Chart entered : 21 June 1980
Chart peak : 61
Number of hits : 12
I'm not a great fan of smoochy soul but there's something about Randy's voice that makes her work more appealing to me than that of her rivals , perhaps the same thing that has led to a comparative lack of appreciation in her homeland where she's never had a hit in her own name.
Veronica Crawford was born in Georgia in 1952. She started out as a jazz vocalist in clubs. In 1972 she signed for Columbia and put out a version of "Knock On Wood " which I haven't heard. After that they seemed to lose faith in her as a solo artist and for the rest of her tenure there she sang on other peoples' records including George Benson and Cannonball Adderley.
Let go in 1975 she moved to Warner Brothers and released her debut album "Everything Must Change " in 1976 , a mixture of smooth soul and jazz. It's notable for a version of "I've Never Been To Me", six years before it became a surprise UK chart topper for Charlene. The singles were a dramatic version of Neil Sedaka's "I Let You Walk Away" and the title track, a deathly slow jazz ballad recorded live at the World Jazz Association's first recorded concert in LA in November 1975. Neither made any impression at all.
She followed it up with "Miss Randy Crawford" in 1977 which took a broader approach with disco numbers "Hallelujah, Glory, Hallelujah" and the single "Take It Away From Her", urban funk "Half Steppin'" and a cover of Eagles ' "Desperado" but didn't move her career forward.
In 1978 her name became known to a rather different audience when she sang the gloopy ballad "Hoping Love Will Last" on Steve Hackett's second solo album.
Her third album "Raw Silk" in 1979 is overloaded with slow ballads. Only the light funk of the single "Endlessly" ( her first in the UK ) and the gospel-tinged "Where There Was Darkness" have any sort of tempo which makes it a deeply soporific listen. This narrower approach was rewarded with first showings on the R & B and jazz charts but it was her next recording that really started to make waves.
Veteran R & B musos The Crusaders , whose members had played on her previous albums needed a vocalist for the title track of their Street Life album. The song is a glossy funk number about street hustling if not outright prostitution with some barbed lyrics and a nifty instrumental break for Joe Semple's jazzy keyboards solo. Randy wasn't credited on the single release but makes the song her own with an electric vocal performance. The record made number 36 in the US but did even better here reaching number 5 in the autumn of 1979.
The song's writers , Semple and Will Jennings returned the favour by writing this, her next single and The Crusaders played on and produced it. It's a light jazz-funk number that could almost be Shakatak in the instrumental breaks but for Wilton Felder's steely bass line. The song is about the end of an affair but Randy's vocal is pretty airy and unconcerned until the final third. It's accomplished and tasteful but not immediate enough for the top end of the charts.
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