Real Gone

For many fans of Blaxploitation cinema, Willie Hutch is synonymous with the soundtracks to the genre’s greatest films, Foxy Brown and The Mack. But for scholars of soul, he is equally revered for his work as a solo recording artist as well. And in the late 1970s, the man who has also produced and co-written songs for such Motown heavyweights as Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Jackson 5 dove headfirst into the neon-hued waters of funk’s disco with a pair of deep dish platters that rank high among his most significant work as an independent act. Both 1978’s In Tune and 1979’s Midnight Dancer were recorded for Whitfield Records, the label launched by Hutch’s production and songwriting partner at Motown, the legendary Normal Whitfield. The string arrangements on both titles—both beautifully remastered by the Real Gone imprint—were done by Gene Page, the man behind the orchestral sweep of beloved favorites by everybody from Barbara Streisand to the Buffalo Springfield to Whitney Houston to Jose Feliciano to Cher to Barry White and then some. Meanwhile, the rhythms were laid down thick by a task force of Funk Brothers, namely guitarist Wah-Wah Watson, percussion player Bongo Brown and drummer Jack Ashford. And that combination of strings and sizzle is exactly what makes both of these lost treasures of the disco era so invaluable to such prolific crate diggers as Madlib, Egon and the late J. Dilla as Hutch bridges the gap between George Duke and the Love Unlimited Orchestra across these two classic titles. Still think disco sucks? Give In Tune and Midnight Dancer a chance to get your mind right.