Val Young - Seduction (1985/2014)

1985 was a memorable year for Rick James; that year, he recorded Glow (one of his more adventurous albums of the 1980s), produced and wrote the Mary Jane Girls' All Four You, and did some work with former Brides of Funkenstein member Val Young (who Motown signed on James' recommendation). James' influence is strong on Young's first solo album, Seduction -- he wrote and produced two of the songs ("Piece of My Heart" and the intoxicating title track), while the rest of the LP was produced by Fred Jenkins and Stone City Band keyboardist Levi Ruffin Jr. Some of the Mary Jane Girls contribute background vocals, and Young's accompaniment includes members of James' Stone City Band. But Young is certainly her own person -- in fact, she wrote or co-wrote the lyrics for six of the nine songs. Though parts of Seduction are very James-influenced, "Let's Fall in Love" and "Tellin' Me Lies" are closer to the type of material that Kashif would have produced for Evelyn "Champagne" King in the 1980s. And while Young is an R&B singer first and foremost, she incorporates pop/rock elements with pleasing results on "Mind Games" and the playful, slightly new wave-ish "Come Hang Out." This good to excellent album did moderately well, but not as well as it should have -- and regrettably, Young never made it to the next level commercially.