Winner Takes All (album)

Winner Takes All is the seventeenth studio album by The Isley Brothers and released on T-Neck Records and their seventh record to be distributed by Epic Records on August 21, 1979. The album included the number-one R&B hit, "I Wanna Be With You" and the top 20 UK disco hit, "It's a Disco Night (Rock Don't Stop)".

Winner Takes All
Studio album by
The Isley Brothers
ReleasedAugust 21, 1979
Recorded1979
StudioBearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York
GenreSoul, funk, funk rock, disco, pop rock, smooth soul
Length72:28
LabelT-Neck Records
ProducerThe Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers chronology
Timeless
(1978)		 Winner Takes All
(1979)		 Go All the Way
(1980)

The album was remastered and expanded for inclusion in the 2015 released CD box set The RCA Victor & T-Neck Album Masters, 1959-1983.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[2]
Smash Hitsmixed [3]

The album continued the brothers' trademark of mixing uptempo funk numbers with softer soul balladry. However, their sound now included elements of disco. While some of their music had pioneered the genre, Winner Takes All was the first album to embrace disco rhythms.

The disco element helped songs such as "I Wanna Be With You" and "It's a Disco Night (Rock Don't Stop)" become hits. However, the band didn't release any ballads from the album, making it one of the few times since 1973 that they not released a ballad as a single. However, ballads like "You're Beside Me" and "How Lucky I Am" still received airplay on quiet storm radio formats.

The album was successful enough on both the pop and R&B album charts where it reached #14 and #3 respectively and eventually went gold after selling past 500,000 copies.

Track listing

Unless otherwise noted, Information is based on Liner notes[4]

All tracks are written by Ernie Isley, Marvin Isley, Chris Jasper, Rudolph Isley, O'Kelly Isley and Ronald Isley.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."I Wanna Be with You (Parts 1 & 2)"6:20
2."Liquid Love (Parts 1 & 2)"5:17
3."Winner Takes All"4:18
Side two
No.TitleLength
4."Life in the City (Parts 1 & 2)"7:55
5."It's a Disco Night (Rock Don't Stop) (Parts 1 & 2)"5:13
6."(Can't You See) What You Do to Me?"4:09
Side three
No.TitleLength
1."Let's Fall in Love (Parts 1 & 2)"4:39
2."How Lucky I Am (Parts 1 & 2)"5:38
3."You're the Key to My Heart"3:26
4."You're Beside Me (Parts 1 & 2)"5:32
Side four
No.TitleLength
5."Let Me into Your Life (Parts 1 & 2)"5:10
6."Love Comes and Goes (Parts 1 & 2)"5:07
7."Go for What You Know"3:24
8."Mind Over Matter (Parts 1 & 2)"6:00
2013 reissue bonus track
No.TitleLength
1."It's a Disco Night (Rock Don't Stop)" (12" Disco Version)8:44

Personnel
Performance
  • Ronald Isley - lead vocals, background vocals
  • O'Kelly Isley, Jr. - background vocals
  • Rudolph Isley - additional lead vocals (B5),[5] background vocals
  • Ernie Isley - maracas,[6] drums, congas, timbales, percussion, maracas, guitar, background vocals
  • Marvin Isley - background vocals, bass, percussion
  • Chris Jasper - piano, clavinet, ARP synthesizer,[6] keyboards, congas, percussion, background vocals
Technical
  • George Carnell - assistant engineer
  • John Holbrook - recording engineer, synthesizer programming

Charts
Chart (1979) Peak
position
Billboard Pop Albums[7] 14
Billboard Top Soul Albums[7] 3

Singles
Year Single Chart positions[8]
US
Pop		 US
R&B
1979 "I Wanna Be With You" - 1
"It's A Disco Night (Rock Don't Stop)" 90 27
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References
  1. Lytle, Craig. The Isley Brothers: Winner Takes All > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 03 September 2011.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: I". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 27, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. White, Cliff. "Albums". Smash Hits (July 26 – August 8, 1979): 25.
  4. The Isley Brothers. “Winner Takes All” (Album notes). T-Neck. 1979.
  5. Disco, Soul, Gold. “Happy Birthday, Rudolph Isley”. Facebook. 2 April 2015.
  6. The Isley Brothers. “Winner Takes All”. IsraBox. 3 April 2015.
  7. "The Isley Brothers US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  8. "The Isley Brothers US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
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