SATURDAY'S SINGLES : THE MAIN INGREDIENT and EURYTHMICS

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Good morning gang and welcome back to the return of Saturday's Singles, a Birthday edition. First up on our calendar of cake is New York born vocalist, Luther Simmons, on what would have been his 81st. He was born September 9, 1942 and is best known as an original member of the soul and funk trio, The Main Ingredient. The group got their start in 1964 as a trio called the Poets, consisting of Donald McPherson (July 9, 1941 – July 3, 1971), Luther Simmons Jr. (September 9, 1942 – May 9, 2016), and Panama-born Tony Silvester (October 7, 1941 – November 26, 2006. After changing their name to the Insiders and signed with RCA. A couple of singles later they changed their name yet again to The Main Ingredient, after seeing the phrase on a bottle of Coca-Cola. In 1971 lead singer Don McPherson died suddenly with leukemia and the remaining members recruited Cuba Gooding Sr. to fill the void. Their first single with him is our first single of the day.  "Everybody Plays the Fool" was written by J. R. Bailey, Rudy Clark and Ken Williams and released  August 1972 on RCA records.  It was produced by Luther Simmons and Tony Silvester and hailed from the group's 4th studio album, Bitter Sweet. It reached #44 in Australia, #25 on the  Adult Contemporary charts, #6 in Canada, #3 on the Hot 100, #2 on the R&B charts, and #1 on the Cash Box. It's B-side is "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me?)", from the same LP. This lineup would release 5 more albums before disbanding. Tony Silvester died from multiple myeloma on November 26, 2006, at the age of 65,  Luther Simmons May 9, 2016, at the age of 74, also from cancer and Cuba Gooding Sr. was found dead in his car on April 20, 2017. An autopsy revealed he died of natural causes, at age 72. 

Cuba Gooding Sr. - lead vocals

Tony Silvester - vocals

Luther Simmons - vocals

Bert De Coteaux - arranger, conductor
Buzz Willis - production supervisor

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Our second Birthday wish goes out to English musician, songwriter and record producer, Dave Stewart, best known as one half of the pop duo, the Eurythmics. Happy 71st Birthday Dave ! He was born in 1952 in Sunderland, England. In high school he secured a recording contract for his  folk-rock band Longdancer,  on Elton John's label, The Rocket Record Company, but did not achieve commercial success. In 1976 he was introduced to Annie Lennox and with  Peet Coombes they released a single as The Catch. Later they changed their name to The Tourists  and had a hit with the cover of  Dusty Springfield' "I Only Want to Be with You". In 1977 Lennox and Stewart became romantically involved. By 1980 The Tourists split up and so did the couple but they continued to work together now as the Eurythmics. Their first LP, In the Garden, was released in 1981 with little fanfare but their second, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), and it's title track made them a global phenomenon. That album was followed up by 1983's Touch, their first UK #1. The third single from that album, "Who's That Girl?", is our second single of the day. The tune was released June 27, 1983 on the RCA label, written by Stewart and Lennox and produced by Stewart. It peaked at #30 in the Netherlands, #28 on the Dutch Top 40, #21 on the Hot 100 and Cash Box, #20 in Australia, #19 in West Germany, #15 in Canada, #14 in Sweden and Belgium, #13 in New Zealand, #5 in Ireland, and #3 in the UK. It is b/w "Aqua" also from Touch. 

Annie Lennox – lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, flute, arrangements
David A. Stewart – guitars, keyboards, dulcimer, xylophone, backing vocals, drum sequencer, synthesiser sequencer, arrangements

Additional musicians

Dick Cuthell – trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet
Dean Garcia – bass guitar
Michael Kamen – string arrangements, string conducting
British Philharmonic Orchestra – strings

Technical

David A. Stewart – production
Jon Bavin – engineering

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