'Alexandra' + 'Shadowplay' -two of the better + more dramatic ballads. THE STOLI WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL BROADCAST IN 1991 FEATURED GREAT LIVE TAKES OF BOTH TRACKS.

Nu Sungo !!! The first SG tune i listenned.

File this one under "other assorted musings" because I don't want anybody confusing what I'm about to say as a hidden favorite.
Don't hate me. But it's official. I like Fine Time to Explain.
Now before you start lobbing tomatoes, let me explain. Early on, I maintained that it's not a bad song if I'd heard it on radio not knowing who it was. But in the context of a straight R&B song on a jazz/smooth jazz album, I've skipped this and Let's Say Goodbye at least as often as I've played them when giving Love & Other Obsessions a spin. A big part of my beef is that if you didn't already know SG was involved in the recording of this song, you wouldn't know by listening.
So after 14 years of cringing at the idea that this song is on an SG album, I'm ready to admit that I actually like it.
Speaking of Love & Other Obsessions, some songs that have been discussed - Lost and Found, Ariana, Third Street and Group Therapy - are still pretty much the class of this release. But my hidden favorites here are Hearts Horizon and On Liberty Road (For South Africa).

Jazzwriter- no tomatoes comin from this a way. I had a similar conversion with ''Springtime Laughter'' from Got The Magic. Turns out I like it alot.
And as for ''On Liberty Road'', Scott's first sole writing credit! And on the L&OO tour, was in the honored ''main set closer'' position.
I have my problems with bands that are mainly instrumental jazz bands putting pop vocal songs on their records. Even if I love the song, it nearly always has an out of place quality that also destroys the flow of the record

(Cont'd)....the other problem-what if someone hears the pop vocal song and loves it...buys the record-and feels misled when he discovers the rest of the record is instrumental jazz?
A more radical problem happened to Jeff Lorber. Had a pop vocal hit. Next record-record company pressured him for an all pop vocal record. The fire went out of his music for the most part. On the other hand, Julio's wordless vocals(a la Pedro Aznar)+ his scat(Bump it Up live)-I love those.
Paul

So true, Paul.
I have my problems with bands that are mainly instrumental jazz bands putting pop vocal songs on their records. Even if I love the song, it nearly always has an out of place quality that also destroys the flow of the record
....the other problem-what if someone hears the pop vocal song and loves it...buys the record-and feels misled when he discovers the rest of the record is instrumental jazz?
There's been a few songs, vocalists like Maysa Leak, Wendy Moton and Sue Ann Carwell have contributed nicely to albums by Rick Braun, Larry Carlton, Kirk Whalum, etc. Mostly, this was when these guys were with WB Jazz in the 1990s, and it was so common with that label, the songs really didn't hurt the overall recordings.
Even so, what you said is exactly how I felt about the whole "let's put a pop/R&B vocal on the record so we can get more airplay" attitude. It was doomed to backfire.
I love Basia, but I wasn't that crazy about Springtime Laughter, either. It's not a bad song, and considering the overall smoothness of Got the Magic, it's not entirely out of place. The best thing I can say for it, though, was someone who sings jazz contributed to that song rather than an R&B crooner.

Sooo. What songs haven't we listed... JK. But Sueno is one that you just sit back and relax to. "Group Therapy" and "Horizons Edge" Are great as well. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT SYNTH WILL PLAY THE OPENING HITS OF THE SONG. Listen to it and you'll know the first two to three measures have eighth note hits and there are frequent throughout the song. Same in the opening of Silk & Satin

I've always had a soft spot for "Fine Time to Explain", Billy does a great job singing and Spyro delivers a solid backing. In fact, that whole album ("LaOO") is one of my favorites by Spyro!

One of these days I am gonna have to listen to the four vocal tracks on DBC + L+OO. All the positive talk may neccessitate a re-assessment.
I love that the previous poster called L+OO one of his faves. For me, it was a slightly mixed bag, with the best of it as good as any Spyro.

It is a very good album. For me, the two vocal tracks did everything short of making it bland. A big part of that was it was 1994 - a time when ALL of my favorite instrumental artists/groups (except the Yellowjackets) were having non-jazz guest vocalists contribute.
It didn't bother me at all on DBC because of the style those songs were played. Send Me One Line is still basically an R&B song, but Jay's solo more than compensates for that departure. And Patterns in the Rain, I loved that from Day 1 - the reggae rhythm, Joel's beat, Dave's mallet synth and Jay's blistering soprano solo.
But the L&OO vocals took me a long time to get over. And I'm still not crazy about Let's Say Goodbye. I admit I'm guilty of some sort of instrumental bigotry in skipping those 2 tracks for most of the first 12 years I had the CD. "They don't fit, so I'm not listening," was the attitude. I'm still that way with the Brian McKnight song on The Rippingtons 20.