Ambrosia - One Eighty (1980)

Ambrosia is an American rock band formed in southern California in 1970.

The group was founded as a quartet with guitarist/vocalist David Pack, bassist/vocalist Joe Puerta, keyboardist Christopher North, and drummer Burleigh Drummond.

They chose the name Ambrosia in 1970 to represent a vision of their music: all shades, textures, colors and styles.
While Ambrosia had many radio hits in the 1970s, much of the material on their five albums is progressive in nature.

In 1980 Warner Bros. released “One Eighty”, which produced two of the year's biggest hits. The first, "Biggest Part of Me", reached number three for three weeks on the Hot 100 and crossed over to the soul chart, where it peaked at number thirty-five. The second, another blue-eyed soul hit, "You're the Only Woman (You & I).

It became their most successful album but lacks the ambition or inspiration that infused their first two albums.

The prog rock style that characterized the group's early work is almost completely gone: The only real progressive cut is "Kamikaze", which attempts to create a stylized blend of prog rock and traditional Japanese music but comes off as stilted and awkward.

The rest of the album's songs are either pop/rock tunes or ballads. Rockers like "Ready" go for an ambitious blend of radio-friendly rock and new wave elements, but sound too forced to be convincing.

The ballads are the album's redeeming feature. They are all lovingly crafted and boast strong, often complex melodies that keep them from getting too sappy or sentimental: "You're the Only Woman" is a keyboard-rich song that highlights Christopher North's soulful Hammond organ playing, and "Livin' on My Own" layers harmonies reminiscent of the Doobie Brothers over a jazzy tune driven by an intricate bassline.

The album's finale, "Biggest Part of Me", is the best of these ballads. It combines rich Beach Boys-styled harmonies with a heartfelt lyric to create a rich slice of blue-eyed soul that gave the group a number two hit single.


“One Eighty” earned the band three Grammy nominations, including Best Pop Vocal Group. A headlining world tour followed. For the Japanese leg of the tour, the group was joined by their longtime friend guitarist Cliff Woolley (formerly of The Association).

The title of the album "One Eighty" was believed by fans to signal the group's "180-degree" change in direction.

In actuality, it was so named because it was recorded in January 1980. (1/80).
They dedicated one of their songs to Sandie Clark.









Side A
A1.  Ready   (4:25) 
A2.  Shape I'm In  (3:29) 
A3.  Kamikaze  (4:01) 
A4.  Your'e The Only Woman   (4:20) 
A5.  Rock N' A Hard Place   (3:59) 

Side B
B1.  Livin' On My Own   (4:41) 
B2.  Cryin' In The Rain   (4:37) 
B3.  No Big Deal   (4:25) 
B4.  Biggest Part Of Me   (5:26) 

Credits
Vocals, Percussion – Royce Jones
Bass Guitar, Vocals – Joe Puerta
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Burleigh Drummond
Electric Piano, Synthesizer – David Cutler Lewis
Guitar, Vocals – David Pack
Organ, Chamberlin, Clavinet, Synthesizer – Christopher North

Production
Associated Produder - Bill Pfordresher
Engineered & Mixed - Michael Verdick
Producer – Ambrosia, Freddie Piro
Recorded & Mixed at Location Recording Services Burbank, California
Additional Recording at Mama Jo´s by Joe Bellamy & Win Kutz Monterey Recording Studio
Warner Bros. Recording Studios, North Hollywood Sound City

Notes
Release: 1980
Genre:  Soft Rock
Format:  LP
Length:  39:4
Label:  Warner Bros. Records
Catalog#  BSK 3368

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