It Right) was one of the most annoying late 1970s dance tracks. I put it "up" there with Boogie Oogie Oogie, Ring My Bell, Boogie Wonderland (EWF's utter nadir), Dance Dance Dance, Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me, Get Off, YMCA, Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now and countless other disco-pop of the late 1970s to early 1980s.

Not for the True Funk Soldiers. But I don't begrudge anyone's taste or what brings them musical joy.

Examples of similar level bands in my opinion but better overall would be Midnight Star or Rose Royce.

[Edited 4/10/15 13:02pm]

HardcoreJollies said: