Ok, finally we have an inspiration. The previous two editions of Jam Slow really didn’t have much of an inspiration except that I just liked slow jams. But I had just met Carol (who eventually became my wife) and she became the inspiration for JSlow 4 Life (as well as everything until JSlow 15). This was one of my favorite editions of JSlow as it was a whopping 20 songs. This was back in the day when I did them on tapes and there were these things called 90 minute cassettes.
Music is personal. You hear great songs and immediately put yourself into the lyrics. The songs become about you and about your life. That’s what slow jams were for me.
Most of today’s generation have no clue who Norman Whitfield is, but the Detroit native was one of the most important producers of the late Sixties and early Seventies. He was the main catalyst from turning Motown Records from a freshly-scrubbed pop-friendly label into something a little more psychedelic and sinister. While he wrote and produced nearly every song during the Temptations phenomenal post-Smokey run (“I Wish It Would Rain”, “I Can’t Get Next to You”, “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”), his most treasured composition is undoubtedly “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”, a song whose definitive version was provided by Marvin Gaye, but has been rerecorded by everyone from Creedence Clearwater Revival to the frickin’ California Raisins.
That string of hits alone would have been enough to ensure Whifield’s legendary status, but he went on to discover and produce well into the disco age. His most popular discovery of that era was Rose Royce, who scored chart hits with “Car Wash”, “I Wanna Get Next to You”, and the classic “Wishing on a Star”.
At a time when most current pop music sounds alike, it’s important to remember the originals, and Norman Whitfield was a true original.
Here’s The Tempts performing “I Wish It Would Rain”, one of my all-time favorite songs. Below it, a little bonus from Amy Winehouse and Paul Weller.
Remember on “American Top 40” when Casey Kasem would skip over songs that had been on the charts forever and a day? Well, since I already discussed “Yah Mo B There” here, there’s no point in rehashing. It pops up at #87 on my list.
Now, song #86 is probably one of, if not the least-known song on this whole countdown. Most of you know Jody Watley as 1/3 of bubbly pop/disco group Shalamar or as the fashion plate who delivered post-Janet hits like “Looking for a New Love” and “Real Love”, but this song, while not a huge hit, served as her finest moment.
Not only is Jody almost unrecognizable vocally-rocking a tone so deep you wouldn’t be out of line if you thought a man was singing, but this song has a nasty funk groove. The chicken scratch guitars and popping bass were provided by a guy named Andre Cymone. Prince fans may know Cymone as the Minneapolis Wonder’s original bass player (he left right before “1999”) and his de facto brother-Andre’s mother took Prince in as a teenager and the two boys grew up together. Andre had a fairly forgettable solo career, but scored a handful of hits as a producer, working with everyone from Jermaine Stewart to Adam Ant to Jody, who at the time of this song was his girlfriend and later became his wife. The two divorced at some point in the mid-Nineties, reportedly under a fair bit of acrimony, and Andre has become something of a recluse. Jody, however, still regularly scores hits on the dance charts and tours the country. Her most recent album, “The Makeover”, was released last year and scored a minor hit with a cover of Madonna’s “Borderline”.
Oh, you’ll also find Andre fairly prominently featured as the love interest in this video.
