This is one of my favorite Rick James albums. February 1st was Rick's birthday so I was listening to it the other day.



After the success of his biggest album ever, "Street Songs", which contained his huge crossover hit, "Super Freak", Rick didn't let success go to his head and came back hard and funky for his funk fans with "Throwin' Down".

This album was great from start to finish. Here are the tracks:

Dance Wit' Me: A funky jam featuring Roy Ayers and a party going on in the background.

Money Talks: A nice jam which, in true Rick James fashion, includes lyrics about crime, prostitution, the ghetto, and just trying to make ends meet.

Teardrops: A great slow jam and tearjerker type tune.

Throwdown: The name says it all.

Standing On The Top: A great jam for The Temptations. Rick makes his appearance on this one. This is only the edited version though, you must check out the 9 minute version on The Temptations "Reunion" album.

Hard To Get: Rick James at his best. The perfect follow-up to "Super Freak" but much more funky.

Happy: This slow jam features Teena Marie. The perfect follow-up to "Fire and Desire"

She Blew My Mind (69 Times): A funky kinky tune.

My Love: A nice ending.

Anyone else feeling this album?

This album is totally underrated and probably his last really good release. (I never really got into THE GLOW, which some have proclaimed his official last good album). THROWIN' DOWN is not as gritty as STREET SONGS, but a lot of killer tracks - DANCE WIT ME, STANDING ON THE TOP (ever hear the extended version on the Temptations album?) and HARD TO GET, etc. Don't really know why it didn't do STREET numbers, maybe because it came out less than a year later?

throwin' down is good, maybe very good. the problem is, when it came out in '82, it had a feeling of sameness to it. like a son of street songs.
in 05, though, it's all good. lost classic rick james, imo.
i have the rare two-on-1 CD issued from motown in '86 - it has both great albums on one disk! but they cheated - included the severely edited version of "dance wit' me" to fit ti al on one disk. i had to go to the greatest hits and pull the 7:something version and make my own copy.
by the way, that's gene simmons (KISS) signature axe rick is sporting on the cover!

vainandy said:

Great review.....
It says it all.....
[Edited 2/3/05 13:38pm]

funkpill said:

Agreed. Vain's tribute review of the late great King of Punk Funk is on target considering that his birthday has just pasted.
R.I.P. Rick
[Edited 2/3/05 16:49pm]

"69 Times" is one of Rick's most underrated james.

fms said:

This is true.On this album,Rick basically follows the same formulas that made 'Street Songs' such a success."Hard To Get" sounds ALOT like "Super Freak"..."Happy" is yet another soulful duet with Teen Marie....and once again, the Temptations make several guest appearances.I can certainly see why many people think of this album as 'Street Songs Part 2',but it's still a strong album.Shame that it's out of print.

Money Talks, Hard To Get

ya'll know Rick is the Nephew of Temptations legendary Bassman.."Melvin Franklin" right?


Temptations saaaaang

TheRealFiness said:

Nope. Didn't know. Thanks!