Superior Movement: "Key To Your Heart"

Five guys with goofy expressions on their faces holding a giant key—that’s the image you see on the cover of the Superior Movement’s one and only album.  Most of their music is fairly down-tempo for a boogie record, but the couple prime floor-filler cuts they lay down more than make up for the disparity, and really, the slower tracks aren’t bad either.  DJ’s and dance aficionados will be most interested in “Wide Shot” and “Be My Cinderella,” both of which have an understated minimalism to them, echoing the aftershocks felt by Prince and Zapp’s new wave funk.  Scattered among the synth-bass stormers are kicked-back, silky R&B tracks that absolutely ooze with romantic ambiance, made palatable by warm production and the group’s swooning harmonies.  If you look closely at the credits, you’ll find the names of several Chicago music legends, like Tom Tom 84, Morris Jennings, Vincent Wilburn, Louis Satterfield, Don Myrick, etc., proving that the Windy City’s vibrant and idiosyncratic soul tradition had more than one golden age, and was going strong as late as 1982.