I saw Khan in concert in 1998, and reviewed the show on our page of concert reviews, Her latest release reverses that trend, and I hope she continues to control her own recordings in the Real peaks and valleys: no one doubts her vocal talent, but since she rarely writes her own material, she's been at the mercy of her Predictably enough, Khan went off on her own in the late 70s, leaving Rufus to languish. In those days, Khan gave herĪll on stage (according to one story, she put so much force into her vocal delivery she once vomited into the crowd) and her unusual phrasing also brought out theĮmotion in slower numbers. Thankfully, Stockert soon got out of the way, leaving the stage to Khan. Originally founded by refugees from the American Breed (of "Bend Me Shape Me" fame),Īnd then led by soulless popster Ron Stockert, the first couple of Rufus records are mostly unfocusedĪnd unfunky.
Multiracial band armed with a batch of compelling tunes and a phenomenal lead singer, Chaka Khan - possibly the most capable “Sweet Thing” is on Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, which can be bought here.In the early 70s scramble to succeed Sly Stone at the top of the funk genre, Rufus appeared: a To my surprise David loved it, and that was indeed a Sweet Thing.” I played the riff right at the start of ‘China Girl’ before the band comes in.
I was inspired by this Rufus guitar riff because I thought it had an Asian sound. “Typically,” Rodgers continued, “when I write singles I put a hook at the start of the song. As Nile later wrote on his blog: “When working with David Bowie on ‘China Girl,’ I played a modified version of the guitar riff from ‘Sweet Thing’ on it. The song’s distinctive riff stayed in Rodgers’ mind, and when he was co-producing Bowie’s Let’s Dance album of 1983, its inspiration would be invaluable. They soon started to incorporate a cover of “Sweet Thing” into their live set, as seen in a grainy video that Rodgers posted in 2011. Soon after it was a hit, a formative version of soon-to-be disco heroes Chic was forming in New York as the Big Apple Band, featuring both Nile Rodgers and his future co-writer and producer Bernard Edwards as well as Tony Thompson and Bobby Cotter. The story of “Sweet Thing” has a fascinating link with a 1980s classic. Later in 1976, “Dance Wit Me” followed it from the album into the soul Top 5, before that “Jive Talkin’” cover became the LP’s third and final single.
It rose to the R&B summit and went all the way to No.5 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Sweet Thing” was a classy, swaying piece of soul that Rufus devotees, and R&B fans in general, simply couldn’t resist – and neither could the pop audience. But the calling card for the LP, as its opening single, was a co-write by Khan and bandmate Tony Maiden. The Rufus album included three songs by fellow Chicagoan and writer-artist Gavin Christopher, whose stock was high after his “Once You Get Started” had become a smash for them earlier that year. It featured an admirable array of original material, before ending with a mid-tempo remake of the Bee Gees’ “Jive Talkin,’” just three months after the original had revived the Gibb brothers’ career by soaring to No.1 in the US. In recognition of their ever-growing studio expertise, the album was the first to be produced solely by the band themselves. Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan hit record stores to great anticipation in November 1975, and fans would not be disappointed. Rufus already had four major soul hits to their name, with “Tell Me Something Good,” “You Got The Love,” “Once You Get Started,” and “Please Pardon Me (You Remind Me Of A Friend).” All but the last crossed over to pop in a big way, and all of them exhibited a streetwise musicianship that gives the band a unique place in R&B history.