by Ed Hogan
Skip Scarborough (Earth, Wind & Fire, Con Funk Shun, Patti Labelle) produced this pleasant collection of disco songs (many of which were club hits), ballads, and mid-tempo tracks from singer Freda Payne. There's a rousing melody that makes good use of the standard "Happy Days Are Here Again." Other highlights are the stimulating "Pullin' Back," the playful "Tell Me Please," a chugging clavinet-filled "Livin' for the Beat" (co-written by her then-husband Gregory Abbott), the soft "Just the Thought of You" (co-written by Thom Bell), and the jazzy string/sax-woven slow jam "Falling in Love," co-written by Deniece Williams. Payne's sister Scherrie Payne wrote the dynamic "Storybook Romance" and later redid it as half of Scherrie & Susaye on the 1979 Motown LP Partners.