Soul star Denise LaSalle's late 1970s career is comprehensively covered on the two disc, 24-track set A LITTLE BIT NAUGHTY. Covering her tenure from 1976 to 1979 on ABC Records, and on MCA Records from 1979 to 1981 after that label bought the struggling ABC imprint, A LITTLE BIT NAUGHTY therefore is a neat summation of LaSalle's career during a troubled period for many old-school soul singers, when the disco explosion and subsequent backlash threatened the style. As this set reveals, however, LaSalle stayed true to herself throughout the era, and these songs sound remarkably fresh as a result.
2008 two CD set. With a singing career spanning five decades and some 32 albums, Denise LaSalle has a musical pedigree of great magnitude, and though her name hasn't registered in the charts for some 20 years, she is still an active and vibrant performer, with a current recording contract and a full diary of tour dates, both in the USA and worldwide. Having enjoyed chart success with her first recordings in Chicago for Chess, and then on Westbound during the early 1970s, Denise signed with ABC Records in 1976, with three LP released before that label was acquired by MCA, and a further three LPs under that banner over a five-year period, during which time she also overcame the hurdle of the Disco era with consummate musical style. This double-CD gathers together the strongest tracks from those six LPs, as an overview of a 'little bit naughty' musical style that combines the influences of Southern Soul, Dance music and Blues, with some seductive lyrics, flashing eyes and a broad grin! Shout.(Clive Richardson)