Chaka's 1986 effort is highly overlooked and underrated. She worked with everyone from Scritti Politti and Mr. Mister to Phil Collins on the record. A few of the great cuts from the album:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/wa...[/youtube]

One of my favorites of hers (and a favorite from the summer of '86). It definitely showed how well she could sing in multiple genres. I honestly think the only reason it didn't do well was because people were expecting a repeat of I Feel For You. There was a thread on here a year or two ago about this album. Most posts were pretty negative on it, if I recall. Orgers continually recommended the next album (CK) instead, but I've never been able to get into that one. Love of a Lifetime is one of my favorite Chaka singles (love the Scritti production). Funny that one of the members of Scritti Politti at the time (David Gamson) would go on to produce another single for Chaka named Love You All My Lifetime (from I AM, another underappreciated Chaka album). Anyway, there's not a song on Destiny that I don't like. Great pop/rock album for Chaka. Just wish it would have sold better/charted higher.

pzlyprk said:

One of my favorites of hers (and a favorite from the summer of '86). It definitely showed how well she could sing in multiple genres. I honestly think the only reason it didn't do well was because people were expecting a repeat of I Feel For You. There was a thread on here a year or two ago about this album. Most posts were pretty negative on it, if I recall. Orgers continually recommended the next album (CK) instead, but I've never been able to get into that one. Love of a Lifetime is one of my favorite Chaka singles (love the Scritti production). Funny that one of the members of Scritti Politti at the time (David Gamson) would go on to produce another single for Chaka named Love You All My Lifetime (from I AM, another underappreciated Chaka album). Anyway, there's not a song on Destiny that I don't like. Great pop/rock album for Chaka. Just wish it would have sold better/charted higher.

I agree. This is a great, solid CK album.

I still give the "Destiny" CD a regular spin to this day. For me, it was almost a perfect album.

The commercial failure of the album lies with the label. You would think they would have wanted to capitalize on the success of "I Feel For You". "Destiny" was not an R&B album. It took her more into the Pop/Rock field and it should have went over well with part of Tina Turner's audience. However, Warner Brothers dropped the ball. They half-way promoted "Love Of A Lifetime" (which I thought was a serious mis-step as a lead single) and then released the excellent "Tight Fit", barely promoting it at R&B radio. Then they decided to release the worst song on the set, "Earth To Mickey", as the final single. It remains Khan lowest charting song to this day. "So Close" and "Watching the World" could have easily taken her over the top in the Pop/Rock market, but Warner Brothers, for whatever reasons, simply did not feel inclined to put any more effort to pushing her outside of black radio. I've heard on several occasions where the label was going thru some major staffing changes in '86 and that's part of the reason why "Destiny" was ignored in the promotions department.

Hmmm,,,not for me it ain't. I thought it was a lazy attempt to rehash the "I Feel for You" album, this time though, it fell extremely short.

I still love "Tight Fit"(Esp Sandra St. Victor & Mark Stevens meshed voices at the end ) and "So Close".

To me, "CK" was her underrated treasure(minus the two jokes Prince threw @ her) it was a great album from start to finish, and I love how the album ended with a Miles Davis collaboration on a Billie Holiday standard.

[Edited 12/2/10 7:38am]

Harlepolis said:

Hmmm,,,not for me it ain't. I thought it was a lazy attempt to rehash the "I Feel for You" album, this time though, it fell extremely short.

I still love "Tight Fit"(Esp Sandra St. Victor & Mark Stevens meshed voices at the end ) and "So Close".

To me, "CK" was her underrated treasure(minus the two jokes Prince threw @ her) it was a great album from start to finish, and I love how the album ended with a Miles Davis collaboration on a Billie Holiday standard.

[Edited 12/2/10 7:38am]

Disagree. IFFY was an R&B album, and D was pop-rock for the most part, complete with a slew of different producers.

Harlepolis said:

Hmmm,,,not for me it ain't. I thought it was a lazy attempt to rehash the "I Feel for You" album, this time though, it fell extremely short.

I still love "Tight Fit"(Esp Sandra St. Victor & Mark Stevens meshed voices at the end ) and "So Close".

To me, "CK" was her underrated treasure(minus the two jokes Prince threw @ her) it was a great album from start to finish, and I love how the album ended with a Miles Davis collaboration on a Billie Holiday standard.

[Edited 12/2/10 7:38am]

I agree "C.K." was a very good album (minus "Stickey Wicked"). I know a few of her hard-core fans did not care for it because her voice was not in the best of shape on the set. "Destiny" actually sold better than "C.K.". Other than one music video that barely got played, the label did ZERO to promote "C.K.". It was the failure of "C.K." that really threw her for a loop. This is when she fell back into her addictions, became disenchanted with the music industry and moved to Europe.

LOVE "watching the world". One of my all time fav songs. Mr misters own version a year later was great aswell. Certainly one of those 80's anthems that I love so much. WOuld of bene great for live aid, despite being recorded a year after the event LOL.

I also love "it's you" and dig the short "coltrane dream" which should feel like heaven for analogue synth geeks.

Personally I prefer it over the "i feel for you" album. I always dug "chinatown" from that set though.

SEANMAN said:

Harlepolis said:

Hmmm,,,not for me it ain't. I thought it was a lazy attempt to rehash the "I Feel for You" album, this time though, it fell extremely short.

I still love "Tight Fit"(Esp Sandra St. Victor & Mark Stevens meshed voices at the end ) and "So Close".

To me, "CK" was her underrated treasure(minus the two jokes Prince threw @ her) it was a great album from start to finish, and I love how the album ended with a Miles Davis collaboration on a Billie Holiday standard.

[Edited 12/2/10 7:38am]

Disagree. IFFY was an R&B album, and D was pop-rock for the most part, complete with a slew of different producers.

Actually both albums were produced by Arif Mardin and both too were pop driven. To me, "Destiny" sounded like a Pt.2 gone completely wrong.

Her voice was the only saving grace.

Harlepolis said:

SEANMAN said:

Disagree. IFFY was an R&B album, and D was pop-rock for the most part, complete with a slew of different producers.

Actually both albums were produced by Arif Mardin and both too were pop driven. To me, "Destiny" sounded like a Pt.2 gone completely wrong.

Her voice was the only saving grace.

He was the exec. prod, but as far as producers on each song, IFFY had The System and Hawk Wolinski, known for their work with R&B artists, while D had Phil Collins, Scritti Politti and Mr. Mister--well established pop/rock acts. It showed in the music as well.

SEANMAN said:

Harlepolis said:

Actually both albums were produced by Arif Mardin and both too were pop driven. To me, "Destiny" sounded like a Pt.2 gone completely wrong.

Her voice was the only saving grace.

He was the exec. prod, but as far as producers on each song, IFFY had The System and Hawk Wolinski, known for their work with R&B artists, while D had Phil Collins, Scritti Politti and Mr. Mister--well established pop/rock acts. It showed in the music as well.

Exactly, SEANMAN. With exception of a few R&B tracks on Destiny, it's definitely more of a pop/rock album. Arif exec produced both albums, with at-the-time current producers handling individual tracks (R&B for IFFY and Pop/Rock for Destiny). SEANMAN's list of producers for each album backs that up. I'll agree that both albums were more RECEIVED in the pop realm (i.e. crossover), but I don't think that makes IFFY any less R&B-based in sound (no different than her previous albums, just updated to make Chaka relevant on current [at the time] radio). This was only after Chaka/Rufus' success with Ain't Nobody the previous year. Had IFFY been released as is without the help of Ain't Nobody before it, it very well could have just stayed (like her earlier releases) mainly on R&B radio/charts.

Chaka's albums since IFFY are always worth a listen, and Destiny is definitely one of the better ones. IFFY however is an absolutely fabulous album and IMO her best - some real killer tracks on there.

I remember seeing CK at Hammersmith Odeon years ago, and some people left because it got a bit jazzy and they must have been expecting a whole concert of IFFY stuff.

Harlepolis said:

Hmmm,,,not for me it ain't. I thought it was a lazy attempt to rehash the "I Feel for You" album, this time though, it fell extremely short.

I still love "Tight Fit"(Esp Sandra St. Victor & Mark Stevens meshed voices at the end ) and "So Close".

To me, "CK" was her underrated treasure(minus the two jokes Prince threw @ her) it was a great album from start to finish, and I love how the album ended with a Miles Davis collaboration on a Billie Holiday standard.

[Edited 12/2/10 7:38am]

100% agree with this, the only standout cut for me from this album was "tight fit"

CK on the other hand is soooooooo underrated

I've always loved this album.

I own this record

and I don't play it often

I love "Coltrane Dreams"

which is the only track from there

uploaded to my mp3player

I enjoy the CK album way more!

Harlepolis said:

SEANMAN said:

Disagree. IFFY was an R&B album, and D was pop-rock for the most part, complete with a slew of different producers.

Actually both albums were produced by Arif Mardin and both too were pop driven. To me, "Destiny" sounded like a Pt.2 gone completely wrong.

Her voice was the only saving grace.

As stated, lots of people helped Arif on both "I feel for you" and "destiny", but basically your right. Though it should be mentioned "through the fire" was produced by David Foster and his then sidekick Humberto Gattica, who is better known for mixing and engineering. (he mixed "through the fire" aswell).

On "watching the world", which is quite possibly one of the most overproduced songs ever, is a technical marvel to me. On closer inspection, you can really hear Phil Collins trademark drumming and backing vox, aswell as some neat bass by Pino Palladino. No 80's pop song would be complete either without Dan Huff on guitar. Chaka's vocals are great as you'd expect, particually at the end. Arif and Chaka were definately after some of that Tina Turner money on that cut but she owns it in her own right though.

Were Scritti Politti massive in Europe or supposed to be the next big thing in the states? I don't get them. Anyway...found this on Youtube last week:

thesexofit said:

Harlepolis said:

Actually both albums were produced by Arif Mardin and both too were pop driven. To me, "Destiny" sounded like a Pt.2 gone completely wrong.

Her voice was the only saving grace.

As stated, lots of people helped Arif on both "I feel for you" and "destiny", but basically your right. Though it should be mentioned "through the fire" was produced by David Foster and his then sidekick Humberto Gattica, who is better known for mixing and engineering. (he mixed "through the fire" aswell).

On "watching the world", which is quite possibly one of the most overproduced songs ever, is a technical marvel to me. On closer inspection, you can really hear Phil Collins trademark drumming and backing vox, aswell as some neat bass by Pino Palladino. No 80's pop song would be complete either without Dan Huff on guitar. Chaka's vocals are great as you'd expect, particually at the end. Arif and Chaka were definately after some of that Tina Turner money on that cut but she owns it in her own right though.

Yeah, that came after Tina lost one of the grammys to Chaka and it was a total disservice how they attempted to remold her after that. I could never understand why labels wanted to bill Chaka against somebody or mold her into a persona that wasn't hers,,,,,,a unique talent as she is, the right thing would've been to nurture her talent instead of putting her in a box.

She kind of implied that she wasn't happy with "Destiny" in her book, which I agree with. But I STRONGLY disagreed when she shared those same feelings about her self-titled album from 1982(hence why none of the songs from that album and 'Destiny" made it to the Epiphany album), that was a solid album from start to finish though(Chaka Khan) and I'm guessing her frustration stemmed from the fact that WB dropped the ball on that project.

This isn't one of my favorite Chaka albums.I also wasn't too crazy about 'I Feel For You'.

Chaka's best solo album is 1981's 'What Cha Gonna Do For Me'

^^^

The b-sides & the Paradise Garage mixes are also nice additions

Cues "Lover's Touch"

Harlepolis said:

^^^

The b-sides & the Paradise Garage mixes are also nice additions

Cues "Lover's Touch"

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

Were Scritti Politti massive in Europe or supposed to be the next big thing in the states? I don't get them. Anyway...found this on Youtube last week:

You don't know Scritti? They had a top 20 hit with the excellent "Perfect Way"

Their Cupid & Psyche '85 album also produced these classics...

SEANMAN said:

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

Were Scritti Politti massive in Europe or supposed to be the next big thing in the states? I don't get them.

You don't know Scritti? They had a top 20 hit with the excellent "Perfect Way"

Their Cupid & Psyche '85 album also produced these classics...

I know Scritti (more so now than in the '80s). Back in '85 I remember "Perfect Way" getting played quite a bit. The video and song caught my attention when I was a kid. Listening to it now as an adult I'm rather indifferent toward "P.W." and "Love Of A Lifetime". Scritti were by no stretch of the imagination big in the states. I'm just perplexed as to how/why Chaka & Scritti were paired together.

Harlepolis said:

She kind of implied that she wasn't happy with "Destiny" in her book, which I agree with.

I don't quite recall what she said about "Destiny" in her biography but she made her feelings quite clear about the "I Feel For You" album. She stated that she felt very detached from the entire project, hence the fact that she didn't give an acceptance speech when she won the Grammy. After the commerical failure of 1982's "Chaka Khan", Warner Brothers had told her there was to be absolutely no jazz on her upcoming project and if they didn't get a hit out of the next album, she would be looking for a new producer and, quite possibly, a new label. She did what they asked of her, and ended up getting the biggest selling album of her career out of it.

kitbradley said:

Harlepolis said:

I don't quite recall what she said about "Destiny" in her biography but she made her feelings quite clear about the "I Feel For You" album. She stated that she felt very detached from the entire project, hence the fact that she didn't give an acceptance speech when she won the Grammy. After the commerical failure of 1982's "Chaka Khan", Warner Brothers had told her there was to be absolutely no jazz on her upcoming project and if they didn't get a hit out of the next album, she would be looking for a new producer and, quite possibly, a new label. She did what they asked of her, and ended up getting the biggest selling album of her career out of it.

She said that "Caught In The Act" was the ONLY thing she enjoyed recording from that project, and she wishes to include it in her live reportoire. Well, whats keeping you from it, Miss Yevette?

Honestly,I wasn't thrilled with either of those albums ('I Feel For You' and 'Destiny').These albums were designed to reach a wider pop audience,so they're filled with songs that sound trendy and formulaic.The music on these albums sound really dated.You don't hear much of the 'real' Chaka on these songs.

I like the direction that she was going in on albums like 'Naughty' and 'What Cha Gonna Do For Me'.....R&B,funk and some jazz.I guess,at some point,the label decided that she needed a musical makeover to sell more records.

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

SEANMAN said:

You don't know Scritti? They had a top 20 hit with the excellent "Perfect Way"

Their Cupid & Psyche '85 album also produced these classics...

I know Scritti (more so now than in the '80s). Back in '85 I remember "Perfect Way" getting played quite a bit. The video and song caught my attention when I was a kid. Listening to it now as an adult I'm rather indifferent toward "P.W." and "Love Of A Lifetime". Scritti were by no stretch of the imagination big in the states. I'm just perplexed as to how/why Chaka & Scritti were paired together.

Arif Mardin was a producer on Cupid & Psyche '85. I suspect he recognized the production and writing skills of Green Gartside and David Gamson (rightly so... Gamson went on to be a pretty successful producer). They had a great pop sound (that no one else had at the time). No they weren't big in the US, but Mardin (IMO) probably thought they'd work great for what he/Chaka were trying to accomplish. Don't think Scritti's popularity really mattered anyway... by most accounts, C&P '85 was a fantastic pop album and Mardin recognized that. Regardless of what people thought then or think now, it was telling that people like Marcus Miller, Roger Troutman and Miles Davis were working with Scritti.

Someone else mentioned this already but....

it's interesting that the lead-off single from this album is called "Love Of A Lifetime".

In 1992,she released an album which featured a lead-off single called "Love You All My Lifetime"

SoulAlive said:

Someone else mentioned this already but....

it's interesting that the lead-off single from this album is called "Love Of A Lifetime".

In 1992,she released an album which featured a lead-off single called "Love You All My Lifetime"

I know. "Love You All My Lifetime" is a good R&B track, but I like "Love of a Lifetime" better.

SoulAlive said:

Someone else mentioned this already but....

it's interesting that the lead-off single from this album is called "Love Of A Lifetime".

In 1992,she released an album which featured a lead-off single called "Love You All My Lifetime"

Adding another layer of interesting...Scritti Politti keyboardist David Gamson co-wrote/co-produded the former and produced the latter.