October 7, 2025 • 29 mins
That’s the Way of the World (1975) is often considered Earth, Wind & Fire’s defining statement, blending soul, funk, jazz, and gospel into a sound that was both deeply spiritual and irresistibly danceable. Released at the height of the band’s creative powers, the album embodies the vision of Maurice White, who sought to create music that was uplifting, universal, and transcendent. With its mix of lush horn arrangements, intricate rhythms, and soaring vocals, the record stands as both a cultural touchstone of the 1970s and one of the most celebrated soul albums of all time.
The album opens with its iconic title track, a slow-burning ballad filled with hope and wisdom, setting a tone of reflection and uplift that carries through the record. From there, the band moves into radiant, high-energy funk with tracks like Shining Star—a #1 hit that brought them mainstream success—while songs like Reasons showcase the group’s ability to balance groove with tenderness and emotional depth. Each track contributes to a greater whole, with messages of unity, love, and perseverance woven seamlessly into the music.
Beyond its commercial success, That’s the Way of the World has endured because of its ability to inspire. It is as much a philosophical statement as it is an album, speaking to universal struggles and joys while delivering them through some of the most polished and innovative arrangements of its era. More than just a collection of songs, it represents Earth, Wind & Fire’s belief in music as a healing, guiding force—and remains one of the greatest achievements in the history of R&B and soul.
Listen to the album on Apple Music
Listen to the album on Spotify
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
It's just a normal point of here!
SPEAKER_00 (00:14):
This is Polyphonic Press, the podcast where two
music fans pick a classic albumcompletely at random.
Using the patented random albumgenerator, they are given an
album to review from a curatedlist of over 1,000 classic
releases spanning multiplegenres.
And now onto the show.
(00:34):
Here are your hosts, Jeremy Boydand John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_04 (00:50):
I'm John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_03 (00:51):
And uh let's not waste any time.
We've got the patented randomalbum generator right in front
of us here.
Uh so let's hit the button andsee what album we're gonna be
listening to this week.
And the album we're gonna belistening to is Earth, Win and
Fire.
That's the way of the world.
Okay.
Funky stuff.
(01:11):
Alright, so here is adescription of the album.
It says, That's the way of theworld is often considered Earth,
Wind and Fire's definingstatement, blending soul, funk,
jazz, and gospel into a soundthat was both deeply spiritual
and irresistibly danceable.
Released at the height of theband's creative powers, the
(01:31):
album embodies the vision ofMaurice White, who sought to
create music that was uplifting,universal, and transcendent.
With its mix of lush hornarrangements, intricate rhythms,
and soaring vocals, the recordstands as both cultural uh as
both a cultural touchstone ofthe 1970s and one of the most
(01:53):
celebrated soul albums of alltime.
The album opens with its iconictitle track, a slow burning
ballad filled with hope andwisdom, setting a tone of
reflection and uplift thatcarries through the record.
From there, the band moves intoradiant, high-energy funk with
tracks like Shining Star, anumber one hit that brought them
mainstream success.
(02:14):
While songs like Reasonsshowcase the group's ability to
balance groove and tendernessand emotional depth, each track
contributes to a greater whole,with messages of unity, love,
and perseverance wovenseamlessly into the music.
Beyond its commercial success,that's the way that the world
has endured because of itsability to inspire.
(02:37):
It is as much a philosophicalstatement as it is an album,
speaking to universal strugglesand the joys while delivering
and joys while delivering themthrough some of the most
polished and innovativearrangements of its era.
More than just a collection ofsongs, it represents Earth, Wind
and Fire's belief in music as ahealing, guiding force, and
(02:59):
remains one of the greatestachievements in the history of
RB and Soul.
Alright.
Okay, so this was released on uhMarch the 3rd, 1975, and the
genres are Soul, Funk,Progressive Soul, and Pop.
And uh it was released onColumbia Records, and there are
(03:20):
eight tracks on the album, anduh it's pretty even pretty
evenly, uh, side one and sidetwo, four, and four.
Uh so what we like to do is uhtake a pause about halfway
through the album and discuss atthe halfway point.
So if you're listening along,which we do encourage you to do,
uh the album starts with ShiningStar and side one ends with All
(03:43):
About Love.
So if you want to pause afterthat song uh to hear the
discussion, and we've linked thealbum to both Spotify and Apple
Music so you can get it on yourpreferred streaming service.
Um, but without further ado, uhokay, here is the uh first song
on the album, uh Shining Star,and uh ending the uh side one
(04:47):
with uh all about love.
Yeah, this is um I mean this isa really great record uh so far.
I'm really liking this.
SPEAKER_04 (04:59):
Yeah, it's good music.
It's uh um part of me is isstill waiting to see if there's
another like banger like shiningstar on it.
But so far the stuff that's onit is still pretty good.
It's um you know it's it's alittle bit more commercial, but
it's done really, really well.
SPEAKER_03 (05:18):
It's uh Yeah, I agree.
And um I did well I did like thesome of the more jazz elements
in Happy Feeling.
Um like some the they werejamming a little bit uh in some
of the instrumental sections,and I so I did like that as
well.
Um but yeah, I agree.
It is a little more pop thanthan I was sort of expecting,
(05:42):
but yeah, it is it's not totallylike cheesy bubblegum stuff
either.
They they kind of they reallysort of uh straddle that line
really well of like beingcommercial but not totally um
like making smart choices, Ithink, in in their in their
(06:03):
music, like making um you knowthey're not like parliament or
something that's completely orfunkadelic that's completely
like off the wall, but they'renot like uh they're it's like a
sophisticated kind of pop music.
SPEAKER_04 (06:18):
Yeah.
Um it's interesting you broughtup Parliament and Funkadelic,
because Parliament was sort ofthe pop side of Funkadelic.
Um and Funkadelic was like theexperimental side of Parliament.
Um yeah, so and but these guyskind of do both, but they don't
have to split their identitynecessarily like Parliament and
(06:42):
Funkadelic did.
SPEAKER_03 (06:44):
Yeah, I agree.
I mean, yeah, it's it's umthey're just they're I think
they have a good pa I thinkthey're making music.
It seems like they're makingmusic.
They're just making music thatthey that they would want to
listen to.
It's funny, it's um I think whatI was reading a little bit about
(07:04):
the album, and it was actuallyuh this this album in particular
was actually a movie soundtrackum to uh the movie of the same
name, that's the way of theworld.
And um, so I think that's whythose little um that little
(07:24):
instrumental sort of interludebe uh after Happy Feeling and
All About Love, though I thinkthat's just some incidental
music.
Yeah, I think that's just someins incidental music from the
from the film that they sort ofadded onto the onto the album.
SPEAKER_04 (07:39):
Hmm.
Okay.
Because I was a little curiousabout that.
SPEAKER_03 (07:43):
But yeah, in the that that speech in the middle
of all about love, uh it was umi I think that was sort of a at
least alluding to the film.
I don't know for sure.
I don't know much about thefilm, but I think that was sort
of part of of uh some of thestory of the of the film.
SPEAKER_04 (08:02):
Yeah, it could be.
Um I've never seen the film, soI'm a little curious.
Was it like a self-produced sortof little movie or something
like that?
Or was it uh I don't think itwas like a big feature film or
anything like that, was it?
SPEAKER_03 (08:17):
Um It was, but it didn't do well.
It was a hit movie, but it waslike a it was a it was a
Hollywood movie, but it wasn'treally it kind of didn't do well
at the box office.
And actually the album did muchbetter commercially than than
the film.
Uh but it has Harvey Kaitel init, who's a um pretty I think he
(08:43):
was famous at the time, or maybecoming up a little bit, but uh
and Earth, Wind and Fire doappear in the movie as uh I
think they're just called theband or the group.
SPEAKER_04 (08:55):
And apparently this is uh this is their sixth album,
so they've been already aroundfor quite a while, but I think
this is the first one thatreally got them somewhere.
SPEAKER_03 (09:06):
Yeah.
Um yeah, I think uh Shining Staris probably their first big hit.
Um I think they yeah, they'vebeen sort of grinding it out,
you know, for a few years beforethis.
I think they managed to releasewhen was their first album?
Probably late 60s.
Yeah, 71 was their first album.
Oh well, okay.
(09:28):
Yeah, they released two in 71and then one every year after
that.
So yeah, this is their sixthalbum.
And uh yeah, the one sometimesthat happens, and um, you know,
you're around for a few years,and I think they garner garnered
a uh uh a loyal audience, butthey never really quite, you
(09:48):
know, hit hit the top 40 oranything like that.
Right.
And I think Shining Star was thethe uh the song that really got
them a lot of attention, radioattention, I think.
Um and that that sort of thinghappened quite a bit in the 70s.
I know KISS sort of went throughthe similar uh trajectory.
(10:09):
Um and that sort of doesn't seemto happen a lot these days.
You know, artists don't reallysort of get, you know, nurtured
by their their record companies.
They just sort of uh I I don'tknow of of a of a record company
after say I don't know 1985 thatwould hang on to uh uh um uh uh
(10:35):
a band or an artist who's sixalbums in then and they still
don't have a hit.
And this was Columbia Records,it's not like they're not on a
major label, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (10:45):
But I I wonder if uh Columbia Records was with them
from the start, though.
That's a good question.
SPEAKER_03 (10:52):
Um no, they were on Warner Brothers before.
SPEAKER_04 (10:56):
Okay.
So Warner Brothers Yeah.
It's true, and sometimes theywould invent, you know, smaller
um labels to handle this sort ofartistic achievement.
But uh I think ultimatelythey're still trying to make a
profit, and then if a band isn'tyou know, putting out the hits,
(11:19):
they uh they're not getting areturn.
And I do understand that.
But the artist the artist in mealso kind of resents that
because the uh it's it's one ofthose things you can't really
force exactly if you want it tobe good anyway.
SPEAKER_03 (11:36):
Yeah.
And well, and the other thingtoo, I just thought of this, is
like the 70s was the mostprofitable that the record
business ever was, before orsince.
That that's like the 70s is whenall the money was made.
It's why you had albums like uhum like Led Zeppelin's physical
(12:01):
graffiti with the like thecutout um album cover and
Rolling Stone Sticky Fingerswith the zipper on it and stuff
like that, like little coolstuff like that that the record
company would put money intobecause they had money to put
into stuff like that.
Um and so when when a recordcompany is making a lot of
(12:21):
money, they don't necessarilymind if one of their artists
isn't selling a whole lot ofalbums because they have the
Eagles selling, you know, 10million albums every time they
put one out.
SPEAKER_04 (12:35):
Yeah, I guess it was just that the time period they
could afford to have bands justtouring with a loyal audience
and not necessarily making moneyat the box office or or at the
uh record store.
I guess it seemed to only last adecade or two, being, you know,
the 60s, 70s, mostly the 70s.
SPEAKER_03 (12:58):
Well, it's it's it's funny.
Well, it's not funny, it's sad,but it is funny that um I I
think what killed it was uhRonald Reagan coming in and and
um deregulating everything andmaking all the radio stations
(13:18):
basically just corporate radio,and they had these monopolies
come in, and ironically, it wasmore profitable when it was the
wild west than when it had morelike a of a corporate sort of
feel to it.
It's because it's art.
SPEAKER_04 (13:36):
It's uh corporate art, it may make money, but it
doesn't it doesn't resonate withpeople the same way, and it just
doesn't.
And uh when you get thatsomething that makes money and
resonates with people, like saywith uh a band like Pink Floyd
(13:57):
or something like that, that'swhen you're really raking it in.
SPEAKER_03 (14:01):
Yeah, because not only is it popular, it's also
good, and it's not it's not youknow, it's not been put through
like uh focus groups and andstuff like that to see what
people like.
They just put it out, and if youknow what like they'll just put
out an album because that's whatthe artist wants to put out, and
(14:23):
you know, not everything that'sgonna hit, but something is
gonna hit.
Yeah.
And and that's authenticityresonates more with people than
it does this like the the ironicthing is if you let artists be
artists, you're gonna make moremoney sooner or later because
(14:44):
authenticity resonates more withpeople than some manufactured
everything controlled down tothe way they look, yeah, photo
shoot everything.
Like an authentic artistresonates more with people than
you know than that type ofthing.
Yeah, that's my my rant for theday.
SPEAKER_04 (15:02):
Yeah, no, I I agree.
It certainly resonates more themore with me.
And I guess when you hear aboutsome of these other groups
coming about that are somanufactured, it's sometimes
they're resonating with anaudience that doesn't know any
other way.
And it's that's kind of sadbecause, you know, they're not
(15:23):
they don't have access to thesebands or artists or anything
like that that, you know, haveof their own vision.
They're and they don't know whatthey're missing sometimes.
And I find that also really sad.
It's just there's this downwardtrajectory ever since the 1980s.
(15:44):
You know, not everything in theeighties was terrible, but there
was definitely a stark contrastwhere they they started that was
the the the catalyst of themtrying to manipulate every
little note on something to tomaximize profits.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (16:03):
Exactly.
Um and I think this the factthat this is their sixth album,
and it's it's the one thatfinally breaks through because
like you were saying, it's pop,but it doesn't feel fake.
Like it feels like they'rethey're being themselves.
Yes, it's catchy and it's poppyand it's radio friendly, but it
(16:26):
doesn't feel like you're saying,it doesn't feel forced.
It feels like they are makingthe music that they want to
make.
They're making they're just likethey're making the kind of music
that they want to listen to.
And when you have a when youhave a three-minute song like
Happy Feeling with two differentjazz instrumental breaks, that
(16:50):
is not a a corporate decision.
That is an artistic decision.
SPEAKER_04 (17:23):
On anyway, in a in a in a corporate setting.
Because there is good music outthere, it's just again not at
the forefront, and a lot ofpeople don't have access to it
because they've never heard ofit.
It's uh it it doesn't getnurtured the same way.
SPEAKER_03 (17:45):
Yeah, very true, very true.
But I did manage to find a fewuh interesting facts about the
album.
Um, like I said, it is it istied to a film.
Um the uh the album wasoriginally created as the
soundtrack to a little known1970 film of the same name in
(18:06):
which Earth, Wind and Fireappeared as a fictional band
called The Group.
Uh while the film flopped, thealbum uh outshined it in and
became a classic.
And I think um Earth, Wind andFire, that was not the only
movie that they were in.
I think they were in that umSergeant Pepper's movie with the
(18:28):
Bee Gees and Peter Frampton.
Could be.
Um Yeah, that movie I never sawit.
Um I I have.
It was on uh it was on it playedon TV once or a couple of times
when I was a kid.
And I've seen it.
It's not good.
SPEAKER_04 (18:46):
No.
But there was a lot of people inthat movie, it's from what I
understand.
SPEAKER_03 (18:52):
Oh yeah, it had uh well I think Earth, Wind and
Fire, it had uh Alice Cooper, umAerosmith were in it.
Um actually their cover of ComeTogether, it's from that
soundtrack.
Um and that movie came out what,77 or something like that?
SPEAKER_04 (19:13):
Uh 78.
78, okay.
SPEAKER_03 (19:16):
Oh yeah, they so yeah, they were in it.
Um you had uh yeah, PeterFrampton, the Bee Gees, uh Steve
Martin, Aaron Smith, AliceCooper, Earth Wind and Fire,
Billy Preston, George Burns.
SPEAKER_04 (19:30):
Yeah, it's a it's a weird movie.
I've seen a few weird movies,but yeah, it sounds like it
sounds like the kind of moviethat was made to cash in on some
anniversary of Sergeant Pepperor something like that.
Even though it came out a yearlater than the anniversary would
have the Yeah, the tenure Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (19:50):
It's well uh it's me it was made by the the guy that
did um oh Saturday Night Fever.
So that's why the Bee Gees arein it.
I think uh what happened withthat was George Burns had to
come in because uh the musicianswere so bad at acting they
(20:11):
couldn't handle the dialogue.
So they're just they're thestars of the movie, but like
it's just there's they don'thave any lines, it's just George
Burns narrating the thing andtelling the audience what
they're doing.
It's it's so stupid.
And um anyway, that's a bit of atenure, but uh this uh this
album, like I said, it was abreakthrough hit for Earth, Wind
(20:35):
and Fire.
Uh the single Shining Starbecame the band's first number
one hit on the Billboard Hot 100and the RB charts, and its
success catapulted Earth, Windand Fire into the mainstream
recognition.
Um and uh so and the they haveuh reasons, the song Reasons
(20:56):
became one of the one of theband's most beloved slow jams,
uh, which we'll get to in thesecond side of the album.
And uh showcasing PhilipBailey's soaring falsetto.
Interestingly, while it's oftenmistaken as mistaken as a
romantic love song, the lyricsactually s uh speak of fleeting
physical attraction.
(21:17):
Um Reasons.
Reasons still, okay.
And the the the album earnedEarth Wind and Fire their first
Grammy Award when Shining Starwon for best RB Vocal
Performance by a duo, group, orchorus in 1976.
And uh and yeah, it has anenduring legacy.
(21:40):
The album has been repeatedlyranked among the greatest soul
and funk albums of all time.
Uh its themes of unity,spirituality, and resilience
have kept it relevant fordecades, influencing artists
from Prince to Kendrick Lamar.
Yeah, it's it's stillinfluencing artists, you know,
today.
So anyway, those are someinteresting facts about the
(22:02):
album, but I guess we'll getback into the uh second side of
the album, and it starts withthe song Yearning Learning.
So here we go.
SPEAKER_01 (22:12):
We'll now take a few seconds before we begin side
two.
Thank you.
Here's side two.
SPEAKER_03 (22:57):
Uh yeah, I uh I really like this album.
Um I think it's really welldone.
Um It is like you said, it ispoppy, but it's not uh, you
know, too bubblegum or you know,or anything like that.
It's it's just uh I think it'sit's just a really good it's
just a really good feel-goodalbum, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (23:20):
Yeah, it's got that uh classic soul thing going for
it.
Um Yeah, I thought it was prettycool at the beginning of Sea of
the Light where they did sort ofa jazz fusion sort of thing.
It sounded like somethingWeather Report would do or
something.
SPEAKER_03 (23:37):
Yeah, I noticed that.
That was really cool.
Yeah, and Africano, I thoughtthat was sort of uh That was
pretty good too more funky, butyeah, it's there were some jazz
elements in there as well.
Yeah, I just I I uh you knowthere's there's there's a reason
that there's a reason these guysare so influential um amongst R
(24:02):
and B that would come later, anda lot of the producers look to
this this album in particular asa big inspir inspiration.
I can definitely see it.
Um like this is where this issort of the natural progression
where like Sly and the FamilyStone kind of invented this sort
of soul kind of music, and youknow, Parliament and Funkadelic
(24:26):
sort of picked up the torch, andthese guys are sort of carrying
on the tradition as well, andjust sort of seeing the
progression like ten years lateror whatever it is.
And um and yeah, I mean thisjust fits right in right in
perfectly with with that.
SPEAKER_04 (24:41):
No, I definitely agree.
It's uh yeah, it's a classic uhwell, it's got its elements of
funk on it, but it's definitelyit this one is more of a soul
album, but it's definitely gotelements of funk in it.
And uh um and yeah, they theydabble in a lot of other, you
know, things that were popularat the time.
(25:02):
Um like jazz fusion and stufflike that.
It was this is a pretty well dwell uh well crafted album.
SPEAKER_03 (25:11):
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree.
And yeah, like they are pullingstuff from from stuff that was
popular at the time, but italmost it doesn't feel dated uh
really.
It feels um well it definitelysounds like the 70s.
Definitely, yes, it does, but Ithere is still I think I think a
(25:33):
lot of uh like neo soul, I guessyou would call it.
Oh borrows from absolutely,yeah.
And so it doesn't feel itdoesn't feel um it it definitely
feels sounds like the 70s, butit doesn't um it doesn't feel it
doesn't sound stuck in the 70s.
Like it f it sounds like it likeif this were to be released
(25:57):
today, I would think oh wellyeah, that's that's um that's
you know that's that's a it's anew soul band that's uh that's
doing like it doesn't like it'snot like it's not stuck in the
70s.
It definitely sounds 70s, butit's not doesn't sound stuck
there.
Like they it has a timeless feelto it, if that makes sense.
(26:18):
Yeah, I think so.
I think I hear where you'recoming from.
So uh I guess that brings us tothe question what would be your
three uh highlights on thealbum?
SPEAKER_04 (26:28):
Well Shining Stars, definitely a highlight.
That song is I've always lovedthat song.
It's just a really good song.
Um and then I think I'm gonnago.
I really like their theirfunkier stuff.
So I think I'm gonna go withHappy Feeling and Africano.
Those are my picks too.
SPEAKER_03 (26:45):
Yeah.
Yeah, those are definitely mypicks as well.
I mean, that's that's I thinkthose are the like there isn't a
bad song on here, but I thinkthose those three songs, if you
were to if someone were to say,like, what is what does Earth
Wind and Fire sound like, or youknow, what should I listen to?
And you show them those threesongs, that would be a good
(27:06):
representation of of what theband is.
Or at least this era anyway.
This album, yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Um so I guess the that brings usto the question is would you
listen to this again?
SPEAKER_04 (27:19):
Yeah, I'd probably listen to this again.
SPEAKER_03 (27:21):
Yeah, I would too.
Um yeah, I think it's one ofthose albums that you can put on
uh and it works for like youknow, a party or just just to
put on just to listen to.
I mean, it's one of those sortof universal sort of things that
uh you know has many, many uhit's appropriate for many
(27:42):
occasions.
SPEAKER_04 (27:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Appropriate for many occasionsis a pretty well well put uh
some summary of what thisalbum's about.
I mean, considering it itstarted out as a as a soundtrack
and then kind of went on beyondthe movie and uh created a life
(28:03):
of its own, it's just a reallygood album.
SPEAKER_03 (28:06):
Yeah.
Yeah, it it's it I mean, some ofthe ins incidental music that
they sprinkled in there, yeah,uh sort of gives it away as as a
as a film soundtrack, but if youdidn't know it was part of a
film soundtrack, I mean you'dstill enjoy it as an album.
I mean it's yeah.
Um yeah, so I guess we'll uh endthe episode there.
(28:27):
Uh thank you so much forlistening if you made it this
far.
Uh, we'd love to hear from you.
If you want to check out uhpolyphonicpress.com.
You can get all the episodesthat we've done so far there,
but also you can go to thecontact page and drop us a line.
Uh, we would love to hear fromyou.
And uh we might even read someof your uh comments on on one of
(28:48):
these episodes.
And uh if this is your firsttime listening, uh be sure to
give us a follow and leave arating and review because it
helps uh new listeners find us.
And um and uh yeah, I think thatjust about does it.
Uh I'm Jeremy Boyd and I'm JohnVan Dyke.
SPEAKER_04 (29:06):
Take it easy.
It's just a normal point of here!
SPEAKER_00 (00:14):
This is Polyphonic Press, the podcast where two
music fans pick a classic albumcompletely at random.
Using the patented random albumgenerator, they are given an
album to review from a curatedlist of over 1,000 classic
releases spanning multiplegenres.
And now onto the show.
(00:34):
Here are your hosts, Jeremy Boydand John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_04 (00:50):
I'm John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_03 (00:51):
And uh let's not waste any time.
We've got the patented randomalbum generator right in front
of us here.
Uh so let's hit the button andsee what album we're gonna be
listening to this week.
And the album we're gonna belistening to is Earth, Win and
Fire.
That's the way of the world.
Okay.
Funky stuff.
(01:11):
Alright, so here is adescription of the album.
It says, That's the way of theworld is often considered Earth,
Wind and Fire's definingstatement, blending soul, funk,
jazz, and gospel into a soundthat was both deeply spiritual
and irresistibly danceable.
Released at the height of theband's creative powers, the
(01:31):
album embodies the vision ofMaurice White, who sought to
create music that was uplifting,universal, and transcendent.
With its mix of lush hornarrangements, intricate rhythms,
and soaring vocals, the recordstands as both cultural uh as
both a cultural touchstone ofthe 1970s and one of the most
(01:53):
celebrated soul albums of alltime.
The album opens with its iconictitle track, a slow burning
ballad filled with hope andwisdom, setting a tone of
reflection and uplift thatcarries through the record.
From there, the band moves intoradiant, high-energy funk with
tracks like Shining Star, anumber one hit that brought them
mainstream success.
(02:14):
While songs like Reasonsshowcase the group's ability to
balance groove and tendernessand emotional depth, each track
contributes to a greater whole,with messages of unity, love,
and perseverance wovenseamlessly into the music.
Beyond its commercial success,that's the way that the world
has endured because of itsability to inspire.
(02:37):
It is as much a philosophicalstatement as it is an album,
speaking to universal strugglesand the joys while delivering
and joys while delivering themthrough some of the most
polished and innovativearrangements of its era.
More than just a collection ofsongs, it represents Earth, Wind
and Fire's belief in music as ahealing, guiding force, and
(02:59):
remains one of the greatestachievements in the history of
RB and Soul.
Alright.
Okay, so this was released on uhMarch the 3rd, 1975, and the
genres are Soul, Funk,Progressive Soul, and Pop.
And uh it was released onColumbia Records, and there are
(03:20):
eight tracks on the album, anduh it's pretty even pretty
evenly, uh, side one and sidetwo, four, and four.
Uh so what we like to do is uhtake a pause about halfway
through the album and discuss atthe halfway point.
So if you're listening along,which we do encourage you to do,
uh the album starts with ShiningStar and side one ends with All
(03:43):
About Love.
So if you want to pause afterthat song uh to hear the
discussion, and we've linked thealbum to both Spotify and Apple
Music so you can get it on yourpreferred streaming service.
Um, but without further ado, uhokay, here is the uh first song
on the album, uh Shining Star,and uh ending the uh side one
(04:47):
with uh all about love.
Yeah, this is um I mean this isa really great record uh so far.
I'm really liking this.
SPEAKER_04 (04:59):
Yeah, it's good music.
It's uh um part of me is isstill waiting to see if there's
another like banger like shiningstar on it.
But so far the stuff that's onit is still pretty good.
It's um you know it's it's alittle bit more commercial, but
it's done really, really well.
SPEAKER_03 (05:18):
It's uh Yeah, I agree.
And um I did well I did like thesome of the more jazz elements
in Happy Feeling.
Um like some the they werejamming a little bit uh in some
of the instrumental sections,and I so I did like that as
well.
Um but yeah, I agree.
It is a little more pop thanthan I was sort of expecting,
(05:42):
but yeah, it is it's not totallylike cheesy bubblegum stuff
either.
They they kind of they reallysort of uh straddle that line
really well of like beingcommercial but not totally um
like making smart choices, Ithink, in in their in their
(06:03):
music, like making um you knowthey're not like parliament or
something that's completely orfunkadelic that's completely
like off the wall, but they'renot like uh they're it's like a
sophisticated kind of pop music.
SPEAKER_04 (06:18):
Yeah.
Um it's interesting you broughtup Parliament and Funkadelic,
because Parliament was sort ofthe pop side of Funkadelic.
Um and Funkadelic was like theexperimental side of Parliament.
Um yeah, so and but these guyskind of do both, but they don't
have to split their identitynecessarily like Parliament and
(06:42):
Funkadelic did.
SPEAKER_03 (06:44):
Yeah, I agree.
I mean, yeah, it's it's umthey're just they're I think
they have a good pa I thinkthey're making music.
It seems like they're makingmusic.
They're just making music thatthey that they would want to
listen to.
It's funny, it's um I think whatI was reading a little bit about
(07:04):
the album, and it was actuallyuh this this album in particular
was actually a movie soundtrackum to uh the movie of the same
name, that's the way of theworld.
And um, so I think that's whythose little um that little
(07:24):
instrumental sort of interludebe uh after Happy Feeling and
All About Love, though I thinkthat's just some incidental
music.
Yeah, I think that's just someins incidental music from the
from the film that they sort ofadded onto the onto the album.
SPEAKER_04 (07:39):
Hmm.
Okay.
Because I was a little curiousabout that.
SPEAKER_03 (07:43):
But yeah, in the that that speech in the middle
of all about love, uh it was umi I think that was sort of a at
least alluding to the film.
I don't know for sure.
I don't know much about thefilm, but I think that was sort
of part of of uh some of thestory of the of the film.
SPEAKER_04 (08:02):
Yeah, it could be.
Um I've never seen the film, soI'm a little curious.
Was it like a self-produced sortof little movie or something
like that?
Or was it uh I don't think itwas like a big feature film or
anything like that, was it?
SPEAKER_03 (08:17):
Um It was, but it didn't do well.
It was a hit movie, but it waslike a it was a it was a
Hollywood movie, but it wasn'treally it kind of didn't do well
at the box office.
And actually the album did muchbetter commercially than than
the film.
Uh but it has Harvey Kaitel init, who's a um pretty I think he
(08:43):
was famous at the time, or maybecoming up a little bit, but uh
and Earth, Wind and Fire doappear in the movie as uh I
think they're just called theband or the group.
SPEAKER_04 (08:55):
And apparently this is uh this is their sixth album,
so they've been already aroundfor quite a while, but I think
this is the first one thatreally got them somewhere.
SPEAKER_03 (09:06):
Yeah.
Um yeah, I think uh Shining Staris probably their first big hit.
Um I think they yeah, they'vebeen sort of grinding it out,
you know, for a few years beforethis.
I think they managed to releasewhen was their first album?
Probably late 60s.
Yeah, 71 was their first album.
Oh well, okay.
(09:28):
Yeah, they released two in 71and then one every year after
that.
So yeah, this is their sixthalbum.
And uh yeah, the one sometimesthat happens, and um, you know,
you're around for a few years,and I think they garner garnered
a uh uh a loyal audience, butthey never really quite, you
(09:48):
know, hit hit the top 40 oranything like that.
Right.
And I think Shining Star was thethe uh the song that really got
them a lot of attention, radioattention, I think.
Um and that that sort of thinghappened quite a bit in the 70s.
I know KISS sort of went throughthe similar uh trajectory.
(10:09):
Um and that sort of doesn't seemto happen a lot these days.
You know, artists don't reallysort of get, you know, nurtured
by their their record companies.
They just sort of uh I I don'tknow of of a of a record company
after say I don't know 1985 thatwould hang on to uh uh um uh uh
(10:35):
a band or an artist who's sixalbums in then and they still
don't have a hit.
And this was Columbia Records,it's not like they're not on a
major label, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (10:45):
But I I wonder if uh Columbia Records was with them
from the start, though.
That's a good question.
SPEAKER_03 (10:52):
Um no, they were on Warner Brothers before.
SPEAKER_04 (10:56):
Okay.
So Warner Brothers Yeah.
It's true, and sometimes theywould invent, you know, smaller
um labels to handle this sort ofartistic achievement.
But uh I think ultimatelythey're still trying to make a
profit, and then if a band isn'tyou know, putting out the hits,
(11:19):
they uh they're not getting areturn.
And I do understand that.
But the artist the artist in mealso kind of resents that
because the uh it's it's one ofthose things you can't really
force exactly if you want it tobe good anyway.
SPEAKER_03 (11:36):
Yeah.
And well, and the other thingtoo, I just thought of this, is
like the 70s was the mostprofitable that the record
business ever was, before orsince.
That that's like the 70s is whenall the money was made.
It's why you had albums like uhum like Led Zeppelin's physical
(12:01):
graffiti with the like thecutout um album cover and
Rolling Stone Sticky Fingerswith the zipper on it and stuff
like that, like little coolstuff like that that the record
company would put money intobecause they had money to put
into stuff like that.
Um and so when when a recordcompany is making a lot of
(12:21):
money, they don't necessarilymind if one of their artists
isn't selling a whole lot ofalbums because they have the
Eagles selling, you know, 10million albums every time they
put one out.
SPEAKER_04 (12:35):
Yeah, I guess it was just that the time period they
could afford to have bands justtouring with a loyal audience
and not necessarily making moneyat the box office or or at the
uh record store.
I guess it seemed to only last adecade or two, being, you know,
the 60s, 70s, mostly the 70s.
SPEAKER_03 (12:58):
Well, it's it's it's funny.
Well, it's not funny, it's sad,but it is funny that um I I
think what killed it was uhRonald Reagan coming in and and
um deregulating everything andmaking all the radio stations
(13:18):
basically just corporate radio,and they had these monopolies
come in, and ironically, it wasmore profitable when it was the
wild west than when it had morelike a of a corporate sort of
feel to it.
It's because it's art.
SPEAKER_04 (13:36):
It's uh corporate art, it may make money, but it
doesn't it doesn't resonate withpeople the same way, and it just
doesn't.
And uh when you get thatsomething that makes money and
resonates with people, like saywith uh a band like Pink Floyd
(13:57):
or something like that, that'swhen you're really raking it in.
SPEAKER_03 (14:01):
Yeah, because not only is it popular, it's also
good, and it's not it's not youknow, it's not been put through
like uh focus groups and andstuff like that to see what
people like.
They just put it out, and if youknow what like they'll just put
out an album because that's whatthe artist wants to put out, and
(14:23):
you know, not everything that'sgonna hit, but something is
gonna hit.
Yeah.
And and that's authenticityresonates more with people than
it does this like the the ironicthing is if you let artists be
artists, you're gonna make moremoney sooner or later because
(14:44):
authenticity resonates more withpeople than some manufactured
everything controlled down tothe way they look, yeah, photo
shoot everything.
Like an authentic artistresonates more with people than
you know than that type ofthing.
Yeah, that's my my rant for theday.
SPEAKER_04 (15:02):
Yeah, no, I I agree.
It certainly resonates more themore with me.
And I guess when you hear aboutsome of these other groups
coming about that are somanufactured, it's sometimes
they're resonating with anaudience that doesn't know any
other way.
And it's that's kind of sadbecause, you know, they're not
(15:23):
they don't have access to thesebands or artists or anything
like that that, you know, haveof their own vision.
They're and they don't know whatthey're missing sometimes.
And I find that also really sad.
It's just there's this downwardtrajectory ever since the 1980s.
(15:44):
You know, not everything in theeighties was terrible, but there
was definitely a stark contrastwhere they they started that was
the the the catalyst of themtrying to manipulate every
little note on something to tomaximize profits.
Exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (16:03):
Exactly.
Um and I think this the factthat this is their sixth album,
and it's it's the one thatfinally breaks through because
like you were saying, it's pop,but it doesn't feel fake.
Like it feels like they'rethey're being themselves.
Yes, it's catchy and it's poppyand it's radio friendly, but it
(16:26):
doesn't feel like you're saying,it doesn't feel forced.
It feels like they are makingthe music that they want to
make.
They're making they're just likethey're making the kind of music
that they want to listen to.
And when you have a when youhave a three-minute song like
Happy Feeling with two differentjazz instrumental breaks, that
(16:50):
is not a a corporate decision.
That is an artistic decision.
SPEAKER_04 (17:23):
On anyway, in a in a in a corporate setting.
Because there is good music outthere, it's just again not at
the forefront, and a lot ofpeople don't have access to it
because they've never heard ofit.
It's uh it it doesn't getnurtured the same way.
SPEAKER_03 (17:45):
Yeah, very true, very true.
But I did manage to find a fewuh interesting facts about the
album.
Um, like I said, it is it istied to a film.
Um the uh the album wasoriginally created as the
soundtrack to a little known1970 film of the same name in
(18:06):
which Earth, Wind and Fireappeared as a fictional band
called The Group.
Uh while the film flopped, thealbum uh outshined it in and
became a classic.
And I think um Earth, Wind andFire, that was not the only
movie that they were in.
I think they were in that umSergeant Pepper's movie with the
(18:28):
Bee Gees and Peter Frampton.
Could be.
Um Yeah, that movie I never sawit.
Um I I have.
It was on uh it was on it playedon TV once or a couple of times
when I was a kid.
And I've seen it.
It's not good.
SPEAKER_04 (18:46):
No.
But there was a lot of people inthat movie, it's from what I
understand.
SPEAKER_03 (18:52):
Oh yeah, it had uh well I think Earth, Wind and
Fire, it had uh Alice Cooper, umAerosmith were in it.
Um actually their cover of ComeTogether, it's from that
soundtrack.
Um and that movie came out what,77 or something like that?
SPEAKER_04 (19:13):
Uh 78.
78, okay.
SPEAKER_03 (19:16):
Oh yeah, they so yeah, they were in it.
Um you had uh yeah, PeterFrampton, the Bee Gees, uh Steve
Martin, Aaron Smith, AliceCooper, Earth Wind and Fire,
Billy Preston, George Burns.
SPEAKER_04 (19:30):
Yeah, it's a it's a weird movie.
I've seen a few weird movies,but yeah, it sounds like it
sounds like the kind of moviethat was made to cash in on some
anniversary of Sergeant Pepperor something like that.
Even though it came out a yearlater than the anniversary would
have the Yeah, the tenure Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (19:50):
It's well uh it's me it was made by the the guy that
did um oh Saturday Night Fever.
So that's why the Bee Gees arein it.
I think uh what happened withthat was George Burns had to
come in because uh the musicianswere so bad at acting they
(20:11):
couldn't handle the dialogue.
So they're just they're thestars of the movie, but like
it's just there's they don'thave any lines, it's just George
Burns narrating the thing andtelling the audience what
they're doing.
It's it's so stupid.
And um anyway, that's a bit of atenure, but uh this uh this
album, like I said, it was abreakthrough hit for Earth, Wind
(20:35):
and Fire.
Uh the single Shining Starbecame the band's first number
one hit on the Billboard Hot 100and the RB charts, and its
success catapulted Earth, Windand Fire into the mainstream
recognition.
Um and uh so and the they haveuh reasons, the song Reasons
(20:56):
became one of the one of theband's most beloved slow jams,
uh, which we'll get to in thesecond side of the album.
And uh showcasing PhilipBailey's soaring falsetto.
Interestingly, while it's oftenmistaken as mistaken as a
romantic love song, the lyricsactually s uh speak of fleeting
physical attraction.
(21:17):
Um Reasons.
Reasons still, okay.
And the the the album earnedEarth Wind and Fire their first
Grammy Award when Shining Starwon for best RB Vocal
Performance by a duo, group, orchorus in 1976.
And uh and yeah, it has anenduring legacy.
(21:40):
The album has been repeatedlyranked among the greatest soul
and funk albums of all time.
Uh its themes of unity,spirituality, and resilience
have kept it relevant fordecades, influencing artists
from Prince to Kendrick Lamar.
Yeah, it's it's stillinfluencing artists, you know,
today.
So anyway, those are someinteresting facts about the
(22:02):
album, but I guess we'll getback into the uh second side of
the album, and it starts withthe song Yearning Learning.
So here we go.
SPEAKER_01 (22:12):
We'll now take a few seconds before we begin side
two.
Thank you.
Here's side two.
SPEAKER_03 (22:57):
Uh yeah, I uh I really like this album.
Um I think it's really welldone.
Um It is like you said, it ispoppy, but it's not uh, you
know, too bubblegum or you know,or anything like that.
It's it's just uh I think it'sit's just a really good it's
just a really good feel-goodalbum, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (23:20):
Yeah, it's got that uh classic soul thing going for
it.
Um Yeah, I thought it was prettycool at the beginning of Sea of
the Light where they did sort ofa jazz fusion sort of thing.
It sounded like somethingWeather Report would do or
something.
SPEAKER_03 (23:37):
Yeah, I noticed that.
That was really cool.
Yeah, and Africano, I thoughtthat was sort of uh That was
pretty good too more funky, butyeah, it's there were some jazz
elements in there as well.
Yeah, I just I I uh you knowthere's there's there's a reason
that there's a reason these guysare so influential um amongst R
(24:02):
and B that would come later, anda lot of the producers look to
this this album in particular asa big inspir inspiration.
I can definitely see it.
Um like this is where this issort of the natural progression
where like Sly and the FamilyStone kind of invented this sort
of soul kind of music, and youknow, Parliament and Funkadelic
(24:26):
sort of picked up the torch, andthese guys are sort of carrying
on the tradition as well, andjust sort of seeing the
progression like ten years lateror whatever it is.
And um and yeah, I mean thisjust fits right in right in
perfectly with with that.
SPEAKER_04 (24:41):
No, I definitely agree.
It's uh yeah, it's a classic uhwell, it's got its elements of
funk on it, but it's definitelyit this one is more of a soul
album, but it's definitely gotelements of funk in it.
And uh um and yeah, they theydabble in a lot of other, you
know, things that were popularat the time.
(25:02):
Um like jazz fusion and stufflike that.
It was this is a pretty well dwell uh well crafted album.
SPEAKER_03 (25:11):
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree.
And yeah, like they are pullingstuff from from stuff that was
popular at the time, but italmost it doesn't feel dated uh
really.
It feels um well it definitelysounds like the 70s.
Definitely, yes, it does, but Ithere is still I think I think a
(25:33):
lot of uh like neo soul, I guessyou would call it.
Oh borrows from absolutely,yeah.
And so it doesn't feel itdoesn't feel um it it definitely
feels sounds like the 70s, butit doesn't um it doesn't feel it
doesn't sound stuck in the 70s.
Like it f it sounds like it likeif this were to be released
(25:57):
today, I would think oh wellyeah, that's that's um that's
you know that's that's a it's anew soul band that's uh that's
doing like it doesn't like it'snot like it's not stuck in the
70s.
It definitely sounds 70s, butit's not doesn't sound stuck
there.
Like they it has a timeless feelto it, if that makes sense.
(26:18):
Yeah, I think so.
I think I hear where you'recoming from.
So uh I guess that brings us tothe question what would be your
three uh highlights on thealbum?
SPEAKER_04 (26:28):
Well Shining Stars, definitely a highlight.
That song is I've always lovedthat song.
It's just a really good song.
Um and then I think I'm gonnago.
I really like their theirfunkier stuff.
So I think I'm gonna go withHappy Feeling and Africano.
Those are my picks too.
SPEAKER_03 (26:45):
Yeah.
Yeah, those are definitely mypicks as well.
I mean, that's that's I thinkthose are the like there isn't a
bad song on here, but I thinkthose those three songs, if you
were to if someone were to say,like, what is what does Earth
Wind and Fire sound like, or youknow, what should I listen to?
And you show them those threesongs, that would be a good
(27:06):
representation of of what theband is.
Or at least this era anyway.
This album, yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
Um so I guess the that brings usto the question is would you
listen to this again?
SPEAKER_04 (27:19):
Yeah, I'd probably listen to this again.
SPEAKER_03 (27:21):
Yeah, I would too.
Um yeah, I think it's one ofthose albums that you can put on
uh and it works for like youknow, a party or just just to
put on just to listen to.
I mean, it's one of those sortof universal sort of things that
uh you know has many, many uhit's appropriate for many
(27:42):
occasions.
SPEAKER_04 (27:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Appropriate for many occasionsis a pretty well well put uh
some summary of what thisalbum's about.
I mean, considering it itstarted out as a as a soundtrack
and then kind of went on beyondthe movie and uh created a life
(28:03):
of its own, it's just a reallygood album.
SPEAKER_03 (28:06):
Yeah.
Yeah, it it's it I mean, some ofthe ins incidental music that
they sprinkled in there, yeah,uh sort of gives it away as as a
as a film soundtrack, but if youdidn't know it was part of a
film soundtrack, I mean you'dstill enjoy it as an album.
I mean it's yeah.
Um yeah, so I guess we'll uh endthe episode there.
(28:27):
Uh thank you so much forlistening if you made it this
far.
Uh, we'd love to hear from you.
If you want to check out uhpolyphonicpress.com.
You can get all the episodesthat we've done so far there,
but also you can go to thecontact page and drop us a line.
Uh, we would love to hear fromyou.
And uh we might even read someof your uh comments on on one of
(28:48):
these episodes.
And uh if this is your firsttime listening, uh be sure to
give us a follow and leave arating and review because it
helps uh new listeners find us.
And um and uh yeah, I think thatjust about does it.
Uh I'm Jeremy Boyd and I'm JohnVan Dyke.
SPEAKER_04 (29:06):
Take it easy.
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com