Reunion (The Temptations album)

Reunion
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 7, 1982
Recorded1982
GenreR&B, Soul, Funk
Length45:37
LabelGordy
ProducerBerry Gordy, Rick James, Smokey Robinson, Barrett Strong, Iris Gordy
The Temptations chronology
The Temptations
(1981)
Reunion
(1982)
Surface Thrills
(1983)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]

Reunion is a 1982 album by The Temptations for Gordy Records. The album was released during the 1982 Temptations Reunion tour, which reunited David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks with the Temptations after a decade-long absence. The album also features then-current Temptations Dennis Edwards, Glenn Leonard, Richard Street, and founding members Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin. Reunion featured the single "Standing on the Top", produced by and featuring Motown funk star Rick James, who had previously used the Temptations as the background vocalists for his 1981 hit "Super Freak". It was their first album to reach the top 40 since Wings of Love (1976).

The Reunion tour, which began in April 1982 was only partially successful. Ruffin, by then a full-blown cocaine addict, missed several shows, causing the group to be fined thousands of dollars for each performance he missed, and Eddie Kendricks' falsetto voice had weakened due to constant smoking. Group leader Otis Williams decided that the reunion would not be a permanent thing, and fired Ruffin and Kendricks shortly after Christmas 1982.

  1. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/reunion-mw0000118781
  2. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. ISBN 9780743201698.