439 Hello Luther Vandross - Never Too Much

Chart  entered : 19  February  1983

Chart  peak : 44  ( 13  as  a  re-mix  in  1989 )

Number  of  hits  : 28

It's  always  difficult  to  write  about  an  artist  whose  work  never  interested  you. Luther  was  undoubtedly  a  talented  guy; he  just  never  employed  those  talents  in  ways  I  found  appealing.

Luther  was  born  in  1951  in  Manhattan. He  learned  the  piano  at  a  very  young  age. His  aunt  was  in  the  doo  wop  group  The  Crests  and  took  young  Luther  to  gigs  in  New  York. After  high  school  he  joined  the  theatre  workshop  Listen  My  Brother  and  was  involved  in  the  first  series  of  Sesame  Street  in  1969.

He  began  his  career  as  a  session  singer in  1971   by  appearing on  the  first  Roberta  Flack  and  Donny  Hathaway  album. He  started  and  became  the  first  president  of  the  Patti  Labelle  Fan  Club.  The  following  year  he  wrote  a  couple  of  songs  for  Delores  Hall's  Hall-Mark  album.  His  profile  was  raised  in  1975  when  he  co-wrote  "Fascination"  with  David  Bowie  for  the  Young  Americans  LP   and  went  on  tour  with  him  as  a  backing  vocalist. In  the  same  year  he  wrote  "Everybody  Rejoice"  for  The  Wiz..

While  now  at  the  top  of  his  game  as  a  session  singer , the  tour  with  Bowie  whetted  Luther's  appetite  for  performing  and  he  formed  a  vocal  quintet , modestly  called  Luther,  later  that  year. In  June  1976  they  released  the  single  "It's  Good  For  The  Soul"  which  had  Parts  1 and  II  on  either  side  of  the  disc. It's  an  average  slice  of  mid-seventies  soul  but  it's  slightly  too  slow  and  plods  instead  of  soars. The  follow  up  "Funky  Music  ( Is  A  Part  Of  Me  )  in  September  was  more  of  an  O'Jays  style  disco  record    and  is  pretty  good. Although  the  singles  did  well  in  the  R  & B  chart  they  didn't  cross  over  and  the  LP  "Luther"  didn't  chart.
The  next  single  was  "This  Close  To  You "  in  March  1977, a  Philly-style  smoocher  with  corny  spoken  intro. It  was  the  title  track  and  only  single  from  their  second  LP  which  made  even  less  impact  than  the  first. Cotillon  dropped  them  from  the  label; Luther  later  bought  the  rights  to  the  recordings   to  stop  them  cashing  in  on  his  subsequent  success.

These  disappointments  didn't  stop  people  banging  on  his  door  to  grace  their  records  with  his  golden  tones   and  he  appeared  as  lead  vocalist  on  records  by  New  York  City  Band, Greg  Diamond  Bionic  Boogie, Charme , Quincy  Jones, Soiree  and  Mascara. In  1980  he  was  co-opted  by  Jacques  Fred  Petrus  to  sing  with  his  studio  project  Change.  Their  album  "The  Glow  of  Love"  is  the  best  record  Chic  never  made .The  two  songs on  which   Luther  did  the  lead  vocal  , "Searching"  and  "The  Glow  of  Love"  were  both  Top  20  hits  in  the  UK  in  1980  although  the  latter  was  little  heard  as  it  was  a  double  A-side  with  the  female-led  "A  Lover's  Holiday"  which  radio  preferred.

Luther  was  invited  back  for  their  second  album  "Miracles"  but  he  now  had  a  solo  deal  with  Epic  and  made  only  a  minor  contribution  as  a  backing  vocalist.  His  first  solo  single  in  the  UK  was  "Sugar  and  Spice  ( I  Found  Me  A  Girl )" , a  sprightly  Shalamar-style  pop-funk  number  in  October  1981.

"Never  Too  Much "  was   released  the  following  month; in  the  US  it  was  released  first  and  reached  number  33  in  the  charts. It's  a  slick  soul  number  resting  on  the  Chic  template  of  clipped  rhythm  guitar , sinuous  bass  and  string  interjections  with  Luther  gushing  the  romantic  sentiments,  and  deciding  not  to  go  to  work  when  his  babe  comes  round  first  thing  in  the  morning  ,  in  his  rich  Grammy-winning  tones.  For  me  the  melody's  too  boring  to  really  grab  the  attention  and  it  wasn't  a  hit  first  time  round. After  the  single  "Bad  Boy/ Having  A  Party"  from  his  second  LP  and  a   duet  with  Cheryl  Lynn  failed  to  score  in  1982, Epic  decided  to  give  it  another  go  and  this  time  were  rewarded   with  a  modest  success.  A  re-mixed  version  of  the  song  to  promote  his  greatest  hits  compilation  in  1989   did  much  better.