By the
time of her
big hit "Lady Marmalade" in the mid 70s, Patti Labelle – and group-mates Nona Hendryx and
Sarah Dash – had been knocking around for many years cutting records. Their style was always interesting – especially as Labelle moved from simple girl group material into some of their more righteous work of the early 70s. By the
time they hit the Epic label, though, they emerged as a full-blown hit act – working with Allen Toussaint on some funky material, and watching Patti emerge as a strong solo act on her own. This set features 16 tracks that will give you a pretty good idea of what was going on at the
time – including "Lady Marmalade", "You Turn Me On", "Quiet
Time", "Messin With My Mind", "It's Alright With Me", "Get You Somebody New", and the great Latiny groover "Teach Me Tonight (Me Gusta Tu Baile)".