Tag Archives: thecrusaders

Randy Crawford: Secret Combination @ 45

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In 1981, when jazz, pop and R’n’B were fusing to create a very agreeable kind of high-gloss yacht rock, us Brits went for the WEA gang (David Sanborn, Patrice Rushen, Manhattan Transfer, George Benson, Al Jarreau et al) in a big way.

But Georgia-born Randy Crawford probably sold the most records. In her own modest way, she was one of the great stars of 1980s soul, and her beautiful, flawless voice and joyful presence added a lot to the decade.

‘Street Life’, her collaboration with The Crusaders, went top 5 in autumn 1979, and movingtheriver will never forget first hearing her version of ‘Imagine’ on the radio a few years later.

But Secret Combination, released 45 years ago this month and produced by Tommy LiPuma, was Crawford’s biggest album success here, hitting #2 (though weirdly it didn’t cross over in the US, only making #12 on the Billboard R’n’B chart).

This writer’s dad didn’t buy much 1980s soul but Secret Combination was around all the time early in the decade. It seemed so lush and exotic, sheer luxury soul/pop with gorgeous arrangements/electric piano by Leon Pendarvis and the slinky Abe Laboriel/Jeff Porcaro/Dean Parks/Lenny Castro rhythm section.

But listening back today, it does seem overshadowed by three all-time classics (‘You Might Need Somebody’, ‘Rainy Night In Georgia’, ‘Rio De Janeiro Blue’), with too much filler and too many ballads (a clue is the huge amount of credited songwriters).

But even the most humdrum tracks are enlivened by striking bits of arrangement, like the superb strings/flutes and unexpected post-chorus key change on ‘That’s How Heartaches Are Made’ (also listen out for a rare Porcaro flub – wonder why they left it in…).

Crawford was a star of the 1981 Montreux Jazz Festival, documented on the classic Casino Lights live album, and then she toured the UK in early 1982 including a famous televised gig at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (sadly currently missing from BBC iPlayer).

Her next two albums – Windsong and Nightline – repeated the Secret Combination formula (with similar issues in the songwriting department) and were fairly successful in the UK too, and then she had that freak (self-penned) massive hit ‘Almaz’ in 1986.

Gig Review: Mel Gaynor @ 606 Club, 25 September 2025

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Mel Gaynor spent almost 30 years playing superb drums with Simple Minds in studios, stadiums and sports halls across the globe.

But it’s also oft-forgotten that he was also one of the key British session drummers of the 1980s, working with Joan Armatrading, Elton John, Heaven 17, Pretenders, Kirsty MacColl and others (and, in a 1992 Sunday Times poll, was named the world’s best rock drummer by Stewart Copeland, no less).

So it’s always interesting seeing such behemoths of the drums in tiny venues, often un-mic’d and playing small kits. And they don’t come much more intimate or friendlier than the 606 – though the club always has excellent acoustics.

Gaynor’s latest live project eschews the heavy rock of last year’s Come With Me album and returns him to the fusion and jazz/funk of his youth (he started his career playing with Britfunk legends Central Line), alongside pianist John Watson, who has also worked with Sister Sledge, Imagination and Mica Paris, and impressive young bassist Issy Brown. On this gig, they were also joined by MOBO and Mercury-winning saxophonist Denys Baptiste – a real coup.

A fit, healthy and happy-looking Gaynor settled behind the kit with no fuss and counted off ‘Got The Message’, a Crusaders-style, medium-tempo slow-burner, with Baptiste outlining a pretty melody and Brown digging in with excellent tone and judicious use of his low B string. Gaynor was the epitome of taste and groove here, but still found time for one explosive ‘Alive And Kicking’-style snare fill towards the end.

Denys Baptiste, Issy Brown and Mel Gaynor @ the 606

‘Beyond The Stars’, touchingly dedicated by Gaynor to his late father, started with an African-tinged 6/4 drum loop, before settling into another pretty, gentle tune with a touch of Jason Rebello’s writing about it.

‘Preludio’, written by Watson, chugged along with a nice Morrissey-Mullen-style samba groove, and became a feature for Baptiste’s tenor, wittily quoting Dennis Edwards’ ‘Don’t Look Any Further’, with which it shared a chord sequence.

Baptiste also elevated ‘Zeta’ – apparently Gaynor’s manager’s favourite tune. The saxophonist can do it all, from Grover Washington Jr. soul to sixteenth-note meltdown, Michael Brecker-style. It was nice to hear Watson lay out for a while too, then return to trade spicy fours with Baptiste. Gaynor also raised the volume level by about 25%, suddenly shifting into fifth gear with some terrific Tony Williams-style fills around the toms.

This was not an evening of cutting-edge jazz/rock, with not a broken beat nor drum-and-bass groove in sight, nor was it volatile fusion in the Mahavishnu or Lifetime mold. But if Mel’s music leans more towards the softer style of the late 1970s/early 1980s, from Average White Band to The Crusaders via Incognito and Morrissey-Mullen, it’s no worse for that.

And the set showed Gaynor to be an excellent ‘pocket’ drummer, with much power in reserve. But then you already knew that from his work with Simple Minds.