Smooth Sailing: Soulful Pop & Funky Chill

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Joan Smalls & Lily Donaldson (Joan Smalls Instagram)
Remember those sunny days of summer? I collected a couple of songs that will give you a warm feeling... ;-)

I selected "Hurry Sundown" by Candi Staton. The career of the tiny soul singer has had some ups and downs, because of her troubled personal life and alcohol addiction. She was married to soul singer Clarence Carter (1970 - 1973) and John Sussewell (1980 – 1998), along whom she co-founded the gospel label Beracah Records. She is the mother of Cassandra Hightower and the drummer Marcus Williams. Her biggest hits are "You Got The Love" (remixed by The Source), the disco anthem "Young Hearts Run Free" and her country soul versions of "Stand By Your Man", originally sung by of Tammy Wynette, and "In The Ghetto”, the classic from Elvis Presley. Candi Staton released eleven soul and disco albums from 1970 to 1982, thirteen gospel albums, a club album ("Outside In") and in the mid-00's she made her soul comeback with two deep soul albums. And the concert she gave in the open air in Groningen in 2006 was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen!

There is a new Christmas album coming up by Frankie Valli, but on this cloudcast I play a track from his comeback album 'Closeup'. In the mid-seventies Frankie Valli picked up his career as a solo-artist and as a member of the Four Seasons, after some unsuccesful years for Motown. He created his own soulful pop variant of the disco craze that was coming out of the bottle. He eventually made it big with the title track of the movie 'Grease'.

Enjoy this Soulful Pop & Funky Chill episode of Smooth Sailing!

Tracklist:

Incognito – Love’s Revival (2016)
Marvin Franklin With Kimo And The Guys – Kona Winds (1978)
Zwol – Southern Part Of France (1978)
The Jeremy Spencer Band – Cool Breeze (1979)
Fleetwood Mac – Angel (1979)
Work Drugs – American Fool (2016)
Hummingbird – We Can’t Go On Meeting Like This (1976)
Hodges, James And Smith – Turn The People On (1973)
Frankie Valli – Swearin’ To God (1975)
Daryl Hall & John Oates – Rich Girl (1977)
James Vincent – What Does It Profit A Man (1978)
Four80East – Cookie Strut (2015)
George Benson – Love X Love (1980)
Sharon Ridley – Nothing Else Means More To Me Than Our Love (1978)
Seek – Journey Into Day (2003)
Candi Staton – Hurry Sundown (1982)
Aina – Your Light (1980)

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