LP Review: Fever
Released: 1983
LP Charts: #12 R&B, #105 pop
After the lackluster back-to-back release of Con Funk Shun 7 (C) and To the Max (C+), Con Funk Shun was showing signs of struggle in the new age of R&B that relied evermore on programmed production. For a seven-piece funk band in 1983, can they manage to get their groove back?
The opening track to Fever augers well for a positive answer to that question.
“Can You Feel the Groove Tonight” simultaneously finds Con Funk Shun riding well their within their groovy funk wheelhouse while not sounding outdated. There are festive horns, busy synth lines that don’t sound robotic, and some impassioned vocals from Michael Cooper.
Despite being a merely alright song, “Indiscreet Sweet” is actually a positive development too because it shows that Con Funk Shun could do a programmed, synth R&B song without being fish out of water. (“Hard Lovin’” also falls into this category).
They really might have found their footing in the changed R&B landscape because “Baby I'm Hooked (Right Into Your Love)” (#5 R&B) continues the album’s momentum. It’s one of them Felton Pilate ballads that normally veered toward dull and boring, but this ballad sounds much fresher than normal. Probably because it has hints of the processed percussion and guitar licks that made Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” such a hit.
In other musical news, “Don't Let Your Love Grow Cold” sounds right at home on a late ‘70s Doobie Brothers album (albeit still updated with 1983 musicianship). “Thinking About You, Baby” is a bit repetitive, but it’s a solid groover built around Cedric Martin’s slap bass. “Lovin’ Fever” nicely delivers on the midtempo synth-funk.
“If I’m Your Lover” closes the album on some smooth synth-R&B. Seriously, you hear the keyboard work and instantly think of the early 1980s. It has a way of sounding of its era, but not captured by it. Really like that song even if it isn’t setting the world of music on fire.
ALBUM GRADE: B-
This album rises above the sum of its parts because every sum has a floor of at least pleasantly listenable. In fact, I’m really disappointed this album didn’t sell better than it did. Perhaps Con Funk Shun would have continued down this path instead of the horrors that are to come on their next two LPs.
Or maybe it was a losing battle anyways. They weren’t the only venerable band consumed and destroyed by the sounds of BIG EIGHTIES DRUMS.
Song Scores
Can You Feel the Groove Tonight: 7/10
Indiscreet Sweet: 6/10
Baby I'm Hooked (Right Into Your Love): 7/10
Thinking About You, Baby: 6/10
Don't Let Your Love Grow Cold: 6.5/10
Lovin’ Fever: 7/10
Hard Lovin’: 6/10
If I’m Your Lover: 7/10