My blog today is about Anita Baker's amazing second CD "Rapture". I've noticed a trend for many of my Greatest CDs of All-Time blogs. Many times these blogs seem to be about artists who peaked with a classic first CD and then never had the same impact. Anita Baker is the exception to that rule, her first CD was 1983's "The Songstress", it only had modest sales. Following that CD's release Baker moved to a new label, Elektra. Three years following the release of her first CD, she released "Rapture". It's one of the smoothest CDs of the 80's. Baker's sultry voice has been on in the background while many babies were being created.
Anita Denise Baker was born on January 26th, 1958 in Toledo, Ohio. After an early tumultuous life, Baker joined a group called Chapter 8 which help launch her career. Otis Smith worked with her when she was in Chapter 8 as they were recording music for Ariola records. Eventually Arista bought out Ariola records and later dropped Chapter 8 from the label. Later Smith, who had worked with Ariola, contacted Baker asking her to record a solo album for his Beverly Glen records. After much persistence on Smith's part for Baker to record again, eventually she agreed and recorded her first solo CD "Songstress". Smith and Baker didn't find great success together, but thanks to Smith for his persistence in getting Baker to record following the break up of Chapter 8.
Here's Anita Baker singing as part of Chapter 8 on their song "I Just Wanna Be Your Girl":
Another Chapter 8 song "Ready For Your Love":
When recording "Rapture" Baker took full advantage of her Chapter 8 days, selecting former band mate Michael Powell to produce the CD. Baker had creative control so she could make this decision, but her record label wasn't happy about the selection. However looking back now it seems she made the right choice, how could have Baker made a better record with another producer?
Another theme running through these blogs is many bands have only one classic CDs in their career, if that many. "Rapture" has by far been Baker's biggest CD, selling over 8 million copies worldwide. Sadly Baker hasn't come close to matching the greatness of that CD. In 1988 she released "Giving You The Best I Got", which sold 3 million copies and earned her some Grammy's and Soul Train awards. However it wasn't quite the juggernaut that "Rapture" was. In 1990 she released "Compositions" for which I don't even remember hearing about. Baker continues to release new music with little or no fanfare. She's been with Blue Note records since 2004. (Thanks to Wikipedia.org for all biographical information. Opinions are all mine.)
Back in the day I was mainly a fan of hair metal music and don't remember giving this CD a whole lot of attention. Since it was the 80s, there was a lot of great music from all genres. But I'm not going to try and kid you, this CD was an acquired taste for me. In the mid-80s MTV was relevant and showed mainly music videos. After hearing a good song, eventually it would hook into your memory. I would catch myself singing a song that I wasn't a big fan of and liking that song more. Eventually I gained an appreciation for that song and many times checked out the entire CD. It took a few years but eventually I realized how great of a CD "Rapture" is. As I grow older I appreciate it even more.
Although the brunt of her impact was mostly with "Rapture", thanks to Anita for making the 80s just a bit more classy. Now here's Baker's amazing "Rapture" in all it's glory.
If you want to check out some of her other music, this is her greatest hits collection. From 2002 this is "The Very Best of Anita Baker Sweet Love":
1) "Sweet Love": (From the opening notes of this lovely song some could probably see that this might be a great CD.)
"Sweet Love" (Live):
2) "You Bring Me Joy":
3) "Caught Up In The Rapture":
4) "Been So Long":
5) "Mystery":
"Mystery" (Live):
6) "No One In The World":
7) "Same Old Love (365 Days A Week)":
"Same Old Love (365 Days A Week)" (Live):
8) "Watch Your Step":
Although "Rapture" by far was her best and best selling CD, Baker did have other great songs. Here are a couple others.
"Giving You The Best That I Got":
"No More Tears":
Anita Baker hasn't received much attention lately, but she did receive attention for the below video. I'm not sure what was wrong with her that June 2010 day, but she massacred the national anthem. She didn't even appear to notice how much she struggled that day.
I'm sure she just had a cold or something and I hope she's back to singing that song with great skill.
themusicaddict
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