I got the tweet from Bobby Caldwell's own account in the late morning, and unfortunately it was bad news. The New York City-born and Miami-raised singer-songwriter passed away yesterday at the age of 71 after a few years battling illness.
Even for those who weren't dedicated Caldwell fans, his signature song "What You Won't Do For Love" from September 1978 will most likely ring a bell since it's been covered many times by many singers over the decades. In fact, this isn't the first time that "What You Won't Do For Love" has come onto "Kayo Kyoku Plus"; it wasn't a Reminiscings of Youth topic since it was written back in the early years of the blog but I did want to showcase Chikuzen Sato's（佐藤竹善）version of it. Speaking of that Japan angle, Caldwell was a favourite singer over there, so much so that he had been called Mr. AOR. But not only that, he has covered a few Japanese pop tunes including one by Kazumasa Oda（小田和正）and the late 80s/early 90s aidoru duo Wink even covered one of his.
I may be repeating myself from that article into this special ROY article but this song was a beloved heavy-rotation tune on the radio when I was a kid. Being just in my pre-teens back then, I had no idea about AOR or soft rock, and I certainly wasn't aware of listeners mistakenly assuming initially that Caldwell was Black. My reaction to Caldwell and "What You Won't Do For Love" was that it made for a wonderful chemistry of singer and song. The keyboards and the horns immediately sent that ASMR for me to relax and get nostalgic. It was and it still is a masterful composition and performance of soul that resonates well into the 21st century.
All my condolences to Bobby's family, friends and fans. I may be giving this one a few spins on the table for the rest of today.
So, what was coming out as singles in September 1978?
Pink Lady -- Toumei Ningen（透明人間）
Junko Yagami -- Mizuiro no Ame (みずいろの雨）
Hiromi Go -- Hollywood Scandal （ハリウッド・スキャンダル）
That's crazy! My condolences to his family. He certainly was the gold standard of AOR. What You Wont Do for Love is possibly my favorite R&B song of all time. A childhood classic. That, Michael McDonalds' I Keep Forgettin', and Kenny Loggins' This is It was the holy trinity for me.
ReplyDeleteHi, Rocket. Yep, perhaps at that next City Pop party, a playing of this one could be done in tribute. It's ironic that "What You Won't Do For Love" was released in the same month as one of my first City Pop songs by Junko Yagami.
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