No Filler Music Podcast - Ep 9: Sade - Promise

Episode Date: March 31, 2018

We take a break from the usual rock and folk to explore the legendary R&B soulstress Sade and her second studio album Promise, and how with the help of her incredible backing band were able to cut through the 80's pop formula with their unique blend of jazz, R&B and soul. For more info, check out the shown notes: https://www.nofillerpodcast.com/episode/music-review-sade-promise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. You said that you didn't really feel that you were so much of a singer as you were a storyteller. Do you really feel that way? Yeah, I think that was only because people were talking about, you know,

my actual technical ability is a vocalist and I don't have a great, I have no technique. You know, I just sing the song, the way I feel it should be sung, and that's it. I'm no great acrobat, and I'm no great technician. I just sing the song how I feel it should be sung. So really the thing that comes first, really, is the song, not necessarily the way I sing it.

And welcome to No Filler. The music podcast dedicated to sharing the art. often overlooked hidden gyms that fill the space between the singles on our favorite records. In each episode, we'll dive into a little history of the artist and the album of choice, with snippets from interviews and concerts, as well as music from the album itself. On this week's episode, we're going to dive into Shade's second studio album Promise, which came out in 1985. My name is Quentin. I've got my brother Travis with me.

Travis, as stoked as I am to get into some Shadeh. Yeah, this is one of those artists that there's no way that we couldn't do an episode on Shade. You know what I mean? Yeah. It was just bound to happen. Yeah, and I don't want to get too far into it yet. But let's just say briefly, with Shadee, she's one of those artists that for us, there's just a huge amount of nostalgia for us when we listen to Shadda.

A. Our dad listened to Shade A lot when we were growing up. I remember a lot of weekend mornings waking up to the smell of our dad's pipe tobacco and the sound of Shadee coming from his music room. So I don't know how many people our age really ever got into Shade. I don't know if, you know, if it was just because of our dad. I don't know if I would ever really have gotten into her if it wasn't for him. But probably a lot of people are age. If they are into Shade, it's because their, you know, their parents

listen to her, you know. That's my guess, yeah. Because how else, how do you stumble upon Shadee? You know, if you're somebody who likes R&B, you know, Shadee is pretty iconic. Yeah, you might, you might

find her on some playlists. I mean, you know, we're talking about in this day and age, you know, you might, you might stumble upon her on a Spotify playlist or something, but you're not going to hear her on the radio, you know? I mean, I don't think she, I don't even think, not the radio stations that we listen to grown up, but yeah, you'll probably hear her on, you know, some smooth jazz or some R&B radio station for sure, but I mean, right, yeah, right. Let's just put it this way, dude.

If you're somebody who, who your main taste in music is along like the rock and roll, vein, you know what I mean? If you grew up listening to rock and roll and whatnot, listening to rock and roll radio stations and stuff, you may never have been exposed to Shadeh, you know? Right. And that's probably our main audience is people who listen to rock and roll and metal, you know what I mean?

So. Probably. And I hope so, man. I hope we turn some people on to Shadeh, dude. Yeah, this is a break from the usual artists that we cover on here, which, you know, it's nice to do. every once in a while. So yeah, I'm excited.

This is something that we've, an artist unlike we've ever covered before. So it's going to be fun. I'm excited. Yeah, I'm excited. Yeah, so let's, real quick, let's do our what you heard picks for the week, what we've been listening to lately.

Let's start with you this time, Trave, what you've been listening to, brother. Okay, so these guys just put out a new record today. And they have an interesting, sort of an interesting history. But they formed in 2012 in Canada. And they originally called themselves Viet Cong. And their debut album was a self-titled album, Viet Cong. They kind of have a interpol vibe as far as like the vocal delivery is very monotone.

But they're also mixing a lot of kind of like a new wave. that new wave punk sound from the 80s. Okay, cool. Yeah, Viet Cong is a great album. Check that out. If you like this clip that I'm playing today, go back and check out their first album. Again, they were called Viet Cong.

But they're called preoccupations now. They changed their name. And it's kind of interesting the history behind why they changed their name. So, again, they started as Viet Cong. and they had some controversy over that name because people kind of associated it with racism or cultural appropriation because of the names

tie in to the original, you know, Vietnamese Fiatcom. Right. So in March 2015, they were set to perform at Oberlin College in, which is like a liberal arts. college in Ohio of all places. And the show is canceled due to their offensive name. Damn. So, you know, whatever.

In 2015, they changed it to preoccupations, which is interesting because their next album was called preoccupation. So it's almost like they did a reset, you know what I mean? And they came out with a statement saying, you know, hey, we just want to play music. We don't want to offend anybody. So we're changing our name. And that was the end of that.

But anyway, again, they're kind of like a, it's almost like a post-punk meets like New Wave punk from the 80s. It's a really interesting sound. So anyway, this song is called Salas, and it's off of their brand-new album called New Material, which is kind of a cool name for it. It's called New Material. It just came out.

So here it is. I liked that a lot, man. Dude, if you like that, you got to go back and listen to it. Oh, man. That was great. Yeah, it's all good, man. It's got some, like, tears for fears, vibes. Right, that's insane.

Like Thompson Twins. Yeah, but, like, yeah, that's kind of like the guitars and the rhythms and stuff. But his singing is more in line with, you know, with, like, the editors or Interpol or Black Party or something like that. But yeah, dude, they're awesome. All right, so Q, what do you got for us? So this is a band called The Internet. I've heard of them. I've never really listened to them.

So this is a band that's been around since 2011. They're based out of L.A. And there's a lot to say about these guys and girl. They've kind of got this community of good friends, musicians that they just collaborate with. So you've got the internet And at the same time A lot of these members of this band will do

They've been starting to release their own solo material And there's a really great All Songs Considered interview It was a conversation with Matt Martians And Sid Sid is the lead singer of the internet Matt Martians plays quite a few instruments in the band

I'll post a link to it on our show notes It's a really good conversation. Basically, they all just support each other in their musical endeavors. You know, there's no like, oh, you can't release a solo album. Now we just release this new album for the internet. You can't do that. You know, like, it's nothing like that. They're all very supportive of each other.

So they're like a collective. They're like a collective, exactly. And they're all pretty young, you know, early 20s or there's even, they've got one of the members of the band, his name. name is Steve Lacey. He actually has this little, I think it's like a five-track EP that he just released recently that's really good. He's a teenager, man.

These are just really, really talented musicians for their age. They're classified as trip hop, soul, hip-hop, you know, R&B. What I like about the internet is a lot of what you're hearing is actual music. instruments, you know, like they, like they're, they're a full band. It's not, you know, yeah, they've got sampled and synthesized beats, you know, and instruments, but everything that they play, uh, it's, they're actually playing it with their instruments, you know. Yeah, these guys are kind of on the, on the forefront of, of kind of what's to come in this genre of music. And it was really hard for me to pick a song. So, Sid, who is the singer in the band, she just released, last

Last year, she released her first solo album. It's called Finn, and it's great. She's just a really confident singer-songwriter. It kind of shines through in her lyrics. Really, really good album. But I kind of wanted to play some of the stuff that she does with the internet. Just really soulful, like, sexy music. You know, her lyrics are always really like, I mean, this is like get down to business music.

You know what I'm saying? I do know what you're saying you. I do know what you're saying. So the song that I picked from the internet, it's on an album called Feel Good, which came out in 2013. And this track is called Don't You? That's, um,

so is it the same singer every time? Or is that a difference? Is that a, that you said that her name was, uh, her name's Sid. That's what she goes by. S.Y.D.

Sid. Yeah, that's her. Does she sing on every track? Yeah, that's her. I mean, she has other singers that'll sing along aside her, but I think they do more like backing vocals. I'm pretty sure that in all of the music that you hear with the internet, it is her singing as the lead singer. Yeah, but she does collaborate with a lot of other singers too and a lot of her songs. I say her, but really, you know, if you think back to that song, dude, like, you listen to the rhythm section, man. It's just insane. It's so good. Yeah, I was going to say what I like about this group is that I know that the music that I'm hearing is not just some studio band or some like. No, they're good friends. Yeah, it's great, man.

Yeah, which is, which, you know, I think I know why you pick this band as a tie into Shade, because that's one of the main things about Shade and the music that Shade is sometimes not only referring to. Shadee the singer, but Shadee the group, because it's, it's not just her, you know, it's the backing group. And they are what make her, her music so great a lot of times is, is, is the rhythm section and the saxophone player and, you know, yeah, when you search for Shade on Wikipedia, there's two separate entries, one for Shade the singer and one for Shade the band. So, yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, and same with the internet. You know, Sid's, SIDS the one, uh, singing but but you know there isn't there is no the internet without um matt martians and steve lacey and the other guy the other guys that play the instruments on that in the

internet um so anyways let's get into some shade shall we let's do it uh so her full name is helen falashaday and that's all one word falashaday helen philashadeh helen falashaday helen I do. But she goes by Shadeh. And she was born in Nigeria. Her father was Nigerian. And her mother is British. And her parents split up when she was around four years old.

And they moved. Her mom moved her back to England after her parents split. So she, most of her growing up was in a town just northeast of London, where her mother married a butcher, and apparently she grew up pretty damn poor with her mom and her stepdad. And, you know, early on in her young adult life, she, she had no intentions of being a singer. She actually got pretty serious about becoming a fashion designer. But then she moved to, she actually moved to London in her late teens to study fashion. But at the same time, a friend of hers had a band called Pride,

and they needed a new backup singer. And so she went into audition. Apparently, the band initially rejected her, only to hire her two weeks later, when the band couldn't find anyone else more suitable. You believe that, dude? as a backup singer as a backup singer

they went back to her after they couldn't find anyone else do you think that to be a successful background singer you shouldn't be a good lead vocalist you know what I mean I feel like all the two separate talents you know what I mean

yeah maybe maybe they're like hey you're too good we don't you know I don't know if it was that dude but but I mean it actually does kind of come around to that in the end here So one of the members of Pride, saxophone player Stuart Matthewman, who actually goes on to be like Chade's main co-songwriter, you know, one of the main founding members of the band Chade. He was in the group Pride with Chade.

And the way he put it, you know, talking about the band Pride, we weren't really good musicians. like we didn't come from a like a jazz background and we weren't musicians in college or anything. We just kind of picked up the instruments and just wanted to play some dance music. He says Chaudet was one of the backing vocalists and me and her kind of vived well with each other. We would kind of hang out, you know, outside of band practice and all that, listen to old jazz records and, you know, artists like Marvin Gay and Nina Simone. And they kind of just toured around with the idea of, you know, writing some of the same. of their own things.

And so they were kind of, they kind of hung out outside of the band and just started writing their own music. Actually, before we get too much farther into it, I kind of want to just play a clip of a song from Pride. Okay. The band that she did a backing, backing vocals was to just kind of show you what music they were playing in that group. So she is on this track, right?

She's recorded. Yeah, dude, you can see it on my screen. Dude, this is a music video that was. made by BBC Studios. This was in a nightclub called Heaven Nightclub in London. This is a song called When You Can't Back Down. So again, this is the band Pride. This is the band that Stuart Matthewman and Chaudet were in before they started their own group.

Okay. So we'll put this on the show notes page. Yeah, for sure, yeah. Yeah, so here's just a little clip of that song. Again, this is called When You Can't Back Down. I can see why this band just kind of got lost in the 80s music, you know? Yeah, they sound a lot like, I don't know, George Michael or something like that. Yeah.

There's nothing special about him. Yeah. So the story goes, according to Stuart Matthewman. You know, so they were listening to, you know, just kind of hanging out, just becoming friends outside of the band. He says, we would listen to music like Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Al Green, and we would say, you know, we should write some stuff of our own. So they started to kind of write their own tunes, more just kind of jazzy stuff. And then what they ended up doing is they would kind of go on first as an opener for pride. They would do this little set.

I think I had read somewhere else that it would be just Stewart on Sacks, Shade, and like just a little rhythm section. And people in the audience, the way he put it, just had their mouths open with Shade. They hadn't seen anyone like her, really, and they hadn't heard anything like it before. So basically they went on first before Pride and just stole the show. Interesting. Yeah. So again, so we just heard a song from Pride in 1982. And in 1983, Stuart and Chate in, you know, a rhythm section, I don't know if it was members of the band Chatee at the time, or if it was really just Shade and Stewart.

But they released this four-track demo back in 1983 that. took, so they had a band manager by that time. And he took the demo, that four-track demo around to record companies and pretty much every record label turned them down. Basically because this is 1983. I was going to say, man. This is, I mean, yeah. Like, these tracks are way too long and they're too jazzy.

Oh, yeah, that's the main thing, like too jazzy. There's a quote here from the band manager quoting, you know, basically quoting like kind of what they were saying the record companies like don't you know what's happening everything is electronic drums now tears for fears to pesh mode basically they're saying no we have no interest in music like this don't you know what's happening like have you been banged indigent right um they were pretty bummed out about it uh because uh you know they they were getting a good reaction from from people that would hear them play this music and they kept getting turned down by these record labels um so Shade's boyfriend at the time.

He was friends with some people that worked at this fashion magazine called The Face, which I guess we're too young to know anything about this fashion magazine, because apparently it was considered that decade's quote-unquote style Bible. So all the lovely fashion designs from the 80s, it all goes back to this magazine. Like they were like the trendsetters, this magazine. So it was called The Face. You know, they would have interviews with musicians.

And so it was like, you know, pop culture, music, art, fashion. And they had shot A on the cover of one of their magazines in 1984. In 1984, with the cover headline, Shade, the face of 1984. And the magazine, helped them book this gig at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. So it was co-sponsored by this magazine.

That sounds like a place that they would see some success. Institute of Contemporary Arts. Yeah. So one of the songs on this four-track EP was called Cry Me a River. And I've actually got a clip of this. So this was the this was the show basically that finally got them attention.

So I'm going to play a little clip from this song. So there is a YouTube user by the name, the original Chaudet drummer, all caps. This guy's a little salty. I'll just say it that way, dude. Do you think he's full of shit? No, I'm pretty sure this is the guy. Okay.

His name is, Paul Cook and he was the drummer on Shade's first album Diamond Life and he was pretty he was there at the beginning you know while they were getting turned down by all these record labels he was their drummer and if you read his descriptions in these

YouTube videos that he posts he's pretty he's pretty sour about it he's you know he's he's like the drummer for the Beatles that came before Ringo Star. I don't remember the guy's name. But you know what I mean? Or Dave Mustane from Metallica?

Yeah, exactly. Although, I'm guessing this guy didn't go on to form an equally or a somewhat successful band after Drumming for Shaday, right? Yeah, I don't know. Honestly, there's not that much about him. I've looked at, I've tried to look at it. So now, all we need to know is now he's just making YouTube videos. Exactly.

He's making YouTube videos. videos under the name the original Shawdei drummer. Yeah, that's all we need to know. It's that, yeah, yeah. So here's his description of this recording that I'm about to play. So again, this was early Shaw Day

with a song called Cry Me a River. This was a recording at the BBC Studios for this show called the Oxford Road Show. And he goes on to sit. says this was as far as I'm concerned one of the greatest performances from Shade of all time. And the host of this show Peter Powell quite rightly pointed out in Shade's first biography that I was more than a mere session drummer in the band. Anyways, yeah, it goes on forever.

Let's just say I didn't even know that you could have a description that goes on for this long on YouTube without being cut off. All right. Anyways, here's just a section of the song. I've got it like coming in. This drummer better be really good, man. That's all I can say. He's not.

He's not, dude. All he's doing is pretty much just hitting the ride symbol and keeping the beat. Oh, okay. But, yeah. So there's a reason he didn't go on to. Well, he goes on to say that, you know, he had a lot to do with like writing the song. Anyways, dude, it's all anecdotal. I'm just taking this dude's word for it.

But this, so this. clip comes in like just a little bit before halfway through the song and um what i like about it it is really really jazzy like we're talking like like like speak easies like 1930s like super jazzy soulful stuff and where is this on the timeline as far as like this is this is this is the first album no no no this is this is a song from that demo okay from that four track demo before smooth operator and all that This is before Diamond Life, their first big studio album. Yeah. So again, this is called Cry Me a River.

And this is a performance that they did for BBC Studios in 1982. You drove me nearly drove me out of my head. Why you never shed a dear. To plebeian told me you were through with me and I'm just to prove. Yeah, I mean, it just sounds like, you can just see like the cigarette smoke and like the Jazzy nightclub kind of vibe. You know what I mean? Yeah.

But yeah, yeah. I mean, it's no wonder that record labels weren't interested in that at all, you know? No. Right. And that does make sense. Yeah. because when you listen to her first full-length studio album, Diamond Life, when you listen to Promise her second studio album,

the one that we're covering today, there's just so much more to it, you know? Like they've got this awesome fusion of like pop jazz and, you know, Latin influences and funk. Just so much going on. Yeah, that song is pretty standard. And like that, you know, Like those record executives were saying, like, do you, have you been paying attention to what's going on?

Like, this is 1983, whatever. It's all electronic. That's another thing, too. Like, she was equally surprised at their success. Right. You know, like, she didn't, she didn't think it would happen. So one last thing I'll say about their early stuff. So on their first studio album,

Diamond Life. The versions of Your Love is King and Smooth Operator, a few of the singles on that album, they are exactly the way that they were on that demo. They didn't remix them or remaster them. That's fucking impressive, dude. So the same four-track demo that all these record labels were turning them down, those versions of those two songs are the exact same thing that end up on that final release for Diamond Life. Yeah, and I think Smooth Operator is probably her most well-known track, one of her most well-known tracks. Yeah, so I don't have too much about, you know,

I don't have too much information on Promise itself, the album that we're covering today. But I will say that one thing that's pretty cool that I learned about the recording of this album, they had it set up to where pretty much they had it they had the studio set up to to where it was pretty much a live recording you know so they had all the instruments in one room um and so shoday would uh lay down these guide vocals is how they put it in the studio with the bands while they played live and then she would later go back and re-record uh different parts like in a separate like control room for her vocals but basically they would all just play you know the rhythm section the piano and bass and

all that they all played those tracks live together and a lot of times they would end up being they would end up kind of improvising or you know kind of doing something like kind of more experimentation kind of where they would kind of play something like yeah that kind of works

let's try this you know and then they would do another take and do something different but they were all playing together live which I thought was There's actually a really cool diagram, I guess, or a layout of the studio itself on this really cool, really in-depth. Like, it gets super nerdy. Like, I don't understand half this stuff because I'm not an audio engineer.

But there's this article on this website called Sound on Sound where they're interviewed the producer of the album and the engineer. his name is Mike Pele. Pela or Pila, Pela. And it gets pretty deep into it. So if you're interested in a little bit more about the recording process of this album, specifically of the track, Swedish Taboo, which in our intro clip for this episode, we played a little bit of it.

It's one of her singles. This is actually specifically about this track, but, you know, a lot of it, There were quite a few tracks on this album that were recorded in this studio. So we'll post a link to it on our show notes. But let's get into our picks for this album. The first one we're going to do is track three. It's called War of the Hearts. I picked this song just because I love the lyrics, dude.

I love the imagery. This is, again, track three. on the album. I've got a couple of clips to share. I'll start with the first one that it's just the beginning of the song. And one of the things that draws me to Shadeh, it's just like there's little subtle changes or like, you know, she'll place like an emphasis on one word or phrase,

you know, in a verse that just really kind of like, do you know what I'm trying to say? Yeah, it's just like kind of what we were saying. about what Feist brought to those Kings of Convenience tracks on a ride on an empty street, you know, it's just that. How's she saying the verse, multiple, the same verse over and over again. Yeah, the subtle differences there. Yeah.

For me, this song is all about the lyrics, dude. I love it. I think it's about a couple that is kind of just keeping this relationship going. just kind of like she says like let's end this masquerade like we're only staying together you know keeping up appearances basically and you know there's this uh you know metaphor of like an argument that they're having you know where they're going back and forth like she's talking about it like it's like she's got a loaded gun you know she says i'm loaded i don't know where to point this thing the way i see it is like i've had you know one too many drinks

I'm really pissed off and I'm just basically firing off these insults and whatnot to you, you know, it's a sin how we hit where it hurts. One of us must end this masquerade. Let's heal these wounds that we've made. You know, basically like, let's just end this, you know.

We're not in this for love. We're not in this for any other reason other than to just keep up our appearances, you know. I love it. Yeah, I feel like a lot of her lyrics are about, you know, heartache, and difficult relationships or just... There is a lot of that.

You know, romance and general. But yeah, there's a lot of metaphors in her lyrics. Yeah, yeah, let's listen to a clip too. It's just something, like you said, like, you know, one of the reasons you like shot A, you know, this clip isn't going to be that much different sounding, but again, like, it's like, it's the way that she emphasizes things differently.

It's just the way that she sings these lines throughout each track that's so enjoyable. So here's clip two for more of the hearts. It's towards the end of the song. I was going to say, yeah. Simple guitar look at the end there. This clip kind of shows what the other musicians bring to the table, you know. It's got just a little hint of what Stuart Matthewman does with his saxophone.

Dude, he's such a good saxophone player. Like, the thing that I love about what he does, it's all so simple, but so effective what he brings to these songs. that to me is just the mark of a of a talented musician you know like man i've always been drawn to the saxophone man whenever a good saxophone and you know what's kind of funny about the 80s was like saxophones were used in pop songs yeah but not in a good way like there's the there's kind of the the internet oh and you think about like you know um man what's that song what's someone's watching me. Oh, who can it be now?

Who can it be now? Men without hats, yeah. Men at work. Men at work, not men without hats. That's so funny that those two bands existed at the same time. Yeah, but I'm just saying like there was a lot of saxophones in the 80s. Yeah, and it was cheesy. But there wasn't, but it was, but they were, you know, it was on pop songs, not on, like, jazz songs.

So like, here comes Chadee and they're doing jazz, you know what I mean? And they're like, we don't, we don't. want that jazz here. Yeah, that is funny. But the saxophone was very much a part of like 80s, 80s pop music. But yeah, again, with these lyrics, there's a little subtle, you know, some new lines that pop up at the end here that I really like. She says, you know, if you want to end it, just say.

Like, we're not in love anymore. Like, why are we still together? Just if you want to end this, just say it. It like, you know, I love it. War of the Hearts. Track three. You want to jump just right into the second pick? Yeah, man, let's do it.

Let's do it, man. There's nothing else. We've got nothing else going. So I know you really liked this track two. And it's not track two. It's track six. You know what I'm saying? This is called Mr. Wrong.

I love this song, dude. This is about a girl that is, staying with a with a guy that's just an a-hole basically right i mean uh i think it's pretty much from the perspective of a friend who is uh you know kind of worried about about this friend of hers that's with this guy that she knows is not good for her um so yeah let's just i've got a couple clips to play here is clip one from track six it's called mr wrong God damn, dude, this is such a perfect example of how perfectly the band and Chadee played off each other. Because, like, she's doing that kind of like scat kind of stuff.

At the beginning, yeah. And as soon as she switches to the verse, the bass picks up. The exact melody that she was doing in that sky. Like, play that again, dude. Play the intro again. See what I mean, dude? Oh, yeah. Bada do do Yeah, that's great

Perfect It's great And it's got those You know Bongo section You know That's got that Latin influence there Really good

Really really cool rhythms too Yeah this song's great But again dude like you know How often do you hear A successful like Scat You know what I mean Right

You get pulled off in a song You know what I mean Right She does it perfectly And like that's, again, it's like just like a jazz, such a like classic jazz thing to do. You know what I mean? From like a jazz song from the 20s or 30s, you know. Yeah.

But I feel like that's just kind of how it is with like all those record labels that turn them down, you know? Like there's always those bands that just kind of find like they're like a wedge and they just kind of insert themselves into like whatever's going on at the time. You know what I mean? And like find success. Yeah. I feel like Steely Dan was one of those bands. You know what I mean? They had a lot of jazz influence and, and whatnot.

They had huge success in the 70s and 80s, you know. Yeah, there was a cool, I've got this is a really cool quote from the New York Times back in the 80s where they, so they describe Chadeh, the band, as a funkified extension of Steely Dan's groundbreaking rock jazz. Extension, yeah, exactly. they're in the same like as far as like when you think of jazz fusion type bands that that found huge success you know like steely dan is like the go-to but like shada you know in the same vein as far as like they found success amongst like poppy you know i could see steely dan is a lot you know there's a lot of rock in steely dan and there's a lot of rock going on in the 70s that's you know the decade of like some of the best rock ever ever. You know, but with Chidei, it's like, she was way out there as far as, like, what was popular at the time. You know what I mean? So I think that's, that's more, you know, says more about, like, how incredible they were that they were able to find success in the 80s, you know. Yeah, one thing, too, that I thought that was really cool back when they first started.

Most of the labels wanted to send her to the U.S. to work with big-name producers like Quincy Jones. Quincy Jones, of course, did a bunch of the production for Michael Jackson's, a lot of Michael Jackson's albums. But she already, at that time, had a clear vision of exactly what she wanted to do. So instead of taking the biggest offer, she took the deal that allowed her to finish what she started. And that's where she says, you know, these versions of Your Love is King and Smooth Operator are exactly the way that they were with our demo. You know, so she knew like, no, I don't want to change our sound. And she worried that if she, you know, hopped over to the U.S. and started working with these big name producers that they would have an influence on their sound that she didn't want.

So from the beginning, too, and when you listen to interviews with Chaudet, like, she was very humble. She didn't, you know, like, I mean, like she said, like from the beginning, she didn't approach it. you know, with the thought that she was going to be a huge singer. Like, she never, she never thought of it that way. So, uh, she had a more unorthodox approach to her singing. She just kind of, it was almost by accident, you know. So, uh, let's play clip two from Mr. Wrong. Um, this, I believe, plays out to the end of the song.

Um, so yeah, again, this is track six from Promise. This song is called Mr. Wrong. And baseline is killer, man. Yeah, I was going to say, I love how it ends, man. Like, how they just kind of, um, to they bring back that scat, you know, and they all just kind of play off each other at the end. Even Stewart jumps in a little bit with his saxophone there at the end. Yeah, and that doesn't get any better than that baseline, man.

I love that baseline. Yeah, that's honestly, dude, that's one of the main draws for me to, to Mr. Wrong is that baseline. Yeah. All right. So our last pick for Promise is going to be track 10, Tar Baby. and yeah let's just play clip one shall we so Travis you chose this song for for the last one for us to do what is it about it that you like so much I actually like the um when it gets into the chorus I like the change which I and I purposely left that out of the first clip yeah because it's it's a change

yeah in like the kind of the vibe it kind of gets yeah it kind of gets more uplifting sounding I do like that saxophone, of course, in that first clip. So Tar Baby is about, according to this New York Times article that came out in 85, it's a quiet but ecstatic celebration of birth. It doesn't really say much else. Let's read the lyrics, dude. Let's dive into it. Grandma came to see something she could not believe.

How could her girl be so naive? tar baby, tar baby told the secret she conceived. Sounds like an accidental pregnancy. Maybe. So here's an article on this music blog called Soul Tracks. This article came out in June of 2015. This guy says, I have yet to fully decipher this song. And for some reason, I'm in absolutely no rush to do so.

I presume that this song has something to do with Shade's multicultural multi-ethnic heritage and upbringing. In my interpretation of the song, I see Shade's white mother or white grandmother, who played a critical role in her childhood, initially hesitantly, but eventually helplessly, falling in love with her brown tar baby or the singer Shadee. I find the song to be intimately beautiful. Interesting. I like that.

You know, the reason that I figured that this song tied in to her, you know, the reason that I to her race was because of because of her mixed, you know, ethnic background. Yeah. Yeah. So, so it seems like, you know, all that, all the, you know, the bitter feelings and everything just get washed away as soon as she sees the baby, you know, and holds her in her arms. Like a brand new blade you cut into my life cut through two decades, like a hot coal on ice. It's definitely up for interpretation.

Yeah. So let's get into clip two. this is this is the part of the song that that we both really like um so yeah let's let's see how it turns out here's clip number two was that the end of the song yeah yeah so um yeah you know the change in like uh change in tempo change in overall vibe is obviously in line with the lyrics you know she's talking about how she sees the baby and oh it's you know a golden thread inside of the web that I got caught in um yeah it's almost like this you know this you know this situation that, you know, of course, went into it thinking, you know, this is, this is going to be

terrible, you know, like, you know, any accidental pregnancy, you have all these fears of what could go wrong. Sure. Yeah, you've got this golden thread, this beautiful baby. Yeah, it just has a really great uplifting turn. I really like it. Another song that I thought about doing is the final track on the album called Marine, which is another really pretty song about a friend of Shep.

nowadays that she lost, you know, that she died unexpectedly. With that knowledge, when you listen to that song, it is another one of those very more upbeat, happy-sounding songs. So it's kind of like a tribute to her friend. So definitely that's a song I definitely recommend checking out. Did we touch on the singles on this album at all, which ones ended up being singles? Yeah, let's run through. No, let's talk about those.

So it's, is it a crime? The sweetest taboo And never as good as the first time. Yeah. Yeah, the sweetest taboo is one of the songs I remember hearing as a kid. Sweetest taboo and smooth operator. And smooth operator, yeah, definitely. And your love is king too.

That's another one. The saxophone that opens your love is king. Oh, it's so good. Fucking awesome. I know. There's something about the melodies that her back. Now, what's the name of the saxophone player? His name's Stuart Matthewman.

Yeah, so there's something about his saxophone riffs and her singing. Yeah. A lot of times it's like a warm blanket, man. I don't know what it is about it, but like it's just so smooth and warm. There's something warm about it. Yeah. Some of the songs, not all of them, obviously. But your love is king.

I just want to say this real quick because I just don't agree with him. at all, but I've read a few kind of negative reviews on Shade's voice. A few people had said, the only reason that these albums were doing so well, it's not because of Shade's voice is because she has such a phenomenal band backing her up that you don't notice her. You don't notice that she's not a phenomenal singer. I mean, I disagree. All right, here's how we counter that bullshit.

we're going to put a link to there's a recording a live video of her performing is it a crime in I think San Diego or San Francisco I watched it dude I watched it it is oh my god nobody can nobody can say that she's a

bad vocalist if you watch I watched another one dude I'll send it to you it's it's unbelievable yeah we'll put we'll put one or both of those in the show notes just so you can kind of see because it's also, you know, as with, you know, if you're a good band or a good performer, your live performance should be better than the recording. You know what I mean?

And this is, uh, these performances are certainly an example of that. And you have to. Yeah. You know, and that goes back to what she said in that interview, uh, that we started the podcast off with. You know, it's, it's not, uh, you know, the song comes first and it's not necessarily, uh, she cares more about about the song itself. and the story that it tells over, you know, how she sings it.

So, you're going to have to edit out the sound of my cat. I might leave her in. She's got an opinion here. You know, it's been a while since one of our cats joined in. Dude, she must really like Chatein. Or hate it. Yeah, I think it might be. All right, so that's going to do it for this episode.

This was our take on Shade's. Dude, you know, and as usual, we just barely scratch the surface, you know, there's really, I don't think we, we, we, we, we did justice, you know. So, I recommend, you know, so if you really enjoyed this episode, if you really liked what you heard, I definitely recommend going back and listening to her debut, or their debut album, Diamond Life, which came out a year before Promise in 1984. So I listened to her first three albums yesterday or a couple days ago. Diamond Life Promise. And her third, I just keep saying her. Their third studio album, Stronger Than Pride, which came out in 1988.

That one's got Love is Stronger Than Pride and Paradise as well, which is a, another song that I didn't realize I knew until I heard it. Man, it's good, dude. It's a really good. Paradise is a great song. Yeah, yeah. Stronger Than Pride is out of the three I enjoyed the most. There's some really cool instrumental tracks on Stronger Than Pride.

It's more, I'd say it's more in almost like the drum and bass category. Not in the electronic sense of drum and bass, but it's more heavy on the instrumental elements, you know, it highlights her backing band more. It's really cool. What track is that? I'm just saying, in general. There's a few tracks on there where, you know, there's a good minute or two of just, just instrumental.

So she kind of lets her band shine in this one. It's good. And, of course, Love Deluxe, which is her fourth studio album, has no ordinary love on there. Man, so many good songs, dude. I didn't actually dive into Love Deluxe yet. I haven't listened to that album all the way through. Cherish the Day is a great album, dude.

A great song. Cherish the day, dude. Oh, yeah, great song. Yeah. The intro rhythm and beat that starts that song is killer. Yeah. So anyways, we're nerding out here. No one knows what the hell we're talking about, probably.

Kiss of Life is a great song. Yeah, yeah. Oh, shit. Okay, Kiss of Life is one of those songs that I talked earlier. earlier when I said that there's something about the way that they approached melodies that's like this kind of like a warm blanket. Just listen to Kiss of Life, man. And just be prepared to embrace that, that warmth.

Get that cat out your lap, son. I'm not going to kick her out of my lap. All right. All right. So what is up next, friend? What are we going to, what's our next full episode going to be on? This is, okay. So we're coming up on episode 10.

That's our next episode. If you count the sidetrack episodes, it's episode 19. But it's our 10th full-length episode. So it's a milestone of sorts. Yeah, sure. Yeah. So we decided, I don't know if we've teased this before, but it's obvious that we are huge fans of Spoon. Yeah, we've brought them up a few times already.

Yeah, a few times. So we are going to begin. are deep dive into their first four albums. So that starts with a series of snakes, which I believe came out in 96. Am I wrong about that? I'm not sure, dude. Let's find out together, shall I?

98. Okay. Came out in 98. So we're going to do, basically, it's going to go a series of sneaks. Basically every other episode from now until we hit Give me fiction Yeah so

Basically it'll be spoon And then a side track And then another album And then Spoon again So we'll try to space them out a little bit But you will have a Spoon album review Once a month Once a month yeah

Yeah I can't wait dude This is when we're gonna nerd out hardcore Yeah but by far and away Spoon has always been my favorite Like you know People ask hey what's your favorite band And it's always hard for me to answer the question. But if I, if I had to pick one, I would, I would have to say spoon.

Well, yeah, I was going to say that's a hard, okay, it's, it's hard to name a top five, but spoon is number one for me, always and forever. Yeah. When it, when it comes down to it, you know, you just say spoon, man, because, so obviously we're twins and we, we agree on who our favorite band is, which is kind of funny. Well, but that's good, yeah, that's because we grew up with Spoon. I mean, when I say grow up, I mean, like, no, I think that's true. When we really got into music independently, you know,

independent of what our parents were listening to or what our older brother was listening to, I feel like Spoon was really the first band that we truly latched onto, you know? All right. So, to close this episode out,

I'm going to play one of my favorite Marvin Gay songs. So if you remember, Chade and Stuart became friends when they were in the band Pride and they would listen to artists like Al Green and Marvin Gay, Nina Simone. And these artists influenced them to kind of start doing their own thing. And that's, you know, that's what led to Chade and Stewart forming the band Chade. So my favorite Marvin Gay album is called I Want You, which this fucking blew my mind, dude. This is his 14th studio album.

Good Lord. And it came out when? Yeah, in 1976. Damn. I know, dude. So. It came out in the 70s and it was his 14. Yeah.

So the first full-length Marvin Gay album. came out in 1961. It was called the soulful moods of Marvin Gay. And it looks like he released, basically he released multiple albums between 1961 and 1976. Obviously, I mean, that's only, that's, okay, that's what, 15 years? Yeah, dude, he was quite prolific. Yeah.

But anyways, this album's great. There's a lot of really, I mean, it's a get down to business album, for sure. Okay. So this song is, it's just a little, it's almost like a, it's almost like a little outro song for Side A. If you listen to it on vinyl, this is the last track on Side A. It's just over a minute long, and really there's not much to it, so I'm going to play the whole song.

But there's just, there's something that happens in it that you'll know, you'll know. It's my favorite Marvin Gay moment. I think. So this is track five off of Marvin Gay's 14th studio album. I Want You, which again came out in March of 1976. This song is called I Want to Be Where You Are. And that's going to do it for us this week. Check back next Sunday for our sidetrack.

And you can find us on no filler podcast.com where you can listen to the episodes, read the show notes Of course you can also hear us on iTunes or SoundCloud Just look for No Filler podcast And that's it Yeah thanks again for listening My name's Quentin

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