Consumer Guide Album

Detroit Emeralds: You Want It, You Got It [Westbound, 1972]
This record, which seems ordinary enough until you hear it standing up, breaks a lot of rules. The Emeralds are stay-at-home Spinners, and Abrim Tilmon, who writes (and helps sing) their material and is credited with coarranging an album that lists no producer or personnel, is Thom Bell without an instinct for the killer hook. But side two proves that it doesn't take road dues or a surefire sales catch to make seamless, soulful dance music--I've got to move, indeed. And except for something silly about the lure of the sea, side one won't turn anybody off either. B+