Producers include: Eldra DeBarge, Iris Gordy, Jay Graydon, Richard Perry, Peter Wolf.
Compilation producer: Harry Weinger.
Originally released on Gordy Records. Includes liner notes by David Nathan.
Digitally remastered by Jeff Willens (Universal Mastering).
This is part of MCA's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series.
A family group that Motown had groomed, in part, as a successor to the recently departed (to Epic Records) Jackson 5, DeBarge was one of the more consistently successful Motown acts of the '80s. This well-chosen representative compilation is wisely divided into two halves--"Smooth" and "Groove," which is to say, ballads and dance numbers.
Among the ballads, the best known is the creamy "All This Love," still a staple on R&B radio. Among the dance tracks, the standout is Diane Warren's "Rhythm of the Night," which was featured in the film classic THE LAST DRAGON (cinema fans will also be pleased by the inclusion of "Who's Johnny," the theme from the equally classic motion picture SHORT CIRCUIT).
