by Alex Henderson
In 1982, Cerrone was determined to forge ahead; and, for the Paris native, that meant paying a lot less attention to the type of Eurodisco that had endeared him to European audiences in the late 1970s. You won't find a lot of Eurodisco on 1982's Back Track; instead, this vinyl LP emphasizes sleek, sophisticated R&B/pop and is often quite mindful of the sounds that urban contemporary stations were playing at the time. Memorable items like &Stop on By,& &Strollin' on Sunday,& and the title track (which enjoyed some urban contemporary airplay on the East Coast) don't sound anything like &Love in C Minor& or &Take Me,& but they have a lot in common with the material that Kashif and his allies were producing and writing for Evelyn &Champagne& King in 1981 and 1982. However, Cerrone acknowledges his past with an interesting remake of &Supernature,& which features singer Nanette Workman and is more R&B-minded than the original version. And &Trippin' on the Moon& has a European dance-pop flavor. But Back Track is an R&B album first and foremost, and while it isn't among Cerrone's essential releases, it's solid and respectable.