Alex Henderson

Fredi Grace & Rhinstone 
Get On Your Mark

In terms of production styles, R&B changed enormously during the 1980s. R&B was still very 1970s-minded in 1980 and 1981; the lavish string arrangements of Philadelphia International Records and Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra were still influential, and for hardcore funk bands, the punchy horn sections of Parliament/Funkadelic, Tower of Power, the Bar-Kays, Bootsy’s Rubber Band and Earth, Wind & Fire were the gold standard. Keyboards were commonly used in soul and funk during the 1970s, but they didn’t come at the expense of string sections, trumpets or saxophones—and when the 1980s started, the idea of R&B becoming totally electronic and programmed seemed far-fetched.

As the 1980s progressed, however, R&B became increasingly high-tech. By the middle of the decade, R&B recordings that emphasized horns or strings over synthesizers, sequencers or drums machines were considered “dated” or “old school”—and producers who favored the production styles of the 1970s were told that they needed to change with the times and go high-tech. New influences emerged, from the European synth-pop of Germany’s Kraftwerk to new wave rock to hip-hop—which in the 1980s, went from having an underground cult following to influencing everything from funk and dance music to heavy metal, punk and alternative rock.

When Fredi Grace & Rhinstone recorded Get On Your Mark for RCA Records in 1982, R&B hadn’t become as high-tech as it would be by the middle of the decade. But keyboards and synthesizers were becoming more and more prominent, and they are an integral part of this album.

Fredi Grace & Rhinstone were a trio consisting of Grace on lead vocals, Ros Sweeper on backing vocals and Keith “Keecho” Rawls on electric keyboards, acoustic piano, synthesizer bass and vocoder. The long list of musicians who join them on Get On Your Mark—which was their first album for RCA Records—includes Anthony Lockett (of Cameo fame) on guitar, Richard Horton on guitar and synthesizer, Mark Parrish on synthesizer, Ron Dover on saxophone, Dwight Watkins on electric bass, Yogi Horton on drums and Steve Kroon on percussion. The personnel varies from one selection to the next, but the input of Grace, Sweeper and Rawls is a constant throughout Get On Your Mark.

Ed Howard is the album’s producer, with Rawls serving as assistant producer—and Howard handles the vocal arrangements with Grace, Rawls and Sweeper. The rhythm arrangements, meanwhile, are handled by Howard and Rawls. Howard, to be sure, wears more than one hat on Get On Your Mark: on top of his producing and arranging, he helps Fredi Grace & Rhinstone with the songwriting on “Help (Save This Frantic Heart of Mine)” and the energetic “Won’t Cha Give It to Me.” Most of the songwriting, however, was done by members of Fredi Grace and Rhinstone—and that includes funky dance grooves as well as romantic ballads and slow jams.

Fredi Grace & Rhinstone’s danceable side asserts itself on the single “Help (Save This Frantic Heart of Mine)”—which, like so many dance grooves of the early 1980s, hints at Chic—“Love Thang,” “Go, Get On Your Mark” and “Sassy Fool.” But in 1982, some quiet storm radio programs in the United States took notice of the album’s romantic ballads, which include “Perfect Lover” and the Peabo Bryson song “Tell Me What’s on Your Mind" (which Bryson himself plays drums on). Meanwhile, “Won’t Cha Give It to Me” is a slow burner with a bit of a rock edge; it isn’t as danceable as “Love Thang,” “Go, Get On Your Mark” or “Sassy Fool,” but it isn’t a quiet storm ballad either.

It isn’t hard to understand why some quiet storm deejays took notice of “Tell Me What's on Your Mind” 34 years ago. Back in 1982, the name Peabo Bryson carried a lot of weight in quiet storm circles—and if a quiet storm DJ was playing something by Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass, Phyllis Hyman or Michael Henderson, chances are that one of Bryson’s recordings wasn’t far behind.

Getting Lockett to solo on “Won’t Cha Give It to Me” was a definite plus. Lockett had been a member of Cameo, bringing his guitar to hit albums such as Secret Omen in 1979, Cameosis and Feel Me in 1980 and Knights of the Sound Table in 1981. Cameo, under the direction of lead singer Larry Blackmon, were one of the top funk bands of the 1970s and 1980s—and they had no problem changing with the times when R&B moved in a more high-tech, hip-hop-influenced direction.

Fredi Grace & Rhinstone didn’t sound like Cameo, who were known for really hard, aggressive, gutbucket funk jams like “Shake Your Pants,” “I Just Want to Be,” “Freaky Dancing” and “Your Love Takes Me Out”; stylistically, Fredi Grace & Rhinstone had more in common with Chic, the Emotions, Dynasty or Shalamar. But Lockett was flexible and broad-minded, and he fights right in on this album.

When RCA Records first released Get On Your Mark in 1982, it was a seven-song vinyl LP. Funkytown Grooves’ expanded 2016 edition of Get On Your Mark, however, more than doubles the amount of material and turns the album into a 15-track CD. There are eight bonus tracks altogether on this reissue, including instrumental and 7” single versions of “Help (Save This Frantic Heart of Mine)” and 7” single versions of “Sassy Fool,” “Perfect Lover,” “Tell Me What’s on Your Mind" and “Won’t Cha Give It to Me.” And there are two bonus versions of “Love Thang”: a three-minute 7” single version and a longer seven-minute dance version. 

Get On Your Mark turned out to be Fredi Grace & Rhinstone’s only full-length album for RCA Records. After this release, they went on to record the five-song EP Tight for RCA. But they never recorded another full-length LP for the label.

Fredi Grace & Rhinstone did not achieve huge commercial success at RCA, but their recordings were enjoyable—and as this 2016 reissue of Get On Your Mark demonstrates, their work still holds up nicely after all these years.

—Alex Henderson, August 2016

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Salon.com, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, JazzTimes, Jazziz, The Raw Story, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, The New York City Jazz Record and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to the popular Allmusic.com website and The All Music Guide’s series of music reference books.