Thump Records
2008
Open Book
About This Album
Whenever there is some type of event where the DJ is spinning old-school soul, funk, and disco -- an event that could be taking place anywhere from Cherry Hill, NJ to Newcastle, England -- one question that inevitably comes up a lot is "Whatever happened to?" You know, whatever happened to McFadden & Whitehead (sadly, both died in the 2000s), or whatever happened to Teena Marie? ("Lady T" came out with an album called Sapphire in 2006.) And if the DJ is playing crowd-pleasers like 1977's "Shame" or 1982's "Love Come Down," someone inevitably wonders what Evelyn "Champagne" King has been up to. King flew under the radar in the '90s and early 2000s, but admirers of the Bronx native's '70s and '80s hits will be glad to know that she is in generally good form on her 2007 comeback album Open Book. King, who turned 47 on July 1, 2007, hasn't lost anything in terms of vocal power -- and she has respectable material to work with on a CD that, for the most part, successfully balances 2007 considerations and old-school R&B considerations. The album's most overtly 2007-sounding track is the single "Skillz," which is very much in the hip-hop-minded Mary J. Blige
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 10)

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