Nice job guys and girls. I'm British and a big fan of American music. My favourite bands when I was at school were Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears. I loved early fusion and the crossover R&B, jazz, rock epitomised by Stevie Wonder. How amazing is it that some of the biggest American music hits were written by a British (English) guy who started working life in a fish processing factory. Heatwave are still a big favourite, I have all their albums on vinyl. Of course, there are many great British bands, Beatles, Led Zeppelin, 10CC, Genesis, Robert Palmer, Roxy Music, Elton John, Police. You know many more I am sure. Most of these lack the funky bass grooves of the Motown and American fusion/funk scene like Dexter Wansel Nights Over Egypt. There are exceptions, of course, but British music typically has a different character. It's very much down to different cultures. I have every album covered in this podcast and hadn't failed to spot Rod's name on the vinyl sleeves. It is not always the case that a great songwriter, singer, performer equates to a great song, but in Rod Temperton's case, he very rarely delivered anything less than good. The comments about Baby Come To Me only becoming a hit after it was used in the General Hospital soap, is the reason why so many great songs are not necessarily big sellers. Popularity is not a measure of greatness, it is a measure of how hard things are pushed. As far Hall's of Fame, they're are all BS platforms for self-appointed arbiters of taste. Just ignore them as they are not worthy of wasting precious time on. You decide what is good is what isn't. Listen widely and keep an open ear and mind. It's similar to food, many like a McDonald's burger until they discover real cuisine.
Thank you so much for your comments and for listening. We really appreciate it! Our Co-Host Kelly is a big fan of British music and she's from Chicagp. BTW Nights Over Egypt is one of Kelly's all-time faves. You have a great knowledge of music and we hope you keep tuning in. We have many great episodes planned for 2025! We are just getting started. Happy holidays to you!
@ItsTheGroovePodcast Happy holidays to you all, too. I'll await your next podcasts with interest. I think that a podcast into the background to artists like Dexter Wansel, Leon Ware, Gamble and Huff, Deodata, David Sanborn, Randy Crawford, Al Jarreau, Bobby Caldwell and other great performers who are largely unknown to the masses, would be hugely interesting. Back in the 1980s, we had a great disc jockey on Radio London called Robbie Vincent. He almost solely brought great American artists to the British people, especially those living close to London, as I did. You might want to read about him. He has an interesting career and a great DJ voice and a solid knowledge of the music we love. Most British DJs are boneheads when it comes to music. They are simply salespeople for the entertainment industry and wouldn't know decent music if they heard it. I also love Carpenters, Eagles, Toto, and of course Steely Dan and Donald Fagan's solo albums. Also, George Duke, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Yellowjackets, Rippingtons, though some of these are not great songwriters (Grusin is an incredible film score composer of course) but all have some brilliant tracks and albums, all are A list session musicians. If you haven't already done so, check out Leonid and Friends and the Dutch band The Royal Dutch Scam. Leonid has brought Chicago and EW&F back to life arguably better musically than the originals, but they didn't write the music, so take nothing away from the original bands. There are so many great bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s to write about, especially with most modern stuff barely fit to be called music.
@@got2bharmony Thanks for the tips! We hope you check out more of our episodes. We love most of those artists you mentioned, too. Dave is trying to get Kelly to do an episode on Toto, so it might happen next year! We will definitely have an episode or two on Steely Dan because Dave is a huge fan.
Didn't know Rod Temperton was responsible for so many hits! I did know of the most popular songs of Michael Jackson, Heatwave, Brother's Johnson, etc! I didn't know he wrote for George Benson, Anita Baker, Manhattan Transfer, even Quincy Jones, who I think takes credit for a many artist like Patti Austin, Michael Henderson, etc! For that reason, I wasn't really a fan of Quincy, or Manhattan Transfer, but I would've been a fan of The Manhattan Transfer, if I knew Mr. Rod Temperton was writing for them, like I knew of Patti Austin through Jazz, like them!!!
Amazing, right? He was definitely the Invisible Man. This is why we did the episodes because we wanted to share what we had learned about him. Hopefully one day he will be in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Thanks for listening and for the comment!
Nice job guys and girls.
I'm British and a big fan of American music. My favourite bands when I was at school were Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears. I loved early fusion and the crossover R&B, jazz, rock epitomised by Stevie Wonder. How amazing is it that some of the biggest American music hits were written by a British (English) guy who started working life in a fish processing factory. Heatwave are still a big favourite, I have all their albums on vinyl.
Of course, there are many great British bands, Beatles, Led Zeppelin, 10CC, Genesis, Robert Palmer, Roxy Music, Elton John, Police. You know many more I am sure. Most of these lack the funky bass grooves of the Motown and American fusion/funk scene like Dexter Wansel Nights Over Egypt. There are exceptions, of course, but British music typically has a different character. It's very much down to different cultures.
I have every album covered in this podcast and hadn't failed to spot Rod's name on the vinyl sleeves.
It is not always the case that a great songwriter, singer, performer equates to a great song, but in Rod Temperton's case, he very rarely delivered anything less than good.
The comments about Baby Come To Me only becoming a hit after it was used in the General Hospital soap, is the reason why so many great songs are not necessarily big sellers. Popularity is not a measure of greatness, it is a measure of how hard things are pushed.
As far Hall's of Fame, they're are all BS platforms for self-appointed arbiters of taste. Just ignore them as they are not worthy of wasting precious time on. You decide what is good is what isn't. Listen widely and keep an open ear and mind. It's similar to food, many like a McDonald's burger until they discover real cuisine.
Thank you so much for your comments and for listening. We really appreciate it! Our Co-Host Kelly is a big fan of British music and she's from Chicagp.
BTW Nights Over Egypt is one of Kelly's all-time faves. You have a great knowledge of music and we hope you keep tuning in. We have many great episodes planned for 2025! We are just getting started. Happy holidays to you!
@ItsTheGroovePodcast Happy holidays to you all, too. I'll await your next podcasts with interest.
I think that a podcast into the background to artists like Dexter Wansel, Leon Ware, Gamble and Huff, Deodata, David Sanborn, Randy Crawford, Al Jarreau, Bobby Caldwell and other great performers who are largely unknown to the masses, would be hugely interesting.
Back in the 1980s, we had a great disc jockey on Radio London called Robbie Vincent. He almost solely brought great American artists to the British people, especially those living close to London, as I did. You might want to read about him. He has an interesting career and a great DJ voice and a solid knowledge of the music we love. Most British DJs are boneheads when it comes to music. They are simply salespeople for the entertainment industry and wouldn't know decent music if they heard it.
I also love Carpenters, Eagles, Toto, and of course Steely Dan and Donald Fagan's solo albums. Also, George Duke, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin, Yellowjackets, Rippingtons, though some of these are not great songwriters (Grusin is an incredible film score composer of course) but all have some brilliant tracks and albums, all are A list session musicians.
If you haven't already done so, check out Leonid and Friends and the Dutch band The Royal Dutch Scam. Leonid has brought Chicago and EW&F back to life arguably better musically than the originals, but they didn't write the music, so take nothing away from the original bands.
There are so many great bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s to write about, especially with most modern stuff barely fit to be called music.
@@got2bharmony Thanks for the tips! We hope you check out more of our episodes. We love most of those artists you mentioned, too. Dave is trying to get Kelly to do an episode on Toto, so it might happen next year!
We will definitely have an episode or two on Steely Dan because Dave is a huge fan.
Didn't know Rod Temperton was responsible for so many hits! I did know of the most popular songs of Michael Jackson, Heatwave, Brother's Johnson, etc! I didn't know he wrote for George Benson, Anita Baker, Manhattan Transfer, even Quincy Jones, who I think takes credit for a many artist like Patti Austin, Michael Henderson, etc! For that reason, I wasn't really a fan of Quincy, or Manhattan Transfer, but I would've been a fan of The Manhattan Transfer, if I knew Mr. Rod Temperton was writing for them, like I knew of Patti Austin through Jazz, like them!!!
Amazing, right? He was definitely the Invisible Man. This is why we did the episodes because we wanted to share what we had learned about him. Hopefully one day he will be in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Thanks for listening and for the comment!