Formed in May 1973 by Tony O'Malley and Terry Stannard, ex-members of the pop group Arrival, Kokomo's ten-piece line-up became: Dyan Birch (vocals), Frank Collins (vocals), Paddy McHugh (vocals), Tony O'Malley (keyboards, vocals), Alan Spenner (bass, vocals), Neil Hubbard (guitar), Mel Collins (saxophone), Jody Linscott (percussion), Terry Stannard (drums) and Jim Mullen (guitar).
Spenner and Hubbard were from the Grease Band, Birch, McHugh, Collins and O'Malley from Arrival and Mel Collins from King Crimson.
The band's first album Kokomo (1975) was hailed by the NME as the best debut by a British band for several years. Inspired by the tight disciplined playing of Spenner and Hubbard, Kokomo was unusual among white soul bands, for its use of four featured vocalists. In 1975.
Kokomo were renowned as Britain's finest funk band of the mid-'70s, a genuine live experience, which makes their 1975 eponymous debut a bit of a shock: there's no live feel here, only slick studio gloss that brings the album closer to the sunbleached sounds of the American West Coast than the R&B-vamping working bands that populated the pub rock circuit Kokomo frequented.
Kokomo yo-yos between percolating funk that flirts with disco -- à la the Average White Band -- and the smoothest of soft rock, everything sounding mellow and relaxed even when the tempo revs up, as it does on the opener "Kitty Sitting Pretty."
Here, the group's female backing singers take center stage, but they're prominent throughout, even when they're fading into the background to support the band's other singers, who can evoke Joe Cocker, Rod Stewart, or Frankie Miller, depending on the tune.
Although Kokomo is bursting at the seams with nine members, they sound impressively sleek here -- too much so, really, as the sleekness tends to flatten out any sense of funk on this LP.
That's why the softer blue-eyed soul moments work better than the dance tracks -- the shimmering "Feeling This Way" and a cover of Bobby Womack's "I Can Understand It" suit the sound of the production better than the bright, laid-back funk of "I'm Sorry Babe" -- but all in all, Kokomo fails to live up the group's reputation as a killer live band, the kind that was so good they inspired Graham Parker and had Bob Dylan hire them as support for the initial Desire sessions.
Track listing
A1. Kitty Sittin' Pretty - 4:53
A2. Anytime - 3:53
A3. I'm Sorry Babe - 4:02
A4. Forever - 4:23
A5. It Ain't Cool (To Be Cool No More) - 5:00
B1. Feeling This Way - 4:33
B2. Sweet Sugar Thing - 5:04
B3. I Can Understand It - 7:45
B4. Angel - 5:20
Companies, etc.
- Recorded At – Air Studios
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Records
- Copyright © – CBS Records
- Made By – Shorewood Packaging Co. Ltd.
- Published By – Rock Music Co. Ltd.
- Published By – United Artists Music Ltd.
- Published By – Carlin Music Corp.
- Pressed By – CBS Pressing Plant, Aston Clinton
Credits
- Artwork By [Front Cover] – Tom Adams
- Artwork By [Photography] – Keith Morris
- Congas – Jody Linscott
- Crew [Roadie] – Frankie Blackwell
- Drums – Terry Stannard
- Engineer – Billy Price, Sean Milligan
- Guitar – Jim Mullen, Neil Hubbard
- Management – Steve O'Rourke (2)
- Producer – Chris Thomas
- Saxophone, Flute – Mel Collins
- Synthesizer [Arp] – Anne Odell
- Vocals – Dyan Birch, Frank Collins, Paddie McHugh
- Vocals, Bass – Alan Spenner
- Vocals, Keyboards – Tony O'Malley
Notes
Release Date: 1975
Recording Location: Air Studios, London, England
Genre: R&B
Styles: Blue-Eyed Soul, Funk
Duration: 44:24
Label - CBS Records
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