The Joneses had one of the earliest club hits with "Sugar Pie Guy" in 1974. As with all club hits in disco's formative years it was released on a 7" 45 rpm with a Part One & Two. And as with it's peers, it had more of a soul/R&B feel than what we now would call disco. The song, although a hit, failed to garner the group international fame, or for that matter another album.
The group consisted of five members: Harold Taylor on saxophone and lead vocals, Lee Valentine on guitar and arranging/producing/mixing and conducting, Glenn Dorsey on bass and mixing/arranging as well as writing 9 of the 10 tracks on "Keeping Up With The Joneses," Richard Pratt on congas and conducting, and Richard Tee on keyboards and arranging.
The album, long out-of-print, featured another club favorite their follow-up single, "Hey Babe (Is The Getting Still Good)." Once again the Mercury single was a two-parter. In 1994 Collectables released a compact disc of their earlier recordings for the east coast label MP Records, but should have licensed this album instead. In 1997 Cory Robbins (of "Love Insurance" fame) released "Sugar Pie Guy" on Volume One of "Super Rare Disco." Our hats off to one of the early disco hits, if you can find this album buy it at any price! |
