When
Stargard soared to number one on the R&B singles charts with
"Theme From 'Which Way Is Up'" in late 1977, the female trio was hyped as "the next
Labelle" -- and
Rochelle Runnells,
Debra Anderson, and
Janice Williams also found themselves being compared to
the Pointer Sisters.
Labelle and
the Pointer Sisters are, in fact, valid comparisons because
Stargard was among the grittier female R&B groups to emerge in the late 1970s. If you wanted the sort of breathy sweetness that
the Supremes and
the Three Degrees were known for, you wouldn't get it from
Stargard -- like
Labelle and
the Pointer Sisters,
Stargard favored robust, gospel-minded belting. Regrettably,
Stargard only had a few major hits and wasn't as big as it should have been, although the funk-soul trio's recording career got off to a promising start with this 1978 LP (which was produced by
Mark Davis). Those who bought
Stargard because of
"Which Way Is Up" found the rest of the album to be quite solid; the threesome brings as much conviction to exuberant, up-tempo numbers like
"Smile" and
"Disco Rufus" as it does to the ballads
"Love Is So Easy" and
"Don't Change." Surprisingly,
"Which Way Is Up" turned out to be the album's only major hit. But even so, one could hear a tremendous amount of potential on this excellent debut. ~ Alex Henderson
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