 Track list:
Original U.K. album:
1. Mama Used To Say
2. Love Dies
3. Too Late
4. Is This Love
5. Let Me Know
6. Down Down
7. I Can't Help It
8. Darling You (Don't You Know)
Bonus Tracks:
9. Fame (UK 12” non-album single)
10. Mama Used To Say (British Party Mix UK 12” single)
11. Mama Used To Say (American Remix-T Scott - UK 7” single )
12. Mama Used To Say (American Instrumental Mix-T Scott - UK 7” single)
13. Too Late (US/UK 7” single)
14. Too Late (Alternate Version)
15. In Words (UK 12” non-album single)
• London-born Junior Giscombe started his musical career working with popular British black music band Linx between 1980-82. A one-off 1980 single enjoyed some popularity in clubs in the UK and France, prompting then Phonogram A&R executive Roger Ames to track him down, resulting in a contract with the company in the UK and releases on Mercury Records.
• Of the first two tracks he recorded for the label, Ames picked “Mama Used To Say” and within months, Junior had landed a Top 30 pop and No. 2 R&B hit single in the U.S., becoming the first British black music artist to appear on the popular American TV show, “Soul Train” and essentially the first such artist to achieve a major chart breakthrough in the U.S. Now a classic anthem, “Mama Used To Say” was also a Top 10 UK hit and prompted Junior to complete his first album, “Ji”.
• With members of Linx among the musicians playing on “Ji” (named after the Chinese ‘year of the rooster’) included a second hit single, “Too Late,” another Top 10 R&B hit in the U.S. and Top 20 pop single in the U.K.
• “Ji” has only been available as a (now out-of-print) Japanese CD since its original release. This expanded edition consists of the original British version of the classic album and seven bonus tracks including two rare non-LP singles (“In Words” and “Fame”) and mixes of “Mama” and a vault-discovered alternate version of “Too Late.”
• Notes by SoulMusic Records’ founder David Nathan include extensive 2012 quotes from Junior, an active performer now celebrating his 30th year as a recording artist.
About the Writer
David Nathan is the founder and CEO of SoulMusic.com and began his writing career in 1965; beginning in 1967, he was a regular contributor to Blues & Soul magazine in London before relocating to the U.S. in 1975 where he served as U.S. editor for the publication for several decades and began being known as 'The British Ambassador Of Soul.' From 1988 to 2004, he wrote prolifically for Billboard, has penned bios, produced and written liner notes for box sets and reissue CDs for over a thousand projects. He returned to London in 2009 where he has helped create SoulMusic.com Records as a leading reissue label.
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