Brownstone Throwback (A Tribute)

This Ol' Skool R&B treasure is a throwback to some good 'Ghetto Soul' music and also a tribute to a friend who recently passed away.

Back in 1994 when I was a young single mother living in the heart of the ghetto, music was a huge comfort to those on the low income struggle with the realities of the hard knock life thrown in. My peers and myself were musically influenced by ragga, rap and the new wave of contemporary R&B that was making major breakthroughs within the UK music scene.

"If You Love Me" was a catchy Slow Jam with a Swing Beat. Big on the radio, in the clubs and my friend G's playlist (- cassette in those days). I'm telling you, G outsung IYLM, probably more than Brownstone did. It was her "badass choon dat". I'll always be reminded of her whenever I hear it and smile with the fondest memories.

IYLM reached NO 8 in the UK singles chart in 1994.  

Alexander O'Neal - 'If You Were Here Tonight'

Everybody loves a good old 80's Slow Jam and Alexander O'Neal was running things back in the 80's with a string of R&B hits.

I was around 11 years old when 'If You Were Here Tonight' was a hit back in 1986.  All the R&B heads loved this track and it was pretty successful mainstream in the UK, reaching number 13 in the singles charts.  I'm a fan of Alexander, he released some unforgettable classics.  However, 'If You Were Here Tonight' was just pure 80's lush.  The grown folk would get all smoochy and loved up at parties to this, whilst the kids would swing to synths and sing "If you could only know my feelings.  You would know how much I doo beeelieeve".  

Check out the video for a full flavour of the 80's.  The clothes, Alexander's moustache.  Love it!

"Take Me As I Am" by Mary J Blige

I love Mary J Blige, Queen of Hip Hop Soul and have a lot of her music in my collection. This song, 'Take Me As I Am', comes from Mary's seventh studio album, The Breakthrough 2005 Geffen Records. 'Take Me As I Am', like a lot of other Mary's songs, is soul searching soul. Laying the hurt out there, yet remaining a survivor through the storms.

"Take Me As I Am" Mary J Blige

My hearing had started to deteriorate quite noticeably around the release of The Breakthrough, my youngest daughter was almost one and I was pretty much in a dark place with the dramas of life and the backstabbing frenemies around me. Apart from the chorus “Take me as I am, or have nothing at all...”, I couldn't make out the other lyrics and the CD inlay, although it was packed with fantastic images of the beautiful Ms Blige, didn't contain any lyrics (that always p!$$*$ me off). It was a year or so after buying the CD that I downloaded the lyrics but...even without them, the power of Mary's voice created the imagery of self and social acceptance. The melody in her voice grabs the heart and swims through your soul and through the pain, suffering and torment your going through, Mary knows and you feel so much better, uplifted. That's the magic of music.

I always play “Take Me As I Am” in those dark days when I've been in the company of rotten friends, when I feel frustrated with my hearing or just feeling lack of self-worth. If you haven't heard the song (Then Where The Hell Have You Been?), play the youtube video above which features an audio recording of the track with lyrics.