Surface Thrills
1983 studio album by The Temptations
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Surface Thrills is the first of two 1983 albums released by the American R&B vocal group, the Temptations, on Motown Records' Gordy label.
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| Surface Thrills | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 18, 1983 | |||
| Recorded | November 1982–February 1983 | |||
| Studios | Bill Schnee's Studio, Hitsville Recording Studios, Artisan Sound Studios | |||
| Genre | Rock/soul | |||
| Length | 37:20 | |||
| Label | Gordy | |||
| Producers | Dennis Lambert, Steve Barri | |||
| The Temptations chronology | ||||
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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
All tracks produced by Dennis Lambert and Steve Barri except side two, track three: produced by The Temptations and Bejamin F. Wright, Jr..
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Surface Thrills" | Lambert, Harold Payne | Dennis Edwards | 4:30 |
| 2. | "Love on My Mind Tonight" | Lambert, Peter Beckett | Edwards | 4:57 |
| 3. | "One Man Woman" | Lambert, Becket | Edwards, Glenn Leonard, Richard Street, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams | 5:13 |
| 4. | "Show Me Your Love" | Terry Skinner, J.L. Wallace, Ken Bell | Street | 4:02 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Seeker" | Lambert, Michael Price, Dan Walsh | Edwards | 4:30 |
| 2. | "What a Way to Put It" | Steve Dees, Ron Kersey | Edwards | 4:37 |
| 3. | "Bringyourbodyhere (Exercise Chant)" | Otis Williams, David English, Benjamin Wright, Louis Price | Edwards, Leonard, Street, Franklin, Williams | 5:13 |
| 4. | "Made in America" | M. Price, Walsh | Edwards | 3:38 |
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