Tom Johnston / Everything You've Heard Is True

It is said that after Michael McDonald took the lead of the Doobie Brothers, the group shifted from their previous boisterous style toward an AOR-style sophistication. In that context, Tom Johnston, one of the group's founders, left as Michael McDonald rose to prominence, which, if viewed unkindly, makes it seem as though he fell behind that trend.

However, their former boisterousness was backed by a genuine funkiness, and it was Tom Johnston who was responsible for that funkiness. This is clear when listening to his first solo album from 1979, 'Everything You've Heard Is True.' The sound that unfolds throughout the album, which follows in the footsteps of 'the past' while bouncing along pleasantly, shows not only his inherent funkiness but also the influence of the disco music of that same period (is it a coincidence that the BPM of the tracks is generally around 120?).

Such contemporaneity can certainly be heard as an excellent variation on the AOR-style evolution of his former band, the Doobie Brothers, and it must also serve as a strong refutation of the aforementioned idea that he 'fell behind.' You should definitely listen to 'What a Fool Believes' and 'I Keep Forgettin’,' of course. But let's listen to this one too (sorry if you already have).