Gino Vannelli
Powerful People

While wandering through record fairs and markets, I've often asked for Gino Vannelli records and was frequently met with a half-mockery smile. I felt annoyed! Certainly, GV's pop inclination is undeniable, and perhaps that's what makes most people turn up their noses. Personally, in the 70s and 80s soft-rock scene, I feel I can assert that his particular skills and abilities make him a complete and versatile artist/interpreter, capable of deftly navigating between rock, jazz, soul, and AOR for a truly considerable span of time.

"Powerful People" from 1974 is his second work, a masterpiece! Going through the tracks of the album one by one, you sense a liveliness, enthusiasm, and a drive to emerge that are his trademark. Gino is light, pop (it's true!), but possesses a freshness and creativity that leaves his contemporaries (Barry Manilow, Paul Anka, etc.) behind, creating an increasingly personalized and recognizable sound that would thrive for more than a decade. Whether it's a ballad (Lady, Felicia) or a dance track on the edge of disco (People gotta move), the Italo-Canadian is in the piece, dominating and manipulating it as he wishes to make it maximally enjoyable to the listener. It's true, the Vannelli Inc. is actually a family-based partnership (Joe Vannelli, a highly talented keyboardist—just listen to some of the keyboard passages!) that heads a production (that of Herb Alpert) with great vision and prospects. This album flows practically without pause, so much so that during listening, you never feel the urge to skip a track or lift the needle. It goes down like the first sip of beer or the first two drags of a cigarette as you stroll the sidewalks in New York on a cold winter's evening. These are the atmospheres Vannelli wants us to breathe and they are perfectly captured when listening to "Powerful People."

Perhaps here on DeBaser no one had noticed that a review of this work was missing. I hope I have suitably remedied this absence and that listening to it serves as confirmation for you.

Long life to soft rock!