See, it’s not a one-off! There’ll be at least two of these!
To catch you up, I’m going through my Apple Music library and saying something (anything? anything!) about every song I’ve rated five stars. If I like a song that much, I’m bound to have something to write besides “I like it”, right? I feel like that’s a good barometer. If I can’t come up with more than one sentence to describe how I feel about a particular song, it’s maybe not as good as I think it is?
Anyway, if I end up with a lot of these, it’s gonna be hard to access them all in one place. But I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there? Maybe I should just use 5 star jamz as a tag? Why am I thinking out loud? Let’s move on.
“Adventure of a Lifetime”, by Coldplay (Atlantic, 2015)
I think of Coldplay as the evolutionary U2. In similar fashion to Bono and the boys leaving the earnest rock of the ‘80s behind to explore sexier, dubbier territory in the ‘90s (Achtung Baby is one of my 10 favorite albums of the ‘90s and I’m sure I’ll write more about it eventually), Chris Martin and his crew pushed at the edges of the moody (but hooky) rock sound they crystallized over the course of their first three albums. Chris’s friendship with Jay-Z (and the band’s popularity with Black and Brown folks) made hip-hop an easy genre for them to lean into for collaborations, but 2015’s “Adventure of a Lifetime” finds the band merging vaguely Middle Eastern sounds with a bass line that sounds like it was ripped straight out of the Bernard Edwards playbook. Edwards was half of the legendary writing/production/team called the CHIC Organization (alongside living icon Nile Rodgers) and his playing was hugely influential (Duran Duran would not exist without him). Coldplay’s attempts to play outside of their typical lane haven’t always been successful, but “Adventure” marries its disparate elements with an irresistibly anthemic hook. It’s four minutes of unbridled joy, which you wouldn’t have expected from the dudes who made “Yellow” a decade and a half before.
“Adventures in the Land of Music” by Dynasty (Solar, 1980)
The “SOLA” in Solar Records stood for “Sound of Los Angeles”, and that sound’s architect was bassist Leon Sylvers III. He left the warm bosom of his family band (responsible for peak disco-era smashes like “Boogie Fever” to become Solar’s house producer, and worked most closely with the co-ed group Dynasty (which he became an official member of in 1981). This, the title track of Dynasty’s second (and most successful) album was this dreamy mid-tempo romp, which ‘90s rap fans will easily recognize as the sample underpinning Camp Lo’s hit “Luchini (This Is It)”. Although I was familiar with Dynasty in my ‘80s childhood, I’m not sure I’d heard “Adventures” until being introduced to it via sample. No disrespect to Camp Lo, but the original version is way better. The lyrical motif is corny, but the arrangement is killer—the horns and strings have an almost-cinematic sweep. The group vocals have that Sylvers signature…a choral structure that recalls the easiest of ‘70s easy listening but with enough stank on it to remind you that you’re not listening to the New Christy Minstrels or whoever. Hip-hop samples have done much to introduce me to music either I was too young to hear the first time around and introduce me to songs by artists (or on albums) that I only skimmed the surface of. Here’s the first of what will surely be several cases-in-point.
“Africa” by Toto (Epic, 1982)
I wanna say that you can judge how good a musical composition is by how many versions of it you love. I have three different renditions of “Africa” in my library. Toto’s original, as well as covers by Weezer and the duo of Phonte and Zo! In light of the ironic discovery of “yacht rock” by pretentious folks who are maybe ten years younger than me, I know “Africa” has gained an almost mythical reputation. It’s a prime ‘80s cheese platter! On the real tip, though, I loved this song (and this band) way before it was cool to, and my tongue is only slightly in my cheek as I write this.
“Africa” is a staple of my formative years, was probably used to teach me 2nd and 3rd grade geography (although it was many years before I knew what Kilimanjaro or the Serengeti was, or even that they were in the lyrics of this song), and its light is only slightly dimmed when some rando decides to bust out a karaoke version of it. Let Bobby Kimball and his velvet pipes (and David Paich and his less velvet, more monotone pipes) handle their bidness.
Two facts I just learned from Wikipedia: Timothy B. Schmit (the Eagle) sang background vocals on “Africa”, and the video (which was fascinating as a 6 year old in 1983 and is laughably primitive 41 years later) was directed by a guy named Steve Barron, who also directed the video for the song whose reign at #1 began exactly one month after “Africa” became Toto’s one and only chart toppers. Think paternity suits, moonwalks, and a certain song that’ll appear when I jump into the letter “B”.
“After the Love Has Gone” by Earth, Wind & Fire (Columbia, 1979)
“After the Love Has Gone” represented a bit of softening/mainstream capitulation on behalf of Earth, Wind & Fire, who were the most commercially successful Black band of the late ‘70s (and maybe of the entire decade? Although I guess the Jackson 5 might have something to say about that). Although EW&F had ballad hits before, “After the Love Has Gone” was their first song to be middle-of-the-road enough for easy listening radio. A quick look at the songwriting credits reveals not one member of the band among them, with the composition left to studio vet Jay Graydon, future-lead-singer-of-Chicago Bill Champlin, and a Canadian upstart named David Foster. The presence of these outsiders irked a few band members (Maurice White, who hired Foster, states as much in his memoir), but no one was irked enough to deliver a half-assed performance.
First off, it doesn’t matter who penned the song, it’s incredibly well-written (and has become more relatable with every passing year). Second, the vocal interplay between Maurice and Philip Bailey is near or at its peak here. Third, the Bailey-voiced key changes toward the track’s conclusion blew my mind as a tyke and remain powerful four and a half decades later. Fourth, there’s the late Don Myrick’s closing sax solo, which provides a bridge between “After the Love Has Gone” and the song that follows it on the I Am album (and serves as sort of a soothing balm after four minutes of sadness and drama if you’re listening to the single).
Is Philip Bailey the greatest falsetto singer of all time? Barry Gibb and a couple of DeBarge brothers might fight him, but the brother has a case.
Running tally-type shit because I like stats:
Total songs: 8
2 songs from the 1970s
4 songs from the 1980s
2 songs from the 2010s
3 songs by male solo artists, 5 songs by groups/bands
Next up, it’s about to get real Brooklyn in this piece!!
omg pop lover here, too. "Adventure of a Lifetime" is great, and so is the Weezer cover of "Africa." (Also have you heard the Low cover that they did as part of The A/V Club back in the day?) I found it:https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=RWPx5N3rCvU&si=5Nt66ifPSlG3kdWe
Great read. Leon Sylvers III deserves to be as heralded as MJ, Prince, and EWF. 🎼