By the late '70s, Sly Stone wasn't nearly as popular or as visible as he had been in the late '60s and early '70s. But his former bassist
Larry Graham was still going strong. Released in 1979,
Star Walk was the last album that
Graham would record with
Graham Central Station for quite some time; in 1980, the influential singer/electric bassist officially became a full-time solo artist and soared to the top of the R&B charts with his debut solo single, "One in a Million You." And not until 1998's GCS 2000 would
Graham use the
GCS name on another album. If the name
GCS had to be put to rest for a long time, at least the band went out with a bang on
Star Walk. This excellent LP, which
Graham produced himself, is full of sweaty, aggressive funk treasures; anyone who appreciates gutbucket funk would have a hard time not loving "Scream," "The Entertainer," and the single "(You're A) Foxy Lady." But not everything on this record is hardcore funk. "Tonight" is a lush Northern soul ballad, and the unexpected title song finds
Graham getting into a synthesizer-driven Eurodisco groove -- if you didn't know better, you would think that
Graham traveled to Munich, Germany, and hired
Giorgio Moroder to produce the tune. ~ Alex Henderson