The Fuzz -- female soul group from D.C.

[tsull1]

Hmm, hadn't heard of them before ... I was listening to some Brenda and the Tabulations on YouTube and someone put together an excellent mix of Brenda's tunes and others, including The Fuzz, and so far the two tunes I've heard, including "Leave It All Behind Me" are outstanding.

Tell me more about this group, they sound fine.

* Wait a sec, "I Love You For All Seasons" just came on, heard it many times, excellent tune!

[roger]

Tsull ..

You should try to get a copy of their sole L.P. "Fuzz" .. released on Calla in the U.S. and also on Mojo in the U.K.

It is one of the first [[ if not THE first ) Soul "Concept" L.P.s ..

Side one charts the history of a love affair .. four songs with a spoken intro .. and compares them to the four seasons ..

Spring = "I Think I've Got The Makings of a True Love Affair"

Summer = "I'm So Glad"

Autumn/Fall = "All About Love"

Winter = "Its All Over".

Side two is more standard and includes their two best known tunes "I Love You For All Seasons" and "Like An Open Door" plus the similar styled "Leave It All Behind Me", the spacy "Search Your Mind" and a long version of Smokey's "Oo Baby Baby".

Their best known song in Britain is "I'm So Glad" , due to its appeal to those Northern Soul dancers!!

This is it ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq36ozwowg8

There are links on there to most of the other tracks on the L.P.

I think the group have been discussed three or four times previously on SDF and as I recall on one occasion one of the group posted .. it seems they fell victim of dodgy business practices at Calla and never saw the fruits of their success.

Roger

[stephanie]

My brother played bass with them and he is on the record his name is Ronald Campbell post your questions here and I will have him answer them if you wish.
Stephanie

[paladin]

I may be mistaken but I believe Juice wrote a couple of posts on this group. Maybe he'll check in.....

[uptight]

Stephanie, where was the album recorded?

[splanky]

Dang, tell me again where is it you live, tsull... Kdubya's right, we've discussed the group several times before on SDF and
Juice has always been their biggest champion on this site, maybe the web altogether. One of their members, Barbara passed
away this year I seem to remember but if Juice sees this thread he can fill you in more or correct my lapses in memory. I Love You For All Seasons was a HUGE smash in New York when it was released, a favorite of record collectors and artists alike...

[roger]

This link should take you to an SDF discussion we had about THE FUZZ three years back ..

http://faac.us/adf/messages/165088/168623.html?1206950015

Some interesting pictures in there too ..

Incidentally, what has happened to Juice .. I've not seen any posts by him for a few weeks ..

Roger

[stephanie]

Uptight,
My brother said that it was recorded in New York and that there was a guy named Nate Mcallum who owned Calla Records and if you look on the 45 he said the address should be there. He was on his way to a gig so he didnt have much time to talk. He will be back on Sunday.

[tsull1]

Thanks for the great replies and links. I can't remember all the discussions here so it's good to re-visit some of them. I listened to a few YouTube tunes last night and came away impressed with their talent.

[nosey]

Moonbeam who's MIA was a great proponent of the Fuzz as well.

[stephanie]

Imagine how shocked I was Uptight when a got a phone call from my brother saying look on youtube someone put that I played the bass on this song in the description and we dont know how he found out. He felt like a star for five minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05rUmx3KUt0

[juicefree20]

Roger:

Thanks for inquiring! I've been busy dealing with my 8 month-old grandson & tending to my mother & have cut back on most

Paladin: Thanks for the name check!

Indeed, I've written reams about them over the years & will always adore these ladies. I called Sheila last night, but missed her. I received an e-mail from her earlier today & hope to hear from her soon. But you can rest assured that both she & Val appreciate the love shown them by our members.

And yes, they are aware of what we say & indeed, Sheila did visit us a few years ago.

I never get tired of speaking about these ladies & if I had the money, I'd bring them to my area & finally get to meet them & thank them for providing me with some very sweet memories of sweet childhood days gone by. Memories which will remain with me always.

[adrian]

I've liked them ever since I first heard "I'm So Glad".
That prompted me to buy the single on Calla and Mojo and the the "Fuzz" album too.
Great stuff!

:)

[daddyacey]

The FUZZ lp was among some of the first serious 70's Soul music ,"concept" projects. Barry Whites production of Love Unlimiteds, "From A Womans Poit Of View" ,lp is also in the same class as far as theme and production. Where The Fuzz was popular in the urban North East states such as N.Y. ,Conn ,Jersey ,Philly and D.C. , L.U. took that refined element of orchestration ,production and writing that began to show up in Soul/R&B and took it just a bit further. A more so "artsy" approach to the music , that saw the first use of segues to weave tracks together. The group and album are classic examples of the development of Soul/R&B during the early 70's. Damn near impossible to find the original lp for less than an arm and a leg ,it is one of the prime examples for sombody to reissue it ,provided the original masters could be found.