The Brand New Heavies: Brother Sister (2LP, 30th anniversary edition) [LONDON]

Why you'll love it

This 30th anniversary 2LP set is newly remastered and adds "Los Burritos," "Baby Don't Use Me" and "Touch of Your Love" on side D. Brother Sister reached No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart and went platinum in the UK.

This edition

• 2LP set
• 30th anniversary edition
• Remastered
• Three bonus tracks

About the album

Acid jazz was a London scene that took old funk records, a bit of hip hop swagger and a lot of good shoes, and The Brand New Heavies were its biggest stars. Simon Bartholomew, Andrew Levy and Jan Kincaid had the grooves, and in American singer N'Dea Davenport they had the voice to carry them onto daytime radio.

The band produced Brother Sister themselves, and it is their warmest record. "Dream On Dreamer" was the lead single, "Back to Love" and "Spend Some Time" followed, the latter spending two weeks at No. 2 on the American dance chart, and their cover of Maria Muldaur's "Midnight at the Oasis" became a UK hit. "Have a Good Time," "Ten Ton Take" and the title track keep the band's funk roots front and centre.

It was Davenport's last album with the group for a decade, which gives it a certain snapshot quality, a band at full stretch before the line-up changed. Thirty years on, the shoes have been resoled but the grooves are just as fresh.

Also at Kops: more The Brand New Heavies on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On London (cat# LMS1725113), a reissue of the 1994 album.