3 & 3: The Isley Brothers (CBS) Imagination: Gladys Knight and the Pips (Buddah).

Reviewed by Richard Best.

For some strange reason, soul music's suddenly become big in New Zealand. And it can't all be put down to Philadelphia International Records and Gamble-and-Huff's emergence with the O'Jays and others because neither the Isleys nor the Pips have anything to do with the "Philly sound",

The conclusion, one hopes, is that Salient's "Rock props up class lines" (April 24) is flyblown intellectualism and yer middle-class brains have owned up, found joy in three minute niceties and subsequently stumbled upon those who can shove most into 180 seconds.

Lucky for the open-minded, then. These two albums happen to be very, very good and nobody said anything about "in their own field" either. Both contain massive hit sellers, both ooze production and "Imagination" has the best ghetto boo-hoo in "Window Raisin' Granny" since Clarence Carter's "Patches".

"3 & 3" is the Isleys' fifth album and their first in five years (the last was "Soul on the Rocks") Salient's own Chuck Wagon tells me he has the Brothers' first-ever LP, "Twist and Shout" (circa 1962), so the man must be pleasantly shocked in the "new" sound. In 38 minutes Chuck will hear the extended version of "That Lady" with some whizzo guitar from Ernie Isley, a breathless "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" and the bassissimo "What It Comes Down To". He'll also hear a rather aborted "Listen to the Music" which should have stopped dead in Toulouse Street but never mind. Chuck's gonna like it.

As exemplification of how good black can sound, "Imagination" is light years ahead of Diana Ross and/or The Supremes and may present an embarrassment to those who thought James Brown had soul wrapped up.

Despite the cover and despite the Pips who scamper in and-out of Gladys' tear-struck tales with horribly cute things like "....a superstar/but he didn't get far", Gladys Knight and the Pips — as a unit — are symbolic of the personification of soul with all its cabaret yukness and mohair suits.

"Midnight Train to Georgia" is the album's gem but take time and discover the finer points of "Once in a Lifetime Thing" and the smooth funk of "Window Raisin' Granny".

And if nothing satisfies, take note that the Pips' version of "I Can See Clearly Now" outstrips Chicago's "Questions 67 and 68" by 11 seconds in The Longest Fade-Out.

"Imagination" equals Absolute Class: it really has little to do with "class lines" and I'm pretty ' sure nobody will laugh. For a minute, listen: the loss is only yours.