RAIDER OF THE LOST ARK

The Pips | Callin'
Casablanca Records LP, 1978

A1 Baby I'm Your Fool (7:45)*
A2 Callin' (5:26)
A3 Mr Blue (3:31)
A4 Lights Of The City (3:55)

B1 Anything (5:38)
B2 I Don't Have A Heart (3:26)
B3 Don't Stop (3:19)
B4 Love You Tonight (7:56)*

Produced by Bunny Sigler aka Bundino Siggalucci for Bundino Productions
Executive Producer: Cecil Holmes
Music By: Instant Funk & The Southwest Philly Horn Section

Dennis Richardson: Piano
Scotty Miller: Drums
Kim Miller: Guitar
Raymond Earl: Bass
Charles Williams: Percussion
Larry Davis: Trumpet
Eric Huff: Trombone
Johnny Onderland: Saxophone

*Mixed by: Tom Moulton

Recorded at: Magic Wand Studios, Burbank
Strings and Horns Mixed at: Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia.
Mastered at: Sterling Sound, New York.
Art Direction: Stephen Lumel/Gribbitt!
Photography: Andrew Su
Pips Photo: Reed Fenton

Thanks to Tom Moulton for the Tom Moulton Mix on, "Baby I'm Your Fool" and "Let Me Love You Tonight"

With the help of God this is only the beginning...
Bunny Sigler aka The Love Man, Bundino Siggalucci

[p]1978 Casablanca Record and Filmworks, Inc.
Original LP

boomp3.com

Callin', the second of two albums that the Pips recorded without Gladys Knight in the late '70s, didn't come out on Philadelphia International but might as well have. This LP was produced by Bunny Sigler, who does most of the writing, and the Pips are backed by the Philly soul-funk band Instant Funk (best known for its major hit "I Got My Mind Made Up"). So not surprisingly, Callin' (which was recorded in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank but mixed at Philly's legendary Sigma Sound Studios) is about as Philly-sounding as it gets. Thanks to Sigler and Instant Funk, the Pips end up having a lot of O'Jays/Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes/Intruders-type appeal; and Sigler can also take credit for the fact that 1978's Callin' is a stronger, more satisfying release than 1977's uneven At Last... the Pips. As far as Philly soul goes, Callin' isn't in a class with the O'Jays' Survival or Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' To Be True. But it's definitely respectable, and the Pips are as pleasing on the up-tempo selections as they are on the ballad "Anything" (which is easily recommended to anyone who savored the unapologetic crooning of the O'Jays' "Forever Mine"). Now for the bad news: Casablanca gave Callin' very little promotion, and the LP died as quick a death as At Last...the Pips.

Review by Alex Henderson

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