Hard Core Poetry

After the brothers Tavares (Ralph, Pooch, Chubby, Butch and Tiny) signed to Capitol Records in 1974, they experienced immediate success with their debut LP, Check It Out. However, it was the follow-up, the much-treasured HARD CORE POETRY that set the group up for a row of hits that established them as solid hit-makers.

Produced by the team of Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter, (just coming off success with The Four Tops), HARD CORE POETRY (a Top 20 R&B charted album) gave the New Bedford, Massachusetts family group the first of three No. 1 U.S. R&B hits in the form of 1974’s ‘She’s Gone,’ a song written and originally recorded by Philly blue-eyed soul duo, Hall &
Oates.

The album also included two other major hits for Tavares, the uptempo ‘Too Late’ (No. 10 R&B) and ‘Remember What I Told You To Forget’ (No. 4 R&B/No. 25 pop), a song that had originally been cut by The Four Tops. The flipside of that single, ‘My Ship’ also achieved significant club airplay reaching No. 13 on Billboard’s disco charts.

Previously only available as a now out-of-print Japanese CD, this expanded edition of HARD CORE POETRY includes two single edits as bonus tracks and liner notes by SoulTracks’ founder Chris Rizik with quotes from Pooch Tavares. HARD CORE POETRY is part of the reissue series by SoulMusic Records of Tavares albums including "In The City” (SMCR-5022), "Sky-High!” (SMCR-5023), "Supercharged” (SMCR-5045), "Madam Butterfly” (SMCR-5064) and "Love Uprising” (SMCR-5065).