SMASH aka HOT ICE

The Roots of SWITCH and DEBARGE

In 1974 I met the music group WHITE HEAT in Hollywood, California, named after Barry White. In 1975 their album was released through RCA. At the end of 1975 Barry White dropped White Heat as a tax write off, keeping their bass player Vince Jefferson, for his Love Unlimed Orchester, today in 2000 the only member left in Barry´s orchester from the 1970th.

Vince who later married musician Eleanor Rigby, the same lady the BEATLES met at Capitol Records and named their song "Eleanor Rigby" after her.

Gregory Williams wrote me to Hamburg/Germany about their situation. God had planned that just at that time I was getting financing for the production of an R & B album. The members of the group gave me their okay to deal for them on their behalve in Germany. Unfortunately the band was falling apart. This album contains eight straight to the bone funk tunes to funky melodic urban poetries in motion, including small rap lines by T.C. Brown. Music created and played with heart and soul on analogue instruments only, every note by real human musicians.

For example: Gregory Williams playing trumpet, B-3 Organ and Rhodes 88 keys electric piano, Bobby DeBarge playing funky Rhodes electric piano, Tommy DeBarge playing that funky Fender bass and Jody Sims the Rogers drums. This album became 1977 HOT ICE in Germany and German speaking countries on Polydor Records and in 1979 SMASH, released on Source Records/MCA through the rest of the universe. It created two USA R & B hit acts for Motown Records from HOT ICE to SWITCH and SMASH to DEBARGE.