Search - Shirley & Company :: Shame Shame Shame

The title track is the only good song here

rockland6674 | Massachusetts, USA | 07/28/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This disc's title track was written by Sylvia Robinson, of the vocal duo Mickey and Sylvia ("Love Is Strange,") and sung by Shirley Goodman, of the vocal duo Shirley and Lee ("Let The Good Times Roll,") with the male vocal on this track provided by a session singer named Jesus Alvarez. Although it's been classified as a "disco" song, the sound is pure Bo Diddley, updated for the '70s. This song hit number one on the R&B charts in 1975, and it deserved to: It's funky, with a hook that grabs you and reels you right in. It's also a little flaky (thanks to Goodman's vocal), but it's just plain FUN. Too bad, then, that nothing else on this disc is even one-tenth as good as this one standout track. The rest of the songs just sit there, without the hooks to make you want to listen to them again. Goodman's unique singing voice, used to such great effect on the title track, quickly becomes irritating when she doesn't have good songs to back her up.The sound quality is nothing to rave about: The percussion on the title track is harsh and trebley, which will keep you from cranking up the volume. On the other hand, the rest of the instruments sound muddy. This song has ALWAYS sounded a little muddy and muffled, but the vinyl LP and the other CDs I've heard don't compound the problem with the harsh percussion sound the song suffers from on this disc.By the way, the title track is presented here in a different mix than the one which appeared on the original vinyl LP. The song appears here with the guitar panned far-left and the piano panned far-right. On the LP (and every other CD I've heard), the stereo separation on this track is very poor, almost monaural."