This Week’s Friday Eargasm: It Takes Three to Make A Seductive Hit!
The year was 1981.
I was a 16-year-old in Cleveland, Ohio–the Rock Capital of the World–and the music from all genres caught my ears. Rock, Soul, Hip Hop, New Wave, Soft Rock, and even Country. In my mind, three rock bands caught my ear during this time of my life. All three came out with some memorable albums. Journey’s “Escape” album was a massive deal at the time; Genesis came out with “Duke” at the turn of the century, but lead singer Phil Collins gave the world the album “Face Values” with the first hit “In The Air Tonight” coming on radios for the first time. Air Drums became a thing once that song came out. But it was the next group that came out with an album that brought together a New Wave Artist on the verge of his breakout one-hit-wonder, a respected Rock producer, and a Mowtown legendary saxophone player to the mix.
My feature song caught my attention immediately with the words, the vocals, and (in my opinion) the best saxophone performance I’ve ever heard on a song. The production of the song is as amazing as the song itself.
The Rock Producer
Robert John “Mutt” Lange may not be well known to some, but he is widely resecting in the music world as one of the best producers. He’s produced albums from The Cars, AC/DC, Britney Spears, etc. just to name a few. His most famous contribution came when he met a Canadian Country artist who helped shoot her singles and albums to the highest accolades in Country music in the 1990s transforming Country music forever. That artist is Ms. Shania Twain!
The New Wave Artist
At the time, he wasn’t well known for his work on the charts, but his collaboration with this rock group and this single is important. His rifts and notes helped push the song to a legendary sound. You might know him as the artist whose one-hit wonder is part of MTV lore that contributed to the sound of the 80s. Lange was such a perfectionist in the studio he made him do the notes over and over until they got the right sound. Thankfully, he will be remembered for his contributions. That artist is the creator of the song “She Blinded Me With Science”…Thomas Dolby.
Motown Sound
This song wouldn’t be complete without the power of the sax solo given by one of the greatest sax artists of all time. You may remember him best for his breakthrough hit in Mowtown, “Shotgun”. He would go through several other solo rifts before Mutt Lange picked the one that he liked. He was the legendary Junior Walker.
All of these men together with the band added lyrics like this one:
“…I’m not looking for a love that will last/ I know what I need and I need it fast!”
By the time all of this was put together the result was not just an instant hit, but an instant classic. Today, we still jam out to every aspect of this song. The song is the band’s most memorable and continues to be the type of single that stops you from turning the radio to another station. Plus, it helped to fuel several hit songs from their album, “4”.
The band is Foreigner.
The Song…”Urgent”!
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Did You Know?
- “Urgent” hit Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981!
- The song was the best track on the Foreigner album “4”
What do you think of the song? Let me know in the comments. I give it a **** out of 5 as one of the sexiest songs I’ve ever heard.
