Dexter Wansel

What the World Is Coming To

FACTORY SEALED LP

Format: Album

Country: U.S.A.

Record Company & Release Number: Phil. Int.: PZ 34487

Original release date: 1977

Bar Code: NONE

Condition of the cover: Mint

Condition of this Album: Sealed - Assumed Mint

My inventory number: 208468B

Shipping Weight: 1 pounds, 1 ounces

Notes:

This record came from a record store in Allentown, Pennsylvania called "Phantasmagoria" which went out of business in 1978. I purchased most of their unsold inventory several years later when I owned "Music Madness" - a new & used record store in Catasauqua.

Since this was part of Phantasmagoria's inventory when they closed in 1978, it cannot be any newer than a 1978 pressing. Being a sealed LP, I cannot tell specifically what pressing it is prior to 1978. In come cases, hype stickers might help to determine if it is a first pressing, but I cannot be any more specific.

Phantasmagoria used round colored stickers to indicate the price of the albums. They had a sign on the wall with the color sticker combinations for the customers to use so they knew the price of the albums. Most of the albums still have these stickers on them, and in some rare cases, the stickers are written on. Some of the records have prices on them. This is the price you would have paid for the record in 1978 if you would have bought it at Phantasmagoria. Please don't confuse these prices with their current value.

- - -

• First Light in the Morning
• Dance With Me Tonight
• Holdin On
• Ode Infinitum
• Disco Lights
• What the World Is Coming To
• Going Back to Kingston Town
• Dreams of Tomorrow
• Prelude #1

• Jay Mark: Engineer
• Rocky Schnaars: Assistant Engineer
• Herb Smith: Guitar (Electric)
• Mike Tarsia: Assistant Engineer
• Darryl Brown: Drums
• Charlie Collins: Drums
• Jeffrey Stewart: Assistant Engineer
• Jean Carn: Vocals, Vocals (Background)
• Dexter Wansel: Synthesizer, Vocals, Percussion, Arranger, Keyboards, Main Performer, Producer
• Carla Benson: Vocals (Background)
• Evette Benton: Vocals (Background)
• Jim Dougherty: Assistant Engineer
• Jim Gallagher: Engineer
• Steve Gold: Keyboards
• Dennis Harris: Guitar (Electric)
• Al Harrison: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
• Peter Humphreys: Assistant Engineer
• Idris Muhammad: Drums
• Barbara Ingram: Vocals (Background)
• Bob Malach: Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor)

Dexter Wansel's second album, What the World Is Coming To, found the Philadelphia-based producer/keyboardist/vocalist temporarily ditching the sci-fi imagery that his debut album, Life on Mars, was known for. But other than that, What the World Is Coming To isn't a radical departure from its predecessor. Like Life on Mars, this 1977 LP is a diverse outing that was recorded at Philly's famous Sigma Sound Studios and ranges from mellow quiet storm material ("Holdin' On," "Dreams of Tomorrow") and sleek disco-funk ("Dance With Me Tonight") to instrumental pop-jazz ("First Light of the Morning," "Ode Infinitum," and the title track). The only tune on this album that is unlike anything on Life on Mars is "Going Back to Kingston Town," a reggae number with a strong Bob Marley influence. Except for Wansel's unexpected detour into reggae, this album isn't quite as strong as its predecessor -- creatively, Wansel experiences a bit of a sophomore slump. But while What the World Is Coming To isn't a masterpiece and isn't the Philadelphian's most essential album, it is a decent record that his die-hard fans will enjoy. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

Dexter Wansel biography by Ed Hogan, All Music Guide

Keyboardist/arranger/producer/recording artist Dexter Wansel can be heard throughout the catalog of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records. His skills can be heard on non-PIR sides like Jermaine Jackson's "Where Are You Now" from his gold LP Let's Get Serious and "Tonight" from Junior's Acquired Taste LP. His frequent songwriting partners were Cynthia Biggs, Bunny Sigler, and T. Life. A synth pioneer, Wansel's first LP arranging assignment was several tracks on Carl Carlton's 1975 LP, I Wanna Be With You, produced by Bunny Sigler. A Biggs/Wansel song, "The Sweetest Pain," a duet between Wansel and Jean Carn, originally a 1979 single from Wansel's Time Is Slipping Away LP, was a popular radio-aired LP from Loose Ends' Zagora LP. Two of Carn's LPs, When I Find You Love (entirely produced by Wansel) and Sweet and Wonderful, and Jean Carn and Happy to Be With You were issued on a two-album single CD by U.K. label Westside Records in early 1999.

When Wansel was 12 years old, he got the job of a gofer for the Uptown Theater in Philadelphia, going to get sandwiches and clothes out of the cleaners for the various acts that performed at the venue like Stevie Wonder and Patti Labelle. Many years later, Wansel would co-write a number one R&B hit for Labelle. In 1975, Wansel met Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff when he was a member of a band called Yellow Sunshine, which also boasted guitarist Roland Chambers who would later become a part of MFSB, the house band for Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International Records. Becoming a part of the staff creative collective, Wansel began arranging, playing keyboards, and writing songs for the label's acts including the O'Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, and the Intruders, among others.

When Patti Labelle signed with PIR, she recorded Wansel's "Shoot Him on Sight," a song Wansel intended for Jackson Browne, on her 1981 album The Spirit's in It. A song Wansel co-wrote with Kenneth Gamble and Cynthia Biggs, the lovely unrequited love ballad "If Only You Knew," held the number one R&B spot for four weeks in early 1984. It was on her I'm in Love Again LP, which went gold, hitting number four R&B.

• A partial list of Wansel-associated sides would include Jean Carn's popular radio-aired LP tracks "I'm in Love Once Again," "You Are All I Need" (music by Instant Funk), "Where Did You Ever Go," "Free Love," and the dance classic "Give It Up"; Shirley Jones' "Last Night I Needed Somebody" and "She Knew About Me"; The Jacksons' "Keep on Dancin'," "Living Together," "Do What You Wanna Do," and "Jump for Joy"; The Stylistics' "Hurry Up This Way Again,"; keyboardist Patrice Rushen covered "Hurry Up This Way Again"; The O'Jays' dreamy ballad "I Really Need You Now"; Phyllis Hyman's radio-aired track "Living All Alone"; The Jones Girls' "We're a Melody", the exotic "Nights Over Egypt," "Love Don't Ever Say Goodbye," and "Why You Wanna Do That to Me"; Archie Bell and the Drells' "Old People"; and Evelyn "Champagne" King's "Till I Come Off the Road" and the radio-aired LP track ballad "The Show Is Over."
• Wansel's own charting LPs were Life on Mars from summer 1976 (includes two tracks with Instant Funk, "Life on Mars" and "You Can Be What You Wanna Be"), What the World Is Coming To, Voyager (with its great space-age oriented graphics) from spring 1978, and Time Is Slipping Away from 1979. Several tracks from his LPs were radio-aired LP tracks (the lushly orchestrated "Theme From the Planets," the spacy, funky "Disco Lights") and some songs -- "Together Once Again," "One Million Miles From the Ground," and "Holdin' On" -- are still in singers' repertoire today. "Holdin' On" was a radio-aired LP track from actor Lawrence Hilton Jacobs' self-titled album produced by Lamont Dozier. "Global Warming" from the 1991 PIR/Zoo/BMG CD Universe Featuring Dexter Wansel received some airplay on smooth jazz radio stations. During the '90s, Wansel continued to work with the reactivated Philadelphia International Records and occasionally toured.
• Dexter Wansel-related releases are Grover Washington, Jr. Ultimate Collection, Heaven & Earth-That's Love, Best of MFSB: Love Is the Message, and Best of the Intruders.

I always leave feedback before your item ships. Please consider leaving feedback for me after you have had a chance to inspect and enjoy your purchase.

Please avoid questions on the last day of the listing. I might not have enough time to give you an answer before the it ends.

All album reviews, credits and artist biographies are from AllMusic Guide. If you haven't been to their web site, you have to check it out. It's one of the most comprehensive music references on the internet. In some cases, credits may include reissue (CD) information. Obviously any credits referenced to CDs do not apply to this album release.

USA (Domestic) Shipping and pick-up

I am no longer offering media mail until the election and virus issues have been resolved. The USPS is earning a bad reputation for damaging packages and/or very slow delivery times for media mail.

I am currently including FREE First Class shipping with insurance for all USA buyers. I want your package to be delivered as rapidly as possible, and in the same condition as I sent it.

In some cases, as a bonus, I am upgrading the FREE First Class postage to FREE Priority Mail. If you have an issue that you don't want your package shipped by Priority Mail, please indicate that when making your payment.

If your invoice does not include free first class postage, please send a request for an updated invoice.

Your item(s) will be shipped within 2 business days after I receive your cleared payment. When possible, I try to ship the same day your payment clears.

Local pick-up is fine with me. Contact me before making your payment to setup a time and place that is convenient for the both of us. There are no postage or handling fees for pick-up.

International Shipping

If you purchase multiple items, please wait until you've made all your purchases so I can send you an invoice with your correct postage.

The buyer is responsible for all customs regulations and fees in their own country.

If the total weight of your package is 4 pounds or more, the Post Office requires it must be shipped by International Priority Mail. This is their policy, not mine. If it helps, I can try to calculate First Class postage for multiple shipments, but it usually ends up cheaper sending everything in one box by Priority.