I was playing around with my USB turntable last night (because I finally got it to hook up to my main computer again without getting an error message) and pulled El DeBarge’s self-titled 1986 debut out of my collection. Despite having had the album for something close to two years, I’d never actually pulled the liner notes out and looked at them. As I perused who played what, my eyes focused on a very familiar yet somewhat unexpected name-Michael McDonald.
Wanna know which Doobie he be? Well, apparently Michael McDonald be the Doobie that sang background on a fairly good chunk of El’s maiden solo voyage, including the first single “Who’s Johnny?”. This silly (yet amazingly catchy) tune, which served as the theme for the Ally Sheedy film “Short Circuit”, made it all the way to #2 on the pop charts, becoming El’s biggest solo hit by far. Man, seeing as McD was also rocking the charts with “Sweet Freedom” as well as his guest turn on Patti LaBelle’s #1 smash “On My Own”-that dude had a hell of a busy year!
Nearly a quarter century later, two of the most distinctive voices of the modern era are still active. McDonald tours the country in between releasing mediocre covers albums (I love the guy, but back to original material, please!) while El has fought his way back from a debilitating drug addiction and is set to release his fifth studio album, “Second Chance”, next week. What do you think the chances are that they work together again? Quincy should’ve called them in to do the update of “Secret Garden” instead of putting together the piece of trash that’s on his current album.
This video SCREAMS Eighties, and thus is funny as all hell.