CHERYL LYNN
ENCORE
WRITTEN BY JAMES HARRIS III & TERRY LEWIS
PRODUCED BY JIMMY JAM & TERRY LEWIS AND CHERYL LYNN
1983 COLUMBIA RECORDS
By 1983, singer-songwriter Cheryl Lynn had made a name for herself by scoring several Dance hits including "Got To Be Real" and "Shake It Up Tonight" as well as a top ten hit with Luther Vandross with rendition of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell classic "If This World Were Mine." She had also worked with some the industry's top producers including David Foster, Ray Parker, Jr and Vandross, but her second # 1 R&B hit was written and produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis who were beginning the new stages of their careers as producers and songwriters. Jam & Lewis had got their break in the industry as members of the R&B/Funk group the band, who scored several hits with "Cool" and "What Time It Is," but they wanted to work on outside projects with other artist including The SOS Band andLynn, who they met while they were on tour in Long Beach California. A few months later the duo had missed a gig after being stranded in Atlanta due to a snow storm, forcing their former mentor Prince to fine them $900.00 each and firing them two days later. "I don't think they were supposed to be there" the Dance music hall of famer said in the Book of Rhythm and Blues Number Ones. "I think they snuck in from doing the show with Prince that night." The duo tried to come up with a song on the spot, but couldn't, so they told Lynn they would work with her the next time they got a break in the tour, and they stayed true to their word; not only did they come up with a hot song, it also helped the singer become more known as a R&B singer instead of the Dance Person that she was dubbed by the media. Jam added "We were trying to come up with a beat that was so funky that even if we didn't put any music to it, it would still be cool."
That's what makes this song the classic that it is today; the beat, keyboards, synsersizers, percussion, the live audience affects, and Lynn's vocal performances which captured her ability to sing different ranges as well as her sassy seagments and ad-libbing. The song also has mysterious lyrics that made me think that she was going to see her favorite male performer in concert, but after listening to the song for the first time in years, I gagged when I learned that she was singing about giving her man an encore for pleasing her sexually!!! (In other words, she's was gonna request another hot love making session and give him a big tip. If you know what I mean)!!
This song is still hot as it was when it was first released, and not only did it become a classic, it also helped launched Jam & Lewis career as Grammy-Award winning producers who would score twenty-five # 1 R&B hits.
No comments:
Post a Comment