Up
on the level with compilations, I love “greatest hits”
albums just as much. As a deejay, they save space, but as
a music lover, they are just great for listening to in the
car, on the boat or in the house. I was real excited when
I heard about one of my favorite bands coming out with their
greatest hits album, or anthology as I may put it. The Holiday
Band has released, through Ripete Records, Yearbook 1991-2006.
Not only does this 2-CD set carry their recordings from their
own releases, it contains the work they did for various compilations.
Want Shotgun Boogie? It’s there. Want You Stole My Heart?
It’s there. Want I’m Man Enough? It’s there.
And so are No Time For You, When You Think About Love, Eenie
Meenie Miny Moe, You Are, Love Of A Lifetime, She Blew A Good
Thing, Motown Here Today, penned by Ron Moody of Ron Moody
& The Centaurs fame, and a host of other goodies. Twenty-six
songs in all, the Holiday Band Yearbook will receive popularity
for a long time coming. Formed in 1991 in Burlington, North
Carolina, the band has developed into one of the premiere
bands in the Southeast. They have been honored by the Carolina
Beach Music Awards as Group of the Year and have received
the Album of the Year Award. One of the highlights in the
fifteen-year career of the band was playing at the Lincoln
Center in New York City.
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from
beachmusic45.com
Neal "Soul Dog" Furr had this to say about "New
Ol' Soul":
"Holiday Band has been at this a long time, from the
formation of the first band in 1991 with lead singer Gary
Brown to today’s energetic mix of boogie, funk, soul,
blues, dance and beach music in their live performances. For
my money, they are right there at the top when it comes to
quality entertainment. New
Ol’ Soul on Ripete Records is their eighth CD to be
produced over a span of about twelve years. It is a solid
combination of familiar cover tunes (Alan Brantley says
you gotta have ‘em, and I agree), several outstanding
originals and three songs that had been previously released
on compilations. the key factor in a Holiday Band release
holds true here as well – they seldom rush anything
to market that is not ready. the time and effort spent in
refining the production and engineering work pays off at
the end.
Although
the Soul Dog has never been a big fan of cover songs (and
the band knows this about me), Holiday has had some real
success in the past with covers such as She Blew a Good
Thing, No Time for You and Ain’t No Big Thing. I’m
sure General Johnson will be happy with their rendition
here of Give Me Just a Little More Time. the smooth soulful
vocal stylings of Mike Neese hit the mark on Too Late to
Turn Back Now. Motown is well represented with Stubborn
Kind of Fellow and I Believe in You and Me. An upbeat version
of Stormy rounds out the cover tunes included on the release.
What
makes this CD really stand out is the new work – five
solid originals in a rockin’ soulful vein that all
will certainly have a shot at filling up the dance floor.
Motown Here Today, written by Ron Moody (Ron Moody and the
Centaurs, they are back!), is a neat little stepper in that
reminiscent ‘take-me-back’ mode that is working
well these days. Now, we all know that Mike Taylor is an
outstanding performer and an established songwriter. What
really stands out is his willingness to listen to the creative
penmanship of another individual and then collaborate on
turning it into a quality song. A song that is already receiving
radio and club play is When I Think About You, co-written
by Mike and Jim McDonald and performed in a somewhat of
a country rock/bluesy crossover manner by Mike and Pam Russell
from Shaggie Maggie.
Mike
Taylor and Gary Bostic previously collaborated on a song
entitled Heart to Heart, which became a beach music charter
and received a Cammy Award nomination. They are back together
here on two originals – a four beat rhythmic tune
called Three In One and what might be the sleeper on the
CD entitled Love Thang. Yet another Taylor collaboration,
You Can Count On Me, is a really strong R&B flavored
mid-tempo tune that tells it all. This one was co-written
with the pride of Chatham County, my buddy John Arthurs.
Songs
11-13 on the CD were all previously released by the Holiday
Band. Bop was included on Ripete’s Let’s Dance
USA Volume II compilation. It’s You is a solid smoothie
that was featured on Love, Laugh and Live and made it well
up the charts. How about La Di Da? Everyone says ‘Is
that really the Holiday Band’? It’s a solid
line dancer originally on the 120 Soul Street compilation
that gets ‘em out on the floor every time!
Hat’s
off to the Holiday Band - Mike Taylor, Mike Neese, Mark
Payne, Doug Neese, Bill Ward and Mike Maffeo for another
solid release. Alamance County’s finest comes through
again in fine style!"
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