Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #1 Maze featuring Frankie Beverly

As I've gotten older, four things must happen to complete any given summer: 1) I must take a trip to Hains Point and watch the sunset; 2) I must have a burnt hotdog at somebody's cookout; 3) I must hear "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince towards the beginning of the summer; and 4) I must take a daytime cruise in my car with the windows down and listen to Maze & Frankie Beverly.  That's how intrinsic this legendary group's music is to my life and they have sooooooo many good songs.  "Happy Feelin's" gives you exactly that.  "Southern Girl" was part of the reason that I swore up and down that I'd end up with a thick chick from below the Mason-Dixon line with the most irresistible accent ever.  "Joy and Pain" is just real and dope.  "Can't Get Over You" just takes me back to a good time in childhood.  "Silky Soul" made me miss Marvin Gaye just like The Commodores' "Night Shift" did.  Even lesser-discussed hits like "Love's on the Run" are memorable because they were just catchy and unmistakably Maze.  Of course, "Before I Let Go"...well, you're just not Black if this song doesn't make you get up and dance.  Like seriously...Henry Louis Gates needs to bring you on Finding Your Roots to question everything you ever knew about yourself.

Before getting into the songs, perhaps the best way to illustrate my "joy and pain" in being a Maze fanatic is through two different stories involving ex-girlfriends.  During a phone conversation in 2003, one of my exes and I were talking about favorite bands and I mentioned that Maze was mine.  Bewildered, she said, "Really?  They're your favorite band?  I don't see how they could be your favorite."  As someone whose musical taste I respected for years, it was probably one of the few times that we had a heated disagreement.  Needless to say, she's no longer my girlfriend.  The next one wasn't much different as she constantly put Earth, Wind & Fire on a pedestal as the best band in the land.  (Point of order: I can admit that an act or a band is more skilled or talented without them being my favorite, and that's how I feel about Earth, Wind & Fire; they're arguably better than Maze, but they're still not my favorite.)  However, maybe the best thing that she ever did was take me to my first Maze concert at Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore--which was the best concert that I ever attended not just because it was my favorite band, but because it was one of the best times that I ever had in my entire life.  The problem was that she didn't stand up, sway, dance or sing along with me one time during the entire concert.  Needless to say, she's no longer my girlfriend either.  Amidst several similar criticisms, that's what it's like to be a Maze fan: you're essentially rooting for the underdog, which is something that I've proudly done early and often.  (I was a Skins fan for 31 years of my life, so there you go.)  Now that I've defended their honor, it's time for the five reasons why you're reading this post...

#5 "JOY AND PAIN" (Joy and Pain, Capitol, 1980).  So at that aforementioned concert, Frankie Beverly brought out what I believe may have been the original drum machine that housed the drum pattern for "Joy and Pain".  I mean, this thing was a monstrosity.  When that beat dropped though, the crowd immediately rose to its feet and started jammin' because it just has one of those infectious grooves.  I was quickly reminded of how much I love this song and would love it even more after that scene, which was the most memorable moment of that show.  As far as the song goes, it felt very experimental for them along the lines of "Family Affair" for Sly & The Family Stone because it was one of the first songs in their catalog to primarily use a drum machine.  As a music maker of today's era that is largely predicated on drum machines and programming, I appreciate their willingness to try something new and it made a classic in the process.  Other than just how beautifully the music is laid out with strategic melodic splashes, Frankie Beverly just knows how to write a relatable song.  Aside from popularizing the saying "if it ain't one thing, it's another" in Black culture for my generation, so many folks can identify these words:

Remember when you first found love how it felt so good/Kind that last forever more, so you thought it would/Suddenly the things you see got you hurt so bad/How come the things that make us happy make us sad...

This was one of the first lessons that I received as a child about the bittersweet reality of love and life.  As much as we'd love to just have joy all of the time, pain is what makes us appreciate that joy even more.  Not only can you not have one without the other, but like sunshine and rain, they're absolutely necessary.  Mom and Dad may have drilled that in our heads as kids, but Maze reinforced it.  Ah, the power of good music...

#4 "BEFORE I LET GO" (Live in New Orleans, Capitol, 1981).  Truth be told, I didn't love this song that much as a kid. Don't get me wrong...I liked it enough to never skip it, but I was more of a "Happy Feelin's" or "Joy and Pain" fan at the time.  However, hearing "Before I Let Go" at weddings, family reunions and parties is what brought on the undying love for it.  When you hear the "redux" version (the version where the link takes you, not the shorter album version) and those unmistakable congas and hi-hats roll in, it's hard to stay seated for very long.  I mean, who doesn't get excited to sing "WHOA-OOH-OHHH-HOOOO" once the beat drops, "you make me happy" in the first verse or scream at the top of their lungs when Frankie sings at the end of the bridge, "BEFORE I LET YOU GOOOOOOOOOOOO" and care very little if they sound a mess when they do?!?!  Since I got back into deejaying in 2013 and did my first wedding, this has always been my "you ain't gotta go home but you gotta get the heck outta here" song because nothing else will send you on your merry way better than "Before I Let Go"; it's just one of the best feel good songs ever made.  Hence, I do not back down from what I said: if you're Black and you neither know the words to this song nor sing along with it as if you are Frankie Beverly himself nor party your tail off when the beat comes on, then just turn in your card immediately.  We will gladly give that to Nick Jonas or Gary Owen...

#3 "I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH" (We Are One, Capitol, 1983).  Whether it's riding along the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, cruising down the West Side Highway in Manhattan or headed home on a Saturday evening on the Capital Beltway, "I Love You Too Much" epitomizes that feeling of turning on The Original Quiet Storm on a warm, summer evening as the sun is slowly setting and just vibin' all the way out, slim.  In fact, it's such an integral part of my annual Maze summertime cruise around the city that not hearing it makes the entire experience utterly pointless.  I take my music experiences that seriously.  Now for a "Van Dork Street Chronicles" moment (which is also a shameless plug for yet another new post series): I can often listen to a song and tell you what year a song may have been recorded based upon the types of keyboards and synths being used or the audio quality of the recording.  With that said, everything about this song gives me 1983; between the guitar, keyboard and synth arrangements, there was a melodic smoothness to this song that totally captured one of my favorite years in music.  Lyrically, Beverly pens yet another song of familiarity in just the first minute or so:

What is this feeling, can't eat a bite/Work 'til I'm tired, can't sleep at night/Since I have met you, I can't do without your touch/I just love you much too much/Maybe I'm jealous, can't help myself/Don't like to see you with anyone else/Since I've been with you, I can't seem to get enough/I just love you much too much...

Then when the music mellows and the drums smooth out toward the end of the song and he sings "there's nothing that I'm doing the way I used to", I can't even begin to describe what that part does to me.  Whatever smoking a cigarette feels like after smoking some of that loud, that's what it feels like by the 4:32 mark.  High...maximized...yeah buddy...

#2 "I NEED YOU" (Golden Time of Day, Capitol, 1978).  If I can't say anything kind about 50 Cent right about now--and given the news about how he recently spoke to his son and a questionable picture of him and Donald Trump floating around, there's not a lot nice for me to say--then I give the dude credit for picking superior production for the first few years of his rap career.  When he released the B-Money "B$"-produced "Hustler's Ambition" off of the Get Rich or Die Tryin' movie soundtrack, he won simply because he rapped over a song sampling my favorite band of all time--something that I don't hear a lot of hip-hop producers do.  So when I purchased the Golden Time of Day album in 2008 and heard the original sample in its entirety, I immediately felt cheated that I hadn't treated myself to it much sooner.  Let me tell it, it's their absolute best display of musicianship in their entire catalog on one of their best albums.  It's one of the funkiest, most gangsta introductions in not only a Maze song, but in any song ever made.  Add in Frankie's soulful delivery outlining the bare necessity that a woman can be:

Like a person needs his soul, like the winter needs the cold/I need you/Like the fire needs the air, I won't burn unless you're there, you're there/I need you/Like a baby needs to cry, if you go, I swear I'll die/I need you/I found out about you, and I can't live without you...

Just when you think this song can't get any better than what it already is--as I personally get goosebumps every single time Frankie and the band belts out a really passionate repeat of "if you go, I swear I'll die" at about the 4:40 mark--they completely switch up the pace midway, the song takes on a new life of its own and they give a master class in groove and artistry.  Out of the previous four "Rave & Favorite Five" posts, this No. 2 might be the biggest snub of all because the music alone should easily push this into the top spot.  Nevertheless, I have to make room for...

#1 "WE ARE ONE" (We Are One, Capitol, 1983).  Are you really that surprised?!?!  It's only right: my favorite Maze song is the title track to my favorite Maze album.  It was meant to be...I mean, it's in the song title for crying out loud!  Seriously though, when I think of Maze & Frankie Beverly songs that are an inseparable part of my childhood and my life since then, nothing can top "We Are One".  I have a special connection with songs that make me nostalgic regarding times when my mother, my father, my brother and I lived under the same roof, and this song makes me think of passing the Pepsi-Cola plant in Cheverly, Maryland while riding along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway as we came from whatever adventurous journey.  (Point of order: it didn't matter if we went up the street to the Exxon or took a trip to Hyattsville to visit somebody who my dad would probably ask me if I remembered and I'd give the perfunctory "no" response, every car ride was an adventurous journey to me.)  Now as an adult, it always seems like I subconsciously play this song around that same point and it immediately returns me to that time.  

So why does this top the list, especially after I just gushed over "I Need You"?  Here's an analogy to illustrate..."I Need You" is like any really good or great Nas album: no matter how dope it is, I still have to be in the mood to listen to it.  Conversely, "We Are One" is like any really good or great Jay-Z album: I'm always game for it.  Musically, the entire band does the do, but Ron Smith's funky guitar licks give this classic its character.  I've also always looked forward to the midway point and Sam Porter's minute-long organ solo, providing even more soulful integrity.  Lyrically, it's Frankie per his usual adeptness at speaking with profound simplicity, particularly here in what has always been my favorite series of lyrics:

Sometimes I feel that we try and make each other sad...I don't know why/Things we do, how we make each other feel so bad/We've got so much, we could all be having so much fun/We are one...

Whether purposely or inadvertently, we've all done things to make our friendships, romantic relationships and family bonds difficult.  However, it's as simple as setting the drama aside to revel in the most enjoyable parts of love and life.  Nothing over the top about that, but it's all about delivery and only Frankie could sing that lyric like that--much like any of his lyrics--and make it stick.


So now that we've come to the end of my favorite R&B bands, I know that there are a bunch of you Maze fans out there.  Please don't hesitate to comment with your favorite songs or if you've been to a concert like me, let me know if the experience was as awesome to you as it was to me.  Please make sure you return next week as I unveil a new "Rave & Favorite Five"...I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I promise that you all will be the second, third, fourth and fifth to know!