Given his superior talents, David Foster became a fixture on all the Quincy Jones’ productions released between 1978 and 1983. The Hitman co-wrote, arranged and/or played on chart-toppers like Off The Wall and Thriller by the late Michael Jackson (1958-2009), Q’s own The Dude, Patti Austin’s Every Home Should Have One, the late James Ingram’s (1952-2019) debut album It’s Your Night, The Brothers Johnson’s Blam and the late Donna Summer’s (1948-2012) self-titled release.

George Benson’s milestone record, Give Me The Night, was released August 9, 1980. Give Me The Night had Foster’s name in the liner notes. The Canadian Wizard arranged two tracks for that record, “Midnight Love Affair,” written by “Hawk” Wolinski of Rufus and Chaka fame, and the pick for this week, the breezy and irresistible “Love x Love.”

Written by the late, great composer Rod Temperton (1949-2016), “Love x Love” was a gorgeous mid-tempo that was the second single off Give Me The Night after the huge success of the title-track. The personnel on the song included giants like Greg Phillinganes on keyboards, John Robinson on drums plus Jerry Hey on trumpet and horn arrangements. Foster and Hey styled the silky strings while Temperton crafted the spectacular instrumental and vocal tracks. George Benson was in his prime and delivered one masterful performance after another on the entire album. His vocals and guitar dominate Give Me The Night by verging on perfection. The complete creation was one of Jones’ best productions ever. “Love x Love” became a solid top ten hit in the UK and was in the top ten on Billboard’s Hot Black Singles. For some unknown reason, “Love x Love” didn’t perform well on Billboard’s Hot 100 and only reached #61. Its parent album was quickly certified platinum. Give Me The Night was a crossover hit by reaching the top position on the Jazz, Soul and Pop charts.

Listen

• Lead Vocals & Guitar: George Benson
• Keyboards: Greg Phillinganes
• Bass: Abraham Laboriel & Louis Johnson
• Drums: John Robinson
• Percussion: Paulinho da Costa
• Trumpet: Jerry Hey
• Saxophones: Larry Williams & Kim Hutchcroft
• Background Vocals: Diva Gray, Jim Gilstrap, Jocelyn Allen, Patti Austin & Tom Bahler

• Strings Arranged by David Foster & Jerry Hey
• Horns Arranged by Jerry Hey

Lyrics

Remember the days when we never had a dime
And our dreams seemed a million miles away
But we made it baby
Facin’ the bad times with a smile
Here we are and we’re growin’ stronger day by day

Cause we got love times love
It’s always there for us to share
And girl it sure feels good to know
You’re by my side
Cause we’re just two high hearts
That beat as one forever on
With love times love to keep us satisfied every night

So my lady whisper the words I love to hear
Cuddle up and I’ll make you feel all right
Cause I need you baby to carry me on through all the years
So come on baby close the door and dim the lights

Cause we got love times love
It’s always there for us to share
And girl it sure feels good to know
You’re by my side
Cause we’re just two high hearts
That beat as one forever on
With love times love to keep us satisfied every night

And there ain’t no one in this world tonight
Can change my point of view
So come on girl and hold me tight
The way you always do with love times me and you

Cause we got love times love
It’s always there for us to share
And girl it sure feels good to know
You’re by my side
Cause we’re just two high hearts
That beat as one forever on
With love times love to keep us satisfied every night

written by Rod Temperton

“Living In The Streets” was an irresistible dance tune included in Aretha Franklin’s 1981 album “Love All The Hurt Away.” Written by hit pop/R&B songwriter Rod Temperton, this catchy song and the entire album was produced by the legendary Arif Mardin. “Living In The Streets” presented a deluxe instrumental track arranged by Temperton with Jerry Hey and delivered by some of the most amazing musicians of that era.

There were the superb talents of the late Jeff Porcaro and David Williams on drums and guitar respectively, Louis Johnson on bass, Greg Phillinganes on synths and David Foster on the electric piano. In those days, Foster was a fixture on Mardin’s productions and considered the Turkish-born music-maker one of his mentors. Given the noteworthy caliber of this composition and the song’s magnificent musical flavor, the legendary “Queen Of Soul” only had to let her fantastic voice fly high to create an up-tempo moment that sounds as fresh today as it did more than thirty years ago. “Living In The Streets” was released as a single early in 1982. It was backed up by another beautiful song entitled “There’s A Star For Everyone,” a tender ballad co-written by master songwriters Allee Willis, David Lasley and Don Yowell. Again, Aretha owns that song with her spectacular voice and the benefit of Mardin’s top-notch production and arrangement.

Listen

[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/livin_in_the_streets.mp3|titles=Living In The Streets|artists=Aretha Franklin]

Drums: Jeff Porcaro
Bass: Louis Johnson
Guitar: David Williams
Electric Piano: David Foster
Synthesizer & Synthesizer Solo: Greg Phillinganes
Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
Background Vocals: Aretha Franklin, Mark Stevens & Marcy Levy

Rhythm & Background vocals Arranged by Rod Temperton
Brass & Strings Arranged by Jerry Hey & Rod Temperton

Produced by Arif Mardin

Lyrics

People workin’ night and day
You need to take some time out to get away
Life is just a one way ride
There ain’t no second chance that you can try

Can’t you see all the fun is free?
So, come on out we’re livin’ in the streets tonight

Yeah, I know you sure feelin’ low
It’s time to get on up and steal the show
Leave your worries all behind
You’ve got to make your smile the bottom line

Can’t you see all the fun is free?
So, come on out we’re livin’ in the streets tonight

Do just what you want to do, you know that you can try
Get the groove and take it to the sky, here on dancin’ night

Can’t you see all the fun is free?
So, come on out we’re livin’ in the streets tonight

Do just what you want to do, let no one pull you down
Join the party, people let it last, all night to party

Spread the feelin’ through the land
We’ve got to share this action while we can
No more talkin’, no more chat
We’re gonna make this evenin’ come alive

Can’t you see all the fun is free?
So, come on out we’re livin’ in the streets tonight
Livin’ in the streets tonight, livin’ in the streets tonight

Livin’ in the streets tonight
Come on out, we’ll smoke this town together
Livin’ in the streets tonight
Come on out, we’ll smoke this town together

Livin’ in the streets tonight
Come on out, we’ll smoke this town together
Livin’ in the streets tonight
Come on out, we’ll smoke this town together

Livin’ in the streets tonight
Come on, out we’ll smoke this town together