Ain't No Time to Sit Down

Comparing the music industry to baseball, getting a record deal is a lot like getting to first base — it's a start, but certainly not a home run. The members of Southroad Connection found that out the hard way after signing a two-album deal with United Artists in 1979. The band did make it to the music industry's equivalent of first base, which is more than most bands can say — the vast majority of bands will go unsigned. But a record deal doesn't guarantee a hit, and both of Southroad Connection's two albums received very little attention. The first of them was 1979's Ain't No Time to Sit Down, a funk-disco outing along the lines of Mass Production, B.T. Express, Crown Heights Affair, and Brass Construction. Danceable tracks like "Best Boogie in Town," "Take Me Back for More," and "Gotta Keep on Dancin'" are catchy and competent but not mind-blowing; nothing on this LP is in a class with Mass Production's "Wine Flow Disco" or Brass Construction's "Movin'," although Southroad Connection favors a similar type of sound. Most of the time, Ain't No Time to Sit Down is aimed right at the dance floor, but "I Need to Love You" and "In the Morning" are smooth soul ballads that hint at the Philadelphia International sound. Neither are O'Jays/Teddy Pendergrass/Billy Paul quality, although they're pleasant. Unfortunately for Southroad Connection, it didn't take Ain't No Time to Sit Down very long to end up in the cutout bins — and the band's next album, Positive Energy, suffered the same fate.