Image by chenspec from Pixabay
Do you like the sound of a saxophone when you listen to a song? If so, you’ve come to the right place. How ’bout taking a journey into sax sounds in pop music history?
Some time ago, I published a blog post here on Sounds and Colors and took you on a sound journey with a playlist of 22 heavily sax-infused songs.
In the meantime, that playlist has grown significantly to 90 songs.
This extended sound journey will still cover four decades of catchy sax songs, from the early 1960s to the late 1990s.
1963 will be our launching pad with a classic movie theme song (you most likely know …). With 1996 being our destination port, this new sound journey will come to a close with a cuddly tune featuring two of the hottest acts in 1990s pop/R&B.
Please enjoy your journey.
It’s summer of ‘81. Foreigner releases “Urgent” as lead single from their fourth studio album 4. The single rocks its way to #1 on Billboard’s Rock Tracks chart, crosses over to the Hot 100, and climbs to #4. 4 will soon work its way to the #1 slot on Billboard’s album chart and stay for a staggering 10 weeks (selling over six million copies in the U.S. alone).
Soul Provider | A Magical Sax(ophone) Sound Journey | Track Listing
| Title | Artist | Album |
|---|---|---|
| Urgent | Foreigner | 4 |
| Harden My Heart | Quarterflash | Quarterflash |
| Every Time I Close My Eyes (with Kenny G) | Babyface;Kenny G | The Day |
| Just the Two of Us (feat. Bill Withers) | Grover Washington, Jr.;Bill Withers | Lean on Me: The Best of Bill Withers |
| The One You Love | Glenn Frey | No Fun Aloud |
| Soul Provider | Michael Bolton | Soul Provider |
| Too Hot | Kool & The Gang | Ladies' Night |
| Moondance | Van Morrison | Moondance |
| Careless Whisper | George Michael | Make It Big |
| Just the Way You Are | Billy Joel | The Stranger |
| If Leaving Me Is Easy | Phil Collins | Face Value |
| Caribbean Queen (No More Love On the Run) | Billy Ocean | The Very Best of Billy Ocean |
| Kiss of Life | Sade | The Best of Sade |
| Forever Your Girl | Paula Abdul | Forever Your Girl |
| Modern Love | David Bowie | Let's Dance |
| Brown Sugar | The Rolling Stones | Sticky Fingers |
| Super Freak | Rick James | Street Songs |
| The Pink Panther Theme | Henry Mancini;Plas Johnson | The Pink Panther OST |
| Baker Street | Gerry Rafferty | City to City |
| Waiting On A Friend | The Rolling Stones | Tattoo You |
| Between the Lines | Debbie Gibson | Out Of The Blue |
| (There's) No Gettin' Over Me | Ronnie Milsap | There's No Gettin' Over Me |
| Tell It Like It Is | Heart | Greatest Hits / Live |
| Laß mich dein Pirat sein | Nena | ? (Fragezeichen) |
| Another Saturday Night | Sam Cooke | Ain't That Good News |
| I Guess It Wasn't Mine | Curtis Stigers | Curtis Stigers |
| Take Me To Heart | Quarterflash | Take Another Picture |
| Living in America | James Brown | Rocky IV OST |
| I Wanna Go Back | Eddie Money | Can't Hold Back |
| Party Time | Kurtis Blow | The Best Of Kurtis Blow |
| Never Knew Love Like This | Alexander O'Neal;Cherrelle | Hearsay |
| Slammin' | Huey Lewis & The News | Small World |
| You're a Friend of Mine | Clarence Clemons;Jackson Browne | Hero |
| Über sieben Brücken musst du geh'n | Peter Maffay | Heute vor dreissig Jahren |
| So bist du | Peter Maffay | Steppenwolf |
| Smooth Operator | Sade | Diamond Life |
| Über sieben Brücken musst du geh'n | Peter Maffay | Revanche |
| Sonderzug nach Pankow | Udo Lindenberg & Das Panik-Orchester | Odyssee |
| Garden party | Mezzoforte | Icelandic Jazz Favourites |
| True - 2003 Remaster | Spandau Ballet | True |
| Give Me The Keys (And I'll Drive You Crazy) | Huey Lewis & The News | Small World |
| Back To The Hotel | N2DEEP | Back To The Hotel |
| Keep Coming Back | Richard Marx | Stories To Tell |
| ? (Fragezeichen) | Nena | ? (Fragezeichen) |
| How Do You Talk To An Angel? | The Heights | The Heights |
| Tell Me Tomorrow | Smokey Robinson | The Solo Anthology |
| I'll Love You Anyway | Aaron Neville | Beverly Hills, 90210 The College Years |
| Fight The Power | Public Enemy | Do The Right Thing OST |
| Should've Been the One | Debbie Gibson | Electric Youth |
| Love Power (with Jeffrey Osborne) | Dionne Warwick;Jeffrey Osborne | Reservations for Two |
| Whip Appeal | Babyface | Babyface Unplugged NYC 1997 |
| American Music | The Pointer Sisters | So Excited! |
| You're My Number One | Average White Band | Cupid’s In Fashion |
| Pick up the Pieces | Average White Band | Average White Band |
| Nothing You Can Do | Average White Band | Average White Band |
| Keepin' It to Myself | Average White Band | Average White Band |
| Right Kind Of Love | Quarterflash | Quarterflash |
| He Can't Love You | Michael Stanley Band | Heartland |
| What You Need | INXS | Listen Like Thieves |
| If Your Heart Isn't In It | Atlantic Starr | As The Band Turns |
| Let Me Love You Tonight | Pure Prairie League | Best Of Pure Prairie League |
| There Will Always be A Place | Curtis Stigers | Time Was |
| Year of the Cat | Al Stewart | Year of the Cat |
| My Girl | Rod Stewart | Foolish Behaviour |
| Don't Leave Me Now | Supertramp | "...Famous Last Words..." |
| Spooky | Classics IV | Best Of |
| Promise Me | Billy Ocean | Love Zone |
| Pleasure | Billy Ocean | Tear Down These Walls |
| Your Love Is King | Sade | Diamond Life |
| Because of You | Billy Ocean | Tear Down These Walls |
| Let Me In | Eddie Money | Nothing to Lose |
| Ain't No Sunshine | Michael Bolton | Timeless (The Classics) Vol. 2 |
| A Million Love Songs | Take That | Take That and Party |
| How Can It Be | Take That | Take That and Party |
| Please Don't Go Girl | New Kids On The Block | No More Games/The Remix Album |
| Baby, I Believe In You | New Kids On The Block | Step By Step |
| Safe In The Arms Of Love | Martika | Martika's Kitchen |
| Foolish Beat | Debbie Gibson | Out Of The Blue |
| No More Rhyme | Debbie Gibson | Electric Youth |
| On The Radio - Long Version | Donna Summer | On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II |
| Soul Provider | Michael Bolton | A Symphony Of Hits |
| Where Do We Go From Here | Stacy Lattisaw | What You Need |
| Rhythm of the Rain | Dan Fogelberg | The Wild Places |
| Take Good Care of You and Me | Dionne Warwick;Jeffrey Osborne | Greatest Hits 1979 - 1990 |
| Lonely Won't Leave Me Alone | Glenn Medeiros | Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You |
| She's Like the Wind (feat. Wendy Fraser) | Patrick Swayze;Wendy Fraser | Dirty Dancing OST |
| Sweet For You And Me (Monogamy Mix) | Mtume;Scott Folks;Reggie Thompson | You, Me And He |
| Living in America | James Brown | Rocky IV OST |
| Do It To Me | Lionel Richie | Back To Front |
| I Wanna Hold On To You | Mica Paris | Whisper A Prayer |
Another heavy-hitter from summer of ‘81. Rick James’ “Super Freak” rises to the occasion and dances straight to the top of Billboard’s Dance Club Play chart. The pop audience also embraces the song and makes it climbing to #16 on the Hot 100 chart. Taken from “Street Sounds”.
How do all those different saxophones (the bigger and the smaller ones) sound? Find out here …