February 12, 2026 • 25 mins
In preparation for Valentine’s Day, Questlove digs into his collection to curate ten song suggesions that set the mood for love. From timeless classics by Minnie Riperton and Donny Hathaway to deeper cuts and modern selections from Cody Chesnutt and Meshell Ndegeocello, he shares the records that define romance in all its forms.
If you’re in a season of love, consider this your soundtrack. And stay tuned for a second edition—songs for those on the other end of the spectrum.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quest Love Show is a production of iHeart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
All right, people, You know I can't have this moniker,
this name Questlove and not display my mastery of what
it is that I really really do. And you know,
I know, I'm all things to all people. But at
the end of the day, I'm a curator.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I'm a pruner.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm a farmer of music at heart, meaning having grown
up in a household with three thousand records, currently owning
two hundred thousand records. I will say that I believe
that I know a finger or two around the kitchen,
(01:02):
if you will, when it comes to curating music. And
of course there are various times out the year where
a lot of my friends will tap me to make
them a mixtape right quick. Thanksgiving I'm always asked to
put together to four hour Thanksgiving mix, which is harder
(01:26):
than you think because you want something that fills the
room with music, but you don't want it too wordy.
So often, for like dinner requests, I do instrumental jazz,
but like vibrant because you know, if you play something
too mellow, then that'll bring the mood down. Of course
I'll get the birthday request or you know, the office
(01:47):
party request, or some of my chef friends will have
a opening and need a five hour playlist. And you know,
I do playlists like most people do the New York
Times puzzles, like I just I got to challenge myself
to discover new songs. But I will say that February
fourteenth of every year of my life is probably the busiest.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Back when I was in the do you want more
elodelf Half Life Days, yeah, I would make customize mixtapes,
meaning individual cassettes specifically for that person and make a
pretty penny doing it.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Nowadays, I just I want to share the love and
share the joy.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So Valentine's Days represents two types of playlists for me,
playlist of people in love and play list for people
who are depressed.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Because they lost love. And the thing is with slow jams.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I find that when I do these two playlists, oftentimes
the depressing playlist is the most popular one. Matter of fact,
my most high file client couple, the female half of this,
has gotten word back to me that the breakup Heartbreak
(03:10):
one is our favorite because that has the most jams
on it. So, you know, toxic love and us just
mixing it up. That's nothing new spoiler alert. When I
do the Earth Wind and Fire podcast, Philip Bailey, in
a very humorous way, breaks down the song Reasons because
(03:30):
a lot of us.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Are like, oh, that's my song, that's my song, and.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Reasons is about an affair like earth Wind and Fire
famously turned down two million dollars to play Reasons at
a wedding, only because Philip Bailey had to tell the
bride and groom like, dude, you do not want your
wedding to be ruined by a song about a couple
(03:54):
cheating on each other. So I know that we tend
to make toxic songs about affairs like Whitney Houston saving
All My Love for You, or Sweet Thing by Rufus
and Chaka Khan, or even Reasons by Earth Went and Fire.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Those are our jams.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
But I decided to make two playlists, like one that's
sort of affirmational love, real true love, and the other
is the toxic breakup love, the sad love, the songs
that you want to cry to.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Because we like being melodramatic.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
So usually when I make a playlist, I start with
either an interlude or in this case, a poem.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
One of my proudest moments.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Is helping singer Cody Chestnut get to the limelight for
that brief period in two thousand and two when he
did The Seed two point zero with the Roots. But
he had a brilliant, brilliant, kind of do it yourself
record called The Headphone Masterpiece, and he opens that record
(05:00):
with a poem by poet artist Sonya Marie, and it's
called with Me and Mind and I don't know Man.
With Me and Mind is almost like as many times
as an artist tries to emulate the sexiness that Prince
represented back in his early eighties, Heyday, look up with
(05:23):
Me and Mind by Cody Chestnut and Sonya Marie and
Chestnut by the Ways with two t's h E S
n U T T all Right Cody Chestnut and Sonya
Marie with Me and Mind. Another song that I love
is uh, you know, I'm always in Michelle and Deoceella's ear.
(05:45):
One of her most brilliant projects she's ever done is
the Grammy nominated album Van Triloquism, which I know is
nominated for a Grammy.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I don't know if it won.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I know she recently won a Grammy, but I think
this one was just nominated and what it is is
it's like an interpretation of songs that we've known and love,
and she does puts her little twist on it. And
I told her, I was like, Yo, you need to
do part two of Van Triloquism, and I think it's
(06:20):
only right that you take your song back. And for
people that don't know what I mean, if you are
a lover of Brian McKnight's song anytime.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Do I well show my anytime?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You know that song is essentially just outside your Door
by Michelle and Diguelo Cello. And it senses me that
people don't know it's the original. And for me, I'm like, yo, Michelle,
when you do Ventriloquism Part two, your collection of cover songs,
(06:56):
you should redo anytime Brian McKnight as outside your Door
to let him know. Yeah, I see what you did.
Like you know, I love when an artist takes the
high road. Artists being reltigious to each other is not
my favorite thing, but you know, sometimes you got to
call out a bite. I don't care how classic the
(07:17):
song is, so outside your Door by Michelle and Decocello.
And I also appreciate the fact that she did not
rhyme the words waiting anticipating.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Which every R and B artist does anyway.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Next up, think of al Green's many classics, Simply Beautiful
is probably his most loved, quiet, intimate song. That's him
playing guitar on it. I didn't know he was playing
acoustic guitar.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Who knew?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
But simply Beautiful by al Green expresses love and intimacy
and quietness, and it's feeling like if you really want
to know what a soul ballot should sound like and
feel like it shows sensitivity, it shows kind of a
there's just some really human about that song. So simply
(08:08):
Beautiful by Algreen be my third song. My fourth song
is Sensuality by the Isisley Brothers. You know Isley Brothers
are notorious for putting some of the best slow jams
on side two of their records. I remember one person
asked me once like, well, how did they make slow
(08:31):
jams in the seventies if, like cassette tapes weren't prominent.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
If you were the household that had half inch reels,
like if you were what they call a gear head,
meaning if you had a high end high five stereo
with tubes vacuum tubing like really good, like the good
System for nineteen seventy three or seventy four or seventy
(08:58):
six or whatever year. In this seventies, nine times out
of ten, you also had to purchase a half inch reel,
which is basically an adult cassette. They invented a cassette
to get rid of the reels, So I mean, the
tape is the same, but you would have to take
this giant reel and hook it up and it would
allow you to have anywhere between a half hour to
(09:21):
an hour's worth.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Of music on these tapes.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
And if your parents were the house party type, you know,
this was their version of the playlist of streaming. So
you know, nowadays people hit me up, yo, just stream
some music so I can play it for an hour
and then you hook it up to your Bluetooth speakers.
While I well, back in the seventies, yeah, I had
(09:47):
to watch my dad like take tape and rail the
real tape and play his favorite song and wait for
the ending. And in order for us to have an
hour worth of music enjoyment, Dad would almost have to
do this like three to four hour process. So yeah,
Sensuality by the AlSi Brothers is one of those songs
(10:09):
that were always a mainstay on my dad's tapes. Fun
fact for you Soul Aquarium fans. When James Poyser and
I worked on Balau's Queen of Sanity, we literally I
remember putting Sensuality on. We went to my record room
in Philly, played it twice and did the same thing.
(10:32):
James used the moods that Chris Jasper use, and a
lot of times when I'm playing drums and a seventy
soul reference, I will morph or shape shift into Ernie Eisley,
primarily known for guitar playing, but Ernie Eisley also played
drums on most of the Isley Brothers songs in their
(10:55):
seventies heydays. So all those roles like in Fight the Power,
just you know those roles, that's an Ernie Isley role.
But in Sensuality, his tom tom work, he would have
no high hats in it and he would just hit
these tom times like they were like boulders rolling down
the hill and it's quiet. I emulated that for Queen
(11:22):
of Sanity for Balau. So shout out to drummer Ernie Isley.
Number five is a group from the seventies called Brainstorm
some of you may not be familiar with them. I
know that at one point they were based out of Detroit, Michigan,
that much I do know. I know that they were
(11:46):
on Taboo Records. Shout out to Clarence Avon. I think
they were one of his first clients. Singer Ella Woods
her vocal on it. Also there's a male singer. I
don't know if it's a professor R. J. Ross or
if it's Lamont Johnson, I'm not certain. But also if
(12:07):
you're a fan of George Michael's work with whim dion Estes,
he had a song called Heaven Helped Me, like in
eighty eight, but he first started out playing with Brainstorm,
and they had what we would call a quiet Storm
staple of a song, and that song was called this
Must be Heaven, and so pretty much just in the
(12:32):
late seventies, that song was a mainstay on quiet Storm,
Black Radio and escapable and it still works to this day.
Like most people gravitates towards the floaters float on, you know,
because they liked the whole introduction of the band and
the zodiac signs. But no, This Must Be Heaven is
(12:53):
to me quintessential seventies kind of just atmospheric, beautiful soul.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Ballads that are unsung.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Number six, I will say is by one of my
favorite singers, Minnie Julia Ripperton aka.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Maya Rudolph's mama.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Of course, Minnie Ripperton had a cult classic of a
group called the Rotary Connection on Chess Records, produced by
Charles Stephanie, who, of course will also get behind the
boards for Earth.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Wind and Fire.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
And you know, Stevie Wonder was such a fan that
I believe Maya Rudolph told us on the very first
quest of Supreme that his way of introducing himself to
Minnie Ripperton was stopping by Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles to
get a bucket of chicken and no pun intended blind
(13:54):
knocking on her door. Hi, I'm Stevie Wonder, and instead
of a bouquet, he gave her a bucket of fried
chickens like I love your voice and any who. He
wanted to produce Mini Rippleton, and Motown blocked this order.
I don't know how that happened, but yes, Motown blocked
(14:16):
him producing Mini Ripleton, but he did it anyway. So
I believe that the album which is called Perfect Angel
is produced by a figure called El Toro negro, which
means the black bull, which means someone born May thirteenth,
(14:36):
which means that they are a tarus, which means that
was Steve Lamb Marris doing the production duties.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
So Loving You.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
One of the greatest songs that I believe Stevie Wonder
has ever written for someone besides himself. By the way,
for you hardcore fans out there, look up the reissue
of the Perfect Angel album and there's an alternate version
of Loving You in which Stevie has like a full
(15:09):
fledged rhythm section on there. Of course, the version we
all know in Love is just stripped down to just
Rhodes and synth and birds, which makes it more.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Intimate and sexy.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And then there's the version where it's kind of like
a slow Latin groove.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
But it's very, very interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
So the deal is Isaac Hayes, who probably the two
things that he did to push the needle or the
envelope for it as far as music creativity in the
seventies is number one, adding orchestration to his work. Of course,
then Barry White will follow suit, and then my guys
(15:51):
Gamble and Huff for Philadelphia will take it even further
by having lush orchestrations in their work. But really, I mean,
I will say that Isaac Hayes is really the true
pioneer of giving a lot of space and the agency
(16:11):
to his orchestral arrangements on top of these like soulful
rhythmic sections, and I will say that probably of these songs, oh,
I'm sorry. The second aspect besides your orchestration is his
ability to stretch a song. Once the album format was
(16:35):
the epicenter of how music was delivered before nineteen sixty.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Seven, it was about forty fives.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
And then when Sergeant Pepper's came out by the Beatles
and Sully, that made the album important. Like suddenly there's
things like liner notes and gatefolds, and you know, an
album could be a piece of art, not just disc
with your three hits and a bunch of cover songs,
like it'd be conceptual and all those things. So by
(17:01):
the time Isaaca's made the Black Moses album, he was
turning like his slow jams. Typical time would be somewhere
between twelve to nineteen minutes, almost an entire side of
an album, which you know, long slow jams. Oh Jesus
Christ so he would have a motif on all these
(17:23):
albums called Ike's Rap, and this sort of starts the blueprint.
This is the blueprint of which you know when you
hear those like slow jams and someone has to talk,
Hey baby, Barry White does it well? Like Barry White
and Isaac CAA's were like neck and neck as far
as they are execution these these new untested ideas. But
(17:47):
in terms of timing, Isaac Cay's was the first, and
the reason why they're called Ike's Rap is like he'll
usually the first three to four minutes, sometimes five minutes,
he'll just start off with a monologue where it's like
a one way conversation where he's talking to his woman
on the phone or he's just on a couch, Like
(18:10):
you hear him preparing the wine, you hear the champagne popping,
and you hear him serving a glass, and like it
feels like you're actually like it's like a reality show,
like you're inside of his living room as he's talking
to his lady. And for me, one of his best
Ikes rap, I believe there's like six all together, but
(18:32):
my favorite Ikes Rap wasn't Part three, which is called
Your Love is So Dog Going Good.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
It's a nine minute just.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Masterstroke of quiet storm genius. So Ike's wrap three. Your
Love Is So Dog Go Good is my seventh choice.
My eighth choice is a band that was produced by
the grandfather of my longtime tour manager. Tina Farris has
(19:04):
been tour manager of the Roots for twenty five years.
We've known her for thirty back when she was a
student at She was just a student at UCLA and
we were just a band playing at UCLA, and we
met her after the show, became friends with her, and
then five years later she came to see us perform
(19:24):
in Paris and she knew I speak a little French,
and you know, she would get around and next thing
I know, we were asking her to be our tour manager.
And she's kind of the go to person. But her
grandfather is the legendary Harvey Fucoa who of course started
off in the legendary Duke wop group called Harvey and
the Moon Close.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
He most famously.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Took the Tito the Tito Jackson of the Moon Close,
a young man named Marvin Pence Gay to Motown and
the rest is history. Harvey also co produced He was
like a father figure of Mark and so he also
helped work on the What's Going On album, also helped
write Sexual Healing. But Harvey also produced this band called
(20:10):
The New Birth, to whom they were also.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Doubled as a band called The Night Lighters.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
There are so many unsung classics that this band has,
and again from Detroit, Michigan, one of their best songs
is It's been a long Time. If you're a fan
of Doctor Dre's work with the World Class Record Crew,
the first time we heard Doctor Dre's work, at least
(20:38):
on a national level a song called turn Off the
Lights where he gets Michelle Aid to sing the hook
but the music backdrop has been a long time. And yeah,
basically that song is an absolute, absolute, absolute must have.
(20:59):
Singer Leslee Wilson sings that song like his life depends
on it.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
One of the main.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Regrets I have in life is Leslie just passed away
shortly before Christmas of last year.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
I think he died in October.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
But he sings that song like it's just you just
want to experience, like what some of the best ad
libs singing ever in six minutes of a slow song.
It's been a long time that's my number eight choice
for new Birth. For number nine, I say it's Love
(21:37):
Won't Let Me Wait by Major Harris.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I remember when the song will come on.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Major Harris, of course, was a key figure in Philadelphia.
He started off as a member of the legendary Delphonics,
and when the band sort of went their separate ways,
Major Harris into Atlantic Records and release.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
The all time classic love Won't Let Me Wait.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Many know Luther Vandrosi's cover the song, but for me,
the two staples of this song that I feel that
are forever lasting in proper slow jam quiet storm songs.
First of all, it's kind of the silky tenor saxophone
(22:30):
that always sounds like it's someone at a real swinky,
French upscale dinner where you have to wear a tuxedo
and you ordered the best wine. And you know, like,
if you listen to the intro, that song like it
(22:51):
has that this is an adult affair kind of feeling
to it. And second, and most importantly, this is one
of the first songs that I believe.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Kind of captured the sound of.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
A woman having somewhere between a passionate expression and an orgasm.
If you will so, I remember when the song would
come on the radio, my parents would always like, just
lower the volume when.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, they would turn that down.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
So but Love Won't Let Me Wait is a song
that any true collection of Quiet Storm music cannot do without.
And my last choice for my love songs for love's
sake is of course, whenever you hear artists talk about
like who their favorite singer is, any soul singer worth
(23:55):
their weight and goal will say that Donnie Hathaway is
their favorite. However, there's a cover which I believe started
with blood, sweat and tears.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
There's a cover.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Of I Love You more than You Ever Know that
he does. That's Live at at the Bitter End. Like
I know that this song is on his Extensions of
a Man album, but when he did his live record
Live at the Bitter End, this was not included on
the original Donnie Hathaway Live. However, since his passing, they've
(24:30):
released the outtakes of there's several Donnie Hathaway live performances,
and not to mention, I believe for that live album
they recorded three live shows, so I think there might
be two more live captures of him in concert, of
(24:51):
which they do a devastating devastating cover of I Love
You more than you'll ever know. So those are my
heart filled of love, capturing of the perfect curated love
songs for your valentine AND's needs. All right, So come
(25:13):
back and I will have the antidote of that which
is the heartbreak version.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
All right, thank you,
Quest Love Show is a production of iHeart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
All right, people, You know I can't have this moniker,
this name Questlove and not display my mastery of what
it is that I really really do. And you know,
I know, I'm all things to all people. But at
the end of the day, I'm a curator.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I'm a pruner.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm a farmer of music at heart, meaning having grown
up in a household with three thousand records, currently owning
two hundred thousand records. I will say that I believe
that I know a finger or two around the kitchen,
(01:02):
if you will, when it comes to curating music. And
of course there are various times out the year where
a lot of my friends will tap me to make
them a mixtape right quick. Thanksgiving I'm always asked to
put together to four hour Thanksgiving mix, which is harder
(01:26):
than you think because you want something that fills the
room with music, but you don't want it too wordy.
So often, for like dinner requests, I do instrumental jazz,
but like vibrant because you know, if you play something
too mellow, then that'll bring the mood down. Of course
I'll get the birthday request or you know, the office
(01:47):
party request, or some of my chef friends will have
a opening and need a five hour playlist. And you know,
I do playlists like most people do the New York
Times puzzles, like I just I got to challenge myself
to discover new songs. But I will say that February
fourteenth of every year of my life is probably the busiest.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Back when I was in the do you want more
elodelf Half Life Days, yeah, I would make customize mixtapes,
meaning individual cassettes specifically for that person and make a
pretty penny doing it.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Nowadays, I just I want to share the love and
share the joy.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So Valentine's Days represents two types of playlists for me,
playlist of people in love and play list for people
who are depressed.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Because they lost love. And the thing is with slow jams.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I find that when I do these two playlists, oftentimes
the depressing playlist is the most popular one. Matter of fact,
my most high file client couple, the female half of this,
has gotten word back to me that the breakup Heartbreak
(03:10):
one is our favorite because that has the most jams
on it. So, you know, toxic love and us just
mixing it up. That's nothing new spoiler alert. When I
do the Earth Wind and Fire podcast, Philip Bailey, in
a very humorous way, breaks down the song Reasons because
(03:30):
a lot of us.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Are like, oh, that's my song, that's my song, and.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Reasons is about an affair like earth Wind and Fire
famously turned down two million dollars to play Reasons at
a wedding, only because Philip Bailey had to tell the
bride and groom like, dude, you do not want your
wedding to be ruined by a song about a couple
(03:54):
cheating on each other. So I know that we tend
to make toxic songs about affairs like Whitney Houston saving
All My Love for You, or Sweet Thing by Rufus
and Chaka Khan, or even Reasons by Earth Went and Fire.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Those are our jams.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
But I decided to make two playlists, like one that's
sort of affirmational love, real true love, and the other
is the toxic breakup love, the sad love, the songs
that you want to cry to.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Because we like being melodramatic.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
So usually when I make a playlist, I start with
either an interlude or in this case, a poem.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
One of my proudest moments.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Is helping singer Cody Chestnut get to the limelight for
that brief period in two thousand and two when he
did The Seed two point zero with the Roots. But
he had a brilliant, brilliant, kind of do it yourself
record called The Headphone Masterpiece, and he opens that record
(05:00):
with a poem by poet artist Sonya Marie, and it's
called with Me and Mind and I don't know Man.
With Me and Mind is almost like as many times
as an artist tries to emulate the sexiness that Prince
represented back in his early eighties, Heyday, look up with
(05:23):
Me and Mind by Cody Chestnut and Sonya Marie and
Chestnut by the Ways with two t's h E S
n U T T all Right Cody Chestnut and Sonya
Marie with Me and Mind. Another song that I love
is uh, you know, I'm always in Michelle and Deoceella's ear.
(05:45):
One of her most brilliant projects she's ever done is
the Grammy nominated album Van Triloquism, which I know is
nominated for a Grammy.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
I don't know if it won.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I know she recently won a Grammy, but I think
this one was just nominated and what it is is
it's like an interpretation of songs that we've known and love,
and she does puts her little twist on it. And
I told her, I was like, Yo, you need to
do part two of Van Triloquism, and I think it's
(06:20):
only right that you take your song back. And for
people that don't know what I mean, if you are
a lover of Brian McKnight's song anytime.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Do I well show my anytime?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
You know that song is essentially just outside your Door
by Michelle and Diguelo Cello. And it senses me that
people don't know it's the original. And for me, I'm like, yo, Michelle,
when you do Ventriloquism Part two, your collection of cover songs,
(06:56):
you should redo anytime Brian McKnight as outside your Door
to let him know. Yeah, I see what you did.
Like you know, I love when an artist takes the
high road. Artists being reltigious to each other is not
my favorite thing, but you know, sometimes you got to
call out a bite. I don't care how classic the
(07:17):
song is, so outside your Door by Michelle and Decocello.
And I also appreciate the fact that she did not
rhyme the words waiting anticipating.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Which every R and B artist does anyway.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Next up, think of al Green's many classics, Simply Beautiful
is probably his most loved, quiet, intimate song. That's him
playing guitar on it. I didn't know he was playing
acoustic guitar.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Who knew?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
But simply Beautiful by al Green expresses love and intimacy
and quietness, and it's feeling like if you really want
to know what a soul ballot should sound like and
feel like it shows sensitivity, it shows kind of a
there's just some really human about that song. So simply
(08:08):
Beautiful by Algreen be my third song. My fourth song
is Sensuality by the Isisley Brothers. You know Isley Brothers
are notorious for putting some of the best slow jams
on side two of their records. I remember one person
asked me once like, well, how did they make slow
(08:31):
jams in the seventies if, like cassette tapes weren't prominent.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
If you were the household that had half inch reels,
like if you were what they call a gear head,
meaning if you had a high end high five stereo
with tubes vacuum tubing like really good, like the good
System for nineteen seventy three or seventy four or seventy
(08:58):
six or whatever year. In this seventies, nine times out
of ten, you also had to purchase a half inch reel,
which is basically an adult cassette. They invented a cassette
to get rid of the reels, So I mean, the
tape is the same, but you would have to take
this giant reel and hook it up and it would
allow you to have anywhere between a half hour to
(09:21):
an hour's worth.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Of music on these tapes.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
And if your parents were the house party type, you know,
this was their version of the playlist of streaming. So
you know, nowadays people hit me up, yo, just stream
some music so I can play it for an hour
and then you hook it up to your Bluetooth speakers.
While I well, back in the seventies, yeah, I had
(09:47):
to watch my dad like take tape and rail the
real tape and play his favorite song and wait for
the ending. And in order for us to have an
hour worth of music enjoyment, Dad would almost have to
do this like three to four hour process. So yeah,
Sensuality by the AlSi Brothers is one of those songs
(10:09):
that were always a mainstay on my dad's tapes. Fun
fact for you Soul Aquarium fans. When James Poyser and
I worked on Balau's Queen of Sanity, we literally I
remember putting Sensuality on. We went to my record room
in Philly, played it twice and did the same thing.
(10:32):
James used the moods that Chris Jasper use, and a
lot of times when I'm playing drums and a seventy
soul reference, I will morph or shape shift into Ernie Eisley,
primarily known for guitar playing, but Ernie Eisley also played
drums on most of the Isley Brothers songs in their
(10:55):
seventies heydays. So all those roles like in Fight the Power,
just you know those roles, that's an Ernie Isley role.
But in Sensuality, his tom tom work, he would have
no high hats in it and he would just hit
these tom times like they were like boulders rolling down
the hill and it's quiet. I emulated that for Queen
(11:22):
of Sanity for Balau. So shout out to drummer Ernie Isley.
Number five is a group from the seventies called Brainstorm
some of you may not be familiar with them. I
know that at one point they were based out of Detroit, Michigan,
that much I do know. I know that they were
(11:46):
on Taboo Records. Shout out to Clarence Avon. I think
they were one of his first clients. Singer Ella Woods
her vocal on it. Also there's a male singer. I
don't know if it's a professor R. J. Ross or
if it's Lamont Johnson, I'm not certain. But also if
(12:07):
you're a fan of George Michael's work with whim dion Estes,
he had a song called Heaven Helped Me, like in
eighty eight, but he first started out playing with Brainstorm,
and they had what we would call a quiet Storm
staple of a song, and that song was called this
Must be Heaven, and so pretty much just in the
(12:32):
late seventies, that song was a mainstay on quiet Storm,
Black Radio and escapable and it still works to this day.
Like most people gravitates towards the floaters float on, you know,
because they liked the whole introduction of the band and
the zodiac signs. But no, This Must Be Heaven is
(12:53):
to me quintessential seventies kind of just atmospheric, beautiful soul.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Ballads that are unsung.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Number six, I will say is by one of my
favorite singers, Minnie Julia Ripperton aka.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Maya Rudolph's mama.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Of course, Minnie Ripperton had a cult classic of a
group called the Rotary Connection on Chess Records, produced by
Charles Stephanie, who, of course will also get behind the
boards for Earth.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Wind and Fire.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
And you know, Stevie Wonder was such a fan that
I believe Maya Rudolph told us on the very first
quest of Supreme that his way of introducing himself to
Minnie Ripperton was stopping by Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles to
get a bucket of chicken and no pun intended blind
(13:54):
knocking on her door. Hi, I'm Stevie Wonder, and instead
of a bouquet, he gave her a bucket of fried
chickens like I love your voice and any who. He
wanted to produce Mini Rippleton, and Motown blocked this order.
I don't know how that happened, but yes, Motown blocked
(14:16):
him producing Mini Ripleton, but he did it anyway. So
I believe that the album which is called Perfect Angel
is produced by a figure called El Toro negro, which
means the black bull, which means someone born May thirteenth,
(14:36):
which means that they are a tarus, which means that
was Steve Lamb Marris doing the production duties.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
So Loving You.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
One of the greatest songs that I believe Stevie Wonder
has ever written for someone besides himself. By the way,
for you hardcore fans out there, look up the reissue
of the Perfect Angel album and there's an alternate version
of Loving You in which Stevie has like a full
(15:09):
fledged rhythm section on there. Of course, the version we
all know in Love is just stripped down to just
Rhodes and synth and birds, which makes it more.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Intimate and sexy.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And then there's the version where it's kind of like
a slow Latin groove.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
But it's very, very interesting.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
So the deal is Isaac Hayes, who probably the two
things that he did to push the needle or the
envelope for it as far as music creativity in the
seventies is number one, adding orchestration to his work. Of course,
then Barry White will follow suit, and then my guys
(15:51):
Gamble and Huff for Philadelphia will take it even further
by having lush orchestrations in their work. But really, I mean,
I will say that Isaac Hayes is really the true
pioneer of giving a lot of space and the agency
(16:11):
to his orchestral arrangements on top of these like soulful
rhythmic sections, and I will say that probably of these songs, oh,
I'm sorry. The second aspect besides your orchestration is his
ability to stretch a song. Once the album format was
(16:35):
the epicenter of how music was delivered before nineteen sixty.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Seven, it was about forty fives.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
And then when Sergeant Pepper's came out by the Beatles
and Sully, that made the album important. Like suddenly there's
things like liner notes and gatefolds, and you know, an
album could be a piece of art, not just disc
with your three hits and a bunch of cover songs,
like it'd be conceptual and all those things. So by
(17:01):
the time Isaaca's made the Black Moses album, he was
turning like his slow jams. Typical time would be somewhere
between twelve to nineteen minutes, almost an entire side of
an album, which you know, long slow jams. Oh Jesus
Christ so he would have a motif on all these
(17:23):
albums called Ike's Rap, and this sort of starts the blueprint.
This is the blueprint of which you know when you
hear those like slow jams and someone has to talk,
Hey baby, Barry White does it well? Like Barry White
and Isaac CAA's were like neck and neck as far
as they are execution these these new untested ideas. But
(17:47):
in terms of timing, Isaac Cay's was the first, and
the reason why they're called Ike's Rap is like he'll
usually the first three to four minutes, sometimes five minutes,
he'll just start off with a monologue where it's like
a one way conversation where he's talking to his woman
on the phone or he's just on a couch, Like
(18:10):
you hear him preparing the wine, you hear the champagne popping,
and you hear him serving a glass, and like it
feels like you're actually like it's like a reality show,
like you're inside of his living room as he's talking
to his lady. And for me, one of his best
Ikes rap, I believe there's like six all together, but
(18:32):
my favorite Ikes Rap wasn't Part three, which is called
Your Love is So Dog Going Good.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
It's a nine minute just.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Masterstroke of quiet storm genius. So Ike's wrap three. Your
Love Is So Dog Go Good is my seventh choice.
My eighth choice is a band that was produced by
the grandfather of my longtime tour manager. Tina Farris has
(19:04):
been tour manager of the Roots for twenty five years.
We've known her for thirty back when she was a
student at She was just a student at UCLA and
we were just a band playing at UCLA, and we
met her after the show, became friends with her, and
then five years later she came to see us perform
(19:24):
in Paris and she knew I speak a little French,
and you know, she would get around and next thing
I know, we were asking her to be our tour manager.
And she's kind of the go to person. But her
grandfather is the legendary Harvey Fucoa who of course started
off in the legendary Duke wop group called Harvey and
the Moon Close.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
He most famously.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Took the Tito the Tito Jackson of the Moon Close,
a young man named Marvin Pence Gay to Motown and
the rest is history. Harvey also co produced He was
like a father figure of Mark and so he also
helped work on the What's Going On album, also helped
write Sexual Healing. But Harvey also produced this band called
(20:10):
The New Birth, to whom they were also.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Doubled as a band called The Night Lighters.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
There are so many unsung classics that this band has,
and again from Detroit, Michigan, one of their best songs
is It's been a long Time. If you're a fan
of Doctor Dre's work with the World Class Record Crew,
the first time we heard Doctor Dre's work, at least
(20:38):
on a national level a song called turn Off the
Lights where he gets Michelle Aid to sing the hook
but the music backdrop has been a long time. And yeah,
basically that song is an absolute, absolute, absolute must have.
(20:59):
Singer Leslee Wilson sings that song like his life depends
on it.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
One of the main.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Regrets I have in life is Leslie just passed away
shortly before Christmas of last year.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
I think he died in October.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
But he sings that song like it's just you just
want to experience, like what some of the best ad
libs singing ever in six minutes of a slow song.
It's been a long time that's my number eight choice
for new Birth. For number nine, I say it's Love
(21:37):
Won't Let Me Wait by Major Harris.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
I remember when the song will come on.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Major Harris, of course, was a key figure in Philadelphia.
He started off as a member of the legendary Delphonics,
and when the band sort of went their separate ways,
Major Harris into Atlantic Records and release.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
The all time classic love Won't Let Me Wait.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Many know Luther Vandrosi's cover the song, but for me,
the two staples of this song that I feel that
are forever lasting in proper slow jam quiet storm songs.
First of all, it's kind of the silky tenor saxophone
(22:30):
that always sounds like it's someone at a real swinky,
French upscale dinner where you have to wear a tuxedo
and you ordered the best wine. And you know, like,
if you listen to the intro, that song like it
(22:51):
has that this is an adult affair kind of feeling
to it. And second, and most importantly, this is one
of the first songs that I believe.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Kind of captured the sound of.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
A woman having somewhere between a passionate expression and an orgasm.
If you will so, I remember when the song would
come on the radio, my parents would always like, just
lower the volume when.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, they would turn that down.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
So but Love Won't Let Me Wait is a song
that any true collection of Quiet Storm music cannot do without.
And my last choice for my love songs for love's
sake is of course, whenever you hear artists talk about
like who their favorite singer is, any soul singer worth
(23:55):
their weight and goal will say that Donnie Hathaway is
their favorite. However, there's a cover which I believe started
with blood, sweat and tears.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
There's a cover.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Of I Love You more than You Ever Know that
he does. That's Live at at the Bitter End. Like
I know that this song is on his Extensions of
a Man album, but when he did his live record
Live at the Bitter End, this was not included on
the original Donnie Hathaway Live. However, since his passing, they've
(24:30):
released the outtakes of there's several Donnie Hathaway live performances,
and not to mention, I believe for that live album
they recorded three live shows, so I think there might
be two more live captures of him in concert, of
(24:51):
which they do a devastating devastating cover of I Love
You more than you'll ever know. So those are my
heart filled of love, capturing of the perfect curated love
songs for your valentine AND's needs. All right, So come
(25:13):
back and I will have the antidote of that which
is the heartbreak version.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
All right, thank you,
Hosts And Creators
Laiya St. Clair
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