The Bottom Line was a disco project that late songwriter and bassist, Jack Conrad (1948-2017), recorded around 1974 with the collaboration of a group of young and gifted LA session players. Conrad’s impressive resume included stints with The Doors and Three Dog Night. 

Conrad produced The Bottom Line’s Crazy Dancin’ album that showcased the blooming talents of David Foster and Jay Graydon. The future Airplay guys were the driving force of the project. Foster and Graydon co-wrote songs and helped out with the arrangements.  Foster’s and Graydon’s superior instrumental performances were stamped all over the record. Past reviews of songs from Crazy Dancin’ were already presented on Fozfan and can be rediscovered in the archives. Especially check out the catchy single, “That’s The Way To Go,” co-written by Foster, Graydon and Conrad that became a minor hit on the 1976 R&B charts at #85.

In 1998, Crazy Dancin’ was re-released, on cd for the first time, in Japan with the addition of bonus tracks including Foster’s breezy mid-tempo, “Take A Chance.” Although obviously dated by its disco arrangement, “Take A Chance” offers the first signs of the sophisticated sound that Foster and Graydon will perfect in just a few years on their spectacular productions. The melody here was pure ear candy delivered by Chuck Findley’s smooth flugelhorn while Graydon embellished the backing track with his unmistakable guitar licks and Foster’s masterful playing on the electric piano. After the positive response received with The Bottom Line, Conrad, again with the assistance of Foster and Graydon, released another album in 1977 titled Pegasus. The new album followed the same lines as its predecessor with a string of sophisticated soul/disco instrumentals.

Around the end of the decade, Conrad concentrated on his songwriting for other artists including The Babys, Kiki Dee, Yvonne Elliman and Ray Kennedy. Kennedy’s 1981 self-titled album included some of Conrad’s best co-writes. Ray Kennedy would also reconnect Conrad with Foster, who produced that record.

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• Keyboards: David Foster
• Guitars: Jay Graydon
• Drums: Mike Baird
• Bass: Jack Conrad
• Flugelhorn: Chuck Findley
• Percussion: Steve Forman
• Saxophone: Quitman Dennis
• Vocals: Trish Turner & Chas Higgens
• Produced by Jack Conrad

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Written by David Foster, Jay Graydon & Jack Conrad

The Bottom Line’s “Crazy Dancin'” was one of the first disco albums developed in the United States around the mid-seventies. This project was the brainchild of well-known musician/songwriter Jack Conrad. He decided to bring to America the disco sounds that were so hot in Europe around those days. Conrad was renowned for writing and playing on albums for Three Dog Night, The Babys, Paul Williams, Kiki Dee and The Doors.

The sessions for “Crazy Dancin'” took place in 1974 LA with a line-up of young and gifted musicians including Conrad playing bass, David Foster twiddling on keyboards, Jay Graydon strumming guitar, Steve Forman thumping on percussion, Mike Baird beating the drums, Chuck Findley playing the trumpet and writing the horn arrangements, Jim Horn and Gary Herbig blowing the saxophones, Chas Higgens singing lead vocals and Ray Kennedy, Mentor Williams , Lee McElfresch “and anyone else foolish enough to be nearby the studio when voices were needed” on backing vocals. Other contributors included Bobby Findley, Dalton Smith, Slyde Hyde and Gary Grant. Foster and Graydon played a prominent role on the album by co-writing songs with Conrad and providing ideas for the elegant arrangements. The Bottom Line first released their sound in Europe that same year and was brought to the US and Japan in 1976 by Greedy Records.

The first single off the album was a collaboration between Foster, Graydon and Conrad entitled “That’s The Way To Go.” This song was a catchy dance anthem that sported an extremely sophisticated instrumental part that wasn’t easy to find on your typical disco tracks. Graydon’s trademark guitar with its gorgeous, melodic sound was the spotlight on this song. The track was backed up by a tight rhythm section and some powerful horns beautifully arranged by Findley. Higgens provided the soulful vocals to the song’s ear-candy refrain. “That’s The Way To Go” was the first 12 inch single ever released in the US. It became a minor hit on Billboard’s R&B chart at #85. This song and the whole “Crazy Dancin'” record showcased the amazing musicianship of Foster and Graydon at such an early stage of their careers. Their playing was already top-notch and beefed up the material with jazzy licks and superior performances.

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[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/That_S_The_Way_To_Go_The_Bottom_Line.mp3|titles=That s The Way To Go The Bottom Line|artists=Chas Higgens]

Lead Vocals: Chas Higgens
Keyboards: David Foster
Guitar: Jay Graydon
Bass: Jack Conrad
Drums: Mike Baird
Percussion: Steve Forman
Trumpet & Horn Arrangement: Chuck Findley

Produced by Jack Conrad

Lyrics

No Lyrics

In the fall of 1974, after the good success of his first disco project, “The Bottom Line,” producer Jack Conrad went back into the studio to record two more albums in the same vein. “The Bottom Line” got positive reviews and spawned a single, “That’s The Way To Go” that made some buzz on the dancefloors.

Subsequently, for the new recordings, Conrad reunited with the same spectacular musicians who played on “The Bottom Line” among them David Foster on keyboards, Jay Graydon on guitars and Chuck Findley on trumpet and flugelhorn. Given the amount of talent in the studio it makes no surprise that the new release entitled “Pegasus” was as smooth as silk and featured  top notch musical performances. For this reason, “Pegasus” is a wonderful chance for fans to listen to his fantastic keyboard playing and enjoy Graydon’s great guitar. “Fly” was the opening track and the single off the album. It follows the footsteps of “That’s The Way To Go” though it wasn’t as successful commercially.
Among the other songs we’d like to mention the soft beats of “Touch The One You Love” with beautiful horns punctuations, Graydon’s raw “Shake That Funky Thing” and “Let Me Love You” with Foster’s great work on Hammond organ.
In 1998 both “The Bottom Line” and “Pegasus” were released on cd in Japan and the welcome event was enhanced by the presence of bonus material from those old sessions that resulted in the never released “Makin’ Tracks” album. Of those songs “Midnight Flyer” is a very good mix of dance beats and jazz/fusion playing while “Ride” has strong echoes of quality pop. We’re talking about disco influenced stuff but we can assure that disco music rarely sounded as classy and elegant as on these recordings.

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[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/archives/clips/misnight_flyer.mp3|titles=Misnight Flyer|artists=Pegasus]

Keyboards: David Foster
Guitars: Jay Graydon
Drums: Mike Baird
Bass: Jack Conrad
Flugelhorn: Chuck Findley
Soprano Sax: Quitman Dennis
Percussion: Steve Foreman

Horn Arranged by Chuck Findley
Produced by Jack Conrad

No Lyrics

Ray Kennedy is a veteran pop/rock singer/songwriter best known for his tenure with the super group KGB together with legendary guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Carmine Appice. In the Seventies, Kennedy collaborated with many rock icons including Jeff Beck and Dave Mason with whom he wrote several songs. One such song was “Sail On Sailor,” co-written with Brian Wilson that became a big hit for the Beach Boys.
At the end of the Seventies, Kennedy signed a deal with Maurice White’s ARC label and started working on an album with David Foster as the producer and arranger. “Ray Kennedy” was released in 1980 and was a great example of the best FM pop/rock sound of those days. Foster’s pristine production and elegant arrangements placed the record in the same refined league of Toto and Boz Scaggs. Several Toto members appear on the album with Steve Lukather’s guitar in the spotlight. Kennedy has a pleasant, bluesy voice that served the material well. The songs were mostly written by the singer with Jack Conrad, although a couple of the best moments were co-written with Foster. The album presented a well-balanced mix of ballads and up-tempo rockers and included a fine cover of “Sail On Sailor.”

The first single from the album was the ballad “Just For The Moment” that’s an absolute pleasure for Foster aficionados. It featured the most loved elements of the
“Foster Sound;” a smooth atmosphere, irresistible melody plus delicate keyboard and synth playing. “Just For The Moment” reached #82 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The single’s b side was a powerful rocker entitled “Isn’t It Time?” that’s again fueled by superior guitars and keyboards underscoring Kennedy’s effective vocal performance.

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[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/archives/clips/just_for_the_moment.mp3|titles=Just for the moment|artists=Ray Kennedy]

Lead Vocals: Ray Kennedy
Piano & Synthesizer: David Foster
Synthesizers Programming: Ralph Dyck & Steve Porcaro
Guitars: Steve Lukather
Bass: Mike Porcaro
Drums: Jeff Porcaro
Background Vocals: Bill Champlin, Jack Conrad, Vennette Gloud & Paulette Brown
Arranged by David Foster & Ray Kennedy
Produced by David Foster

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NO LYRICS