Was You Gave Me Love ever on TOTP or did its chart run coincide with the strikes which kept the Pops off air for weeks on end in the summer of 1980? I hope you're right Darren and we get to see this absolute classic some time in the future. I seem to recall that at the time of the strikes in 1980 a lot of dance records did really well sales wise ( Use it up and wear it out , Jump to the beat and Behind the groove to name 3 )[/QUOTE
You Gave Me Love was danced to by Legs & Co on the 29/5/80 show, the last one before the strike.
They definitely weren't banned - Chuck Berry being number 1 (for what seemed like ages) is probably my first memory of Top Of The Pops - I believe Mary Whitehouse just complained about suggestive hand movements in the video. When they didn't show the film clip one week they had Rolf Harris drawing cartoons to the song.
BIB - if my memory serves me correctly, the clips of Rolf Harris with his drawing board and black felt pen were intercut with the live footage of Chuck Berry - after the song reached Number One in the hit parade.
This topic has brought to mind a schoolboy joke that was in circulation at my alma mater in the early months of 1973:
Q: What do you get if you cross Gary Glitter with Little Jimmy Osmond and Chuck Berry?
A: Do You Wanna Touch My Long Haired Ding-a-Ling.
'Little Willy' was played heavily even on things like 'Junior Choice' I think it was even on 'Crackerjack'.
An excellent quality ZDF clip of The Sweet miming to 'Little Willy' from the 8 June 1972 edition of TOTP was uploaded to YouTube last year which is far superior to any of the grainy copies I had seen previously:
Was You Gave Me Love ever on TOTP or did its chart run coincide with the strikes which kept the Pops off air for weeks on end in the summer of 1980? I hope you're right Darren and we get to see this absolute classic some time in the future. I seem to recall that at the time of the strikes in 1980 a lot of dance records did really well sales wise ( Use it up and wear it out , Jump to the beat and Behind the groove to name 3 )[/QUOTE
You Gave Me Love was danced to by Legs & Co on the 29/5/80 show, the last one before the strike.
Thank you for that Claire. I love this track and it is a double A side : Use your body and soul is good as well though nowhere need the perfection of its co-A -side. Brothers Johnson's Strawberry letter 23 is another song which I only discovered 6 years ago and I would easily say it would be in my all-time top 50. It also features in 2 Tarantino films so it must be good.
Isn't it disappointing how few No1 single acts actually appear in the TOTP studio. This is noticeable since the run of John & Olivia (9 weeks) followed by The Commodores to come (5 weeks) then John & Olivia again (7 weeks), a total of 21 weeks between June & November 1978 with no No1 appearance by the act, except I believe for the single solitary week that 10cc grab in September with Dreadlock Holiday? But did they actually perform the hit on TOTP when it was actually No1 that week?
Boomtown Rats are almost becoming the TOTP studio "Rent-a-Group" aren't they! So many appearances, and still their debut top to come late in the year.
Talking 1980 summer, very briefly, I heard a track about a month ago on Smooth's Double Top 20, just once, that I've not heard before, by an act called Mystic Merlin, Just Can't Give You Up, that was a minor chart hit at No20 and sounded pretty decent. I've been meaning to check it out for a second listen. The one listen alone made me want to buy it.
Stomp by Brothers Johnson, I agree is excellent and I play it frequently, just like I do with two Quincy Jones tracks from the following summer ('81), Razzamatazz and Ai No Corrida. Great summer sounding dance tracks to me. I've likely mentioned those latter two before I think. Can't disagree on Crown Heights Affair either!
Check out the video of that Mystic Merlin song. The bit where he levitates that woman off the bed is hilarious! I remember it being featured on a round in Never Mind The Buzzcocks. They obviously dug out the 29/5/80 TOTP out of the archive, because it was shown on there, and also they showed a clip of Stiff Little Fingers as their singer was on the panel that week.
Isn't it disappointing how few No1 single acts actually appear in the TOTP studio. This is noticeable since the run of John & Olivia (9 weeks) followed by The Commodores to come (5 weeks) then John & Olivia again (7 weeks), a total of 21 weeks between June & November 1978 with no No1 appearance by the act, except I believe for the single solitary week that 10cc grab in September with Dreadlock Holiday? But did they actually perform the hit on TOTP when it was actually No1 that week?
Boomtown Rats are almost becoming the TOTP studio "Rent-a-Group" aren't they! So many appearances, and still their debut top to come late in the year.
Talking 1980 summer, very briefly, I heard a track about a month ago on Smooth's Double Top 20, just once, that I've not heard before, by an act called Mystic Merlin, Just Can't Give You Up, that was a minor chart hit at No20 and sounded pretty decent. I've been meaning to check it out for a second listen. The one listen alone made me want to buy it.
Stomp by Brothers Johnson, I agree is excellent and I play it frequently, just like I do with two Quincy Jones tracks from the following summer ('81), Razzamatazz and Ai No Corrida. Great summer sounding dance tracks to me. I've likely mentioned those latter two before I think. Can't disagree on Crown Heights Affair either!
If you like "Razzamatazz" and "Ai No Corrida" I'd recommend acquiring the album from whence they came, "The Dude", it is a top album and was the first album I ever bought on CD back in the late 80s (I already had the vinyl album from a few years previous).
The third single taken from The Dude is even better than the 2 classics you quote Rich. Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me featuring Patti Austin's vocals is my favourite Quincy Jones single.
Thank you for that Claire. I love this track and it is a double A side : Use your body and soul is good as well though nowhere need the perfection of its co-A -side. Brothers Johnson's Strawberry letter 23 is another song which I only discovered 6 years ago and I would easily say it would be in my all-time top 50. It also features in 2 Tarantino films so it must be good.
I also think 'Strawberry Letter 23' is an excellent song. I remember loving it when it was released in 1977 and I finally bought it the following year when it, along with another old track 'Get The Funk Out Ma Face' was included on a Brothers Johnson EP along with new track 'Ain't We Funkin' Now'
I bought the single purely for 'Strawberry Letter 23'.
A decade ago 'Strawberry Letter 23' was the subject of a number of emails to Fred Bronson's Chart Beat column at US music trade magazine Billboard where various posters and Fred discussed the meaning of the song as well as discussing its excellent musical qualities. The discussion started when a poster pointed out that nowhere in the lyrics of the song is "strawberry letter 23" mentioned, the song mentions the receipt of "strawberry letter 22" in what is presumably the 22nd love letter the singer has received. The title refers to the promise of another letter, which will be number 23.
Wasn't the track used on an advert a few years ago?
The third single taken from The Dude is even better than the 2 classics you quote Rich. Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me featuring Patti Austin's vocals is my favourite Quincy Jones single.
And written by Stevie Wonder no less. Quincy Jones has always had the stature to attract the best songwriters and musicians to contribute to his albums.
I also think 'Strawberry Letter 23' is an excellent song. I remember loving it when it was released in 1977 and I finally bought it the following year when it, along with another old track 'Get The Funk Out Ma Face' was included on a Brothers Johnson EP along with new track 'Ain't We Funkin' Now'
I bought the single purely for 'Strawberry Letter 23'.
A decade ago 'Strawberry Letter 23' was the subject of a number of emails to Fred Bronson's Chart Beat column at US music trade magazine Billboard where various posters and Fred discussed the meaning of the song as well as discussing its excellent musical qualities. The discussion started when a poster pointed out that nowhere in the lyrics of the song is "strawberry letter 23" mentioned, the song mentions the receipt of "strawberry letter 22" in what is presumably the 22nd love letter the singer has received. The title refers to the promise of another letter, which will be number 23.
Wasn't the track used on an advert a few years ago?
Yes, I am sure it has been used in an ad but cannot remember which one. I am not sure if it made the charts here, but it was top five in the US in the Autumn of 1977. It is indeed one of my favourite songs ever. Top thirty anyway.
As I think I wrote before, it was written by legendary Psyc-Soul star Shuggie Otis around about 1972 or 1973. I have his version but I have yet to listen to it.:eek:
And written by Stevie Wonder no less. Quincy Jones has always had the stature to attract the best songwriters and musicians to contribute to his albums.
'Ai No Corrida' is from an unusual source - its writers are Chas Jankel and Kenny Young. Chaz Jankel, the keyboard player in Ian Dury and The Blockheads had released his original version of the song the previous year and despite heavy play on Radio 1 it failed to chart. Kenny Young, like Chas Jankel, has appeared on Top Of The Pops 1978, as lead singer with Yellow Dog who sang 'Just One More Night'.
Yes, I am sure it has been used in an ad but cannot remember which one. I am not sure if it made the charts here, but it was top five in the US in the Autumn of 1977. It is indeed one of my favourite songs ever. Top thirty anyway.
As I think I wrote before, it was written by legendary Psyc-Soul star Shuggie Otis around about 1972 or 1973. I have his version but I have yet to listen to it.:eek:
It reached number 35 in July 1977 then as part of the EP I mentioned it reached number 43 in September 1978 though it wasn't credited on the chart.
If you like "Razzamatazz" and "Ai No Corrida" I'd recommend acquiring the album from whence they came, "The Dude", it is a top album and was the first album I ever bought on CD back in the late 80s (I already had the vinyl album from a few years previous).
And written by Stevie Wonder no less. Quincy Jones has always had the stature to attract the best songwriters and musicians to contribute to his albums.
I had actually forgotten that Giftednumber. As I love Stevie Wonder as a singer and a songwriter it should come as no surprise that BWHM is my favourite Quincy song.
Thank you for the info regarding Strawberry Letter No.23 Robbie. But I still don't know which advert used this masterpiece of soul.
Apart from the crapper pic quality, is it worth editing the proper Grease video into my DVD copy or not?
Can't locate this UK Gold version.(Am I confusing this with a TOTP2 'Recorded For Recall' segment?)
I have found the UK Gold version of a Blackburn edition from October 1978, featuring Jonathan King doing 'One For You', plus the Grease footage for 'Summer Nights' too!
Glad I mentioned Brothers Johnson in my earlier post, as it has brought up some interesting info in subsequent posts. Thanks everyone,
I hope I don't drift too far off topic, posting about random bands and groups, tell me off if I do.
BIB - No, it did chart. It got to a peak of 24 in the week ending 16.9.78, was in the top 75 for 10 weeks but bizarrely was never once on TOTP.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of too many singles that made it that high without a TOTP appearance.
A few soul/dance tracks that were hits were ignored completely by TOTP. I would have expected them to be playout tracks atleast with the audience/cheerleaders dancing to them with thier classic 80's moves!! 3 spring to mind, the excellent 'Someday' by the Gap Band from 1984 (this even got inside the top 20) and 'Can I' by Cashmere, again a respectable chart position and frequent radio/club play) & the excellent top 20 comeback single from the temptations and one of 1984's highlight for me, 'Treat Her lIke a Lady'. Remember feeling pretty gutted at the time about the pop video never being shown
It certainly was. I remember quite a few of my less well informed friends asking me if I knew the song in the Diet Coke ad and being told 'it's your sort of music.'
Talking 1980 summer, very briefly, I heard a track about a month ago on Smooth's Double Top 20, just once, that I've not heard before, by an act called Mystic Merlin, Just Can't Give You Up, that was a minor chart hit at No20 and sounded pretty decent. I've been meaning to check it out for a second listen. The one listen alone made me want to buy it. ...
Mystic Merlin's 'Just Can't Give You Up' is one of my favourites - it's a classic bit of Jazz Funk. Dave Pearce has played it on his BBC Radio 2 Saturday night show a few times. Not often featured on compilations sadly and I actually bought the CD compilation, which I discovered featured it, just to have it on CD:
I'd definitely recommend investing in a copy of 'The Dude.'
As for Mr. Jones, I've posted about it before but his 1978 hit 'Stuff Like That' is really worth checking out too. It's perfect for this time of year.
It certainly was. I remember quite a few of my less well informed friends asking me if I knew the song in the Diet Coke ad and being told 'it's your sort of music.'
Mystic Merlin's 'Just Can't Give You Up' is one of my favourites - it's a classic bit of Jazz Funk. Dave Pearce has played it on his BBC Radio 2 Saturday night show a few times. Not often featured on compilations sadly and I actually bought the CD compilation, which I discovered featured it, just to have it on CD:
I'd definitely recommend investing in a copy of 'The Dude.'
As for Mr. Jones, I've posted about it before but his 1978 hit 'Stuff Like That' is really worth checking out too. It's perfect for this time of year.
'Stuff Like That' features the vocals of Ashford & Simpson and Chaka Khan. The following year Ashford & Simpson released the excellent 'Found A Cure' which unbelievably failed to chart.
And speaking of Quincy Jones and the Brothers Johnson I overlooked the fact that Quincy Jones produced a large amount of the Brothers Johnson material including 'Strawberry Letter 23' and 'Stomp'. In addition the co-writer of 'Stomp' is Rod Temperton, of Heatwave and who hails from that well known mecca of dance music (!) Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire. In addition to co-writing 'Stomp' he also wrote 'Rock With You' and 'Thriller' from the Quincy Jones produced Michael Jackson albums 'Rock With You' and 'Thriller'. Two songs alone that made him a multi-millionaire...
It certainly was. I remember quite a few of my less well informed friends asking me if I knew the song in the Diet Coke ad and being told 'it's your sort of music.'
Mystic Merlin's 'Just Can't Give You Up' is one of my favourites - it's a classic bit of Jazz Funk. Dave Pearce has played it on his BBC Radio 2 Saturday night show a few times. Not often featured on compilations sadly and I actually bought the CD compilation, which I discovered featured it, just to have it on CD:
I'd definitely recommend investing in a copy of 'The Dude.'
As for Mr. Jones, I've posted about it before but his 1978 hit 'Stuff Like That' is really worth checking out too. It's perfect for this time of year.
Mr Slow-jam smooth crooner Freddie Jackson was one of the lead singers of Mystic Merlin. Back then he was popular session/Backing singer before finally getting his props as a soloist, a bit like Luther in some respects. They came back with a slightly funkier boogie track & minor hit back in 1981 called 'Mr Magician'
It certainly was. I remember quite a few of my less well informed friends asking me if I knew the song in the Diet Coke ad and being told 'it's your sort of music.'
Mystic Merlin's 'Just Can't Give You Up' is one of my favourites - it's a classic bit of Jazz Funk. Dave Pearce has played it on his BBC Radio 2 Saturday night show a few times. Not often featured on compilations sadly and I actually bought the CD compilation, which I discovered featured it, just to have it on CD:
I'd definitely recommend investing in a copy of 'The Dude.'
As for Mr. Jones, I've posted about it before but his 1978 hit 'Stuff Like That' is really worth checking out too. It's perfect for this time of year.
Quiny's 'Sounds and Stuff like That' ...is verging on pure perfection. It's dripping with soul from all direction (everyone who's anyone decent at the time in the soul fraternity is on it!)
The duet between Patti Austin & Luther Vandross called 'I'm Gonna Miss You In The Morning' is simply sublime as well as the rousing gospel-tinged Michael McDonald cover 'Takin' It Too The Streets' (with Gwen Guthrie and Luther Vandross)
Quincy had a busy year in 1978, what with this LP, producing the grammy award winning 'The Wiz' soundtrack and no doubt laying down sessions for Michael Jackson and Rufus & Chaka Khan, both who had big releases the following year I'm suprised he had time to even eat! :eek:
A gem!! & you are spot on, music that is so fitting for this time of year (or everyday of the year in my book!);)
Well I never knew Freddie Jackson was one of the leads in Mystic Merlin. I'd never checked to be honest. I like his solo stuff from the 80s - 'Nice And Slow' is one of mine, I had that on loads of holiday tapes in the late 80s and early 90s. I was listening to 'Rock Me Tonight' yesterday, which is on loads of my 80s compilations. Alexander, Luther and Freddie were played constantly at home at the time because my parents were really into them too.
I'm so glad I got to see Luther perform live three times.
'Stuff Like That' features the vocals of Ashford & Simpson and Chaka Khan. The following year Ashford & Simpson released the excellent 'Found A Cure' which unbelievably failed to chart.
And speaking of Quincy Jones and the Brothers Johnson I overlooked the fact that Quincy Jones produced a large amount of the Brothers Johnson material including 'Strawberry Letter 23' and 'Stomp'...
Quincy-produced albums from the late 70s onwards are sublime and the personnel on them is outstanding. Have you ever checked the credits for Donna Summer's 'State of Independence?' As well as MJ, Stevie Wonder, you have Eric Clapton, Dionne Warwick, Christopher Cross, Lionel Richie, Kenny Loggins and Brenda 'Piano in the Dark' Russell to name a few.
I have a lot of the Quincy-produced albums from the late 70s and early 80s, with George Benson's 'Give Me The Night' being a personal favourite. Speaking of the Brothers Johnson, one Louis Johnson plays bass on that one as well as on 'Off the Wall' and 'Thriller.' He's definitely the guy playing the killer bassline on 'Billie Jean.'
A special mention should also go to Quincy's long-term collaborators Patti Austin and James Ingram, whose vocals have made a lot of those records. Mr. Temperton also penned my favourite vocal with Patti's lead - 'Razzamatazz' and he co-wrote 'Yah Mo B There,' which must rank as one of the best tracks from the 1980s. Oh and Rod wrote and co-produced 'Sweet Freedom' for Michael McDonald too. I think Bruce Swedien, who was the Grammy award winning engineer on MJ's albums, got a credit on that one too.
Well I never knew Freddie Jackson was one of the leads in Mystic Merlin. I'd never checked to be honest. I like his solo stuff from the 80s - 'Nice And Slow' is one of mine, I had that on loads of holiday tapes in the late 80s and early 90s. I was listening to 'Rock Me Tonight' yesterday, which is on loads of my 80s compilations. Alexander, Luther and Freddie were played constantly at home at the time because my parents were really into them too.
I'm so glad I got to see Luther perform live three times.
Yeah, they were the 3 staple soul 'lurrrve' men of the time weren't they? Luther, Alexander & Freddie. On constant rotation in my household too & all three released really strong albums in 1985, Alexander's self-titled debut, Freddie's 'Rock Me Tonight' & Luther's sublime 'The Night I Fell In Love'. Whilst I didn't really care much for the pop music around this period, these 3 albums more than made up for it!
Infact I'm gonna play all three now & enjoy a mojito or two in da sun!!:cool:
Comments
BIB - if my memory serves me correctly, the clips of Rolf Harris with his drawing board and black felt pen were intercut with the live footage of Chuck Berry - after the song reached Number One in the hit parade.
This topic has brought to mind a schoolboy joke that was in circulation at my alma mater in the early months of 1973:
Q: What do you get if you cross Gary Glitter with Little Jimmy Osmond and Chuck Berry?
A: Do You Wanna Touch My Long Haired Ding-a-Ling.
An excellent quality ZDF clip of The Sweet miming to 'Little Willy' from the 8 June 1972 edition of TOTP was uploaded to YouTube last year which is far superior to any of the grainy copies I had seen previously:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHyuIioJYBw
Boomtown Rats are almost becoming the TOTP studio "Rent-a-Group" aren't they! So many appearances, and still their debut top to come late in the year.
Talking 1980 summer, very briefly, I heard a track about a month ago on Smooth's Double Top 20, just once, that I've not heard before, by an act called Mystic Merlin, Just Can't Give You Up, that was a minor chart hit at No20 and sounded pretty decent. I've been meaning to check it out for a second listen. The one listen alone made me want to buy it.
Stomp by Brothers Johnson, I agree is excellent and I play it frequently, just like I do with two Quincy Jones tracks from the following summer ('81), Razzamatazz and Ai No Corrida. Great summer sounding dance tracks to me. I've likely mentioned those latter two before I think. Can't disagree on Crown Heights Affair either!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGLsAkeRd84
If you like "Razzamatazz" and "Ai No Corrida" I'd recommend acquiring the album from whence they came, "The Dude", it is a top album and was the first album I ever bought on CD back in the late 80s (I already had the vinyl album from a few years previous).
http://www.discogs.com/Brothers-Johnson-The-Aint-We-Funkin-Now-Strawberry-Letter-23-Get-The-Funk-Out-Ma-Face/release/1724497
I bought the single purely for 'Strawberry Letter 23'.
A decade ago 'Strawberry Letter 23' was the subject of a number of emails to Fred Bronson's Chart Beat column at US music trade magazine Billboard where various posters and Fred discussed the meaning of the song as well as discussing its excellent musical qualities. The discussion started when a poster pointed out that nowhere in the lyrics of the song is "strawberry letter 23" mentioned, the song mentions the receipt of "strawberry letter 22" in what is presumably the 22nd love letter the singer has received. The title refers to the promise of another letter, which will be number 23.
Wasn't the track used on an advert a few years ago?
As I think I wrote before, it was written by legendary Psyc-Soul star Shuggie Otis around about 1972 or 1973. I have his version but I have yet to listen to it.:eek:
I had actually forgotten that Giftednumber. As I love Stevie Wonder as a singer and a songwriter it should come as no surprise that BWHM is my favourite Quincy song.
Thank you for the info regarding Strawberry Letter No.23 Robbie. But I still don't know which advert used this masterpiece of soul.
http://www.uktvadverts.com/Home/Search.aspx?advert=3725
Can't locate this UK Gold version.(Am I confusing this with a TOTP2 'Recorded For Recall' segment?)
I have found the UK Gold version of a Blackburn edition from October 1978, featuring Jonathan King doing 'One For You', plus the Grease footage for 'Summer Nights' too!
Lets see what happens in October 2013!
I hope I don't drift too far off topic, posting about random bands and groups, tell me off if I do.
A few soul/dance tracks that were hits were ignored completely by TOTP. I would have expected them to be playout tracks atleast with the audience/cheerleaders dancing to them with thier classic 80's moves!! 3 spring to mind, the excellent 'Someday' by the Gap Band from 1984 (this even got inside the top 20) and 'Can I' by Cashmere, again a respectable chart position and frequent radio/club play) & the excellent top 20 comeback single from the temptations and one of 1984's highlight for me, 'Treat Her lIke a Lady'. Remember feeling pretty gutted at the time about the pop video never being shown
It certainly was. I remember quite a few of my less well informed friends asking me if I knew the song in the Diet Coke ad and being told 'it's your sort of music.'
Mystic Merlin's 'Just Can't Give You Up' is one of my favourites - it's a classic bit of Jazz Funk. Dave Pearce has played it on his BBC Radio 2 Saturday night show a few times. Not often featured on compilations sadly and I actually bought the CD compilation, which I discovered featured it, just to have it on CD:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Essential-Disco-Hits-Various/dp/B0037FFBJA
I'd definitely recommend investing in a copy of 'The Dude.'
As for Mr. Jones, I've posted about it before but his 1978 hit 'Stuff Like That' is really worth checking out too. It's perfect for this time of year.
And speaking of Quincy Jones and the Brothers Johnson I overlooked the fact that Quincy Jones produced a large amount of the Brothers Johnson material including 'Strawberry Letter 23' and 'Stomp'. In addition the co-writer of 'Stomp' is Rod Temperton, of Heatwave and who hails from that well known mecca of dance music (!) Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire. In addition to co-writing 'Stomp' he also wrote 'Rock With You' and 'Thriller' from the Quincy Jones produced Michael Jackson albums 'Rock With You' and 'Thriller'. Two songs alone that made him a multi-millionaire...
Mr Slow-jam smooth crooner Freddie Jackson was one of the lead singers of Mystic Merlin. Back then he was popular session/Backing singer before finally getting his props as a soloist, a bit like Luther in some respects. They came back with a slightly funkier boogie track & minor hit back in 1981 called 'Mr Magician'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=391S6c39FVA
A gem!! & you are spot on, music that is so fitting for this time of year (or everyday of the year in my book!);)
.
Quiny's 'Sounds and Stuff like That' ...is verging on pure perfection. It's dripping with soul from all direction (everyone who's anyone decent at the time in the soul fraternity is on it!)
The duet between Patti Austin & Luther Vandross called 'I'm Gonna Miss You In The Morning' is simply sublime as well as the rousing gospel-tinged Michael McDonald cover 'Takin' It Too The Streets' (with Gwen Guthrie and Luther Vandross)
Quincy had a busy year in 1978, what with this LP, producing the grammy award winning 'The Wiz' soundtrack and no doubt laying down sessions for Michael Jackson and Rufus & Chaka Khan, both who had big releases the following year I'm suprised he had time to even eat! :eek:
Well I never knew Freddie Jackson was one of the leads in Mystic Merlin. I'd never checked to be honest. I like his solo stuff from the 80s - 'Nice And Slow' is one of mine, I had that on loads of holiday tapes in the late 80s and early 90s. I was listening to 'Rock Me Tonight' yesterday, which is on loads of my 80s compilations. Alexander, Luther and Freddie were played constantly at home at the time because my parents were really into them too.
I'm so glad I got to see Luther perform live three times.
Quincy-produced albums from the late 70s onwards are sublime and the personnel on them is outstanding. Have you ever checked the credits for Donna Summer's 'State of Independence?' As well as MJ, Stevie Wonder, you have Eric Clapton, Dionne Warwick, Christopher Cross, Lionel Richie, Kenny Loggins and Brenda 'Piano in the Dark' Russell to name a few.
I have a lot of the Quincy-produced albums from the late 70s and early 80s, with George Benson's 'Give Me The Night' being a personal favourite. Speaking of the Brothers Johnson, one Louis Johnson plays bass on that one as well as on 'Off the Wall' and 'Thriller.' He's definitely the guy playing the killer bassline on 'Billie Jean.'
A special mention should also go to Quincy's long-term collaborators Patti Austin and James Ingram, whose vocals have made a lot of those records. Mr. Temperton also penned my favourite vocal with Patti's lead - 'Razzamatazz' and he co-wrote 'Yah Mo B There,' which must rank as one of the best tracks from the 1980s. Oh and Rod wrote and co-produced 'Sweet Freedom' for Michael McDonald too. I think Bruce Swedien, who was the Grammy award winning engineer on MJ's albums, got a credit on that one too.
Yeah, they were the 3 staple soul 'lurrrve' men of the time weren't they? Luther, Alexander & Freddie. On constant rotation in my household too & all three released really strong albums in 1985, Alexander's self-titled debut, Freddie's 'Rock Me Tonight' & Luther's sublime 'The Night I Fell In Love'. Whilst I didn't really care much for the pop music around this period, these 3 albums more than made up for it!
Infact I'm gonna play all three now & enjoy a mojito or two in da sun!!:cool: