Keeping Time
| Keeping Time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1978 | |||
| Genre | Disco | |||
| Label | Casablanca NBLP 7102 | |||
| Producer | Bob Esty | |||
| Paul Jabara chronology | ||||
| ||||
Keeping Time is the second studio album by American actor, singer and songwriter Paul Jabara.[1] The album, which was released on Casablanca Records in 1978, includes Jabara's song "Trapped in a Stairway" from the movie Thank God It's Friday, his own version of the Grammy Award-winning "Last Dance" (originally recorded by Donna Summer) as well as the duets "Something's Missing" (with Summer) and "Take Good Care of My Baby / What's a Girl to Do" (with Pattie Brooks). Keeping Time was released on CD by Gold Legion in 2011.
Singles
[edit]The lead single from the album was "Dancin' (Lift Your Spirits Higher)".
Take Good Care Of My Baby/What's A Girl To Do was released as a single too. Cash Box wrote that the single was "a medley" featuring Pattie Brooks, with "strings, horns and disco beat" making it "a good disco, R&B add".[2]
Critical reception
[edit]Betty Lederer from Billboard, elected "Pleasure Island" as the best cut of the album,[3] the magazine also choose the album as the best disco album of the week, giving it a favorable review.[4] Cash Box wrote that the singer "has issued an appealing new effort" highlighting his "catchy, flowing compositions" and "smooth vocal style", with "shimmering production" by Bob Esty.[5]
The album was listed in the "Fringe Albums Continued" section of Walrus! which wrote that Jabara, although "a pop artist", was also "a songwriter with quite a knack for appealing songs", and that "it's all in the direction the production takes".[6] It was also included in Record World's "Album Picks" of the week; the magazine wrote: "Look out for this versatile musician on the rise".[7]
Commercial performance
[edit]The album peaked at number 12 in the National Disco Action Top 40.[8]
Track listing
[edit]- Side one
- "Didn't the Time Go Fast" - 4:17
- "Saturday Matinee" - 3:24
- "Trapped in a Stairway" (from the Original Soundtrack Album Thank God It's Friday) - 3:13
- "Take Good Care of My Baby / What's a Girl to Do" (duet with Pattie Brooks) - 4:47
- "Dancin' (Lift Your Spirits Higher)" - 3:39
- Side two
- "Last Dance" - 3:10
- "Pleasure Island" - 10:40
- "Something's Missing" (duet with Donna Summer) - 3:02
Personnel
[edit]- Paul Jabara - vocals
- Jay Graydon, Steve Lukather, Ira Newborn, Thom Rotella, Ben Benay - guitar
- David Hungate, Chuck Rainey, Bob Glaub - bass guitar
- David Foster, Richard Tee, Jai Winding, Bob Esty, William Smith, Bill Payne - keyboards
- Mike Baird, Ed Greene, Rick Shlosser - drums
- Alan Estes, Victor Feldman, Tommy Vig - percussion
- Jerry Jumonville - saxophone on "Trapped on a Stairway"
- Bernie Fleischer, Jon Kip, Jack Nimitz - flutes on "Pleasure Island"
- Bob Esty, Carlene Williams, Mary Ellen Gaines, Becky Lopez, Dani MiCormick, Patti Brooks, Petsye Powell, Carole Bayer Sager, Michele Aller, Brenda Russell - background vocals
References
[edit]- ↑ "Hold on... For Dear Life!". Newyorkmetro.com. New York Media, LLC: 32–. October 9, 1978. ISSN 0028-7369.
- ↑ "Singles reviews" (PDF). Cashbox. Vol. XL, no. 13. August 12, 1978. p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 21, 2026. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
- ↑ Lederer, Barry (August 12, 1978). "Billboard - Disco Mix". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 78–. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ↑ "Billboard's Top Album Peaks". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 19, 1978. pp. 69–. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ↑ "Album Reviews" (PDF). Cashbox. Vol. XL, no. 14. August 19, 1978. p. 18. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 21, 2026. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
- ↑ "New releases" (PDF). Walrus!. No. 243. August 21, 1978. p. 28. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 20, 2026. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
- ↑ "Album Picks" (PDF). Record World. Vol. 35, no. 1626. September 2, 1978. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 21, 2026. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Billboard - National Disco Action Top 40". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 9, 1978. pp. 41–. ISSN 0006-2510.