First-ever vinyl reissue of Junior Byron’s Sunshine, the Canadian singer’s lone LP released in 1981 by Montreal-based Formula Records, now highly coveted by discerning funk, boogie and rare groove selectors. André Perry & Joe La Greca’s ace production coupled with Byron’s heartfelt wailing on tracks like “Galaxy,” “Heart To Heart Sensation” and the title track boast the soulful fever of Salsoul and the slick machine-funk of SOLAR on the same record. The absolute highlight, for us, has got to be the atmospheric, late-nite cool of “Inch By Inch.” Also check out Byron channeling Rick James’ feral howl on dancefloor bomb “Space Cowboy.” Patient collectors who managed to refrain from dropping $200-300 on an original copy are rewarded handsomely, as this Favorite Recordings pressing splits the original LP’s 7 tracks onto two vinyl LPs, cut nice and deep. Recommended.

• official repress
• first-ever double vinyl pressing
• music label: Favorite Recordings 2017

reviewed by hannibal chew 01/2018