Sweat is the eighteenth studio album by the band Kool & the Gang, released in 1989 following a three-year gap between albums. James "J.T." Taylor, Khalis Bayyan and Robert "Spike" Mickens had departed, and this album showed a refocused band.
Singles Both "Raindrops" (peak #27) and "Never Give Up" (peak #74) on the Billboard Hot Soul Songs chart.
Critical reception
Ron Wynn of AllMusic called the album "a completely faceless, aimless record ... probably the worst album of their career". Hugh Wyatt of the New York Daily News called Sweat "one of the year's best recordings".
Track listing
Personnel
Kool & the Gang Odeen Mays – vocals, keyboards Larry Gittens – keyboards, trumpet, vocals Claydes Charles Smith – guitars Robert "Kool" Bell – bass George Brown – drums Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas – alto saxophone, percussion, vocals Clifford Adams – trombone, vocals Sennie "Skip" Martin – vocals, trumpet, percussion
Album performers Odeen Mays – lead vocals (1, 2, 4, 7, 10), backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 8), keyboard solo (2), keyboards (3, 11), programming (10), additional synthesizer strings (10) Skip Martin – backing vocals (2–6, 11), lead vocals (3–9, 11), trumpet solo (7), horns (8) Royal Bayyan – programming (1), keyboards (1, 5), guitars (1), backing vocals (1), drum programming (5) Curtis "Fitz" Williams – keyboards (1, 4), programming (4, 10), drums (4), backing vocals (4), synthesizer strings (10), drum programming (10) Curtis Dowd – keyboards (2, 8), bass (8) Jim Salamone – keyboards (2), drum programming (2, 8) Randy Cantor – keyboards (3, 8) Robert "Kool" Bell (Master Rock) – programming (4) Chuckii Booker – keyboard programming (6, 7, 9), drum programming (6, 7, 9), additional vocals (6, 7, 9) Donald Robinson – keyboards (8) Randy Bowland – guitars (2, 3, 8) Claydes Charles Smith – guitars (6, 10, 11), programming (11) Doug Grigsby – bass (3) Sonny Emory – drums (3) George Brown – percussion (6), programming (10), additional synthesizer strings (10), live drums (10) Dennis Thomas – alto saxophone (1, 10), sax solo (3), horns (8), saxophones (11) Clifford Adams – trombone (1, 11), backing vocals (2, 8, 10, 11), trombone solo (7), horns (8) Larry Gittens – trumpet (1) Rick Kerber – horns (8) Ron Kerber – horns (8) Troy Taylor – backing vocals (1) Steve Wise – backing vocals (2, 3, 8) Lori Fulton – backing vocals (3) Gary Brown – backing vocals (4) Patrice Linder – backing vocals (4) Tamala Renatyah Adams – backing vocals (10, 11) Debbie Robinson – backing vocals (10, 11) Penny Saunders – backing vocals (11)
Music arrangements Curtis Dowd – arrangements (2), rhythm arrangements (8) Jim Salamone – arrangements (2), rhythm arrangements (8) Rick Kerber – horn arrangements (3, 8), string arrangements (3) Ron Kerber – horn arrangements (3, 8), string arrangements (3), concertmaster (3) Skip Martin – BGV arrangements (4) Curtis Williams – arrangements (4), BGV arrangements (4) Chuckii Booker – arrangements (6, 7, 9)
Party people on "You Got My Heart on Fire" Lisa Barclay Robert "Kool" Bell Greg Biddlecome Gary Brown Terri Brown Curtis "B. Boy" Williams Curtis F. Williams Jr. Sandra Williams
Production Royal Bayyan – producer (1, 5) Nick Martinelli – producer (2, 3, 8) Curtis Williams – producer (4, 10) Chuckii Booker – producer (6, 7, 9) George Brown – producer (10, 11) Claydes Charles Smith – producer (11) Kool & the Gang – producers (11) Lisa Barclay – coordinator Charles Stone – production manager Annette Cirrilo – cover art direction Sheryl Lutz-Brown – cover design Attitudes By Sakinah – wardrobe Jimmell Mardome – wardrobe designs Adil Bayyan – tour manager Jerome Phillips – tour managing assistant Buzz Willis – management, direction
Technical credits Mark Partis – engineer (1), tracking engineer (4, 5, 10, 11), mix engineer (10, 11) Tom Vercillo – engineer (1) Royal Bayyan – mixing (1) Franz Verna – mix engineer (1) Bruce Weeden – engineer (2, 3, 8) Tony Volante – tracking engineer (4, 5, 9, 10) Carl Beatty – mix engineer (4, 5) Craig Burbidge – recording (6, 9), mixing (6, 9), additional engineer (7), engineer (9) David Koenig – recording (7), mixing (7) Frank Cardello – assistant engineer (1, 4–6, 9–11), assistant mix engineer (4, 5, 10) Anthony Saunders – assistant engineer (1, 4, 5, 10), assistant mix engineer (11) John Sullivan – assistant engineer (2, 3, 8) Sal Viarlli – assistant engineer (2, 3, 8) Russ Elevado – assistant engineer (4) Gregg Barrett – assistant engineer (6, 7, 9) Jackie Forsting – assistant engineer (6) Anthony Jeffries – assistant engineer (7, 9)
Charts +Chart performance for Sweat Chart (1989) PeakpositionGerman Albums (Offizielle)28 French Albums (SNEP)29 Swiss Albums (Hitparade)30 US Billboard Top Soul Albums52
References