BEST OF/20TH CENTURY

Producers includes: Freddie Perren, Van McCoy. Compilation producer: Harry Weinger. Recorded between 1977 & 1981. Includes liner notes by David Nathan. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel: Jos? Feliciano (electric guitar). Liner Note Author: David Nathan . Arrangers: Van McCoy; Wah-Wah Watson. This spotlights only the second incarnation of Peaches & Herb, as the disco and early urban contemporary hitmakers of the late '70s and early '80s, not the soul duo of the late '60s. In fact this is virtually identical to the 1996 Polydor CD simply titled The Best of Peaches & Herb, though that disc had four tracks not on this one, and 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Peaches & Herb does contain one song not on the earlier comp, "We're Still Together" (which scraped the very bottom of the charts in 1977, and was written and co-produced by Van McCoy). It's all a bit baffling to the business outsider why exactly a nearly identical anthology should be issued only five years or so later, marking in fact a slight downgrade from the earlier edition. There's not all that much difference, though, and ultimately it does have what most fans would want to hear on a best-of covering this time period, including ten chart hits. And it's still not-too-exciting period R&B, from out-and-out disco ("Shake Your Groove Thing," "Freeway," "We've Got Love") to lush ballads ("Reunited," "I Pledge My Love"). ~ Richie Unterberger