They were indeed both “Chi” (from Chicago) and “Lite”, if by that word we mean lushly uptown ’70s soul with a sweet tooth. Eugene Record was a terrifically gifted writer/producer/falsetto lead singer, who hit his stride with such gorgeous, ever so slightly kitsch hits as “Have You Seen Her” (’71), “Oh Girl” and the crushingly sad “Coldest Days of My Life (Pt 1)” (both ’72). But The Chi-Lites could also do ghetto-funk (“Give More Power To The People”, “We Are Neighbors”) with cred and panache. If you need to economise, most of the classics are on Volume One.
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