R&B-Soul ensemble Lucy Pearl and their debut single ‘Dance Tonight’ serve as this week’s From The Vault pick.
Comprised of the great Raphael Saadiq, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and funky diva Dawn Robinson, the trio were somewhat of a super-group, having been part of Tony! Toni! Toné!, A Tribe Called Quest and En Vogue respectively. (Neo-Soul pioneer D’Angelo was intended to be part of the line-up but such plans fell through when he decided to concentrate on finishing his own record.)
Lifted from their eponymous album, ‘Dance’ was released during the Spring of 2000 and was hailed by critics who raved about its lush production and noted an incredible vocal chemistry between Saadiq and Robinson.
And yet, commercially, this piece of R&B-Soul only managed to reach the lower tier of the Top 40 (#36). A respectable feat for a new band you’d say; only this song had (and still has #1 inked all over it) and was an edible anthesis to the Bubblegum-Pop that was flooding the airwaves at that time… and stays superior to most of the fast-food pop that is topping iTunes today.
Still, justice was soemwhat served when the cut was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2001 in the Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group or a Duo category.
From its vintage sets and an overall ‘zen’ vibe, the groove’s accompanying video is a perfect fit, bringing an already shy-high track to even higher grounds.
With the likes of Nas & Damian Marley, The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye) and Duck Sauce (Armand Van Helden & A-Trak) killing in more ways than one the charts and stages of the world, it seems the music industry is slowly re-embracing the idea of supergroups like Lucy Pearl. Leading us to ask you…
Which artists would you put together in a supergroup?