EMI (LP - 1982)   Produced by David Lasley ZACODA (CD - Reissued 2001)     LISTEN TO A TRACK LIST OF TRACKS REVIEWS CREDITS BUY THIS CD!

Missin’ Twenty Grand, David's critically acclaimed solo album, was produced by him and released by EMI in 1982. It features guest appearances by The Who's legendary Pete Townshend, James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt. "If I Had My Wish Tonight" was a hit single, reaching Number 36 on Billboard's "Hot 100."

Singer/songwriter David Lasley's debut album as a solo artist is a gem of sweet blue-eyed soul in the mold of Boz Scaggs' Middle Man. Lasley, who should be familiar from his backup work with James Taylor and others, sings in an acute, bleedingly emotional falsetto that, in the tradition of cooing soul men like Smokey Robinson, becomes an emblem of sexual vulnerability.

The songs on Missin' Twenty Grand add up to a youthful autobiography of city adventures, of dreams stimulated, dashed and rekindled in a biracial, ambisexual urban whirl. "On Third Street"–a Laura Nyro-style memoir of growing up in Detroit in the Sixties–brings out the brittle side of Lasley's singing; he sounds a bit like Sylvester, while the original "Never Say" and the David Loggins-Randy Goodrum ballad "If I Had My Wish Tonight" echo the plaintive, floating sweetness of the Bee Gees' best ballads.

[Missin’ Twenty Grand] is genuinely beautiful white soul from the veteran Los Angeles backup singer. "On Third Street" is as good a confessional song as Joni Mitchell's ever written… Beautiful music in the best sense.

Dave Marsh, ROLLING STONE

[Missin’ Twenty Grand is] the finest blue-eyed soul album since Boz Scaggs’ Silk Degrees.

Don Shewey, BOSTON PHOENIX

The wide-open emotionality of Mr. Lasley’s singing, combined with his confessional lyrics and the way his tunes blend the style of Motown with more sophisticated Broadway and Hollywood influences, recalls the pop style of Laura Nyro’s classic late-60’s albums.

Stephen Holden, NEW YORK TIMES

When the musical styles of Missin’ Twenty Grand are consonant with its soul confessions, Lasley’s record is everything and more you’d ever expect from a singer-songwriter.

James Hunter, VILLAGE VOICE

To me, Lasley’s [Missin’ Twenty Grand] is immediately marked as one of the finest of the year.

Dave Marsh, MUSICIAN MAGAZINE

A better white-soul album [Missin’ Twenty Grand] hasn’t come out in years; a better white falsetto you have not heard in a longer time than that. Don’t miss it.”

CHICAGO MAGAZINE

[Missin’ Twenty Grand] is noteworthy in much the same way that Rickie Lee Jones’ debut was, because it combines a high level of vocal and compositional craftsmanship with a very personal approach... an impressive, panoramic debut.

HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE