The Front: Recent Episodes
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Ed & Dre converse here about a variety of R&B-related topics and a little about other genres as well from time to time.
For this episode, we revisit a song from an album by a group...and they all got slept on. Chocolate Milk was an incredible Funk band from the early 70s into the 80s and this is their very best ballad. It also completely changed my life and the story of how that happened is included in this video. Check it out! Frank Richard interview from https://www.youtube.com/c/FunknstuffNet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqCAhrkuzjc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWdc53l0IjY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PkFloAXx5k
El DeBarge is one of the greatest high tenor singers in history. His falsetto is immediately identifiable and so are his songs - even before you hear him sing. This time, I go into a record that didn't sell like it should have: "Heart, Mind, and Soul." On that record is a timeless ballad: "You Are My Dream." El never sounded better and his production is just perfect.
This week, we visit both an album and a song that were overlooked. I also talk a little bit about how both were as overlooked as they are. Wanna learn some of the machinations of Motown? You'll get a taster here. Here's the album artwork for "Hear to Tempt You" and the promo photos that go with it: http://vinylalbumcovers.com/the-temptations-hear-to-tempt-you/
P.S.: All the albums spoken of in this videocast are available on all the streamers.
Our second episode gets us to not only a slept-on song, but also a slept-on album. This is their best album...and most have never even heard it. Had to give it props as quickly as possible. Enjoy!
At the risk of this turning into the "Michael Jackson Channel," I just had to touch on this one to begin this series. We barely talked about it in the videocast you'll get next week and that's entirely on me. It got buried on "Dangerous" because it musically doesn't belong. A beautiful tribute to his friend, Ryan White, and one that you GOTTA listen to again if you haven't in a while.
We've finally arrived at the last album Michael made during his lifetime: "Invincible." We had opinion here for sure but we kept to the music as we have the entire time. This closes our Michael Jackson series. Thanks so much for watching it. We've already got another idea for another series but it'll take a little while we can get to it. In the meantime, we'll still be posting more episodes of "The Front." We'll also have plenty more content on the way as well. Stay tuned!
Now, we dive into Michael's double-album hybrid "Greatest Hits" and new album. There's some interesting stuff here. Watch as we tackle this one with our special guest, Ed Bowser.
Ed Bowser's website: soulinstereo.com
Ed's podcast home: @YouKnow IGotSoul
Our discussion about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson continues with an album that's been given some fond reappraisal over the last few years: "Dangerous." Join us as Ed Bowser, Dre, and the other Ed go into detail about the album and what we remember of its release. P.S.: We are not responsible for the comments of Ed Bowser...LOL!
Our third installment takes us to Michael's last record with Quincy Jones - "Bad." We see just what a great songwriter he really was. We also pass out flowers to all those involved with the record. We've stayed away from personal stuff up until now but we had to touch on it a little bit given that it informs the songs. Joining us again this week is SoulInStereo's Ed Bowser. Join us as we go through this near-classic album.
On Part 2 of our discussion, we arrive at the highest-selling original album in music history: "Thriller." We did a track-by-track analysis of the whole record including notes on the session musicians who played on it as well as stories about each of the songs. We went DEEP here and we hope you enjoy this one. Thanks again to our guest, Ed Bowser from @YouKnowIGotSoul 's SoulBack podcast for joining us on this one.
SoulBack Podcast: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVyB7WCEUIPl_CYZFTwiNLHqtCHaK2GcK
Ed's website: soulinstereo.com
A long-overdue conversation about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. People are beginning to forget just what an immense impact he had on music and culture. He affected the world on a GLOBAL scale in a way that no artist ever will again. Here, we begin exploring his impact - starting with the 1979 classic, "Off The Wall." We had a GREAT time with this one. Part 2 is coming in HOT! Also joining us this week is none other than Ed Bowser - proprietor of SoulInStereo.com and panelist on YouKnowIGotSoul's SoulBack - The R&B Podcast.
Ed Bowser's website: soulinstereo.com
Ed's podcast home: @YouKnowIGotSoul
At last, the fourth and final part of this chat about CDs. We finally get to CD-Rs here. Watch as Dre nearly dimes himself out here...and he would have if not for editing...LOL!
To be clear: The "Dre/criminal activity" bit is just a joke. I listened back at it and it sounds kinda serious. I promise it wasn't. I saw the opportunity for comedy and couldn't pass it up.
In our third installment, we talk about all the other media that tried to take the cassette's place...and failed. We're winding our way to the end. Part 4 is coming very soon.
This part gets a little granular in talking about the limitations of records and uses some real examples to do it. Ed does a lot of the talking here but this is pretty informative if you're into the technical aspects of record-making.
Our discussion about the beginnings of CD in our lives (and in general) starts here. Pretty interesting to discover how different our first contact with CDs really was. The difference in our ages really surfaces here in a fun way!
Remember when we started to see R&B artists diluting their music with Hip-Hop? Remember the artists who dabbled in Hip-Hop that shouldn't have? Can we ever go back to pure R&B being accepted by the masses again? Dre and I talk about all of that here!
Dre and I decided to go in on this and unravel all that went wrong on the most lopsided Verzuz ever!
Here on our brand new podcast, Ed & Dre talk about their Top 10 favorite R&B groups. We feature our opinions as well as behind-the-scenes facts about how the groups formed, information on their albums, as well as what caused their demise. This conversation went on a while so we had to split this up. Please let us know what you thought in the comments below!
P.S.: Forgive my very occasional bad singing. I'm still on the afterburners of COVID-19.
Here's part two of Dre's and my discussion of artists who would come together to make an amazing Versuz competiton yet we'll never get it for one reason or another. This one kinda stretched to artists we just might get...but probably won't. Clearly, we were having fun and we went on...and on...and on. Still, much fun was had we hope you have fun listening to this.
After a long absence, we have returned! Here's the beginning of our discussion of Versuz battles that can never be because the participants have passed away. Part 2 will follow sooner than later for sure.
In our return from life, Dre and I sit down to talk about the songs on which covers of them are better - sometimes a lot better - than the originals. Buckle in; this one took a while.
Here's part 2 of Ed's & Dre's discussion of artists who should have been bigger commercially but just didn't quite connect the way they should have to demand long-term success.
Settle in as Ed & Dre talk about R&B artists who should have been more successful. As usual, we talked a lot so this is split up into three parts for easier digestion.
Don't forget to check out vinylalbumcovers.com where we've got all kinds of album art, blank record labels, and old music ads there for your viewing pleasure. Check it out!
Settle in as Dre & Ed have a little fun this time. We're talking artists who've clearly stolen the style of another artist in order to achieve success. We pull no punches here. Things need to be said and we're saying them. We also begin with a tribute to the incredible Chadwick Boseman.