R&B singers Charles Pickens and Bill Mills had been working as solo artists when, in the early '90s, they reunited as the duo Pic & Bill and recorded Taking Up the Slack. Although this little-known CD uses a lot of synthesizers and sequencers, it isn't urban contemporary. Pic & Bill's roots are '70s soul, and if it wasn't for the high-tech production, you could easily be fooled into thinking that Taking Up the Slack was recorded in the '70s. Indeed, '70s-type R&B is exactly what you'll hear on a remake of Johnny Bristol's 1974 hit "Hang On in There Baby," as well as "Let's Get Real," "I Got Your Number," "The Best Part of Me" and other tunes that Pickens wrote or co-wrote. The album stood little chance of being played by black radio, which in 1991 had little or no interest in retro-soul and was much more interested in finding the next Guy clone or Bell Biv DeVoe wannabe. Although Taking Up the Slack isn't mind-blowing, it's a decent and competent recording from two soul men who worked well together.
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