George Benson ~ Love X Love 1980 Disco Purrfection Version

George Benson understood that Quincy Jones had “broken some serious ice“ with Michael Jackson’s “Off The Wall“ and wanted Quincy’s input on his next LP. Writer Ron Temperton contributed five songs including the title song “Give Me The Night“ and “Love X Love“. Temperton’s input here also extended to giving George vocal direction, like phrasing and certain ways of singing his songs. Benson had total confidence in the duo’s abilities and followed their suggestions. He also felt that the album was so successful due to the background vocals of Patti Austin who with Diva Gray, Jim Gilstrap, Tom Bahler and Jocelyn Allen creating a warm and haunting counterpoint to the jazzy musical tracks. Another reason the mixes sounded so clean was that Quincy did not run the same tape over and over again with redubs which would result in sound degradation. Once the tape was filled up with takes, it was removed and stored until mixing time. Benson credits this with the excellent sonics and says that Jones still utilizes this process today. The drumming was handled by John Robinson, who started his career with Rufus & Chaka Khan “Masterjam“ LP and worked on Michael’s “Off The Wall“, Brothers Johnson’s “Light Up The Night“ and went on to work with Rene & Angela and the Pointer Sisters.