Brenda & The Tabulations - The Top and Bottom Records Singles Collection 1969-1971 (2008)

Singer Brenda Payton and keyboardist Maurice Coates were the creative spark behind Philadelphia's Brenda & the Tabulations, and the pair wrote several impressive songs for the group, including the debut single "Dry Your Eyes," which was released by Gilda Woods' fledgling Dionn Records imprint at the end of 1966 and went Top Ten on the R&B charts and Top 20 on the pop charts early in 1967. When Dionn Records folded in 1969, the Tabulations landed on another Woods' imprint, Top & Bottom Records, and paired with producer and songwriter Van McCoy, continued to issue some interesting singles, including 1969's "The Touch of You" and 1971's "Right on the Tip of My Tongue," which was written by the other two Tabulations, guitarist Eddie Jackson and drummer Jerry Jones. This set collects both of those songs along with the other singles the Tabulations released for Top & Bottom between 1969 and 1971. Some of these sides feel a bit like filler material, but the high points, and particularly "The Touch of You" and "Right on the Tip of My Tongue," are well worth hearing.