It’s the middle of August and five months into the coronavirus pandemic – is anyone longing for that summer jazzfest they haven’t been able to attend?
With today’s GBN playlist, which we’ve dubbed “Grown Folks Vacation,” you can press play, imagine yourself slipping into your backyard hammock with a glass of wine, and let a wave of classic songs and sounds wash over you (with a twist) – hopefully getting a little bit of relaxation in these stressful times.
Today, we’re celebrating music coming from the independent New Jersey-based label Shanachie Records, which, for more than 20 years, has been keeping veteran artists and favorite songs alive after many major labels have passed them by.
Shanachie was born in the 1980s as a niche independent label focusing on Celtic, folk, reggae and other branches of world music that the big companies usually ignore. But by the late ’90s, with expansion of the Quiet Storm and Wave radio formats, Shanachie expanded into a new area of music with releases from smooth jazz saxophonists like Walter Beasley and Kim Waters.
Heading into a hot summer weekend a few weeks ago, Good Black News brought you a mellow, all-day playlist of ’70s slow jams (click here if you haven’t checked it out yet).
Since so many responded to it, we decided to follow it up with a playlist for the ’80s generation to call its own. Thus, on this warm late-July weekend, we happily offer you a throwback “quiet storm” collection: “Ultimate ’80s Champagne Slow Jams.”
Following the civil rights-infused, raw, expansive, pioneering music of the ’70s, the ’80s found soul music veering towards more urbane and sophisticated sounds. Smooth adult soul was the name of the game, with polished veteran artists like Dionne Warwick, Patti Labelle, The Isley Brothers, Melba Moore, Gladys Knight, Michael Jackson all hitting new career highs more than a decade into their illustrious careers.
Many of the decade’s most celebrated newcomers – Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Sade, Anita Baker, Freddie Jackson, to name a few – were also decked out in fine fashions, singing ballads that married the lush instrumentation of Philly Soul with the new smooth jazz grooves.
The ’80s were also the peak decade for the superstar duet – from Teena Marie & Rick James to Patti Austin & James Ingram to Kashif & Meli’sa Morgan to Dennis Edwards & Siedah Garrett – and our playlist has all the ones you remember.
But BET’s Midnight Love video show wasn’t only packed with slick romance for “grown folks” – the ’80s also had a cavalcade of teen stars working to replicate Michael Jackson/Jackson 5-level superstardom.
Fresh from the pages of Right On Magazine came Stacy Lattisaw & Johnny Gill, New Edition, The Jets, the DeBarge family and Tracie Spencer, among others. Of course, the most successful of those teens was Janet Jackson – and she’s here along with other Minneapolis Sound stars like SOS Band and Human League, all inspired by the one and only Prince, during his premiere pre-symbol peak years.
In the years before hip hop gained a mainstream foothold on the charts, the ’80s provided many of the jams that would ultimately be sampled by rappers – so you can hear some of the underlying inspirations of Notorious B.I.G., Eric B & Rakim, and LL Cool J – along with LL Cool J himself, with the first enormous hip-hop slow jam, “I Need Love.”
Musically, the ’80s also represented the decade where spiritual messages met more traditional soul balladry in a new kind of contemporary gospel that felt at home on R&B radio. Our playlist closes with a set of tracks from The Winans, Howard Hewett, Tramaine Hawkins, The Clark Sisters and others.
So, calling all you ’80s people, whether you’re slipping into a warm bath by candlelight, sipping champagne at sunset on a yacht or imagining yourself doing so, or maybe just seeking a mellow playlist as background to your umpteenth day sheltering in place – we’ve got you covered.
In fact, it’s a mega-playlist long enough to fill most of your weekend waking hours without repeat – you can set it and forget it. Hope you enjoy!
Stevie Wonder told us with his very first hit, ‘Fingertips,’ recorded when he was 12, that he was a harmonica master. Somehow, through all the genius songwriting, singing, production and keyboard innovation, we tend to forget about those harmonica skills.
But Stevie hasn’t.
His unmistakable harmonica blowing is right there, easy to find in such Stevie favorites throughout his career including ‘I Was Made to Love Her,’ ‘Isn’t She Lovely,’ ‘For Once In My Life,’ ‘That Girl,’ ‘We Can Work It Out,’ ‘Boogie On Reggae Woman,’ and even 1990s gems like ‘Treat Myself.’
Although he does play that Hohner Chromonica often on his own records, Wonder actually seems to utilize his harmonica skills most frequently as a means to collaborate with other artists.
From the 1960s to today, he’s played harmonica as a guest session man on over 150 songs from other artists. That’s more than 10 whole albums worth of additional Stevie-infused material!
To celebrate that part of Stevie’s career, today’s GBN Month of Stevie playlist is entitled “The Wonders of Stevie’s Harmonica,“ where we’ve amassed every Stevie Wonder harmonica guest appearance that we could find on Spotify into one huge list.
You’ll find a few famous hits – Chaka Khan’s ‘I Feel For You,’ Elton John’s ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues,’ Sting’s ‘Brand New Day,’ R&B classics from DeBarge’s ‘Love Me In A Special Way’ to Jermaine Jackson’s smash ‘Let’s Get Serious’ (which Stevie also wrote and produced). And one of my personal favorites, the Eurythmics #1 UK hit ‘There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart).’
And though he hasn’t released a full album of new work since 2005, Stevie Wonder has stayed relevant to the charts through these harmonica-based collabos. That’s Stevie’s harmonica on Drake’s ‘Take Care’ album – the #1 album of 2012.
He appears twice on the Mark Ronson 2015 album that contained the #1 song of that year, “Uptown Funk.” And just last year, that was Stevie’s harmonica again on rapper Travis Scott’s chart-topping album “AstroWorld.”
But going on Stevie Wonder’s harmonica journey through music takes you to more than just the top of the charts. One of the special things about being Stevie – a sonic force for nearly 60 years – is his wide-ranging love of music across all genres and generations, and his ability to play with all those people.
(photo via youtube.com)
While many associate the harmonica mostly with blues and folk sounds, Stevie takes the instrument to new places. To be expected, his harmonica is present in the work of his Motown compatriots from the Supremes to the Temptations to Smokey Robinson.
But he’s also played with the finest in rock music (Paul McCartney, James Taylor), popular standards (Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett), world music (Sergio Mendes, Djavan), jazz (Robert Glasper, Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie), pop (NSync, 98 Degrees, Mariah Carey), hip hop (Drake, Snoop Dogg) and gospel (BeBe Winans, Andrae Crouch). (Stevie, of course, has also ventured into Broadway, but the version of Rent’s ‘Seasons of Love’ with his contributions isn’t available on Spotify. But you can hear it here.)
The list closes with another personal favorite, this one from Stevie’s own catalog – his harmonica infused take on the classical holiday piece ‘Ave Maria’ – written in 1825 and sung primarily by opera singers through the centuries.
The 45-second harmonica solo here is simple and majestic, and completely at home within a classical music space, something I think only Stevie Wonder could achieve with this instrument.
Come take a ride on Stevie’s harmonica highway – and listen out for that unmistakable sound. As with most musical adventures, we hope you will find something unexpectedly nice along with way.
Special thank you – assembling this playlist wouldn’t have been easily possible without the massive amounts of information on the fan website www.steviewonder.org.uk .
In the years before hip hop gained a mainstream foothold on the charts, the ’80s provided many of the jams that would ultimately be sampled by rappers – so you can hear some of the underlying inspirations of Notorious B.I.G., Eric B & Rakim, and LL Cool J – along with LL Cool J himself, with the first enormous hip-hop slow jam, “I Need Love.”
His unmistakable harmonica blowing is right there, easy to find in such Stevie favorites throughout his career including ‘I Was Made to Love Her,’ ‘Isn’t She Lovely,’ ‘For Once In My Life,’ ‘That Girl,’ ‘We Can Work It Out,’ ‘Boogie On Reggae Woman,’ and even 1990s gems like ‘Treat Myself.’