Why the New Orleans school of funk didn't go over like gangbusters in the mid-70's is beyond me. Perhaps it's because, as countless musicians have found out, most music coming out of New Orleans is viewed by record companies as too sophisticated and sent to the "specialty" racks of your local store. That's a shame for the Wild Magnolias, whose 1974 debut is re-packaged here with a few contemporaneous singles. Even if you've never heard of the Magnolias, I guarantee that members of War and Earth Wind and Fire were listening to this record back in the day and if you've heard their stuff this won't be unfamiliar. Hitching Latin/Caribbean influences to a muscular funk rhythm section, the Magnolias' seven vocalists dodge in and out of eleven wickedly hot dance grooves, each one exhausting the listener to the point where it's almost impossible to listen to the thing in one sitting. Horns and goofy vocal effects abound but never get in the way. Twenty years later, The Wild Magnolias will stand with any dance album you can name. (Pat Anders)