If you turned on your radio in the mid-1980s, chances are you were going to hear something loud and bombastic. World Cafe correspondent John Morrison says that's exactly why the smooth R&B sound of the U.K. band Sade stood out.
"It's just the opposite energy of a lot of what was happening — Prince, Van Halen, Madonna — even, you know, just bold, bright music," he says. "This was something very soft and velvety in the sound."
Morrison is specifically talking about Sade's 1985 album, Promise, the band's second release. On a new episode of The Culture Corner, Morrison digs into that LP, explains how Sade broke through in the U.S. and why the album stands the test of time four decades later.
Featured Songs
- "Never as Good as the First Time"
- "War of the Hearts"
- "The Sweetest Taboo"
- "Fear"
This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. The web story was created by Miguel Perez. Our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.
