“When i’m far out in the night and searching for a light, there’s darkness all around and you’re nowhere to be found…” Richard A. Hewson formed the R.A.H. Band in 1976 after an illustrious career spent arranging songs for Herbie Hancock, The Beatles, Supertramp, Diana Ross and more. Hewson played most of the instruments himself, with Barry Da Souza on drums and wifey Liz Hewson providing the sugary vocals. Hewson & co’s vivid imagination is on full display on their 3rd LP Going Up, teleporting the group out of rainy England and into the favelas of Brasil, chic discoteques of uptown Manhattan and the far reaches of space. The album gets straight to the point with “Messages From The Stars,” a perfect boogie track in every possible way (real recognize real: it was Dam-Funk who first hipped us to this absolute scorcher of a track way back in 2008, on his first-ever Stones Throw mix). “Two Bodies” is the other slapper here, but don’t sleep on the sweeter cuts: “Perfumed Garden,” “Winter Love” and “Tears & Rain.” “Roll Me Down To Rio” and “Sam The Samba Man” puts a breezy bossa spin on Hewson’s cosmic boogie sound. If lush synths, vocoder and drum machines are your thing, look no further, you need this one. Recommended.

• black vinyl pressing
• full color pic sleeve
• original release year: 1983
• music label: Shock Music 2025

reviewed by hannibal chew 02/2018