Imagination is the tenth studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 R&B

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

/soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 vocal group the Whispers

The Whispers

The Whispers are a long-established R&B-dance vocal group from Los Angeles, California, with a consistent track record of hit records dating back to the late 1960s.-Career:...

, released in 1980 on the SOLAR Records

SOLAR Records

S.O.L.A.R. Records was an American record label founded in 1977 by Dick Griffey, reconstituted out of Soul Train Records only two years after it was founded with Soul Train television show host and creator Don Cornelius.-Company history:In 1975, Soul Train Records was founded by Dick Griffey and...

 label.

Overview

The album contains two singles which made the U.S. Hot R&B

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 charts: "It's a Love Thing", which peaked at number two in early 1981

1981 in music

See also:* Timeline of musical eventsThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1981.-January–April:*January 10 – A revival of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance opens at Broadway's Uris Theatre, starring Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith.*January 24 –...

; and "I Can Make it Better". Both singles were produced by SOLAR Records' main in-house producer Leon F. Sylvers III

Leon Sylvers III

Leon Frank Sylvers III is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was a member of the family group The Sylvers and became one of the most successful producers in black music in the late 1970s to the mid 1980s through his association with Dick Griffey's SOLAR...

.

Also featured in the album is "Up on Soul Train", the theme song used on the syndicated television

Television syndication

In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

 series Soul Train

Soul Train

Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...

from 1980 to 1983; it was composed by the creator, producer, and host of Soul Train, Don Cornelius

Don Cornelius

Donald Cortez "Don" Cornelius is an American television show host and producer who is best known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance/music franchise Soul Train, which he hosted from 1971-1993...

.

Track listing

1. "Imagination" (Larry White, Grady Wilkins) - 6:15
2. "It's a Love Thing" (Dana Meyers, William Shelby) - 5:10
3. "Say You (Would Love for Me Too)" (Nicholas Caldwell) - 5:03
4. "Continental Shuffle" (Mark Adam Wood, Jr.) - 4:34
5. "I Can Make It Better" (Meyers, Shelby, Stephen Shockley) - 7:14
6. "Girl I Need You" (White, Wilkins) - 4:18
7. "Up on Soul Train" (Don Cornelius
   Don Cornelius
   Donald Cortez "Don" Cornelius is an American television show host and producer who is best known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance/music franchise Soul Train, which he hosted from 1971-1993...
   
   ) - 5:18
8. "Fantasy" (Werner Schuchner, Ahaguna Sun) 4:21

Personnel

• Wallace "Scotty" Scott, Walter Scott - lead vocals (tenor
  Tenor
  The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
  
  )
• Leaveil Degree (falsetto
  Falsetto
  Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
  
  ), Marcus Hutson (baritone
  Baritone
  Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
  
  ) - background vocals
• Nicholas Caldwell - background vocals (tenor), arranger, album concept
• Albert DeGarcia, Joey Gallo, Kossi Gardner, Greg Phillinganes
  Greg Phillinganes
  Greg Phillinganes is an active session keyboardist in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of Cass Technical High School, Detroit Michigan....
  
  , William Shelby, Ricky Smith, Kevin Spencer, Grady Wilkins, Mark Adam Wood Jr., - keyboards
• Richard Aevon, Kirk Perkins, Wardell Potts Jr., Ahaguna Sun - drums
• Melvin Coleman, David Agent, Leon F. Sylvers III, Werner Schuchner - bass
• Emilio Conesa, Ernest "Pepper" Reed, Werner Schuchner, Stephen Shockley - guitar
• Dean Boysen, Oscar Brashear, Bobby Bryant, John Parrish, Dean Boysen - trumpets
• Kraig Kilbey, Ross Wilson - trombones
• Fred Jackson, Ruben Laxamana, Sonny Lewis, Melecio Magdaluyo - saxophone
• Melecio Megdaluyo - flute
• David Duke, Barbara Korn, Sidney Muldrew - french horns

Charts

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Billboard Pop Albums Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	23
Billboard Top Soul Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...	3

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions
		US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	US Dance
1981	"I Can Make It Better"	105	40	4
	"It's a Love Thing"	28	2	4

External links

• The Whispers-Imagination at Discogs