graecophilos said:

LOL...you don't have to worry,EW&F are viewed as one of the greatest bands ever! They had the success that they deserved.Trust me on this! They've even been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

okay... I trust you.

theAudience said:

CalhounSq said:

Timmy84 said:

His name is "Riff-Raff" (how appropriate) and is the latest Gs to Gents washout.

I wonder how the Prince: Music and More folks would react to the same question?

Would they be honest or would they go Timmy84 pic?


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

If they have any sense, they'd reply the same way that guy did.

EW&F are one of the very few 70's acts that, today, can tour as the headliner and sell out their shows.

And the Maurice/Michael comparison? Michael was always more showmanship while Maurice was strictly a great vocalist/songwriter. I love Phillip's voice but all of my favorite songs had Maurice on lead vocals.

theAudience said:

I don't know, Prince does not have traditional good looks IMO, it's his talent & charisma as much as anything. That guy may look like a goofball, but he's probably as good looking as Prince (I know I set myself up for a beating with that, but whatever) Prince is a goofball, too, just really talented.

EWF is a huge band. Yeah, maybe they could have been bigger, but they were about as big as a band gets. Only a handful of superstars get bigger than that.

besides...

this is HOT!

NDRU said:

Verdine is crazy as hell, he's probably the coolest of the EWF guys..

NDRU said:

..... .....this level of cruel mocking is why i love the org.....

NDRU said:

Verdine is such an incredible bassist.The guy has so much energy! He performs as if it's gonna be his last time...lol...

Timmy84 said:

Yes and remember people actually BOUGHT music back then based on the music!

paisleypark4 said:

Right. And the ones some bought for looks were called "teen idols", lol.

theAudience said:

Some people just shouldn't be wearing cornrows!

That depends on what you define as sexy. I'm sure Reese and the boys made many women swoon at their concerts back in the day. I'm glad he wasn't a hearthrob because it probably would have affected their music.

And believe it or not, I've met women that said George Clinton was sexy. Go figure. Sometimes music can move women more than looks.

SPYZFAN1 said:

And I can imagine many of them saying the same thing about the Isley Brothers, all six of them, tho Chris Jasper was something of a pretty boy.
[Edited 2/23/09 13:30pm]

Harlepolis said:

Exactly. EWF was always a mix of funk, jazz, & soul.

Granted, Boogle Wonderland was EWF only disco track. And even THAT had some jazz elements in it.

SoulAlive said:

And selling out multiple shows worldwide, especially during the late 70s. If you have any idea how hyped people were getting when another EW&F World-Tour was announced back then.
If that isn't telling how popular they were, then i don't know what else is. Besides excellent musicianship, they knew how to put top-entertainment onstage with their impressive theatrics which were an inspiration for other artists and visitors.
EW&F's key to succes was their creative & productive drive. When they weren't touring, it were mainly Maurice and Larry Dunn focussing on composing new material and spending many, many hours in the studios.
They worked very hard. I've read anecdotes of Verdine White who explained about the intensive sessions for the "All 'n All"-project.
Maurice and co-writers like David Foster prepared a lot of work in the demo for "I Am" which challenged the EW&F-bandmembers when they heard the raw demo at first.
There's good documentation on Youtube of EW&F's working-methods , in case you're interested :




Like graecophilos and others mentioned previously here on the thread, is that the early/mid-80's was a turning point for EW&F,
which is more than understandable after a series of highly productive years in the studio and onstage. Their inspiration for continuing as a group was reaching a limit.
That's why they had a meeting somewhere after the "Electric Universe" album came out, where they decided to call it a day.
Philip had already released his debut-album, "Continuation", in 1983. And Maurice kept on producing for other artists and also released his own selftitled solo-album in 1985.
Original EW&F-guitarist Al McKay (who has been very important in the history of EW&F's trademark sound) had already left the band around 1978, and went on producing + performing for other artists.
[Edited 2/23/09 14:34pm]

NDRU said:

Maybe if I get you a little deeper into his pysche...




...so that you can really feel the Riff-Raff vibe, you'll get what i'm going after here.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

^^ That guy just look... "ew"... lol...

Timmy84 said:

Now, "Do you smell what The Rock is cookin'?"


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

theAudience said:

yes now I see what you're getting at, but I think that's beyond looks!

NDRU said:

Yes, it's the whole persona that includes looks.
I had to find something that showcased his "metal-mouth", rainbow head-dress and speech (if you can call it that) style.

Now imagine that this is the guy that wrote/produced/performs Purple Rain, Little Red Corvette, etc.
I'm guessing there's a major fan falloff.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

that guy would basically have to balance his persona out with Prince's talent just to end up average

NDRU said:

GAWD YES! you betta work it V!
Toss that dark & lovely around

Let me twirl it around my pinky finger

This is sexy!

A buddy of mine vividly remembered walking around the area where he lived in the summer of '77 or '78, and hearing "Fantasy" played at many peoples homes.
That track had a lot of impact which gave EW&F's success that extra push.

Timmy84 said:

I was wondering about the thread title . . . was EWF not successful?

namepeace said:

The record industry of that era/time (how records where marketed and sold) can't be compared to the record industry of later years. In fact you can say they've come full circle. For a brief time some artist were able to sale 4. 5, 6 million per albums constistantly. Throw in MTV and this new thing called a Cd, (which where tripled the price of an album, which meant increased profits for the record companies) many thought they had hit pay dirt forever. Who where the top selling artist of 2008? What where their total in sales for their Cd's/digital albums? Between 1.5 to 2 millions in sales old school - gold, platinum, and double platinum. It has nothing to do with being sexy or looking good, it's because the single via iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody or whomever is back.

The band "Chicago" (I think) sold more records/albums than E,W, & F, They made a conscious decision never to put the faces on any of their album's. Their rational the was they wanted it to be about their music and not about image/them.
[Edited 2/24/09 8:02am]