Released: November 1976
This album turned out to be terribly named. It finally was the Barry White album that audiences did “wont”.
Wont as in “will not” cuz they ain’t buy this shit.
Is This Whatcha Wont? struggled mightily with sales (#25 R&B, #125 pop) as the White formula began to wear thin. Indeed, this is not a bad album (and it’s even very lively in places), but you’ve heard everything here before in better forms on previous albums.
“Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long” (which reminds me of the Love Unlimited Orchestra’s “Brazilian Love Song” without the engaging percussion) and “I’m Qualified to Satisfy You” were chosen as the two singles. That’s a sign the music here had White going through the motions.
Neither is a bad song. I actually do like them. But they’re good album tracks, not stuff you expect to set the charts on fire, which they didn’t. Neither crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100 while rising no higher than #20 on the R&B singles chart. “Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long” did hit #17 in the UK.
Again, I don’t hate these songs. They’re even fun! Just… you know Barry can do better.
White does squeeze some splendor out of the absurdly titled “Your Love - So Good I Can Taste It”. Although it chugs along at 12:33, it doesn’t feel that long because it’s pretty much two songs. The first half is a lovely, mellow instrumental while the second half is some trademark White rapping and symphonic funk. Props to the bass guitar thumpin’ away in the second half. This monstrous track is what ultimately salvages the LP. If it were even just okay this album would have been a complete disaster.
Instead only the final third of the album is a disaster.
“I Wanna Lay Down With You Baby” is decent, but it’s too long (8:55). Works fine as background music, I suppose. Also, at least “Your Love - So Good I Can Taste It” was absurd. This song is just lazy in its lyrics.
“Now I’m Gonna Make Love to You” finds White doing a self-parody. At least I hope he was doing a self-parody. Actual lyric: “Now I’m gonna make love to you, gonna get it, gonna get it”.
It’s maybe the laziest song of White’s career to this point. Definitely the one I hate the most.
And that’s it. Only five songs on this album. Mercifully.
ALBUM GRADE: C-
You can see the grade above and the scores below. I think there’s worthwhile music here, but the sales were deservedly terrible. Thus Is This Whatcha Wont? marked the end of what I term Barry White 1.0.
His next solo LP would find him moving away from a heavily orchestrated sound to one that emphasized the funky groove. There would still be plenty of strings, but the times were a-changin’.
Song Scores
Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long: 7.5/10
Your Love - So Good I Can Taste It: 7.5/10
I’m Qualified to Satisfy You: 7/10
I Wanna Lay Down With You Baby: 5/10
Now I’m Gonna Make Love to You: 1/10