Don Blackman

Don Blackman could never be accused of clogging the bins with his own records. Prior to this 1982 debut for GRP -- the songwriter/keyboardist/vocalist's lone LP until 2002 -- he was quite visible, though only as a desired touring and session hand, with connections to Parliament/Funkadelic, Lenny White/Twennynine, and Weldon Irvine. At this point in his career, he was riding high on the successes of Twennynine's ''Peanut Butter'' and Bernard Wright's ''Haboglabotribin','' two monstrously funky cuts he penned and was spotlighted on. He seemed to approach the first opportunity to flex on his own as if he was on a mission -- his self-titled album is as phenomenal as anything else his contemporaries were producing at the time (George Duke in particular), elegantly merging styles and adding new dimensions with each passing track.

• 1 Yabba Dabba Doo
• 2 Heart's Desire
• 3 Holding You Loving You
• 4 Deaf Hook-Up Connection
• 5 You Ain't Hip
• 6 Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide
• 7 Since You Been Away So Long
• 8 Never Miss A Thing