1985 was a memorable year for
Rick James; that year, he recorded Glow (one of his more adventurous albums of the 1980s), produced and wrote
the Mary Jane Girls' All Four You, and did some work with former
Brides of Funkenstein member
Val Young (who Motown signed on
James' recommendation).
James' influence is strong on
Young's first solo album,
Seduction -- he wrote and produced two of the songs ("Piece of My Heart" and the intoxicating title track), while the rest of the LP was produced by Fred Jenkins and
Stone City Band keyboardist Levi Ruffin Jr. Some of
the Mary Jane Girls contribute background vocals, and
Young's accompaniment includes members of
James'
Stone City Band. But
Young is certainly her own person -- in fact, she wrote or co-wrote the lyrics for six of the nine songs. Though parts of
Seduction are very
James-influenced, "Let's Fall in Love" and "Tellin' Me Lies" are closer to the type of material that Kashif would have produced for Evelyn "Champagne" King in the 1980s. And while
Young is an R&B singer first and foremost, she incorporates pop/rock elements with pleasing results on "Mind Games" and the playful, slightly new wave-ish "Come Hang Out." This good to excellent album did moderately well, but not as well as it should have -- and regrettably,
Young never made it to the next level commercially. ~ Alex Henderson