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| The Glass Family featuring Taka Boom |
| JDC Records was owned by Jim and Dale Callon, hence the label name. Jim was the west coast version of Florida music icon Henry Stone. Jim conceived the idea for a disco album in 1978 and set about bringing it to to life. Not only would he write (or co-write) the entire project and publish the music, but also arrange, conduct and produce what would become The Glass Family. He recruited a bevy of talented studio musicians for the recordings. Jon Gerlach on drums, Gary Itri on bass, Dexter De Los Angeles on keyboards, David Edward on guitar and synthesizers and Taka Boom on passionate vocals. Among the background singers were Spanky McFarlane of Spanky & The Gang and Fred Wesley of James Brown's band The J.B.'s. Taka Boom, younger sister of Chicago's own Chaka Khan, was no stranger to the recording studio or to disco music. Boom was a session vocalist in the early 1970's, singing with the Gap Band and Carl Carlton, as well as being a member of George Clinton's Brides of Funkenstein. She served as lead vocalist for Undisputed Truth in 1975, and was the vocalist on their 1976 disco smash "You + Me = Love." The studio musicians and singers were brought into Hollywood Central Recorders and laid down several tracks. "No One Can Find Love," "Disco Concerto" (which was actually a 16:03 medley) and "Mr. DJ, You Know How To Make Me Dance." The latter track would become the album title as well as the smash 12" single (when remixed). The unexpected success of the album led to a panic. Callon was faced with the dilemma of putting together a follow-up album and unsure of being able to enlist the contracted studio musicians and singer. Dexter De Los Angeles, Jon Gerlach and Gary Itri signed back on, Taka Boom did not. She instead took the opportunity to get her first solo contract with Ariola Records. Instead Steve St. Clair, David Storrs and Bernie Worrell were brought in to flesh out the musical parts with Alex Dean and Mike Harvey for vocals. The second and final album for the Glass Family was "Crazy." The same titled 12" single was a mid-sized hit as was the follow-up 12" "After The Dance." Callon also used a leftover track from the original album sessions as a Taka Boom 12" in late 1979. "Bring It Back" was okay, but even with a Trip Ringwald and Eddie Fonseca remix it went nowhere. Callon moved on to other 12" releases and eventually JDC Records became a licensing label bringing many imports to the American market. Taka signed with Ariola and released her debut album to much ballyhoo in 1979. "Taka Boom" featured two 12" singles that did well in the clubs but failed to storm the radio playlists. "Night Dancer" and "Red Hot" were excellent tunes but the label was on it's last leg and couldn't promote them properly. Following that release, Taka joined the Norman Whitfield produced group Dream Machine for one album entitled "Dream Machine" for the RCA label in 1981. Taka next surfaced on Prelude Records in 1983 with "To Hell With Him" (her strongest hit to date) and "Ride Like The Wind" (a bland disco cover of the Christopher Cross hit). She then rebounded in 1985 on Mirage Records with her second and last album. "Middle Of The Night" was an artistic success and the title 12" single did quite well. Despite having Chaka on backgrounds (like her first album) the album was a sales bust. Taka moved to London in the 1990's and has become much more of a success there than she ever achieved here in the U.S. She still performs in concerts and is a mainstay on the studio circuit. We honor her, and the men, for their Glass Family contributions to disco music. Thank you. |
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