Gladys Knight Concert | Royal Albert Hall | 29th June 2022

A nice profile.

https://www.allarts.org/programs/all...ci0quaHnvnW_H8

So, how do we feel about Stevie's work in the 80s?

I feel that the casual narrative is that he was part of the Motown machine in the 60s and had classic 60s Motown hits

In the next decade, he took control over his music and went on a streak of unparalleled creativity and talent [[I would put Stevie in the 1970s as a better run than any artist, at any time, in any genre, at the very least on the Mount Rushmore of greatest musical streaks)

Then in the 80s that creativity well seemed to dry up and he started churning out corny pop songs that his 70s self wouldn't have recorded in a million years

Is this a fair assessment?

I've seen "I just called to say I love you" listed as one of the worst hit songs of the decade, and worst song he ever did [[multiple times), with "Part Time Lover" not far behind

I'd say that Do I Do and Overjoyed stands proudly next to any of his 'classic' songs

And he gave the world Black Happy Birthday - Honestly what percentage of the time is it the version sung at black birthday parties? I’m taking the over at 70%

I'm going with the Labelle years, to me those years cemented their legacy as one of the best artists period, they were innovative and they had a great album run from Labelle - Chameleon, NightBird being their greatest work.


So anyway, which era throughout Patti Labelle 's career do you prefer?

Not sure if anyone here has already seen this movie or heard of it. I just found out about it today. It came out on Netflix yesterday [June 29th]. It was created by Lena Waithe and Whitney fans are saying that it is very obviously loosely based on/inspired by her life and relationship with Robyn. Sharon Stone plays the Clive Davis-type character. I intend to watch it tonight. Here is the trailer ...

https://youtu.be/EbptKdhRXEo