Summer Heat/After 5

Personnel: Ray Parker, Jr., Regi Hargis Hickman (guitar); Jimmy Brown (flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone); Ambric Bridgeforth, Jr. (electric piano, Synclavier); Eddie Irons (keyboards, glockenspiel, drums, percussion); Ray Ransom (keyboards, percussion); Ollie Brown, Ollie E. Brown (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Ray Parker, Jr.
Recording information: Ameraycan Studios; Moleman Labs, Roswell, GA; Monarch Sound, Inc., Alpharetta, GA; Studio "B".
Brick's fifth and sixth albums get the two-for-one treatment on this 2010 release from the Sony-affiliated Funky Town Grooves label. Summer Heat (1981), a solid set of sophisticated funk, features co-production from Ray Parker, Jr. and arrangements from Gene Page. Its "Sweat (Till You Get Wet)" was a Top Ten Billboard Soul Singles hit, while several songs were also written with Parker. The less notable After 5 (1982), a reunion with early collaborator Phil Benton, contains only one single that charted in "Free Dancer." A straight reissue of the two albums on one disc, this contains no bonus tracks. ~ Andy Kellman