True (short) story: Waay back in '75 I had the good fortune to catch "Sweet Talking Guy" on the radio. So did a friend of mine, a kid who I had a competition "thing" with. Neither of us had seen the album, but he swore to me that of course, he would have it first. I was pretty sure he was right, because my allowance was about 50 cents a week. Strangely, I saved my money any way, and after a couple of months or so, I rode my bike ten miles up the road to the closest (rural) department store. By the time I got there I was afraid they wouldn't have a copy of the album, but there it was, with that nifty caricature cover. Though it had been weeks since I'd last heard "my song," I cycled home with my little triumph on my mind. Someone was on our party line, so I decided to listen to the album first. And the most amazing thing happened: it was like being transported back to a time before anything I had known. As an average 11 year old, I didn't have the words to describe the silky jazz opener, "Tuxedo Junction," or many of the songs that followed. I just knew I was in love. "Sweet Talking Guy" sounded better than I remembered, all those interwoven vocal lines swirling over the stacatto keyboard. I should say that some of the tracks didn't "click" with me at first, but I remember being impressed by the sincerity, the naturalness of the vocalists. "Java Jive" was my favorite singalong and "Blue Champagne" made me fantasize about cocktail romance, whatever that was. Now when I play this album, and I do it often, I'm struck by the sheer talent that went into creating it, and pleasant sense of melancholy it registers in me. I wouldn't call it nostalgia or camp, because there is nothing bad or particularly funny about the attraction. "You Can Depend On Me" still offers a thrilling vocal exchange between Janis and Tim, "Heart's Desire" still bowls me over with the intensity of the group's heart-felt harmonies. And "Clap Your Hands" still makes me sing along with Janis, who never sounded more soulful or full of joy. The next time I saw my friend, he informed me that Manhattan Transfer were "old news," and that he wasn't interested in them any more. To this day I've never told him how much he missed.