Shirley Murdock - Shirley Murdock! [2CD Remastered & Expanded Edition] (1985/2019)

The breakout album from Shirley Murdock – a singer who first rose to fame working with Roger Troutman and Zapp – and who gets plenty of help here from that side of the soul spectrum too! Roger produced and plays on the record, and also wrote most of the songs too – and Larry Troutman and others provide most of the instrumentation – all with a groove that's as funky and punchy as Zapp at their best – which means that Shirley's got to be one hell of a singer to rise above the basslines, beats, and keyboards! Fortunately, Murdock's got a hell of a lot of power in her voice – which really gets unleashed here in a wonderful way, then spins down for a few great ballads too – all to make a very fully-formed set that's gone onto be one of the mainstream soul classics of the time. Titles include "As We Lay", "Truth Or Dare", "Tribute", "Be Free", "No More", "Go On Without You", "Danger Zone", "Teaser", and "The One I Need". 2CD version features 19 more bonus tracks - including "As We Lay (rmx)", "Go On Without You (ext mix)", "No More (rmx)", "Bee Free (sexy sax thang mix)", "Truth Or Dare (European mix)", "Tribute (ext mix)", "Az We Lay (horizontal mix)", "Be Free (bareback mix)", "As We Lay (midnight mix)" – plus regular and extended versions of "Computer Love" with Zapp, and "Girl Cut It Out" with Roger.