CD reissue of the 1983 debut album from the pioneering Synth/R&B duo consisting of Mic Murphy and David Frank. Sweat reached # 94 on the Billboard charts. Seven tracks. Wounded Bird. 2009.
CD reissue of the 1983 debut album from the pioneering Synth/R&B duo consisting of Mic Murphy and David Frank. Sweat reached # 94 on the Billboard charts. Seven tracks. Wounded Bird. 2009.
"I can't tell you how long I've waited for a reissue of this CD,annoyed by the fact that people often try to force people to spend $100 or more for original CD copies. Why is this album so special?That's pretty easy really.Between guitarist and singer Mic Murphy and electronics wizard David Frank this biracial duo were,along with Talking Heads one of the two groups of the early 80's to merge new wave synth rock and electro funk. And believe or not,the two genres have distinct differences that.....begin to blur when you hear music like this. A lot of the music here is very obviously enbedted to funk.The title track for example and "It's Passion" are built on grooves that come straight from the Prince/James Brown school with electronics actually successfully taking the place of horns and whatnot."You Are In My System" of course....well is a plain classic of this particular genre of electro-funk/new wave and has an incredible pop hook to it.The amazing thing is the song is one of the slowest on this album,of course creating only the effect of giving the song it's sense of funk."Stand Up And Cheer" is pretty keyed up actually,very uptempo and definately what you'd call a party song."I Won't Let Go" is a pretty unexpected surprise;much like Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" it takes an old style R&B shuffle and modernizes it for the electro funk era only this time the vocal presentation is much closer to the source.The only song on here that displays a "rock" influence is "Go For What U Know";of course it uses guitar more than other tunes here but the general song has a heavier new wave flavor.The album ends on a more brittle,very fast note with the vocorder heavy "Now I am Electric".It's the shortest song here and ends on a rather abrupt note. Considering how musically innovative this is especially on today's more 80's based music it's a wonder how this has remained out of print as long as it has.Guess we should all be thankful that this now exists and,while it's available everyone with an interest in innovative 80's electronic funk should pick this up."
Must HAVE CD if you're a TRUE System fan!!!
Luv2Scrap | CA, USA | 05/17/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm dating myself here; this CD takes me WAYYYYY back to when I 1st met my husband! I have been waiting a VERY LONG time for this CD to come into print. If you've been listening to The System as far back as when this came out, then you GOTTA GET THIS CD!! THANK YOU AMAZON.COM!!!!"
One of the best electronic R&B albums ever.
Andrew D. Denny | Barbados & USA | 05/21/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As the lady said above ... If you really know this group, you know that this album on cd is a collector's item. The bonus tracks are a nice touch as well. It's passion, You are in my System, STAND UP AND CHEER, SWEAT, I,ve waited for this cd for almost 20 years....really. David frank is one of the Best keyboard players ,not to mention that he can program the hell out of a drum machine and sequencer...... nuff said. I wish Amazon woul put all of the David frank Mic Murphy produced artists ,like Attitude (we got the juice, Love me tonight) Jeff Lorber (on the wild side, bset part of the night) Howard Johnson............"
"If you can't stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen!"
Soulchild'sA'Comin' | Queens, NY USA | 12/27/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It was about time this album was updated and re-released into CD format. The title track, "You're In My System" and "It's Passion" were the only singles released from this album and all three were way ahead of its time. I also like "Stand Up and Cheer!" This album did'nt do as well on the charts as it should, because the world could'nt stand the heat! Anyone thats a fan of 1980's R&B music and New Wave should get this cd or download it on itunes. Outside of the black communities and New York City, not many people knew about the System when this was released because Sweat was hardly marketed. They were limited to an 1983 appearance on Soul Train and a music video for "You're In My System" that was rejected by MTV (meaning lack of exposure), which was the only effective music video vehicle in the U.S. since BET was not a 24 hour channel back then. I guess most of the public could'nt stand the heat of the group, so they left the kitchen (lol)!"