''Rainbow Connection IV'' is the fourth album by the

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band

Rose Royce Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including " Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", " Wishing on a Star", and " Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Career ...

, released on the Whitfield label in 1979. It was produced by

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter, composer, and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators ...

. This would be the last album to include lead singer Gwen Dickey before she left the group to embark on a solo career.

History

The album peaked at #22 on the R&B albums chart. It also reached #74 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Two singles were released from the album, " Is It Love You're After" and "What You Waitin' For". "Is It Love You're After" peaked at #31 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. It was more successful on the UK Singles Chart, reaching #13. "What You Waitin' For" failed to chart. The album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD in 2010 by

Wounded Bird Records Wounded Bird Records is an American compact disc only re-issue record label that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from popular and lesser known artists. Most of the Wounded Bird catalogue is licen ...

Track listing

Personnel

;Rose Royce *Gwen Dickey – lead vocals *Kenny Copeland – trumpet, lead vocals *Kenji Brown – guitar, lead vocals *Lequeint "Duke" Jobe – bass, vocals *Michael Nash – keyboards *Henry Garner – drums, vocals *Freddie Dunn – trumpet *Michael Moore – saxophone *Terry Santiel – congas ;Additional musicians *Walter Downing –

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

*Lafayette Trey Stone, Isy Martin,

Wah Wah Watson Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as Wah Wah Watson, was an American guitarist who was a member of the Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. He also worked extensively as a session musician ...

– guitar *

Jack Ashford Jack Ashford (born May 18, 1934) is an American musician who was a percussionist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the 1960s and early 1970s. Ashford is most famous for playing the tambourine on hundreds of Motown recordings ...

– tambourine,

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...

Production

– producer, arranger, mixing engineer, album concept *Michael Nash – producer ("Pazazz") *Bruce Miller – string and horn arrangements *Leanard Jackson, Steve Smith – recording engineer, mixing engineer *Norman Moore – cover design *Scott Hensell – photography *Tim Bryant/Gribbitt! – art direction *Bill Whitfield – album coordinator

Charts

;Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1979 albums Rose Royce albums Albums produced by Norman Whitfield Whitfield Records albums