Love Joys-All I Can Say
Cousins Sonia Abel and Claudette Brown recorded two LPs for Wackies in the early ’80s, and were never really heard from again (though Brown is quoted in this 2009 New York Times profile of Wackie’s). The girls lived in London, prior to landing in the Bronx, and they brought with them to the U.S. the haunted vocal melodies and female-driven energy of the UK’s lovers rock movement. Although “All I Can Say” appears on the album Lovers Rock Reggae Style (one of several Wackies albums which Supreme pays homage to in its capsule collection), it’s a weighty, conscious tune that sublimely evokes the forlorn vibe of the early ’80s Bronx. —Jesse Serwer