Exile (1978) Try It On - LOST 70s GEMS

I must admit I am not too familiar with this group or their big hit , Kiss You All Over, from this album but I am slowly discovering them and I am impressed. What stands out is this group would go onto full on Country Pop success alongside groups like Alabama and produce the same saccharine ballad sounds of artists like Restless Heart but in the 70s their sound was quite different. Preceded by their minor hit Try It on in 1977, Mixed Emotions LP is full of Blue Eyed Disco or more aptly a funk inflected Soft Rock very close to the Bee Gees and the first album by Player as well as shades of AWB and latter day late 70s sounds of Dr Hook or Wild Cherry.


Try It On was pure disco with sweeping autumn strings flowing in the background and a funky guitar driven beat and strident lead vocals that hint at country but are more related to the Bee Gees's soft rock delivery. You Thrill Me was their follow up to the chart topper Kiss You All Over, it bears a celestial synth organ sound, orchestral 'oohs', and a slinky guitar running through it from the 'cool and quiet' verses to the galvanising chorus where the smooth country licks serve a disco function. The drum beat is that sparse dance beat heavy on the four on the floor beat rooting the song in a constant movement ahead of the song instead of rock, soul and pop's laidback grooves. Never Gonna Stop is pure down and dirty jazz fusion/funk guitar extravaganza mixing a little Reggae syncopation and some mellow synthesizers for the Bee Gees's chorus; the pin point bumping bass line is also key. There's Been a Chance is 100% Average White Band from the soulful thin harmonies to the slick chicken scratch guitar but the solo is supremely melodic in it's simplistic way of sliding up and down in octaves. Kiss You All Over was the hit with it's chirpy beat and sunny mix of disco strumming, blooming synths and a late morning hungover vocal before erupting into a triumphant sweetly distorted lead guitar and some clavinet and synth boogie notes in the background. 

 
The duck quack of a wah wah synth was a classic sound of 70s disco and it starts off the next track the romantic soft rocker Ain't Got No Time, the dance floor piano track is enlivened by the squeaky synth wah fills and a overexcited guitar at the end. Don't Do It is a sexy disco bass line tune with low blues vocals and a hallowed soulful chorus and some incredibly funky keyboard parts here and there but the chorus calls of 'Don't You Do It, Don't You Take Away my Soul'. One Step at a Time continues with the fluid guitar liens with another smooth funky riff followed by another ridiculously melodic disco bass led melody and silky blue eyed harmonies over the top; This is an Excellent Album! Lats but not least is Stay With Me, opening with a jangly pop rock guitar paying bluegrass picking notes before going into a bit of a sub par but still very catchy harmony drenched disco pop tune that the band was getting very adept to. Exile made up for the Brothers Gibb's low points; there are no shrill falsettos here or dreary ballads, all tunes stick to a jaunty disco vibe whilst maintaining mellow vocals but always with a focus on the upbeat as well as maintaining a sensitivity and strong melodicisims this is the best rival to the Bee Gees' blue eyed disco sound I've ever heard and have been looking for for a long time.