Grazing in the Grass in Bloomington, MN

If you have no concept of
the Monitors
, who recorded for
Motown Records
in the mid-'60s, this CD won't cause any major problems, but if you do, you might scratch your head and say "huh?" The original
Monitors
were led by
Richard Street
, and the other members were
Maurice Fagin
,
Sandra Fagin
, and
Warren Harris
; this new group, assembled in the late '80s, consisted of
Leah Harris
Herschel Hunter
Darrell Littlejohn
(
Smokey Robinson
's nephew) on lead.
Littlejohn
is vocally like his famous uncle and not at all like
Street
. Hence, these
come off like third-rate
Miracles
. With a few exceptions, the songs are weak. Ex-
Motowner
Sylvia Moy
produced the album along with
Ian Levine
-- the mastermind of the
Motorcity
projects. Subjective picks: the title track,
"Cold as Ice,"
"Rescue My Heart,"
and
"You Are My Destiny."
~ Andrew Hamilton