Atlanta power-poppers The Producers return with their 1982 follow-up to their debut which was released the year before.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: The Producers
ALBUM: You Make The Heat
LABEL: Portrait
SERIAL: ARR 38060
YEAR: 1982
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Wayne Famous – keyboards, backing vocals * Van Temple – vocals, guitar * Kyle Henderson – vocals, bass * Bryan Holmes – drums, backing vocals
Additional Musicians: Jimmy Dugan, Pam Johnzie – backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Back To Basics * 02 She Sheila * 03 Operation * 04 Dear John * 05 Breakaway * 06 You Make The Heat * 07 Merry-go-round * 08 Chinatown * 09 Domino
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Atlanta power-poppers The Producers return with their 1982 follow-up to their debut which was released the year before. Whereas that album contained thirteen tracks of 2-3 minute sugar bullets, ‘You Make The Heat’ features just nine tracks some of which breach the 5 minute mark. It has all the hallmarks of a more serious record, and by the sounds of it, a bigger production courtesy of Tom Werman.
The Songs
On this album, I can hear traces of British trio The Police filtering through, noticeable in some of the rhythmic elements, plucky guitar runs and a faint hint of reggae. Some of these aspects you can hear on the opening ‘Back To Basics’. By far, the standout track is ‘She Sheila’, A minor hit for The Producers making it into the Billboard top 50 singles chart at #48. Love the keyboard work here, the song propelled by a super chorus. Check the video below.
‘Operation’ with it’s staggered drum work is a touch heavier than previous material that I’ve heard from these guys, and it sounds good to me. ‘Dear John’ is the longest song at 5 min 59 sec, it punches out with tough parts and hard driving synth work. ‘Breakaway’ returns the band to a looser pop sound, with a hint of The Police, Novo Combo and The Outfield in the mix. The title track ‘You Make The Heat’ is a jangly affair, with an interesting arrangement similar again to The Police. This was the early 80’s after all.
The phone is off the hook for the party-pop of ‘Merry-go-round’, the band lift for the bubbly sounding ‘Chinatown’, though it does tend to undulate in tempo between verse and chorus. The finale ‘Domino’ is one of the better tracks left till last, the stomping backbeat adding a degree of toughness all round. This transition from power pop to an edgy form of pop rock was a good move I reckon.
In Summary
Despite ‘She Sheila’ making chart action, it wasn’t enough for The Producers to retain a deal with Portrait, who let the band go after this record. They soldiered on right through the 80’s with an independent third album release ‘Run For Your Life’ in 1985, plus a new deal in 1988 with MCA which saw the band record their fourth album, but again were let go due to MCA’s internal reorganizing during 1989, the album initially unreleased but finally seeing the light of day in 2001.
‘You Make The Heat’ did actually receive a One Way Records 2fer CD release in 2000 along with the debut. As you can imagine, it’s long out of the print but you can find it online via Spotify or better yet: You Tube Music, as per this link.
Video
Back To Basics
She Sheila
