Chaka Khan. Chaka-chaka-chaka-chakakhan. Chaka Khan. Oops,wrong song.
A year before she had her biggest hit with a cover of a Prince album track, the woman whose momma named her Yvette Marie Stevens joined forces with her old band Rufus for the last time and produced this electro-soul classic. If they were gonna go out, I guess why not go out with this, right?
Some of you may remember “Ain’t Nobody” from the movie “Breakin'”,which it made an appearance in after it’d already become a hit. What some of you may not know is that the song, which was written by Rufus member David “Hawk” Wolinski, was originally earmarked for use on “Thriller” by Quincy Jones (I can hear Michael singing it). However, Wolinksi decided to keep the song and use it as one of the two studio tracks on “Live-Stompin’ at the Savoy”. Add Chaka’s unusual phrasing and one of her most powerful vocals, you wind up with one of the best-loved songs of her career, although it’s chart position (#22 pop) wasn’t exactly earth-shattering. Nevertheless, the song won Rufus & Chaka a Grammy, and to this day, no Chaka concert is complete without it.
I did not realize this song had a video until, you guessed it, I popped over to YouTube earlier today. No big surprise that the rest of Rufus appears nowhere in this video. Nevertheless, witness Chaka in her full-fledged big-haired glory. And bust a move like Turbo and Ozone.
