Black Contemporary Top 40 – January 16, 1982

Enjoy the R&B Top 40 from 40 to 1, dated on January 16th 1982, according to American music magazine Cashbox, the main competitor of Billboard at the time. There are quite a few veteran artists on this chart, like Bobby Womack, Curtis Mayfield and Gladys Knight, but a new, more electronic oriented generation is already knocking on the door, most prominently Prince.

In the aftermath of their dispute about their copyrights, Daryl Hall claimed in a recent interview that almost all of the Hall & Oates songs are his compositions. According to him only three songs were collaborations with Oates, She’s Gone and Out Of Touch being two of them. John Oates said that he had the initial ideas for both songs and that they worked them out together. Daryl Hall sketched out the basics for I Can’t Go For That one evening at a music studio in New York City, in 1981, after a recording session for the Private Eyes album. Being on his own he randomly switched on the Rock 1 knob on a Roland drummachine, then began playing a bass line on a Korg organ, and the sound engineer present recorded the result. The lyrics about not being pushed around by big labels, managers, and agents came afterwards. John Oates remembers the birth of the song differently and thinks the two of them worked on it from the beginning. Michael Jackson once admitted to Daryl Hall during the We Are The World session that he used the bass line from I Can’t Go For That for Billy Jean.

You can argue the fact whether the robotic sound of German band Kraftwerk is very soulful, but they at least inspired a lot of soul artists with their electronic innovations. For example, Roger’s so called “talk box” is reminiscent of Kraftwerk’s earlier vocoders and the first generation of hip hop artists like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaata sampled their mechanic beats to a great extent, especially from their album Trans Europe Express. The four funky Germans were also an inspiration for loads of electro bands, like the Human League and Depeche Mode and they laid the foundation for techno. Kraftwerk is probably the most influential band ever, they transcend genres.

Number 36 on the chart, Sugarhill Gang’s Apache samples Apache by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band, released in 1973. As soon as the original came out DJ Kool Herc picked up this obscure track and used the breaks during his infamous block parties in the early 1970s. To record Apache Michael Viner brought the best studio musicians of that time together, most particularly percussion player King Errisson and session drummer Jim Gordon. The latter turned out to have serious mental problems and tragically killed his mother with a hammer, ten years after the recording of Apache. At the time of his death in 2023, Jim Gordon was serving his sentence at the California Medical Facility, a medical and psychiatric prison.

Next up is a Mixcloud Exclusive for subscribers only, followed by part 9 of Sunny Breeze From The West Coast for all listeners.

Tracklist:

Rockie Robbins – I Believe In Love
Tom Browne – Fungi Mama (Bebopafunkadiscolypso)
Stevie Woods – Steal The Night
Ray, Goodman & Brown – How Can Love So Right (Be So Wrong)
Sugarhill Gang – Apache
Shalamar – Sweeter As The Days Go By
Con Funk Shun – Bad Lady
Dynasty – Love In The Fast Lane
Vernon Burch – Do It To Me
Kano – Can’t Hold Back (Your Loving)
Kraftwerk – Numbers
Booker T. – I Want You
Al Jarreau – Breakin’ Away
Gwen McCrae – Funky Sensation
Angela Bofill – Something About You
Roger – I Heard It Through The Grapevine
"D" Train – You're The One For Me
The Jones Girls – (I Found) That Man Of Mine
Grover Washington Jr. Feat. Grady Tate – Be Mine (Tonight)
Gayle Adams – Love Fever
Bobby Womack – If You Think You’re Lonely Now
Curtis Mayfield – Toot An'Toot An'Toot
Gladys Knight & The Pips – I Will Fight
Slave – Snap Shot
Rufus With Chaka – We Got The Way [B-Side]
Commodores – Oh No
Prince – Controversy
Chocolate Milk – Blue Jeans
The Time
– Cool [Part 1]
L.T.D. – Kickin’ Back
Central Line – Walking Into Sunshine
Peabo Bryson – Let The Feeling Flow
Teddy Pendergrass – You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration
Skyy – Call Me
Bar-Kays – Hit And Run
Diana Ross – Why Do Fools Fall In Love?
Daryl Hall & John Oates – I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)
Kool & The Gang – Take My Heart
George Benson – Turn Your Love Around
Earth, Wind & Fire – Let's Groove

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