Sunshine Radio: Hit Sound Of Eighties Yacht Rock, Soul & Pop

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Enjoy this new show on Sunshine Radio! 😊 

The idea behind this cloudcast was to make an eighties radio mix with authentic air checks and jingles that really sound like that particular decade. I got inspiration when I worked with Martijn Soetens as The Smooth Operators on a similar project recently.

Dutch producers and songwriters Bernard Oattes and Rob van Schaik used to call themselves The Limit and composed several great dance/pop tracks, for instance Love Take Over by Five Star and She's So Divine by Jan Akkerman. As a duo they released a full-length album in 1985, which contained their hit single Say Yeah with background vocals from Gwen Guthrie and David Sanborn on saxophone. For legal reasons they became Oattes Van Schaik, just before they released their album. Due to the confusion after their name change and the different titles of their album (The Limit and Love Attaxx), the sales were poor and the so-called "Dutch Hall & Oates" disappeared from the charts, although they kept on writing for others. I selected Miracles from the duo for this cloudcast.

Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger) by Donna Summer is my tribute to legendary producer and musical genius Quincy Jones who passed away on Sunday. Donna Summer's 1982 self-titled album was some kind of blueprint for his masterpiece, Michael Jackson's Thriller, which he produced immediately after. There are quite a lot similarities. For instance, Quincy Jones hired the same musicians, the synthesizer parts on Billy Jean are similar to the ones  on The State Of Independence and the use of a big choir on both albums.

When my girlfriend saw a video of a young Steve Winwood from the sixties the other day, she was convinced it was someone else with the same name. She thought Steve Winwood was a typical eighties singer who had made it big with hits like Higher Love and Valerie. Nothing could be further from the truth. From 1964 Steve Winwood was already a key figure in successful bands like Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith and finally Traffic. When Traffic split in 1974, he struggled to start a solo career. However, the next decade he suddenly had the wind in his sails and briefly grew into a mega artist with a fair number of American top ten hits and even two number one smashes to his name, Higher Love was one of them.

Next up is part 8 of Sunny Breeze From The West Coast!

Tracklist:

George Benson – Shiver (1986)
Aretha Franklin – Who's Zoomin' Who (1985)
Kenny G Feat. Lenny Williams ‎– Don't Make Me Wait For Love (1986)
Lenny White – Didn’t Know About Love (1983)
Photoglo – Steal Away (1981)
Dionne Warwick – Dedicate This Heart (1983)
Prince – 1999 (1982)
The Human League – Mirror Man (1982)
Steve Winwood Feat. Chaka Khan – Higher Love (1986)
ABC – When Smokey Sings (1987)
Prefab Sprout – Hey Manhattan! (1988)
The Jones Girls ‎– Nights Over Egypt (1981)
Donna Summer – Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger) (1982)
Oattes Van Schaik – Miracles (1985)
Nu Shooz – I Can’t Wait (1986)
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – (Forever) Live And Die (1986)
Daryl Hall & John Oates – Private Eyes (1981)
El DeBarge – Who’s Johnny (1986)
Don Henley – Sunset Grill (1984)