Earth, Wind & Fire's "Let's Groove" with Estelle

Hey there, One Song Nation luxury here! We're off this week with new episodes, but in the meantime, we're revisiting one of our favorite older episodes, where we break down Earth Wind and Fire's Let's Groove, and to help us break it down, we had Grammy award-winning musician and actor Estelle join the show, and relish in the beauty of the isolated stems for that song. We will be back next week with another brand new episode, but until then, please enjoy our One Song special episode with Estelle, about Earth Wind and Fire's Let's Groove. One, two, three. Song, this is One Song, this is One Song, this is One Song. Lectury today's song is from one of the best selling bands of all time. They've sold over 90 million records worldwide. Get this! They had a string of 11, 11 consecutive gold albums, eight of which also went platinum, and this song was certified gold, and picked the number one on the hot R&B songs chart, and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981. Wow! That's right, wow! Their music combines incredible musicianship, blend so many genres. I'm talking about jazz, R&B, funk, soul, disco, pop, and it spreads a message of universal love, harmony, and spiritualism. So everyone, let's do this. Let's song tonight. Indeed. We'll share the spice of life. We're going to share it. Gonna One Song tonight. Yeah, One Song. Yeah, it's called the Picardy Thurwin, you know, in a major like that. In case you're paying attention, it's One Song, and that song is Let's Groove by Earth Wind and Fire. I'm actor, writer, director, and sometimes DJ Diallo Riddle. And I'm producer, DJ, songwriter, and musicologist, Luxury, aka the guy who just turned in a book about interpolation. And if you want to watch One Song, please go to our YouTube channel and watch this full episode. All right, let's begin. Let's do it. All right, well, we've got a very special guest for this episode who loves Earth Wind and Fire just as much as we do. She's a Grammy award-winning pop star, singer, songwriter, rapper, and actress all the way from West London. Her music blends R&B with hip-hop reggae, soul, grime, dance, and so much more. She's collaborated with a world-famous artist like John Legend, David Gettah, and Rick Ross. And you know her from such hit songs as Come Over. Thank you, and American Boy. Please give it up for her style. Oh, wow. Thank you. Appreciate you. We really appreciate you joining us. Thank you for having me. Listen, first of all, we are huge fans of your music and congrats on your new song, O.I. Thank you. We heard it. We love it. We love it. It's funky. It's bass-driven. Thank you. You can dance to it. What was your approach for writing this song and, if I may, was it different than what you've done in the past? It wasn't. It wasn't. I would say like, my approach for writing this this time was just more being in the moment. Like, I really, I pray a lot. I've said this and I've been used by I pray a lot. And I'm like, I went in there to this session just praying and asking God what to do. And I didn't second guess it. It didn't overthink it. And I just, we did four hour sessions for this entire album. This is a very first song of the album. And I say it's the same in that this was essentially how I made American Boy. It's how I made one love. We didn't overthink it. We didn't all the records that people love from me are not overthought. They're just like, when you say overthink it, did you come in with with nothing at all? You heard the track and just yeah, something came out. So before I came in, I had a melody maybe or I had like the kind of thing just running around the back of my head. Didn't even record it. But since I heard the original beat, I thought to myself, like, no, this is this is ABC. This is one, two, three, four, four, and it just felt like that. And the melody comes out before he even finished doing it. I finished the melody when inside vocal, and then he finished the beat after it. Wow. It was a natural fit between the melody you separately had in your head. And then you heard the beat, and the melody worked to that beat. And then the lyrics came after that. Exactly. Amazing. Exactly. Love it. And it was quick. Quick. That's such a relief. Sometimes. Oh, every time. Yeah, because it's like making music really is it's alchemy to a degree. It's really not something that I take personal credit for. I have no idea how I do it. I do the education of it. I've done my 10,000 hours. Yeah. I've been in studios. I've learned. I've observed. I've been around. But the actual making of it, you can't tell from time to time. It's going to be good. That's it. It's going to be like, but you as a conduit for just like it came to you. That's the part that you can't. You said over think I totally get it. You just like have to be in the moment. Yeah. Let it happen. Let it be and be okay with it. Don't judge it. I mean, like luxury, obviously, you know, you make music and I'm off. I am often like, dude, that sounds great. Like, don't overthink this. Like, put this out. Yeah, that's not quite right. Yeah. Did that happen with you where like you had something and you had a feeling about it, but you were kind of motivated or your collaborators were helpful in that. Well, not overthinking the producer I work with. We worked with each other for years. He actually produced on American boy. So it wasn't hard. We'd done other records together too. So it wasn't an adjustment to work with him. I picked him chosen myself. I caught him. Yeah, I was like, I have an idea for some records. Let's do this. I think people want to dance and be happy again. I do, you know, this is like sort of a post COVID moment. Is that what you mean before COVID? This is before this is like maybe 2018. I said, I have a feeling that just feels dark and it just feels really, everything feels really right now. And I just want to feel light and I want to dance. So I think that's what I want to make. Right. That was another dark moment. Well, there's been a lot of dark moments for different seasons recently. Yeah. So this is kind of carried me through it. And he's looking at me like, what did you see back in 2017? I was like, I pray, I don't know. You had a premonition of feeling. But yeah, this all feels very, it's just joyful to me. This whole record. Yeah, wonderful. That's beautiful. Yeah, thank you. Congratulations. Thank you, man. What I've asked to, what did you hold off on releasing it for various reasons? Yeah, part of it was I was still working on it the entire past four years. I'm still lightweight working on it now. Yeah. The whole album. But I just wanted to like find the right partner. I wanted to find the right time. I don't believe in hype, per se. I like people to feel it. And I like whoever needs it to have it, you know, when they need it. And the one thing I was clear about we had to begin the role at this summer because I was like, it just missing this this central thing of joy with music. People are getting so over concerned with the excitement around it and they're missing the point of the joy, the like, the way that music can change your spirit. It felt like the right time. Yeah. It felt like a joyful summer too. Exactly. Towards the middle, especially. We need, and we need it. This year has been interesting. It's been six of one. Yeah, you know, half a dozen of the other. We don't have no clue where we're going from day to day. So, yeah. You also have a music show. I do. You have the Estelle show on Apple Music. You get to play and talk about your favorite music celebrating artists you love. It sounds like so much fun every episode. What was your inspiration and make that show? Well, me, my manager, have this ongoing battle of the wits when it comes to music. I feel like I'm a jeep box, because I have his way to discount that or describe that. No, we go back and forth about music and styles and everything. On a regular day, like, to the point where our friends were like, you need a show. Like, because this is nonsense, you know, too much about music. When you say jeep box, you just, you love so many electric things, you know, a lot about it. Yeah. Like, all my music is just, it's the genre list. It's just, I make what I want, when I want, how I want. And it's every album. To me, it's just like, there's always a discussion about it. It's always like, what do you think they was going through? And like, did you hear that, you know, we'll be talking about something really serious and be like, I wonder what bunch of you had, like, for breakfast the morning, he made, like, where there was kind of people, you know, so I'm excited to be on the show. But it's perfect. I make so much sense to me, because as a music lover, it can take the form of making it, DJing it, talking about it. It's all coming from the same source. I'm just loving music. So that makes perfect sense. All the jukebox idea. Exactly. You are on Empire, you're in Girls Trip. Just to name a few of your credits. But we got to talk about your voice overwork. You're a voice actor on the show, Steven Universe. Yeah. For those who may not be up this speed, tell us about the show and how you got into voice overs. Oh, my days. So around about 2019, I kept pestering my team and asking them to do voice overs. I was like, I just want to do voice overs. I feel like I have a good sign of voice. And everyone keeps telling me I should do voice overs. Can we find some voice overs? And I got specific. I was like, I want to do cartoons because I have nieces and nephews. And I want them to hear my voice overseas. They're not moving here. Okay. And my sister just had her first door. My brother had his son, like, so it was his door. So it was, it was me trying to relate to my family a bit knowing that they were never moving to the United States. And I got the role for Steven Universe has gone and it was like, it was described. She's like a big sister. I was like, Oh, I could do this. Yeah. I'm one of nine. I'm the oldest girl of nine. Oh wow. Easy. You've been the big sister for a long time. My whole life, I said, I have to act this out. Just tell me the words I'm supposed to say. I got it. I have to tell them. I'm ready. One of nine. One of nine. Six girls, three boys. I'm one of six. Okay. But I'm the baby. I'm six of six. You know what? Apparently, I was like, we've had enough. He was at the edge of the road. Yeah. So it wasn't a hard stretch, but the more it grew, the more the cartoon developed, the more I was like, "Oh man, it's an honor." You know, it's one of the most progressive, one of the most brilliant, one of the most just smart animations. I don't want to call it a cartoon because that would be literally, you know, like we'll kind of shrink it. It's one of the most smart animations I've had to pleasure being a part of. And there's some parents in the room and I mean like you're watching anything with your kids. When something's actually good, it takes, it does apparent good. It does our heart so good. And I love the part of the story too where the focus, the actual like you really were very specific about your goal and how wonderful it is when the universe hears that and responds with, and I think they're related. I think if you're able to get that granular with like voice acting, kid show, etc. All right, so you're one of nine. You have this big family. Did your family play Earth, when in fire when you were a kid? Absolutely. There's no version of any family event that Earth, when in fire, was not played at. Yes, it prepared in this episode. I was telling Blake. I was like, this song, like to this day, you can't really go to like a cookout, a black family reunion. Like let's groove will absolutely be played. Well, why the Earth? I don't care who you are, where you are. Well, why the Earth, the family cookout, it's going to happen. Summer, when in fire period. Absolutely. Yeah. But that was, they are, they are one of the bedrock. Absolutely. And I feel like they made music for so long. Like there's music from the early 70s, like from that period. There's stuff in the disco era. There's stuff in the 80s. We're talking about one of their songs from the 80s. Like you can kind of find any era of Earth, when in fire. Like there's like at least one hit that's going to make your uncle dance. Like you better dance. What are you talking about? Like, not cool aside. Like, yeah. My uncle's drunk and he's pushing people. My time. But we're not talking about him today. And one thing that I think that was really sort of interesting about this group is that they obviously have the slow jams that you can make out to. They got the party tracks that you dance to. We're talking about one today. And then there were like some songs that were just straight up like militant for the lack of a better term. And I don't, I feel like there are very few groups and performers who could check all three boxes. You know, like public enemy has no slow jams. You know what I mean? Like, you know, you can go through each of those three categories. Most people can check two. Yeah. Very few can check all three. Public enemy. I mean, the name is public enemy. You will slow jams for public enemy. I mean, I like to try. And I would like to. I would like to try that day. So. But you know what I mean? Like I feel like you're sexy. That's my best. That's your Chuck D. That's my Chuck D. Sexy. Hello. Can you go? Blake, we got. I love you. I love you. What's I love you? Wait a second. I turned into James Brown there and I'm. Every time. It's okay. It's okay. So before we really get into how Let's Group was made, we got to talk about Earth Wind and Fire's origin story. First off, Maurice White named the band after the three elements in his astrological chart. And Maurice, we should also just say right from the beginning, he's the band's founder and the band leader. But this is a huge band that has like so many members going in and out. Luxury walk us through their. A lot of members coming and going, but but it starts with and in some ways ends with Maurice. He is the leader of the band. And by the way, connection interestingly. Did you know that he was one of nine children also? I did. I think he might be the oldest. He's certainly in the band the oldest of the white siblings, but yes. So the story begins in Memphis, Tennessee. This is not our first Memphis episode. We talked about Al Green and Stacks records a few back. Maurice White goes to high school with Isaac Hayes and Booker T-Jones of Booker T and the MGs. And he's actually in a band with Booker T-Jones at Booker T Washington High School, which is perfect. Wow. The Booker T's. In the early 60s, he moves to Chicago to study drums at the Chicago Conservatory. Very early on, he's still a teenager in his early 20s. He's already a staff musician at chess records. He's got a vision. He's got a dream. He's got a lot of talent. I'm almost invisible to people who know that early. This is exactly what I want to do. I figured it out like a year and a half ago when we started this show. Here we are, finally figuring it out. I'm still figuring it out. I'm still like, I might be an architect. We have to have like a still like specificity to our vision. I think that's the key. I'm serious. That's really inspiring me. That would help. Okay. So he's on chess records as a staff musician. chess records. If you don't know, that's muddy waters. It's howl and wolf. It's Willie Dixon. So he's learning songwriting from the best. He's learning production. And interestingly, so he's still a drummer. And he plays drums on a few early songs like this one. Jackie Wilson's "Your Love" keeps lifting me higher. Maurice White on drums. Wow. So that's from 1967. Maurice is playing drums on that one. Yeah. I want to say on this show, like I wonder if the people in the studio knew they were hearing a performance that was going to be around forever. Imagine that. I mean, especially because in this era, like this type of music is considered relatively disposable, right? So many of these records come out on 45s. Not all of them even get covers. So the fact that 70 or 60, whatever years later, that's a classic. A classic. It's become. That's nice. So he continues down the drumming path. He's in a trio called the Ramsey Lewis Trio. And it's a sort of R&B jazz funk mix, a little heavier rhythm section. Yeah. This is one of the hits or relative hits of the time. And it's an important song, and I'll explain why in a second. So this song is "Yuhuru" from 1969. So what you're hearing, that's the sound of, the "Kalimba." So that's the song "Yuhuru" by the Ramsey Lewis Trio, it's from 1969. And Maurice White is playing drums, but he's also playing an instrument, which is known as the "Kalimba," which is African thumb piano. And it comes from the African or the Zimbabwean, I believe, Mumbira. And this instrument, which I think a lot of us, I've certainly grew up with it. It was. Man, we had about 18 in the house, right? Man, my father never talked to him he did buy. It was one of my first instruments because as a kid, you know, I was like four. I mean, like the earliest core memories is like playing that thing. I think as a kid, like in music school, I think we had them. Did you have them in England? We didn't have them in school, but same thing, I'm a half-African, so we had all the different instruments that didn't, like, qualify for music school, at school. We had them in the house. Well, what's interesting about it is, obviously, there's an African connection in part of it. Well, the name of the song means freedom and independence in Swahili. And part of what's happening right now, obviously for Maurice is a consciousness that's rising that he will bring to Earth Wind and Fire in a very big way. Yeah. So, but interestingly, also, we have Maurice White to thank, I think, for all these Columbus in our lives in America and in England, because he's credited for being one of the first to use it in a recording in the late 60s in a western. That's wild. I can't imagine a time when, you know, African-American families didn't have we certainly did. So, this takes us to his first band, which is known as the Salty Peppers. And then he puts this band together with a couple of friends. He was actually a songwriting team. Him and a couple guys got together and they had this vision. Another Estelle-like vision that they wanted to make money from music. So, they form a songwriting team, which makes jingles for commercials. Wow. Remember they're in Chicago, which is a big advertising town. So, that morphs into the Salty Peppers. And in 1969, they put out this song. Where's the one? The classic late 60s like party song. I was gonna say, I can see that party. Yeah. I can see Salty's party. Totally. What is that dance called? I'm no clue. I like it though. I'll do it forever. For our audio listeners, Estelle is moving her arm at the time. One goes up and the other comes up. It's sort of like a swimming thing. Like a swimming thing but like backwards. Oh, I thought you were doing that. Yeah, that's what I was doing. I don't know what that like you. Chest goes up. Art of Fisco's up. It was like the good time thing. But she's really good at it. Thank you. But you know, there's a great scene in Black Clansman when I think this Black Clansman, where they're dancing to a song and you can see like those parties like people used to actually dance at parties. Like it's to be like sweaty and like cramped. I feel like we've lost that part. We need it back. I just feel like Ernie Barnes got the inspiration someplace. What? Ernie Barnes. You got the inspiration like the dancing. Yes. Like that. Yeah. That's his whole lap. Right. Yeah. It's very go-go-y feeling. Yeah. Go-go. Yeah. Go into a go-go. Yeah. Well, so the salty peppers are the basis for what becomes Earth, Wind, and Fire. And it starts with Maurice having sort of visions for a band with first of all younger people. With because with Ramsey Lewis, he was the youngest. So he wanted to do something for a new generation. Spiritual overtones as his former manager Bob Gavalla puts it. Afro, Cuban, jazz, pop, R&D, folk art. So there's yeah. Regular listeners of the show know that I used to be an A&R assistant in Hollywood records. Hollywood records was run by Bob Gavalla. And he always had stories because you know he managed Earth, Wind, and Fire. He had a prince for a while. Purple Rainier. And I don't think it was a coincidence that one of the youngest members of the A&R department, a full-fledged A&R person was Cabron Light, which is Maurice's son. Oh really? And so there was a lot of like Earth, Wind, and Fire. You know. Not a coincidence because it was nepotism. Is that what you're trying to say? I'm saying that like Caballos and Whites got along. Okay. Yeah. It's son Rob Caballo produced. just green day and a bunch of rock bands, but I never made that connection, I know that. - Yeah, that's good, I was Bob come all of a sudden. - More nepotism, look, it's just a thing. This band has a nepotism too. - I mean, was it rubbish music? Was it charged, were they good at it? - That maybe not ours just as much as the fact that they were probably easy to get and cost less. - I don't need that. - Got the money in the family. - Just to keep the earth winning fire and Hollywood records connection thing going. The person I actually worked for at Hollywood Records was a guy named John Lynn. He was a songwriter and he and Allie Willis wrote Boogie Wonderland. - Oh, there it is, that's why. - Yeah, Boogie Wonderland. John Lynn wrote a couple of songs for Madonna and for Vanessa Williams, but I only bring it up to say that if you hear the original version of Boogie Wonderland, it sounds so different than the earth winning fire version. - Oh wow, let's listen. - Boogie Wonderland. - Imagine setting your makeup, then forgetting it's even theirs. Meet new groupie setting mist from Mavily New York. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all day comfy grip. No tightness, no stickiness, no residue. Just plump, dewy, hydrated skin that still feels like your skin. Try new groupie setting mist from Mavily New York. - Maybe it's Mabling. ♪ All the records are playing ♪ ♪ And by all keeps saying ♪ ♪ All the records are playing ♪ - That version's been making around on social media and I was like, "Oh yeah, that sounds like the version of the song that my boss could have written." 'Cause I was always like, "How did he write Boogie Wonderland?" - No, just the John Lynn, but you didn't seem like the guy. - The Boogie Wonderland kind of plump disco classic. - But that's the key though, of the earth and the fire. They would take a whole song and just sound like them by the time they got through it, like they have their version of events on everything. - Signature. - Signature. - They're their version of "Got to Get You Into My Life" by the Beatles, they made it their own. - And that's the version I know. I don't know how to be, I like that. - You don't know the original version. - That's the only version I know. - Maybe it's the only version you need to know. - Yeah. - I only wanted to bring up Cabron White working there because that was really just an excuse for me to see Verdeen in the office a lot. Verdeen White, coming through with the first hair. - Let me tell you when I first got Verdeen. - You make Verdeen? - Many times, I haven't met all the members living up in the fire, and they recognize me in real life. And so that's like, I swoon in my soul every time. I see them, like, "Hey," and they're like, "Hey!" And I'm just like, "Why do you know me?" This is all real. - Verdeen has never dressed normal. Like, he's always dressed like he's got to go on stage. - He's always dressed. - All right, what did you first meet Verdeen? - I at the hair shop. - You lied. - No lie. - At the hair shop. - Did you recognize him, or he recognized you? - When I, I don't care what the state of me is and as long as they don't have me, I will go up and be like-- - Like, what an interesting question. - I know this about you, right? - I can read about you. - Yeah, I will say hello. I refuse to like, like, that's a, you're the reason I'm here. You're part of the reason I exist in this world. So I was like, "Bro, like, "Hi, I am so sorry "you're in the middle of getting your hair down. "Thank you so much for even looking my way." - I can't even hear you with the thing blowing in his face. - No, he could. He was waiting, he was getting in the middle of it, and it was like a three-second uncomfortable, but I also had my hair in various states of this array. - So we both looked nuts, and he looked great. I looked crazy, and it was just like, and so ever since then, and the next time I saw him, we had a woman to perform at the Hollywood parade, and it got rained out. So we were all backstage-- - Because of the Hollywood parade at Halloween, or New Year's? - Christmas, yeah, they were headlining. It was a big thing, and I was one of the, I think it was opening, it was performing on it. And it got rained out, so we were stuck in this building. On Hollywood, just like, "Well, we want it here." Should we do a damn session other? - I don't know, should we go home? - We almost did, it was a wartime. But ever since then, I've just kind of crossed paths with them with a re-sung their records, and they've been there, and they've, you know, we've just been around each other in different spaces, and I'm still just like, nah, I'm not worthy. - You're getting respect to their views, right? In many ways, it's like, as much as we want big audiences and fans, like, someone from a band you love, knowing who you are, can be, that's it, I'm done in the quitter now. - Yeah, they're saying, right, I'm blowing, I'm good, every single time, yeah. - I think it all says to be said, and we say this as, as fans of Earth One and Fire, Verdeen is the most Verdeen-looking person. - There is no other person on the planet. - There is no other person. - Like, that name could only go with him. - Only, you see it, you hear the ver, you know, it's gonna be Verdeen, and you know, he's gonna look like, look. - The smelling is perfect. It's perfect, and with not words, D, I, N, E. - That's pretty perfect. - But it's, - Chicago. - It's up, yeah. - Fingers to nose, yeah. - 'Cause he was born Chicago, I found that interesting. - Yeah. - Oh, he was born Chicago. - Here's his much younger name, right? - Yeah, exactly, yeah. - The family moved. - It's just like, they're, they're them. Like, if there was never an example of, like, oh, people are made to be who they are and do a specific thing, they're the pure example. Like, it doesn't make any sense. - I was gonna say, we have Maurice. We have Verdeen. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Could you tell us a little bit about when Philip Bailey showed up? - Well, perfect timing. So, Earth, when in fire, it's a very long career. And in a nutshell, they get signs of Warner Brothers and make a couple records. The sound of the band at this time, by the way, is a little more exploratory jazz funk afro-cuban rhythms. All the stuff, I just said, they're playing with all of that, but it's not quite in the song "Tight Precision" form. We're gonna be like, like, pop, pop 40 radios that we're gonna get soon. And at a certain point, the band, quote unquote, is dismantled. I've got something more to say about that in a second. After the first two records, and it's back down to Jess Maurice and Verdeen. And they re-start the band, basically. And this is where Philip Bailey joins. And that Philip Bailey was a singer. And his falsetto is what he's known for. And I just found this really funny, interreoery talks. He didn't know that he was singing falsetto. He just grew up with a bunch of women in his household. And he was just sort of mimicking what he heard. Not realizing that, like, when you sing that high, there's an aim for it and it's unusual. And he's amazing at it. Yeah. So Maurice finds him and it becomes the vocal contrast that we know and love. It's low from Maurice, high as Philip Bailey. If you're ever wondering who's who in the song, that's the answer right there. And, by the way, here is one of my favorite pinnacle Philip Bailey moments. This is from fantasy. (upbeat music) Crazy guy, what? Every single, I don't care who you think you are, has tried that. At the time to that. That's the moment you want to replicate that 1977 high note gets higher and then higher still. Just keeps going. Just keeps on going. I mean, this is a good place to bring this up. For my entire life, I thought that sort of like celestial chorus that you hear on these songs is like, you know, all the members of the group, like 30 voices, all chiming in. It's not. It really isn't, it's really just the layering. It's Philip and Maurice back on background on pretty much every song from what I've come to understand. Even though you might see credits for other singers, they're really doing all the stacks on all those certain type records. And you go consider when they did it, like the error, like what recording was like at that time. So labor intensive. It wasn't just like, click, click, click. That's why they were in there for hours. Yeah, that's why. I saw an interview with Maurice and he was like, you know, because they were like, "Oh, that's amazing." So, wait, when you perform these songs live, it's obviously not just you and Philip. How do you get that same sound? He was like, a lot of practice. [LAUGHTER] And they do bring into the mix, so kind of funny story. So originally, the band members have come and gone, as we've mentioned, but originally, in this sort of middle Phila Bailey period, there's Ralph Johnson is the drummer. And live, he continues on, even after they bring Fred White, another member of the white family, to replace him on drums, but they feel kind of bad. So they keep Ralph on as a percussionist, but he's also like, when you ever see live footage, he's the third main up front singer, adding that third harmony. So he's still in the mix. They were like, let's keep him around. Let's give him another role. He's, you know, like Fred, our brother, is now the drummer for the band. I found this really interesting, and sort of maybe sets up the rest of the episode a bit, just for this information. On an interview on QLS, Philip Bailey, talked about how that first incarnation, the band that was on the first two records, he kind of shed some light on this situation, and he said, it wasn't that they were fired, it's that they left because of the imbalance of payment that was happening. - Wow. - And he told the listening audience myself included that like he himself was actually hired as a hired gun. And in fact, this new incarnation from that moment onward, it's really Maurice White who is the band, and kind of every other performer, maybe not the family members, were all kind of hired on as like, you get paid performance, you get paid probably some royalty on the record, but there's no publishing, and there's a big payment and power imbalance. So we always like to talk about that on the show, 'cause it really kind of helps inform like how decisions are made, and really the story behind the song a little bit. - Was Maurice White the producer, the main, he made all the ideas inside of one, play this, play that? - He became the producer, there's an important person named Charles Stepney for during this transition period, like this is after the Afro Jazz Funk and the first band members, and before the big hits, Charles Stepney comes into the picture, and they credit him to the highest heavens as being such an important member of the band, even though he was only helping for two years as a producer, they call him their George Martin basically, like their Quincy Jones. So he stepped in and really tightened them up on rehearsing, and production, and songwriting, and helped really change the sound, and set them up to become the global superstars they went on to be, but after that, Maurice takes over as kind of the main producer. - I learned, thank you. - Yeah, I got what I need, yeah, yeah. and he peep. passed away, unfortunately, of a heart attack in 1976, right as they were. They'd already start to break. Shining Star was kind of their big breakout pot pit. That came out in '75. So they all did that together. - Cheers. - We would be remiss if we didn't talk about Earth, Wind, and Fire's, Afro-centricity. I will say that one of the first things I noticed as I went through my father's record collection was the pyramids, and there was the undertone of Swahili. - So some of it is a function of the time. I feel like in general, Afro-centricity was enjoying this renaissance in the '70s. From the clothes to the hair. I thought that shiggies were just a shirt. I didn't know that people said no, that shiggies. And I also want to clear this up. In preparing for the show, Luxury, you asked me, were they like that group that I see in New York, the guys who has like their art being. - Israel-like, what do you call it? - Israel-like. - Yeah. Those are the black Israelites, that is not. That is a completely different thing. - And it's a misnomer because they seem a little anti-Semitic to me, as it's you walking past them with some of what they said. - Let me tell you, let me tell you. That's probably, that's probably something for another episode. - Another. - But I'm telling North Wind and Fire was coming from. They were more like, you know, everything comes back to John Riddle for me. Like they were just, they were proud to be celebrating their heritage. I have a question for you. Do you think that they would be considered hotep? - I think they'd be considered hotep adjacent. - Hotep adjacent. - Hotep adjacent, like close to it, but not quite fully it, because of the slow times and the other things. Now I feel like it needed to be done in that period. - Yes. - Like I loved seeing us as black people in a different world, other than, you know, popular culture. Like I got to see fantasy. Literally got to see, not fantasy to a degree, but something that was just different than what we were, you see that and stuff that would be in toy in my house. And my mom was absolutely the person. I was like, you're gonna learn black culture. You're gonna learn our history different to what they're telling you in school and more, you know? And so learning about pyramids and learning about where we actually came from and how great we were and still are for me, I saw that. - Yes, I agree. And learning words in Swahili and just having the pride. And yes, even, you know, some of us were celebrating clones. I think it was, you know, it was good to be raised that way. And thank God that they were instilling that in us. It was actually weird to me when I got out to the real world and other people had not had those lessons and stuff. - I'd be so like first, like, so you know the Egyptians, right? I was the person, like, front room center with it. 'Cause it was. - I remember like Timbuktu and Mansa Musa and just so much that you could take pride in. - Yep. - And I think that that was good on our parents and that was good on Earth when it fired to make that part of the culture. - A thousand percent. And it just was, as a kid, you're looking at you like, the colors, the colors, it's so pretty. - It's so colorful. - I didn't know what psychedelic was. But like, it was really psychedelic from an afro-centric point of view. - Yeah. - Especially some of those colors. - The video for Les Groove was. - We're talking about them. - Oh, okay, I'll let you all do it. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I think somebody said they threw every visual effect that was possible that year into that one video. (upbeat music) - It was also the same year that was it, Michael Jackson, can you feel it? Was it Jackson Five? Can you feel it, Game Out? - Is it? - Is that right? - Yeah, you were. - I believe it. Everybody was doing like the rainbow train. - Right, the rainbow train. I was like, everybody had that. It was like, Jack and Carmen had it in a couple of videos. - Yes, it is. - We just talked about that. - We just talked about shockers. - That was their thing. But to me, I just liked it 'cause it was, again, I'm looking at it as a young kid, right? Not at one-years-old, but like years later. And I'm just like, what's a black woman? And they're like, oh, singing around her. And like, you just put yourself in it. - In space. - In space, like in this, look, all of my songs, a lot of my videos retroactively on the back of my brain come from looking at older videos. And maybe a song I have called Freak is kind of reminiscent of that little bit. And in that video, like if you see the video for Freak, you see this, you're like, oh, yeah, it's in bits in there. ♪ You get down low ♪ ♪ You wanna hear you hear you go ♪ ♪ I can be a freak ♪ ♪ I know ♪ ♪ Every week, however you want it, however I need it ♪ - I mean, the funny thing, too, is that like, what a happy coincidence in many ways, or maybe it was influenced, but I don't think it was. In the late '70s, we have literally King Tut's tomb that is touring the world. So we have this Egypt thing coming from a completely different place, but perfectly coinciding for Earth when it fires album covers to be that much more meaningful culturally. - Yeah. - You know, there's also King Tut. - I mean Martin is a huge hit in 1979. - All right. - It's jamming! ♪ On in that restaurant ♪ ♪ You can have a look at me ♪ ♪ On in that restaurant ♪ ♪ God, I can't do me to stow down ♪ - So the Afro-centric roots of these things in the culture then are joined by this completely coincidental King Tut phenomenon. - I think his lifestyle, like, that's one thing they had, they've always had, and in the pop hey, they error, you know, their classics and their legends, so they still relevant to me. They just managed to consistently hit what was going on in the world and how people wanted to feel in that era. - Right, they really were on the vibration of Lake. The first of all, they're coming out of a post-hippy moment, but they're kind of early to a lot of things like talking about spirituality and talking about astrology in a way. And there's one anecdote I want to tell because I get this another anecdote from that Philip Bailey interview. He talks about how they had their quote-unquote worst gig ever. I think it's Philadelphia. It was Philadelphia at the uptown. And he says the crowd just were not into Earth Wind and Fire at all. They were booing, they weren't into the music. So at one point, they're all looking at each other. Like what should we do? And Maurice gets out of his kalimba. He does everyone to shut up and he gets out of his kalimba. And he just starts playing the kalimba. And he just starts playing and the crowd is still booing and throwing tomatoes, whatever. But at a certain point, he gets a certain calm. He has the band members sit down on stage in kind of a yoga pose while he's doing this. - We said the vibration. - And the crowd starts to calm down. And then he wins them over and the band starts jamming. The band starts doing kind of a jam thing and the crowd is feeling it. And by the end of it, as he tells the story, it's ecstasy. And Philadelphia to this day loves Earth Wind and Fire because of this experience. - Wow, it's love that story. - Yeah, they get it. That was pure reset in the entire vibration. Like this is, this is when you know you came here to do a specific thing. I feel like at that point, Maurice White was just like, - Put on this Earth for a reason. - This is why I'm here. And he was fearless. Like his imagine that you're getting booed to win it into your life and you're like, everyone quiet, I'm gonna play this something. I'm gonna play this something and you're all gonna calm down. You're gonna relax. - Don't even a drum solo, you're okay. - No, he understood like it's people's spirit and it's really about energy. Like he understood it. That's something. To me, that's like, oh, that's, yeah, that's affirming. - It's so beautiful, yeah. - After the break, we'll dive into how Let's Group was made and share the spice of life. Don't go anywhere. - Welcome back to One Song, Luxury. Tell us how did Let's Group get made? - So in 1981, they're just coming off of a big old flop after many, many, many hits. Their record faces where they were actually actively trying to not write big hits. They'd become these huge hit machines and they were starting to get a little self conscious about like, are we coming a punchline? It's one of those moments. So they're in LA and they're listening to the radio and CBS is saying we need a hit record and they're actively listening to the new music. So they are hearing some of this early, kind of early proto-break dancing, roller skating jams. The vocoder, which plays a part of the song, Zapp and Roger, right? So they are actively hearing what sounds can we put into the music to get us back on that darn pot 40 radio. So that's where we get into this song. And just one more thing before we start listening to delicious stems and hear everything we've been discussing and teasing. One thing I found interesting, I looked into the songwriting splits. Maurice White is a songwriter on the song, but he's very minimally credited in terms of the percentage overall. The number one percentage getter is a gentleman named Wayne Vaughn. And there's a third songwriter who isn't in all the public credits, but I did find her name in the actual database and her name is Wanda Vaughn. Now Wanda Vaughn is an important and is the unsung hero of our story because Wanda Vaughn who is married to Wayne, there were a couple, there were a husband and wife songwriting team, but Wanda Hutchison Vaughn was in the emotions. And the emotions were for a while a kind of a sister act with Earthwinden fire. So it's a sister band, it's Sheila, Pamela, and Jeanette. - That's it. So the emotions sign background for them and you get all through that music you can hear. - And in fact, if you ever go to Boogie Wonderland, I'd never notice before, Boogie Wonderland is credited to Earthwinden fire with the emotions. So that's who's singing on that song. - That's it. - There are perhaps most famous for this song. (upbeat music) ♪ At the best of my life ♪ - It's so fricking epic that you could really go to to be real, right? - Like, and that was one of their best songs, but they also had, I think it was don't ask my neighbor. ♪ Don't ask my neighbor ♪ - They sounded like the female contemporary to open a fire, exactly that. - And they were, and Lori Swite heard that too and began producing them and working with them, bringing them into the songwriting folder for this song in particular. So on best of my love, what you're hearing on the song, we just heard from 1977, once in number one, that's the emotions best of my love and Earthwinden fire are the backing band on that track. So we've got, it's written by Lori Swite, the guitar player, Alma Kay, and the rhythm section, Thank you very much. the boys, the brothers, and Fred, and that song, of course, is sampled in this. That's Day Lassole, saying "No Go" from 1989. It's the "Oh!" Now, it's time for the stems. Luxury, where should we start? Should we start with the drums? Let's start with the drums, my friend. One fun thing about the stems this week that I have that special is I actually have a guide vocal, which I know you're going to love, especially as a singer. So we have, I'll be playing it intermittently, but we have Maurice White's instructions on what should happen for the rest of the bands, vocally. Should we just do that now? Sure, well, I can play a little bit of his mouth noises at the beginning. How about that? Here's mouth noises. Should we do that? Should we do that? Should we do that? So it's kind of like musical instruction, or maybe it's just added percussion. I'm not sure if it's in the mix, buried somewhere, but. I hope it is. I hope it is, too. Like what? It is definitely a hair stand-on and kind of thing to hear, like the vocalist, like you can picture being, especially as a singer, to picture the cans on your hands. This is the blah, blah, blah track that you're not thinking anyone's going to ever hear. That's not even me nervous. He doesn't do anything wrong. No, I just think to myself, I don't do any blah, blah, blah track. Listen, since we're already into it, here's a couple quick fun moments. Here's him providing instructions for what's to come. Of course, coming up. ♪ Let this grow, time and precious is all right ♪ That's for Philip. He's like, "Here Philip, here's what to do. Just do this higher." Do this like three octaves higher. Right? You can listen to this all day. Specieslessness is a part of the show. We understand. 'Cause my whole thing's like, "Well, how did I know that somebody else maybe wrote it, but how did you?" It's like an actor. Sometimes you're handed a script and you elevate those words far beyond what even the writer thought. Or I even heard Spielberg say that like, "You know, I would hand John Williams my movies." And at some point his music would become more of the movie than what I even envisioned. 'Cause he knew what the scene looked like without John Williams's music. And then, you know, suddenly E.T. is flying across the moon with that score underneath it. And he's like, "You know what? He calls him Johnny. He's like, "This is Johnny's film now." And they're like, "Did they just work some time?" I don't know. Actually, I left to ask you. When you make music, is there, when you collaborate basically? Is there an untouchable thing that for you, it has to be your, for example, melody, but you'll collaborate on words. Or you'll be your words, but you can collaborate. Is there anything like that that's sacred that you want to be your own? I'm a very collaborative person in the room, unless I come from a rep. When my first rep is, I learned how to, my first 5,000 hours would be in a rapper. So I had to write my own reps. Okay. I always had melodies in my head and I was told later on, "You're a singer. You should probably sing." Interesting. So that means you're fast with the lyrics? Yeah, fast with words. But I'm also, I used to be very open to like, what used to be? In learning how to do my 10,000 hours, I would listen. You know, be like, "Okay, well, maybe I could try that. That might be better." And then I got to point where I was like, "No, I'm clear and sure. The first time I said it was good." And that's me now. You know, but in doing that, I'll go back and I'll re-list and then I'll re-list and re-list and be like, "Maybe I should say that instead, or I keep singing this instead of that. Maybe I should go back and cut it with this line instead." So I'll do that now more than, more than be like, "Hey, let me take your melody in my words." For me, it's like, I'm trying to intend a certain thing into the world all the time. You have to believe it. Well, that's the all I was saying. I have to believe it. Yeah, I have to believe the words and the melody I'm singing. And most times, it's coming from somebody else. It's their whole experience. If I don't know you, I haven't lived with you to a degree. I don't know what you're talking about and I can't translate that truthfully, you know? It's also part of the true artistry thing we talked about at the beginning of the episode. It's like if you're in a place in your life right now, I think you've been like this most of the time, but it sounds like especially now what you make needs to feel like very real to you and very connected. And that's going to come much more directly and you'll have an attachment to the product if it's more yours than been collaborated on. And there's been records I've done for sure in the past. It's been records I've done people have run. I always have to take it and make it mine though. Like there's no version of me singing it, but I beat him how I was told to sing it. It's been like one of those two of those records and two concurrent and thank you. And I'm literally in there like I don't I don't sing like that. I'm not going to do it like that. Let me get out. Let me get it off. And then they let me do it and they're like, Oh, fair. You know, I understand everybody's approach, but my approach is you want it to be true for right? Yeah. So connect to it, right? Let me let me get it. There's always a dialogue too with like, you know, the importance of who you're working with and what you know, maybe it's a little bit of one big one for you and one like artistic one for me like across your career. Just it. Yeah, you go just, you know, and if I don't trust you, but I still got to sing this one because the label of decided the situation I found myself and years ago. You're going to give it your best. I'm going to give it my best. I'm going to try. We don't see how this is not going to work. So let's talk about the drums. This is his little brother, Freddie White. And he is playing the drums and kind of I was thinking about what you were seeing earlier. This is not a very drum-centric song. It's basically a disco beat. Yeah. There's no like syncopation really happening. It's just sort of laying down the groove. Yeah. And we're going to get to the bass in a second. I'll start to bring them in. But that's where a lot of the fun happens. But here is the drum beat. Wow. Two. There's the counting. One, two, three. What's interesting is he did the first thing at one way with the kick on the down beat. Never again. But that's a one-drop beat. That's a rigged beat. There's no down beat. He's not hitting the kick on that down beat. I'd never noticed that before, but that intro is very. What did you call it because you called it something interesting? I felt like hip-hop. It felt like hip-hop. It was just like that missing bass, that missing break, that missing fourth, you know what I mean? Like it's like a. There's something syncopated and like floaty about it. You call that, you said a one-drop. Yeah. That's exactly what it is. You gotta think about what was going on in that era, like 1979 was also. '79 to '81 was also like the beginning of Lovers Rock. Yes. Which is another genre I really loved. Well, you grew up in this. This is an English version for people who don't know. This is an English translation of Roots Rage. Exactly. But with more of that lover's romantic feel to it. Exactly. But that was key. That one drop was key to it. There was very much that like we're still going to groove. We're still going to baseline. We're going to miss every other snare and just do good. And it's a whole different feel. You kind of float for a minute. Exactly. So that's happening at the beginning of the song. And then we get into the groove. And there's a big old clap that's added. I love that. You need that clap big time. And there's the bass. There's Verdeen. Like. But you know what? There's another bass on synth. And it's right here. I'll take out Verdeen for a second. Now one thing I wanted to point out because you mentioned it. And you kind of hit the knee on the head. That bass is doing the sort of it longer notes. But check out what by contrast Verdeen is actually kind of playing a little more staccato. Here's Verdeen alone. I never heard that in the mix before. Because the other bass notes are longer. Yeah, I'm a big fan of it. That's the groove. That's the groove. That's the groove. Longer bass notes. It's also its own melody. It's melodic and groove at the same time. Yeah. And what they're what's unusual. We've had a few songs on the show where we've talked about how you know two bass things is challenging. Because it's the same like EQ space. Yeah. But Verdeen, the genius, solved it by only being in the middle of the note. You know, the synth bass is giving you that entire thing. And he's just kind of popping up in the middle to get a little bounce. Yeah. And the sound of the bass. The sound of the bass. Like that's that was very A E's. Real. It was a different type of bass. It wasn't just, you know, like a regular movie bass. This was a different like. Or my egg was in there. Like the sound of song. Or my bass. The better sisters. Yeah. Exactly. I want to say metallic. It's not metallic. It's a great word. I get it. Yeah. It just feels like synth. It just all feels like synth bass. Like the entire thing. I only hear synth when I hear the song. I really never noticed that there was any Verdeen playing the bass guitar, but he's in there. Now you're saying synth. Yeah. Is that a synthesizer? Is that. This is a synth bass. Yeah. It's being played probably by Larry Dunn. There's a lot of credits on this record. You have to do a little bit of guesswork based on interviews and sort of triangulating. But I'm pretty sure that's their long time synth player. Larry Dunn. And he's here's just that isolated bass again. It's just the left hand on the keyboard probably. And he's just playing that all the way through to little imperfections. Humanity is there. By the way, because we're given Verdeen some love in that intro section. The part with the. I'll play it with the beat in a second, but the one drop beat that it starts with. He's playing something really fun and frankly a little cute. And here it is. These are little glissandos at the beginning, and then I'll give it context after I play them for you. This is the part. This is why he's ready. This is what I'm talking about. Like there's so many elements. There's so many elements like to make in a song like you don't even it just completely bypasses you when you hear something is Smooth and easy sounded at the beginning is that and then you're pulling it apart and you're like There's like this and there's this and there's this and there's 25 parts to make this thing with seemingly nothing under it at the beginning Be calm and it's and it's in the right box and this intro part is interesting too because it's either really an intro It's a pre-chorus, but like we only hear it here and then towards the end it comes back one more time Yeah, can you play I don't think I've ever really noticed that. Yeah thing that couldn't can I hear that with everything in the mix and Absolutely like I'll bring it some more of the parts so let's add because the guitar is also playing a little fine in the song though. Yeah You're trading up Uh Is it right now? It's hip-hop. They're having a great time doing it too. They rehearsed the song. I don't think I ever heard either those days because I was so focused on the That's getting your entire test. Is that right Consuming can we have you said that there's a roast piano on here. I did Let's hear it a little bit of that and then in the same section. I'm gonna give it to you solo and then I'll bring it in Just doubling actually it's giving us that baseline because the bass is being silly This is the moment where verdine is like This is the moment where verdine is being kind of kind of funny. So we're actually locking it down I see only thing that's kind of playing on the groove really. I never noticed that before everyone else is like playing around Rhodes is going That's what's locking you in Look we want to get to the guitar. Okay, so here are the guitars During the let's groove tonight and as always I'll start solo and then I'll add parts back for context And that's just one of two ideas going through the whole song to be a guitar player in earth wind and fire your function So learn of the drummer is to just sort of like do the same thing over Which is good, but it's also to like play a whole other thing than what's actually happening in general because that's nothing to do with nothing Another hook for you. Yeah, another piece of ear candy. Just something else. Yeah, just something else and it lifts the entire thing It wouldn't be earth wind and fire without horns. I associate this band with horns so much Yeah, okay, well the horns are obviously a huge part of the sound of this band. There's a few horn lines Let me play the first one. This is what's happening during that first let's groove tonight Bring the bass back Now that's a much more fun position to be in earth wind and fire. I would go for a player versus the guitar player still I would I would be like where we where we start in the day Where we beginning because like that starts like maybe a half or a quarter before the entire thing It's a swoop into it. It's like play it like this only and he's doing it and you know, I do this with my guys I play it like this. Bobo bobo bobo. Um, they look at me like you sing the parts you want to hear yeah, I work with the base Particular basis because he at this point. He just looks at my fingers going and plays with my fingers. Oh, wow. That's how we like it works Yeah, Kenny's incredible. So it's like we've built that but I understand the language the communication. Yeah, I understand the language of like Play like this Go in it. Like crazy. Absolutely. Yeah, there's some more parts to I'll play you another section of the song So this is the horn parts and this is a in the third chorus Yeah Right, and so many different people shining. I mean like I think that's one of the things that we've lost now that everybody's pretty much Working on their laptop and trying to program everything is that you know, this is so many people like the horns are trying to shine Yeah, there's a little competitive a lot of people competing for that spotlight and as a result you get a lot of really cool interesting parts But the brilliance of Moriss White is as an arranger. He's the one like making sure nothing's conflicting Yeah, you do this and then you like the the basing guitar interlocking like the guitar was doing the the up thing Yeah, and then Verdeen did the down thing so there was no like car crashing That's he's brilliant as he's been doing this. He's been doing it Yeah, another interesting thing about this song is that it's just a two bar loop the entire time except for the bridge So we're just getting this in that there's a verse. There's a pre and there's a chorus But they're all doing the same thing basically So the differences are taking place on top. That's the horn lines and the melodies and the lyrics But there's one bridge and I'm gonna play that for you a little bit building from the drums And I'll add the vocals in for context now And then it modulates up three semi tones And I just love that turn around you get a little break from the groove and then you're ready to hear it again Yeah, the breath yeah, like letting out a breath. I'm like, okay, I like tension really down on the word now. Yeah, that is one of my Doing what he says to do let's let's hear what you're talking about I mean, I want to hear some vocals to me like as a kid like that Vocoder at the very beginning right was like so it defined the song. It's a little scary I would see why you would think that but to me I still was not scared to me. It sounded like It sounded like shockwave that a transformer who's a boom-box He's scary or he's one of the good ones. He's a good one. It was a bad guy. Okay In front of the fan he just do your voice. There's everything from zap to death fun to yeah, robotic sound to cilons on That sort of galactic like it's a robot. It's that's why they're bad guys probably in my mind because of the cilons It was very of the time though again. That's the part that again that hit me for them They they did them, but they didn't in the time in the eight. Yeah, like they were Arguably a group that's been around for like 20-something years or whatnot in various formats And they came to the eighties and that might have been the farewell and they came back with this Everybody would make that transition. We were like power power doesn't have any real big hits in in the days We're not here to throw shade. You're right. Or could function or they I mean hold on now you say function now come on now I mean, I love could function. I love these groups, but I'm saying a lot of groups in the seventies were not able to make the transition No into the eighties and by the way at that time You know by 82 Michael Jackson is completely changing. We've talked about this like you'll see You'll see cool in the gang like all of a sudden, you know You got sure why I don't think because ever you got to be like MTV, you know pretty boy at this point. They want to see you They want to see yeah, no, I mean there was always something about chic And earth went and fire they were in some ways anonymous like you know growing up like you didn't necessarily know As a kid at least like what they look like as opposed to Michael Jackson and Prince and the people who were like Really out there with their rich James was a special case You always knew you always who was right, but also those are more individual driven right those are Group it's a band yeah, but I think like chic and rock music like some of these bands took great pride in their sort of anonymity But let's talk about the full coder. Can we hear some of that because I will also say until we did this episode I've never really I thought I knew what it was saying. I did not really know what it was saying. Can you play it for us? The buggies down I'm really scared and I need to leave the room It's very terrifying. I can't believe you made me do that. What is it? No, I mean we made it through Metallica you were not scared The boogie sound down upon down the boogie sound down upon down. I mean did you know that was I did not I was just going along with everybody else At the time again sound trumps meaning absolutely melody every time You know what we're saying folks all you wonderful music making listening you're wasting your time don't overthink it Three artists are wasting their time It's terrible don't do it Rock him Let's group tonight share the spice of life baby slice it right We're gonna groove tonight. I mean, so look it's just like the song is a song is a group. Yeah, they've left their afrocentric like consciousness types of songs Thank you. This is how we heal the world now. Okay, like boogie. By the way boogie In 1981, is this word maybe a few years old? It feels a little bit antiquated. - I mean, boogie has been around by this point. - It's like a '70s word. - Yeah. - But I've heard people call the R&B of the '80s, like boogie people. - That's true, you know? - And I drove boogie people. - Who's saying it? Like, I believe them when they say it. I'm a saying when they say it. - It's credible. - If a young girl has to come out saying boogie, I'd have been like, cut it out. (laughs) You don't, that's what you say. - That's what you say. - Yeah, they could say it. Michael Jackson could say it. They could say it. - I'm glad that they said boogie out now. I'm glad they weren't like fresh, just kidding. - Okay. - Exactly. - We're so fresh. - We're so strange, okay? - No, I've heard it. - No sold, no one would have bought it. - No cap. - Absolutely. - Yeah, they couldn't do that. - Oh god, we got parents in the building. (laughs) - Good night, guys. It's been so fun. - And go to sleep, kids. - Okay. - Imagine setting your makeup. Then forgetting it's even theirs. Gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all-day comfy grip. - Maybe it's Mavily. - Okay, guys, let's listen to verse one. ♪ Go to town ♪ ♪ But you can do what my love ♪ ♪ Oh, boom, boom ♪ ♪ All right ♪ ♪ Let you know girl ♪ ♪ Looking good ♪ ♪ You're out of sight ♪ - By the way, can we just do that little, we all want to hear that. - What was that? - We all want to hear that. (laughs) - It's got to be filled up like waiting for his big moment. ♪ Let you know girl ♪ - Here it comes. - No. ♪ Oh yeah ♪ - I think that's Wanda Hutchinson. 'Cause she is credited. And that sounds like a female voice. Not a male, that's official. I don't think that's Philip Bailey. So, that's Ms. Pluto is how it's credited. That's her nickname. Ms. Pluto going. - Oh, yeah. - I always notice that in the background, but I never call it a sense to it. Okay, so then let's get to the airplane part because that is a very fun 1981 top-notch production. ♪ At the same time ♪ ♪ All right ♪ ♪ Just move your singing ♪ ♪ And you glide ♪ ♪ Like a seven ♪ - And in the mix, in the mix, here's what they have happening in the mix, in that moment. ♪ And you glide ♪ ♪ Like a seven ♪ ♪ Seven ♪ ♪ And you ♪ - I think that's what the LA axis is. - This is for my microphone. - Somebody go here recording right now. Go to the airport for good time. - And you make it. - Get the recording of the Concord Jit. - Let's play some chorus vocals. ♪ Let this grow ♪ ♪ Set initials to stand up ♪ ♪ All right ♪ - Cool. - All right. - That's the best part of stuff. - That's the best part of this song. What's the best part of this song? - It's Philly Bailey. - Yeah. - It's just off. - Oh. - Philly Philly. - Fill up N-Morris from what we're looking at. - Yeah. - It's a little false set of things. - Oh my gosh. - Geez. - And so long. - That's the thing I noticed. Look, you're a singer. You hit those notes sometimes. I have not hit them in the same circumstances as you, but I have some false set of onstage. And it is very hard. 'Cause you don't have the power usually. - You have to, it's mic control and technique with that. But I've watched Philly Bailey do that live too. - That's what I'm saying. He is hitting it with power. - This is called muscle memory. - I don't know how he does that. - This is cool. I would do this even if I was not in the studio. I do this in the kitchen at the house. This is what life is to me. - I grew up with women. Like this is how voices sound, so I just, I'm used to it. Like, it's incredible how powerful his falsetto is. - Training. - But then, well, again, I talked about that era. There was no version of, oh, I sing a little bit. There's like, oh, well, that's cute. - You're a singer, that's easy. - You're a singer, right? - It's a train, like you being a house and sing. - That's a great point. - Yeah. - And you really double triple quadruple down on that skill. - Absolutely. - But try to do a little bit of everything. - And you have to get like 200, 600 times a year. - That's muscle memory. That's like, this is what I do for a living. This is, this is where I go. I could be, if you're not as a performer, you sing for a living. Like, I go out and do shows for a living. - Right. - Yeah, I could go and stage at any point and just go for it. - And you take your instruments seriously too. - Yeah. - With the T and taking care of it. - Or I love it. I don't like to put anything on the track when I'm singing it live, when I'm in the studio. I want to hear what it sound like. So I can correct it because if I have to go out and sing it. - You like to sing dry, no reverb? - Yeah, I don't really like nothing on it. 'Cause I want to hear what it sound like. I want it to sound like that. And you take it off. I don't want to sound like, "Oh, the pitch was wildly trash." - See, that's what I'm talking about. - It's down. - Try it. - I don't want you to replace it all. - Wow. - And I'm going to say this with all the things. I embrace, I embrace technology. I love it, fix it afterwards. Do the things afterwards. But also sometimes if it's good, let it be. That brings to be perfect. - Can I have a slide in there? We did an episode about Biggie. - Yeah. - And to hear his vocal with nothing on it, it actually did sound like a 24-year-old. - See? - And he might have been 23 when he recorded that song. It sounded like a 23-year-old, but usually you hear Biggie with all the effects on it. So he'll always sound older than me. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - You know, 'cause he's older than me at the time. But to hear his voice with nothing on it, you're like, "Oh, that's a really young dude." - A kid. - That's a kid. - Yeah. - There's some really fun little background things that I'd never noticed in the mix. Let's see if you recognize this, or if this is also a first for you. ♪ All right, pop, pop, pop, let this grow ♪ - Right? ♪ All right, all right, all right, pop, pop, pop, let this grow ♪ - We do it. - Right? I'll give you a little more context. - I just need this myself. I'm just gonna give you these files. - Right. - What? - Ah, now you hear it. - Now I hear it. - Yeah. - I don't think I've ever heard that before. - Never. - Who knew that was there? - Who knew the bop-bop-bops were there. - What? - He heard him notice that. - You're too busy, you're too busy. You're too busy grooving at this point. You're too busy dancing like, you know, hitting your body rolls at this point. - You might be feeling it, but maybe not noticing it. - No, not at all. - One thing we love to do on this show is to get you to hear songs you've heard a million times, but you hear them differently, man. - Yeah. - You're the visual element. - Listen, just because it's fun in the bridge, we have Maurice without lyrics yet, telling us what he wants to happen here, and it's wonderful. So let's just listen to that, and I'll bring some instruments in for context. One, two, three, oh. (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (laughing) - You knew you wanted that one. (singing in foreign language) - Eight balls. (singing in foreign language) - I love that he had that one part. That's the only lyric he knew. (laughing) - By the way, it sounds a little bit like. (singing in foreign language) - If it's not a broken hook, don't fix it. If the thing is works, keep that thing, you know? - I bet you that was like placeholder, and then he's like, I'm just going to sing body-up. - Yeah. - That's exactly what happened in September. Yeah, Ellie wants us to story like, body-up. That's exactly how you do it. There's another body-up, there's a two body-up. - Yeah. - You know you have to have a signature, baby. (laughing) The melody won't break you, so good. - I love in keeping, in keeping with sort of like, old man lyrics. (laughing) - You know what the phrase, let you know girl, you're looking good. - You're out of sight, out of sight. - That's an old man game, right there. - Wow, baby. - You look good. - You look good. - These are late 16s. - Is this who's saying it? I have to believe you, yep, it's all right. - That sounds like you got a lot of-- - Phillip is like, you know what, you take this line. - I love you. - I love you. - So still, as we wrap up this episode, what do you believe is the legacy of Earth Wind and Fire? - Oh, one of the greatest big bands they ever was, because if you think about what you think about, when you think about a big band, right? Many different instruments, playing in one big unison, right? Definition of the entire thing. They're one of the greats, one of the pinnacles. For me and my era in my time, they're like a linchpin. They're like a, throwback to me wishing I was with Quincy. I was around in the Quincy era, like his big band era, and knowing that I have them as like a starting point from my own, to affirm what I do in the studio. Like, okay, no, go in blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. - And tell them exactly, and they'll make it better. - Right, I'm not crazy to do that. And I didn't even know all this was happening until I came one of the, you know, this is my first time hearing a stem separate and listening to them. So it's a firm in for me. - I see what you're saying. - Yeah, but-- - The fact that Maurice did it too. - Yeah, it's like, oh, okay, I'm not crazy. I hear other people do it. I'm just like, I'm hearing my bag. I'm like, oh, you're like, no, play this, you know? And hearing him do the same thing is like a firm and cool. I'm on the right path. But they're like a middle ground to me as far as like, you know, this is how you, this is how you layer things. This is how you have other people collaborate, but you still maintain what you're doing as the center of your sound, you know? And then the look of it. Like, man, if I could dress like that every day, I would, you know, I'm probably going to, you're gonna see me do that for this next album. There's a huge influence in this next album for me. Like, looking at the way they dress, the styles, the colors, the vibe, the lyrics, you know, without knowing it again. 'Cause I have a bunch of music in the back of my head. They've had a huge impact. - You're just realizing as your album emerges. - Yeah, as it is. - A lot of it's coming from the Earth Wind and Fire. - It's coming from the era. - Inspirations. - Yeah, freedom, yeah. - Look, the album's full of joy. The album is just, it's reminiscent of all of those, all of that music, the stuff that makes you wanna dance. It makes you feel good, that is like, that we forgot. You know, that's what this is. - That's what we need right now. - Yeah, I can't agree more. I do feel like there is a certain joy in their music. - Yeah. I think there is a reason why it continues to be played. Not just black family functions, but I think there's a reason why September it gets played at everybody's wedding. I think it's because you can feel the joy in this music. You know, like I'm a huge fan of Contemporary Hip-Hop. I'll never say that it's not great, but I also know that like, you know, there is like a certain undercurrent of negativity and a lot of the lyrics that you don't feel in a song like Let's Groove. And I think that it's okay for us to go back to something that is more sort of like soul-fulfilling, you know, and something that makes you feel happy inside and can be enjoyed by people of all ages, you know. I think that there's something to that. - I agree. I think because what's happened this day, I feel like people are just reflecting, you know, and especially in music, we're not, and I never want to say, oh, that's terrible. No, you should absolutely be reflecting what you feel in music. - I'm reflecting. - I'm reflecting something different. - But you know, sometimes I see George Benson on those real-life skates on Dennis Beach thinking, "Give me the night." And I'm like, this is some happy-- - Just joyful. - I gotta get, I gotta get some of that. - I can't get some. - George Benson on Roller's Skates, is that lit? Like I took that very literally when you took it. - That was real. - With his guitar's chopped over, is it? - When he's speaking, he's got the, "When the night is gone, they're like, you're like, you're like, in the rear view mirror, just because of the cost of doing it, the capabilities that you don't need to do it. So it is incredible. Going back and listening through the earth-winded far catalog, it seemed like, wow, this was a moment where you got out. And they still tore. And they still tore. They were just on tour with Chicago. That is a special kind of music. And I'm like, go see them. Again, they sound incredible. Phillip Bailey muscle memory on a trillion. Vadin, Phillip Bailey, and Ralph are still up there, like giving us fever, signing, looking incredible. And having a blast doing it, I can't imagine. What else do you want to do in your 70s? I want to do that. I want to have the capacity to do that. That's my vision. That's my style-like specific vision that I'm getting to the world. I want to be doing that when I am 75/2. I want to be able to, I want to have the choice to, with all my faculties and everything healthy. Or sleepy at hours. I want to have the choice to do one of those two. It's just for the next 75, you know? Thank you. That sounds like me wake up. You will. I want to bring up something that I heard you believe, which is that you have this theory about the beaches and earth-winded far. Okay, so here's my thing. I was like, I feel like they came out around the same time. And it just looked real close. So this is part of my whole, like, my back and forth with my team. And like, people I know, I'd be like, who copied who? We did that too. It was so close. It was like looking at an earth-winded far as an entire thing. And then the beaches came out and like, they didn't in white suits. And they were white. Okay. I love it all. I think it was all really great me. But I was just like, I think about how how wow Prince Must have felt thinking about artists, who came out sounding like him and the time after they were out. I would love to have been in the room. Prince heard O'Sheela. Okay. Every time that comes, and I'm like, you might feel the Sheila. It'd be like, you know these things? Yeah. And these sounds a little too close, a little on the nose. It was just there was such closeness. And we don't know. We're not thinking of it 30, 40, 50 years later, which is like, no, I think about the originators and I think about how annoyed and then I think about they're like, okay, well, you made hope of making another hope. One happy ending of this great too is that both bands could be hitmakers and do fairly well for themselves financially. It doesn't always happen. Exactly. Obviously is the story. It was a little Richard versus Pat Boone. It was a little bit less cool. Tiny bit. Okay. So before we let you go, we want to play a game. It's called What's One Song. Here are the rules. We'll give you a scenario, and you give us one song you would play during the scenario. And the only other thing is we want you to answer as quickly as possible as we've been saying all that. No thinking. No overthinking. All right, ready. Ready. All right. Let's begin. All right. What's one song you've had on repeat lately? Thank you, Beverly and May's. Happy performance. What's one song that's been an influence as you've been making your new music? Three degrees. I don't know this song. I'm going to discover it. Thank you. By giving me a fire song to discover. Yeah. What's one song that you could listen to every day for the rest of your life? It's anything Steve Wanda. Really? Absolutely. Do I do. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Chocolate chips. Chocolate chips and kisses full of love for you. I got a lot of kisses. Really? Yes. I got a lot of chocolate. Chocolate dip chocolate dip in kisses full of love. I think so. I feel like that's what that's what I think. You're probably right because that can't be right. You can't be chocolate chips. Oh, why are we saying that? All right. That's great. That's great. It's called always. It's not as we should do a segment called a real song name. Yeah. And like you never knew what was really called. You don't know what that song is called. What's one song you'd love to sing in one of your voice over walls. It might be going to sing in Papa Scott brand new bag. And what would that sound like? Give us a little taste. Papa's got a brand new bag. That's literally what she would do. She's like it's so deadpan and nothing. She's like we don't we don't. We don't need to ask people to do stuff. I love stripping James Brown of all emotions. Literally. What's one song we have to break down on a future episode of one song. Oh my goodness. I think you'd have to break down my song. Oh, okay. Will you come back with the stems? Yeah. I love that. That would be good. That would be good. That would be good. That would be blessed. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Don't thank you so much for playing and spending time with us. Where can people find you and what would you like to tell them about? Ah, still darlings on all the socials over in Facebook. Just sports. That's just still. It's easy. I still darlings everywhere. But yeah, come find me. My OIs out right now. The new album comes early next year. Here we are. Here we are, man. It's vibes. I love that. Yeah. Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much for coming on our show. It's been an honor. As always, you can find us on Instagram and Tik Tok. You can find me on Instagram @Dialo, D-I-A-L-L-O, and I'm Tik Tok @DialoRiddle. And you can find me on Instagram at Luxury, L-U-X-X-U-R-Y, and on Tik Tok @LuxuryXX. You can also watch full episodes of one song on YouTube right now. Just search one song podcast. We'd love it if you like and subscribe. And if you've made it this far, I think that means you liked the podcast. So please don't forget to give us five stars, leave a review, and share it with someone you think would like the show, because it really helps keep the show going. Luxury, help us in this thing. Well, I'm producer DJ, songwriter, and musicologist Luxury. And I'm actor, writer, director, and sometimes DJ, D-I-L-O-R. And this is one song. We'll see you next time.