Today I am waking up to the lovely and long displaced voice of
Alice Clark. Her debut (and only record) is considered by some lost classic of ‘70s soul. Reissued this year via WEWANTSOUNDS Records, the album was tracked live in 1972 over two days at Record Plant Studios in NYC. Due to its poor initial sales, the record quickly fell out of print and Clark retired from music. Defying the odds, Clark’s recordings were revived as an integral component of the UK dance scene of the late ’80s, pushed by the owners of Acid Jazz records and their obsession with Clark’s exquisite brassy and playful tones and her record’s tightly controlled builds and instrumental sweeps. From the patient gospel-tinted pleading of “I Keep it Hid” to the disco-drenched drama and nimble intersecting melodies of “Don’t You Care,” to the jubilant soulful funk foray “Never Did I Stop Loving You” this is a tour de force ‘70s sounds, emancipated with emotion. Allow yourself to get a little sappy today with Alice Clark and this long lost jem.
