Bar Kays (1979) Running In And Out Of My Life

From their dance heavy 1979 LP Injoy, this pop ballad begins with a light bubblegum synthesizer before an orchestra enters. The high lead vocals communicate the song's weariness with a soulful fervour and works well with the soft rock strings flowing underneath along with punctuations of the groups' sax and horns. The strong pop feel mixes with the song's lyrics in a bittersweet melody, the lead vocalist's shrill delivery and the surging ARP keyboard solo make this a flavourful track . Starting as Otis Redding's backing band in the mid 60s they went on to become one of the toughest soul groups around, smaller than Parliament Funkadelic and Kool and the Gang and with a rawer sound than KC and the Sunshine Band.