Alicia Myers with Al Hudson & The Partners - You Can Do It (1979)


The striking vocal play between the sweet soulful sound of Al Hudson against the full throated gospel glory of Alicia Myers turns this song into terrific disco. Funky as hell, the music track is simple but anthemic, "You Can Do It" is just what you need to hear right now. Disco is all about celebrating community and being on the up, two things that seem to be in short supply these days. I first heard this song in the summer of 1979 and the original surprising intro made my disco buddy, Mona put her beer down, so I did too and we marveled at the newest sound while dancing to this new funky disco with a slow burnin groove that could not be stopped. A run to the DJ booth and I got the name of the band ONE WAY and the following Friday I had a copy of the LP. Reading the liner notes I found a wealth of information about the band and that it was written by Alicia Meyers and Kevin McCord. Being an ex-Detroit boy, I am impressed with the amount of talent that city has provided to musical history. I say this because Al Hudson was born in Detroit, MI and he found the rest of the band members from the fertile fields of the Motor City in 1976. Rounding out the band were Dave Robertson on guitars, Gregory Greeen on drums with Kevin McCord on bass duty. From 1976 to the end of 1978 they were known as Al Hudson & The Soul Partners, but signing to MCA in 1979 the name changed to One Way. Usually with a name change puts distance between where you are and where you were by also making a stylistic change. Who knows! The band started off as The Soul Partners and they were signed to Bell Records in 1968 and released a few obscure singles. Then the name changed to Al Hudson & The Partners when they changed labels to ATCO Records in 1975, then moved on to ABC Records and they released three LPS for that label. They then acquired keyboardist Gary Schunk and powerhouse vocalist Alicia Myers just in time to record their MCA debut LP that gave them their 1st bonifide club hit with the #10 peak of their debut single, "You Can Do It" which spent twenty weeks on the disco survey. You will find the same song credited to One Way ft Al Hudson or Al Hudson & The Partners. Its possible that the name confusion may have contributed to the low charting of the the official follow up, "Music", peaked at #30 in early 1980 and became their second highest charting single until 1982`s "Cutie Pie" hit #29. In 1987 the #29 chart peak of "You Better Quit" matched that accomplishment.




 

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