Off Maurice White's only solo album thus far, this 1985 gem is such a period piece LOL. But it conjures up to me a carnival fun like atmosphere, as you'd expect from White.

Whats remarkable about this track, and a couple of others from the album, is the production and instrumentation is so busy and polished. I love it! It's so bright and digital sounding. Chock full of busy synths, drum machines, guitar's etc...the mixing is terrific aswell. I think at the time, some people thought this expensive, hi-tech approach was the future. How wrong they were LOL.

The mid 80's were known for its hi tech, polished approach to pop, and Paisleys "80's sounding songs" thread got me thinking at how, thus far, no new artists have come up with something half as intricate or well produced as this track. Many would call this track too busy and overproduced, but this hi-tech approach, with then new and expensive synths like fairlights and synclaviers, just got too expensive for its own good and since the late 80's, has never come back really, which might explain why those tracks posted on that other thread sound quite basic compared to this.

Fair enough these artists are not going to have half the budget CBS gave Maurice, and I imagine buying an old Fairlight for example is still very expensive and most importantly, hard to use/program. Back in the 80's, people were hired just to program machines like the fiarlight etc...but nobody has re-created tracks like "switch on your radio", from a production/mixing standpoint. I must also point out tracks these days are mixed way too loud, with every instrument up full volume, a problem we have discusssed on here before. I hate that sorta mixing. Its lazy and uninspired.




Great production by Maurice. Whilst credit most go to MOR kingpin Robbie Buchanan for co-producing it. Like it or not, Maurice did not want to use real drums etc.. during this time, and you gotta respect that, as at least it sounds dynamic, even if you dont like it LOL.
[Edited 6/8/09 20:05pm]

Maurice's solo album is a mixed bag.The best song is the uptempo "Jamboree".There are a few decent ballads but several songs sound cold,over-synthesized and undistinguished.I feel the same way about most of Philip Bailey's solo albums,too.

SoulAlive said:

not only did EWF suffer from the 80s production standards, their melodies also became less good or even mediocre, at times.

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Actually, I've always liked "Switch On Your Radio", and "Jamboree"...I think that with different instrumentation, they'd fit right in with the Classic EWF catalog....

One note about the early CD issue of this album, I think it was in print from the mid 80's to the early90's-- There was an extra track , called "Can't Stop Love" (not to be confused with "Can't Hide Love" ), on there---- IMO, it's one of the best things Maurice has done! For some reason, it wasn't on the original vinyl, and it's not on the reissued CD, so that probably makes it kinda rare.

Anyway, it's a slowly building ballad, and I've always loved the feel,For me it even manages to rise above all the digital production -- but I'd sure like to know why it's never been included in the original or the newer reissue.








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[Edited 6/9/09 9:31am]

Oh yeah,I know about "Can't Stop Love" I have it somewhere,in some form or another.It's superb!

paligap said:

I got the original CD Jap pressing with "cant stop love" on it. It does sound like their older stuff. Nice track. I musta overlooked it before. So thanks for reminding me about it.

"Believe in magic"



Love this song!

Alot of people say "cold" on songs like "believe in magic", but it conjures up an irristable carnival atmosphere to me, with a production style that will never make a return (not authentically anyway), and thus, is quite unique sounding now. I love the bridge on this track, its quite beautiful. Diane Warren co-write LOL. I love that woman!

I liked this jam. I need you was my favorite from this album.