Middle Man
Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs’s Middle Man is his ninth studio album, released by Columbia Records in 1980, and it finds him doubling down on the sleek, radio‑ready blend of blue‑eyed soul, soft rock, and funk he’d refined on Silk Degrees. Backed heavily by members of Toto, the record is full of tight session playing, synth‑rich arrangements, and glossy production that nudges his 1970s sound toward the shinier textures of the coming decade. Contemporary reviewers described it as an “impeccably tasteful collection of sophisticated white soul,” noting that it was both impeccably crafted and tailor‑made for upscale, late‑night listening.
The album opens with “Jojo,” a jazzy, funk‑inflected track whose lyrics about street crime sit atop a slinky groove, and “Breakdown Dead Ahead,” a punchier rock‑soul single that became one of the record’s two Top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Elsewhere, “Simone” and “You Can Have Me Anytime” showcase Scaggs’s romantic ballad side, with the latter featuring a guest guitar solo from Carlos Santana, while the title track “Middle Man,” “Angel You,” and “Do Like You Do in New York” lean into synth‑driven, R&B‑flavored rock with big choruses and layered backing vocals. Taken as a whole, Middle Man has often been seen as a commercial and stylistic capstone to Scaggs’s 1970s run—an album that consolidates his rock‑and‑soul persona with high‑end session sheen, even as some critics note that its smoothness sometimes comes at the expense of the more “thrilling” edge of his earlier work.
Middle Man
Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs’s Middle Man is his ninth studio album, released by Columbia Records in 1980, and it finds him doubling down on the sleek, radio‑ready blend of blue‑eyed soul, soft rock, and funk he’d refined on Silk Degrees. Backed heavily by members of Toto, the record is full of tight session playing, synth‑rich arrangements, and glossy production that nudges his 1970s sound toward the shinier textures of the coming decade. Contemporary reviewers described it as an “impeccably tasteful collection of sophisticated white soul,” noting that it was both impeccably crafted and tailor‑made for upscale, late‑night listening.
The album opens with “Jojo,” a jazzy, funk‑inflected track whose lyrics about street crime sit atop a slinky groove, and “Breakdown Dead Ahead,” a punchier rock‑soul single that became one of the record’s two Top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Elsewhere, “Simone” and “You Can Have Me Anytime” showcase Scaggs’s romantic ballad side, with the latter featuring a guest guitar solo from Carlos Santana, while the title track “Middle Man,” “Angel You,” and “Do Like You Do in New York” lean into synth‑driven, R&B‑flavored rock with big choruses and layered backing vocals. Taken as a whole, Middle Man has often been seen as a commercial and stylistic capstone to Scaggs’s 1970s run—an album that consolidates his rock‑and‑soul persona with high‑end session sheen, even as some critics note that its smoothness sometimes comes at the expense of the more “thrilling” edge of his earlier work.