Keep on It

In the 1980s, didn't hesitate to be derivative. If and were hot in the early '80s, could emulate that type of sound. But if and his Minneapolis colleagues were ruling the R&B charts in the mid-'80s, the East Coast band could jump on that bandwagon and embrace the Minneapolis sound. So, not surprisingly, R&B critics tended to dismiss as bandwagon jumpers. But while was never innovative -- its members were followers, not leaders -- the band could be enjoyable at times. If you can get past its derivative nature, is a decent, if unspectacular, listen. The title song is a blatant rip-off of , but it's also an infectious rip-off of . And on other up-tempo dance-funk numbers such as milks the / groove for all its worth -- and it does so with catchy results. The lyrics tend to be obvious and formulaic; this LP isn't shy about resorting to every early-'80s funk and disco cliche imaginable. Nonetheless, isn't a bad record. In fact, its best tracks have a way of making listeners tap their feet even while they're complaining about 's lack of originality. ~ Alex Henderson