The Platinum Collection

More than one writer has pointed out the jolly irony that the Spinners, proud sons of Detroit and billed as the Detroit Spinners in the United Kingdom, were perhaps the definitive Philly soul group, cranking out a long and memorable series of hits under the tutelage of producer Thom Bell in the city of Brotherly Love between 1972 to 1981. Few groups in R&B history have enjoyed as fruitful a relationship with their producer as the Spinners had with Bell -- Philippe Wynne's voice, strong but eminently flexible, was an ideal foil for Bell's sweet but soulful musical backdrops, lush but with plenty of open space to move, and the group could sound just as credible on a funky dancefloor filler like "The Rubber Band Man" as they were on a personal piece of social commentary such as "Ghetto Child." The Detroit Spinners' installment in the British Platinum Collection series features 20 classic songs from the group, and the folks who compiled this didn't have to worry about padding out the package -- nearly every song here was a major hit, and deservedly so, with Wynne and his vocal partners working their magic as Bell gave them one great song after another. "I'll Be Around," "Then Came You," "One of a Kind (Love Affair)," "I'm Coming Home," "Living a Little, Laughing a Little" -- quite simply, R&B in the '70s didn't get much better than this, and while the double-disc anthology One of a Kind Love Affair is the definitive overview of the Spinners' glory days, this is an excellent introduction to their body of work, and a pure pleasure to listen to. ~ Mark Deming|