An Album/Song A Week: Spinners - Anthology

Outside of the O'Jays, the Spinners were the best R&B vocal group of the 70's.  But it took them a couple of years to reach that pinnacle.  At Motown in the 60's they were journeymen.  Never given the best material, and having enough mid-level R&B chart hits to make it to the next record.  That changed in 1970 when a Stevie Wonder co-write, "It's A Shame" finally gave them a crossover #14 hit.  Two years later they left Motown and signed with Atlantic.  Also new was a co-lead singer named Philippe Wynne.  Bobbie Smith was the other lead singer, and with Wynne, the Spinners getting top notch material from Producer/Songwriter/Arranger Thom Bell, they blossomed into crossover stars.

One Of A Kind Love Affair: Anthology came out in 1991 on Rhino Records and it is a marvelous artifact on Old School Soul.  The liner notes do a terrific job of telling their story but also the tragic fate of Wynne, who died in 1984, on stage at the age of 43.  Wynne left the group in 1977.  

Anthology not only has all (but one) of their crossover hits, but includes album cuts and runs from their first hit in 1961 to 1982. BTW- the crossover hit that is missing? 1980's #4 remake of Sam Cooke's "Cupid".  But it can be found on Rhino's Very Best of the Spinners. This is the compilation that turned me from a Spinners fan to a Spinners mega-fan.  I've been rooting for their Rock Hall induction (Thom Bell's too) since they were first nominated in 2012.  It hasn't happened and probably won't, despite the Spinners getting two more nominations.  The Rock Hall and its voters have little use for R&B vocal groups from the 70's onward.  But I do.  This compilation is now out of print and going for incredible used prices.  If you get lucky, scoop it up.  Once you're in the Spinners spell, you'll be hooked for life too.