Black & Dekker

Desmond Dekker recorded an album called Black & Dekker (1980), which featured his previous hits backed by The Rumour, Graham Parker's backing band and Akrylykz (featuring Roland Gift, later of Fine Young Cannibals). Unfortunately, with Dekker, the bands fizzled, and across a dozen tracks (including all of Dekker's biggest hits), even the singer can't salvage anything from this disaster, no matter how hard he tries. That was the view at the time, but hindsight softens the blows somewhat. The musicians are incredibly tight here, with the sizzling sax solos giving the proceedings a blast of Stax that shakes up the pubby flavor of the arrangements. Compared to Dekker's sugary 1975 set, The Israelites, and the nadir of new releases still to come, Black and Dekker stands tall. Nowhere near as bad as memories suggest, but one expected better nevertheless.