Remembered in many quarters for their truly impressive fashion sense,
the Turbans were one of the better doo wop acts to emerge during the dawning days of rock & roll, and one of the first to score a two-sided hit -- while "When You Dance" was their first and biggest chart success, it was originally intended to be a B-side, and the flip side, "Let Me Show You (Around My Heart)," was also embraced by radio in a number of major markets.
The Turbans were admirably eclectic, able to embrace dance numbers, sweet love ballads, and
Coasters-like novelty tunes with equal skill, and lead singer
Al Banks had a clear and expressive falsetto that nearly any vocalist would envy.
The Turbans released 12 sides on Herald Records between 1955 and 1957, and
When You Dance: The Herald Recordings features all of them; however, while this material has been reissued before on CD, previous releases included a handful of bonus unreleased tunes to fill out the package, while this edition is content to feature their six Herald singles and leave it at that. From a value for money standpoint, that certainly puts this disc at a disadvantage, especially since the album runs just a bit over 32 minutes, though the sound quality is good, the liner notes are well-written, and the no-frills track selection still offers some great music for fans of classic R&B vocals combos. Simply put, this isn't the best place to hear
the Turbans' classic Herald singles, though any disc with "When You Dance" is not to be casually dismissed.
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Mark Deming, Rovi