When James Brown entered the US R&B chart on December 11, 1976 with “Bodyheat (Part 1),” the infectious uptempo quantity turned, virtually mind-bogglingly, his ninety fifth tune to hit that countdown. The observe additionally signaled that the Godfather of Soul was going to fulfill the approaching disco period head-on, with a subtly up to date groove that helped it flip right into a No. 13 soul hit in early 1977.
“Bodyheat” didn’t cross over to the Sizzling 100 till the tip of February 1977, when it turned his 92nd entry on that chart. However its failure to climb greater than No. 88 was itself an indication that Mr. Brown’s unbelievable, long-running sovereignty was not past query. He wouldn’t seem on the pop chart once more till the revitalizing smash “Living In America” virtually 9 years later. In between, there have been simply two additional Prime 20 R&B hits, with “Give Me Some Skin” (that includes the J.B.s) in 1977 and “It’s Too Funky In Here” in 1979.
The late 1976 hit, on Polydor, got here from an album additionally referred to as Bodyheat, which adopted in December and have become his forty second to succeed in the R&B LP itemizing, with a No.20 peak. The “Bodyheat” single made the Prime 40 within the UK the place, regardless of widespread respect for his preeminence as a soul and dance pioneer, his chart presence had all the time been surprisingly meager: it was solely his seventh single to make the bestsellers there in any respect.
Take heed to the most effective of James Brown on Apple Music and Spotify.
The Bodyheat album contained another R&B Prime 40 entry, “Kiss In ’77” and, amongst its different new materials, included the Godfather’s pleasing, uptempo model of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s mid-Sixties straightforward listening pop traditional, “What The World Needs Now Is Love.” There was additionally a minimum of one new instance of the kind of aspirational, social-conscious lyrics that Mr. Brown had develop into so related to, within the tune “Wake Up And Give Yourself A Chance To Live.”
Purchase or stream “Bodyheat” on the album of the identical identify.
