Slave

"No no no," an A&R man to remain nameless exclaimed to Steve Washington last year. "Not funk. Funk's not the future. It's disco, disco." Whereupon Washington, unaware that by the time his album appeared the same a&r man would either have declared disco dead or been declared dead himself, bought some string programs, taught the boys to sing those backups high, and made room for Starleana Young. Sure there's still a fair amount of thump and wah-wah-wah. But with Starleana singing over their shoulders, they're embarrassed to get too dirty about it. (Grade: B-)