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Thursday, Jun 3 2021, 7AM
The song is the first track of Stevens' fifth album, Teaser And The Firecat. The album shares its name with an illustrated children's tale he created and had published a year later as a music video for the song "Moonshadow."
In the UK, where this song was most relevant, this was the first single released from Ghost in the Machine. Elsewhere, the far more sprightly "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was issued first. In the US, "Invisible Sun" was not released as a single.
Discussing “Across That Fine Line” songwriter/vocalist Ian Devaney stated, “‘Across That Fine Line’ is a reflection on that moment when a non-romantic relationship flips into something different. When the air in the room suddenly feels like it changes in an undefinable way. It’s a kind of celebration of that certain joyous panic, and the uncertainty that surfaces right after it.
Today would have been Curtis Mayfield's 79th birthday. His unique textures were ahead of their time on "Superfly." This is one of the few soundtracks that outsold the box office of the movie it was made for.
“I’ll Take You There” is one of the bright, shining examples of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section at work. And of course, Mavis.
"“I’ll Take You There” came out while the Civil Rights struggle was still raging, and after the assassinations of so many figures, including Staples family friend Martin Luther King, Jr. And yet it imagines a time, or a place, where things might get better, where “lying to the races” is a thing of the past. There’s a beautiful audacity in that image — the same beautiful audacity that has powered gospel music since before the advent of recorded sound. And while we’re still not there, we can hear some version of that imagined utopia in that groove." www.stereogum.com
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours" was released on this day on 1970. Stevie Wonder was 20 and this was the first track he produced.
Exodus was released on this day in 1977. “One Love/People Get Ready” contains an interpolation of The Impressions' song "People Get Ready" which was written by Curtis Mayfield.
Sub Pop co-founder Bruce Pavitt said this song was "hypnotic," and a stylistic breakthrough for the band. "Audiences would become ecstatic," Pavitt said. "They were experiencing Nirvana. And when you're experiencing really good, primal rock n roll, you break into a trance."
www.songfacts.com
“Born 2 Die,” a previously unreleased Prince song, is out now. The track was recorded as a rebuke to Dr. Cornel West, who said Prince was “no Curtis Mayfield,” according to Prince’s musical director Morris Hayes. The track appears on Welcome 2 America, out July 30 via Legacy.
When he made the song, Prince “had been watching videos of his friend Dr. Cornel West on YouTube,” according to Hayes, who is quoted in a press release. “During one speech, Dr. West said, ‘I love my brother Prince, but he’s no Curtis Mayfield.’ So Prince said, ‘Oh really? We will see.’”
pitchfork.com