High
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Album Summary
High came sliding out of New York City in 1980 on the legendary Salsoul Records label, and baby, it arrived at just the right moment. Produced by Kurt Bouschal and Jas Obrecht, this record captured Skyy in a zone of pure musical confidence — a group that had already introduced themselves to the world and was now ready to deepen the conversation. Recorded at Salsoul's storied New York facilities, High reflected everything that made that city's sound so irresistible at the dawn of a new decade: tight grooves, sophisticated arrangements, and a band that played like they were born to make people move. This was funk and R&B with intention, with soul, and with craft.
Reception
- High made its presence felt on the Billboard R&B and Dance charts, cementing Skyy's reputation as reliable hitmakers in the post-disco landscape of the early 1980s.
- The album earned meaningful radio and club play throughout 1980 and into 1981, with tracks from the record finding homes in both urban radio rotation and the dance floors of New York's club scene.
- Critics took notice of the group's formidable live musicianship and their rare ability to fuse deep funk grooves with smooth, accessible R&B sensibilities without sacrificing either.
Significance
- High stood as a proud testament to the sophisticated funk and R&B aesthetic that was defining New York club culture in the early 1980s, sitting gracefully at the crossroads of disco's twilight and the rising dawn of electro and freestyle.
- The album was a living argument for live instrumentation — prominent bass lines, punchy horns, and layered keyboards gave Skyy a warmth and humanity that set them apart from the increasingly synthetic sounds creeping into the genre.
- High reinforced Salsoul Records' visionary approach of nurturing artist-driven groups built on genuine musicianship, proving that a band with real chops could thrive commercially in an era of rapid stylistic change.
Samples
- "High" — one of the most recognized funk sources from the Salsoul era, sampled and interpolated by hip-hop producers mining early 1980s New York funk textures across multiple decades of production.
Tracklist
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A High 112
3:49
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B Who's Gonna Love Me 128
3:57
Artist Details
Skyy was a funk and disco outfit that came together in Brooklyn, New York in the late 1970s, blending tight rhythmic grooves with lush horn arrangements and the silky vocals of Denise Dunning-Crawford and her brothers in a sound that was equal parts street heat and ballroom elegance. They hit their stride in the early 1980s with cuts like Call Me and Real Love, earning serious respect on the R&B and dance charts and cementing themselves as one of the unsung pillars of that post-disco funk era. Their groove-heavy style laid important groundwork for the New Jack Swing and urban dance sounds that would follow, making Skyy one of those acts that true music lovers recognize as essential even when the mainstream world wasn't always paying proper attention.
