by Alex Henderson
Helen Lowe's replacement, Sylvia St. James, joined Side Effect with its third album, Goin' Bananas, which fell short of the excellence of What You Need, but is generally decent. Although Lowe's departure was a major loss for the group, St. James shows herself to be an expressive and capable vocalist on the catchy "Private World," the title tune (a goofy yet infectious funk song), and an interpretation of "Cloudburst" that is probably the group's most jazz-oriented offering ever. Augie Johnson, meanwhile, has a charming lead vocal on "Open Up Your Heart." Though Side Effect didn't have a lot of major hits, the funky single "It's All In Your Mind" made it to #18 on Billboard's R&B singles chart. For this LP, Side Effect went all out with the bananas gimmick -- St. James was depicted in a Carmen Miranda-like getup, and Fantasy pressed the LP on yellow vinyl.