Search - Taste of Honey :: A Taste of Honey / Twice as Sweet

Highly Underrated!

Music Lover | Annapolis, MD | 10/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Taste of Honey is one of those groups who have unfairly been plastered with "one hit wonder" status with "Boogie Oogie Oogie". Sure, when the song came out, I hated it, but several decades later, it really isn't a bad song. Just listen to the bass playing. On these 2 CD's the ladies of TOH show us that they are much more than disco divas. They do a nice job with ballads including their remake of "Sukiyaki".



There are a few disco cash-in songs like "Disco Dancin" but they are very few and aren't all that bad. To me, the music on these CD's isn't all that different from what Patrice Rushen was doing on albums like "Posh". There are also some similarities to Stephanie Mills or a very toned down Rufus/Chaka Kahn.



Some favorites include "You're In Good Hands", "Sky High", "If We Loved", though all the tracks are quite good. "You're In Good Hands" is a remake of a song Jermaine Jackson recorded early in his solo career.



We also need to remember that the ladies of TOH were also instrumentalists which was rare for a female R&B group of the 70's.



If you like sleek, well produced R&B (both uptempo & slow) you will enjoy these CD's. Don't worry about what your friends say. My friends always laugh when I tell them I like TOH. They don't know what they are missing."

Two highly enjoyable albums

Jazysol79 | Germantown, MD USA | 12/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, I'll admit it - I really thought these were gonna be two throw away disco albums by a group that really only had two bonafide hits. Part of that is because I picked up a copy of their second album "Another Taste" about a year ago, and it was just plain bad. But much to my surprise, these girls definitely had it going on, as these two albums demonstrate. There is so much more to them than "Boogie Oogie Oogie," which was the biggest hit of their career. The first album, the platinum "A Taste of Honey" is solid, with a wide variety of styles that reach far beyond disco. Sleek numbers like "World Spin" and "This Love of Ours" show that they could move from the dance floors to sophisticated R&B in the blink of an eye. Great stuff. "Sky High" is another cool number, but "Disco Dancin'" really could have been left as a nonalbum B-side. The 12-inch version of "Boogie" is included on this CD, but it does not hold a candle to the original. Overall, this album is good stuff, and it's a shame that people have dismissed it over the years. Their third album, "Twice as Sweet" was issued after the two guys, Don Johnson and Perry Kibble, departed. This probably would have been a more appropriate second release, since it sort of picks up where their first ended. More upscale and soul-oriented, this album shows a depth missing from other releases. "Resuce Me" is great early '80s pop-soul, while "Superstar Superman" features a smooth arrangement, and Hazel Payne's unique voice. "She's a Dancer" and "Say That You'll Stay" are also great. But the crowning jewel is "Sukiyaki" a nice change-of-pace number that has held up well over the years. Featuring a koto and sleek George Duke production, this cover of a Japanese song helped prove these women could do just about anything musically. Again, we have another really good album that gets overlooked. But if you are interested in A Taste of Honey, these albums paint a good picture of two chics with real chops, as another buyer pointed out below. This just wasn't a good disco group, it was a good group period."

Two great solid albums

G. Carter | Temple Hills, maryland United States | 03/17/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Two of Taste Of Honey's lp's finally on cd! these are two solid albums of R&B, disco.. great musicianship, it's a shame TOH didn't get the props they deserve! some of the highlights are 'This Love Of Ours', 'World Spin', 'Rescue Me'..and of course the big hit 'Boogie Oogie Oogie'!"