Todd made me do it on Monday, and I just couldn’t leave well enough alone. Since it’s
Wednesday, I felt that I needed to come up with mellow cuts for old school which
are some of my favorites. Note that these are just a few of my favorites;
when you have more than 50 songs to choose from its never easy. Here’s my:

OSW/T12:
Low-tempo, old school.

01 – Anita Baker – Good Love. The last song on Giving You
The Best That I Got. I remember playing this song countless times- but even
more than that, I felt Gary Taylor’s lyrics, which made me pay serious attention
to him from that point on. Seriously powerful.
02 – Rufus & Chaka Khan – Live In Me. The first album I ever
bought was Masterjam, and I played this album incessently on my portable turntable.
I also felt that anything that Jerry Hey touched turned to gold.
03 – Donny Hathaway – Someday, We’ll All Be Free. Donny always made me smile. This live release made make me nod my head back and forth.
04 – New Birth – Wildflower. The words and the melodies were
powerful, but even more than that, every man I knew – my stepfather, my grandfather,
one of my uncles – had this song and even played it on my turntable.
The horn section and the breakdowns are priceless. This full version is so striking
and haunting, I’m totally wrapped up by the end of this song.
05 – Prince – Adore. I know all the words to this song…and
I can even ad-lib it. Don’t ask me to do that in front of you, please. One of
his best cuts, in my opinion.
06 – Stylistics – People Make The World Go Round. 1972 turned
out to be a really good year for me. I might have worn glasses and had the blowout
hair (you remember that picture, don’t you?) but I knew all the words to this
song in kindergarten. As a matter of fact, at one time, I even had three remakes
- from The Jamaica Boys, Marc Dorsey, and Karen Ramirez.
07 – Stevie Wonder – For Once In My Life. My mother used to play
this during her parties while I was stuck in the room. When I was growin’ up, Stevie
did absolutely no wrong.
08 – Bill Withers – Let Me Be the One You Need. I had to put
this back on the arby, which is why I have 13. Yes, I bent the rules a litle.
09 – Switch – There’ll Never Be. The guitar solo and harmonies are what got me
hooked, and since this was one of their biggest hits, it stays on my mind.
10 – Alexander O’Neal – A Broken Heart Can Mend. From his first
album, back when Jam and Lewis were breaking into the big leagues. The chords
and the simplicity of this song were just overwhelming to me. Add the lyrics in,
and it smoothed me out. Only drawback: the song was way too short.
11 – Average White Band – A Love Of Your Own. The sooner
you give, the sooner you get to have/a love of your own. Damn. This song
always made me feel hopeful when I didn’t think love was anywhere to be found.

12 – Earth, Wind & Fire – Can’t Hide Love. This song stands
out during the last section of the song, there’s two things that are prominent – the brass section
and the vocal harmonics. Classic.
13 – Heatwave – The Star of The Story. I bought The Best
of Heatwave and cursed myself because I didn’t pay much attention to this
song when Heatwave was hot. I concentrated on the disco side of them. I wore
this song out two years ago. It’s impossible for me to describe this song fully.
It just hits me in all the right spots. It cheers me up too.

There’s plenty more- but that’s what OSWs are for, right?
Groove with me.