Imagination (Gladys Knight & the Pips album) Imagination (Gladys Knight & the Pips album) Imagination is the eleventh studio album recorded by American R&B group Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in October 1973 on the Buddah label. The album, the group's first for Buddah after leaving Motown, includes their first and only "Billboard" Hot 100 number-one hit "Midnight Train to Georgia", which also reached number-one on the R&B singles chart. The album also produced other the successful singles, including "I've Got to Use My Imagination" and "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me", with both songs peaking at number-one on the R&B singles chart and top
A Trick of the Tail on an ARP 2500 synthesizer. Collins thought the group could carry on as an instrumental act, but other group members felt that it would be boring without vocals. The group had still not decided on a replacement singer, so they decided to start recording backing tracks and audition singers as they went. Some songs such as "Ripples..." were written with the intention that Collins could sing them, similar to "More Fool Me" on "Selling England by the Pound", but he did not want to take over as a permanent replacement, opting instead to teach potential lead singers the songs. The