Alex Henderson

 Gene Page
Close Encounters/Love Starts After Dark

Gene Page was only 58 when health problems claimed his life on August 24, 1998. But the Los Angeles-based arranger/conductor left behind a long, impressive résumé that boasted associations with quite a few musical stars of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Indeed, anyone who has listened to a lot of R&B, pop-rock and Top 40 from those decades has no doubt heard many of Page’s famous arrangements or co-arrangements, which included “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” for the Righteous Brothers in 1964, “The In Crowd” for Dobie Gray that same year, “Last Time I Saw Him” for Diana Ross in 1973 and “Philadelphia Freedom” for Elton John in 1975. Page enjoyed a lucrative association with Barry White in the 1970s, helping to bring about major hits not only for White, but also, for his Love Unlimited Orchestra and the female vocal group Love Unlimited. Yet for someone who helped create so many hits for other artists, Page didn’t record very many albums on his own. After recording two albums for Atlantic Records (1975’s Hot City and 1976’s Lovelock), Page moved to Arista Records for two more albums: 1978’s Close Encounters and 1980’s Love Starts After Dark—and after that, he didn’t do any more recording under his own name. Collectors, for years, have searched for the hard-to-find vinyl LP versions of Close Encounters and Love Starts After Dark, and they will be happy to know that this reissue offers both of Page’s Arista albums back to back on the same CD.

Although Close Encounters and Love Starts After Dark were both recorded for the same label, they are two very different albums. Close Encounters is pure, unadulterated disco and gets a lot of inspiration from the glossy European disco sound of the 1970s, while Love Starts After Dark is much more soul-minded. But on both albums, Page’s lavish arranging style is easily recognizable.

A largely instrumental concept album, Close Encounters is built around a science fiction/outer space theme. But unlike Germany’s seminal synth-pop pioneers Kraftwerk, Page doesn’t achieve that sci-fi ambiance with a heavy emphasis on synthesizers, vocoders and electronic programming. Instead, Page oversees lush orchestral arrangements, finding the Euro-disco possibilities in everything from the Leigh Harline/Ned Washington standard “When You Wish Upon a Star” (originally heard in Walt Disney’s 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio) to the themes from the 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the hit television series Star Trek. Released as a single, Page’s arrangement of John Williams’ Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme peaked at #30 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart.

Page also applies the outer space/sci-fi theme to the standard “Moonglow” and Stevie Wonder’s “Saturn” as well as to some club-friendly originals, which include “Dancin’ in the Sky” and “Sho’ Like to Ride on Your Star” (a song Page co-wrote with Lamont Dozier, who was one-third of Motown Records’ legendary Holland/Dozier/Holland team of the 1960s). Written in 1933, “Moonglow” has been recorded by numerous jazz artists over the years. Clarinetist/bandleader Artie Shaw’s 1941 version, for example, was a favorite among swing dancers, but Page recorded “Moonglow” with a different type of dancing in mind: disco dancing.

When this CD makes the transition from Close Encounters to Love Starts After Dark, one can hear the difference immediately. Page takes a much funkier approach on Love Starts After Dark, emphasizing vocal personality and successfully balancing disco considerations and soul considerations. And he maintains that vocal-oriented aesthetic by featuring female singers who include, among others, Merry Clayton, Phyllis St. James and Charmaine Sylvers (who had been part of the Sylvers, the family group remembered for 1970s hits that included “Boogie Fever,” “Hotline” and “High School Dance”).

Love Starts After Dark has plenty of danceable moments, but the disco one hears on “I Wanna Dance,” “Hold On to That Groove,” “Put a Little Love in Your Lovin'” and the title track is disco-soul rather than the European-style disco favored on Close Encounters. While much of Close Encounters brings to mind glittery Euro-disco artists like Love & Kisses, Cerrone, Amanda Lear and the Munich Machine, the more dance-oriented parts of Love Starts After Dark are closer in sprit to soul-minded dance divas such as Gloria Gaynor, Linda Clifford and the late Loleatta Holloway. That includes the title track, a #46 dance hit that features Charmaine Sylvers and was written by her brother Leon Sylvers III.

But Love Starts After Dark isn’t strictly a disco-soul album. “Hollywood” is gritty funk, while “With You in the Night” and “You Are the Meaning of This Song” are smooth quiet storm offerings. “With You in the Night” is actually a vocal version of Herb Alpert’s “Behind the Rain,” previously recorded as a pop-jazz instrumental by Argentinean jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri in 1976 and Alpert himself in 1979. And although “Second Time Around” (not to be confused with Shalamar’s 1979 hit) has a pronounced Chic influence, Page draws on Chic’s medium-tempo output rather than their uptempo disco-funk hits. 

Most of Love Starts After Dark was produced by Page and his brother Billy Page. However, the exuberant “Put a Little Love In Your Lovin'” was written and produced by singer Ray Parker, Jr. of Raydio fame. Helping with the horn arrangements on Love Starts After Dark are Cleveland, Ohio’s Kinsman Dazz, who soon changed their name to the Dazz Band and enjoyed considerable success in 1982 with their funk classic “Let It Whip.”

Page’s admirers were disappointed that he didn’t record any more albums of his own after Love Starts After Dark. But Page kept busy in the 1980s, bringing his talents to major R&B/adult contemporary hits that included “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” for Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack, “The Greatest Love of All” for Whitney Houston and “Endless Love” for Lionel Richie and Diana Ross. Page died much too young, but as this reissue demonstrates, the Southern Californian made the most of the time he had.

—Alex Henderson, March 2013

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