Super Fly
Gordon Parks Jr.'s Super Fly (1972) pairs a Harlem hustler's exit plan with Curtis Mayfield songs that do not celebrate the hustle.
The Commodores – Sail On
The Commodores’ 1979 Motown single Sail On from Midnight Magic: Lionel Richie, country-tinged ballad, Billboard Hot 100 No. 4.
Sade – The sound of pure class
In 1984 London, Sade Adu and her band turned quiet groove, dry guitar, and a cool alto voice into Diamond Life, a debut that got its hits from a quiet arrangement.
Interview of Ray Charles (1974)
November 1974: Ray Charles sits at a piano for a television interview and keeps the talk plain, with the keys under his hands.
Monterey 1967 – Otis Redding
Late on 17 June 1967 Otis Redding asked the Monterey Pop Festival if this was the love crowd, then sang I've Been Loving You Too Long to them.
Simply Red – Manchester soul that filled the charts
Mick Hucknall left Manchester post-punk for a soul project built around his voice and Stewart Levine's production, took "Holding Back the Years" to number one in the United States, and kept Simply Red in arenas for two decades.
Craig David – Hypnotic
Craig David’s Hypnotic on The Story Goes… (2005): Rick Nowels production, late-night UK soul, an album track rather than a single.
Interview of Amy Winehouse (2007)
In 2007, at London's Porchester Hall, the BBC sits with Amy Winehouse at the high point of Back to Black: beehive, Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi production still dominating radio, and a singer the tabloids were already following.
Stevie Wonder – Keys, sunshine and conscience
Stevland Hardaway Judkins was born in Saginaw, Michigan, on 13 May 1950; the world learned Little Stevie Wonder.
Bill Withers – Lovely Day
Bill Withers’s Lovely Day (1977, Menagerie): Skip Scarborough co-write, held-note hook, daylight soul.