Surface Thrills is the first of two 1983 albums released by the American R&B vocal group, the Temptations, on Motown Records' Gordy label.
Overview In this album, the group attempted to fuse their vocal harmonies with rock music production, resulting in a radical departure from the Temptations' signature soul sound. It was produced by Dennis Lambert and Steve BarriThe Temptations- Surface Thrills vinyl LP (1983) back cover. Accessed 8-24-2010. and features musical contributions from Jeff Porcaro of Toto, Raymond Lee Brown of Earth, Wind & Fire, and longtime James Brown collaborator Fred Wesley.
Surface Thrills yielded two singles, the title track and "Love on My Mind Tonight", with only the latter being moderately successful. This is the last Temptations album to feature falsetto Glenn Leonard, who departed from the group after eight years. Leonard's replacement would be singer-songwriter Ron Tyson, who made his Temptations debut with the following album, Back to Basics, though the group had worked with Tyson when they were with Atlantic Records on the Hear to Tempt You album where Tyson co-wrote a majority of the songs.
Track listing All tracks produced by Dennis Lambert and Steve Barri except side two, track three: produced by The Temptations and Bejamin F. Wright, Jr..
Personnel Performers Dennis Edwards - vocals (baritone/tenor) Melvin Franklin - vocals (bass) Glenn Leonard - vocals (first tenor/falsetto) Richard Street - vocals (second tenor) Otis Williams - vocals (baritone) Clydene Jackson, Julia Waters, Maxine Waters - background vocals ("Bringyourbodyhere")
Musicians Raymond Lee Brown, Nolan Smith - trumpet George Bohanon, Fred Wesley - trombone Robbie Buchanan - drums, Linn computer, Moog bass, synthesizer, Fender Rhodes synthesizer, percussion synthesizer Paulinho da Costa - percussion Richard Elliot - saxophone, lyricon Gary Herbig, Terry Harrington - saxophone, flute, piccolo Paul M. Jackson, Jr. - guitar, rhythm arranger Gabe Katona - synthesizer Dennis Lambert - vocal arranger, synthesizer, percussion synthesizer Roger Nichols - percussion synthesizer-Wendel Jeff Porcaro, John Robinson - drums Freddie Washington - bass Benjamin Wright - arranger
Charts Year Album Chart positions US USR&B 1983 Surface Thrills 159 19
Singles Year Single Chart positions US USR&B USAC UK 1983 "Love on My Mind Tonight" 88 17 — —"—" denotes releases that did not chart
References
External links Surface Thrills at Discogs Surface Thrills at Rate Your Music