Fresh off the success off their debut album S.O.S. and the smash hit “Take Your Time (Do It Right), The S.O.S. Band returned in July of 1981 with their second album, cheekily titled Too.
Back again as executive producer was Sigidi Abdullah, who had the foresight to convince the band of a name change, from “Sounds of Santa Monica” to “Sounds of Success.”
Too proved it was, excuse the pun, too hard to replicate the success of S.O.S., finishing at the Number 30 spot on Billboard’s Top Soul Albums chart.
Still, the album had a gem of a songwriting story, co-written by lead singer Mary Davis, that would give hints to the S.O.S. Band’s future as a group who could make compelling music regardless of tempo.
“Are You Ready?” is driven by piano and keyboards, a punchy horn section and a thunderous, if deliberate, drum pattern.
The lyrics tell the story of a lover who has gone away for one reason or another and while Mary doesn’t bother asking where said lover went or if they’ll be leaving again, leaving Mary to ask, “Are you ready, this time? Are you ready for this love of mine?”
Now that the band’s music is back on stream, it’s much easier to discover or rediscover their catalog prior to their run of hits with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and “Are You Ready? proves that spinning the block in music (and in life) has been happening for a long time.
Listen to “Are You Ready”:
