Before I met Quincy [Jones], I always felt that my voice needed some polishing up. When I was in the studio with Quincy, he said, 'Why are you stopping?' I said, 'I was trying to clear my throat.' And he said, 'Well that gruff in your throat, that's your sound, that's why you're here.' | | | | James Ingram on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," Nov. 9, 1990.
(Alice S. Hall/NBCU/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "Before I met Quincy [Jones], I always felt that my voice needed some polishing up. When I was in the studio with Quincy, he said, 'Why are you stopping?' I said, 'I was trying to clear my throat.' And he said, 'Well that gruff in your throat, that's your sound, that's why you're here.'"
| | | | | | rantnrave:// JAMES INGRAM was plucked, at the dawn of the 1980s, from a life as a background vocalist, instrumentalist and $50-a-song demo singer. He was plucked by QUINCY JONES, who heard in Ingram's husky, romantic tenor something that Ingram himself, by all accounts, had never heard. He was nudged that last 20 feet toward stardom, and he walked it without ever quite giving up the persona of a guy who could have remained 20 feet away, blending in with everyone else in the room while simultaneously elevating everyone else in the room. It's a lot harder than it sounds and he made it sound effortless. He could, and pretty much did, sing with everybody. (Is there a hit duet from the 1980s or '90s that he isn't on? No, there is not.) He could seamlessly follow Quincy Jones from Quincy's own albums, to a little MICHAEL JACKSON album called THRILLER (Quincy had a vague idea for a song to be called "P.Y.T."; Ingram went ahead and wrote it), to a little ditty called "WE ARE THE WORLD" ("Here's how highly Jones and Jackson rate James Ingram," ROLLING STONE would report; "he earned one of the ad-lib slots, getting to pump both his fists and carry the chorus to the final fade"). On his own records and on all those duets, Ingram perfected a relaxed, sexy soul that pretty much defined one end of the radio dial in the '80s. This chorus is indelible and perfect (and was written for Ingram and PATTI AUSTIN by another member of Jones' coterie, ROD TEMPERTON). His voice was seemingly everywhere, and was probably a bigger star than he himself ever became, his two Grammys, two BILLBOARD #1s and two Oscar nominations notwithstanding. He and that voice defined a particular space that QUESTLOVE, who deserves the last word here, nails in this beautiful and somewhat provocative remembrance. RIP... Oh, also: I sometimes can't tell if it's Ingram or MICHAEL MCDONALD singing. They should've formed a band called DOPPELGÄNGER... Hearts, hugs and rainbows to EMPIRE star JUSSIE SMOLLETT. Very glad to hear he's in good condition. I wish I could say the same for the country in which this happened... ROGER LYNCH exits PANDORA... BENJI ROGERS re-enters PLEDGEMUSIC, temporarily... The top programmer at RADIO DISNEY COUNTRY says he has "not actually met any of the women that say that they don't like or won't support women artists," and therefore he plays women frequently on the station. Your move, all other country programmers... HOWARD SCHULTZ once ran a record store of sorts... Oops: FRANK OCEAN says reports that his 2016 album ENDLESS will be serviced to subscription music services are "fake news." So much for the hopeful conclusion of Tuesday's rantnrave... MAROON 5 is even less interested than BILL BELICHICK in talking to the press before the SUPER BOWL... Today is the 50th anniversary of the BEATLES' last concert, on the roof of APPLE CORPS... And this year is the 50th anniversary of the founding of ECM RECORDS. The BIG EARS FESTIVAL will celebrate with some 20 concerts in Knoxville, Tenn., in March... KISS and don't make up... Good luck with that. | | | - Matty Karas, curator | | | |  | The New York Times | | The work of Jim DeRogatis and Dream Hampton on the accusations against the R&B star began years apart. Now that it seems the public is listening, they have a sense of satisfaction - and security concerns. | | | |  | Forbes | | Recent allegations against the pop icon are disturbing. But do they hold up to scrutiny? | | | |  | The Trichordist | | Per stream rates drop as streaming volume grows. YouTube's value gap is very real. This data set is isolated to the calendar year 2018 and represents a mid-sized indie label with an approximately 250+ album catalog now generating almost 1b streams annually. | | | |  | Highsnobiety | | Nardwuar, the Human Serviette, is like no other music journalist before him. We dig into why he's made such a profound impact. | | | |  | The Verge | | "Don't let the technology get in the way of your old-school values." | | | |  | Billboard | | Since its launch on Nov. 4, 2015, RDC has made women the focus of its programming. | | | |  | The Ringer | | With her debut album 'Heard It in a Past Life,' the 24-year-old NYU grad is making good on her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and asserting herself as a bold young artist. | | | |  | NME | | We spoke to Lukas Nelson about his song writing work for 'A Star is Born', touring with Neil Young and his forthcoming album release. | | | |  | ABC News (Australia) | | Each year triple j pauses, takes a breath and grabs a cultural snapshot of the previous 12 months in music -- the Hottest 100. As it has done every year since 1993, the weekend's countdown offered a glimpse at the music young Australians were loving and served as a bookmark in time for people to reminisce on and, inevitably, argue about in the future. | | | |  | The New Yorker | | "Disco Files" collects Vince Aletti's music columns from the nineteen-seventies, in which he offered a version of the disco experience premised not on mythically great nights out but on conversation and careful study of one's record collection. | | | |  | Music Business Worldwide | | Merch, hardware, A&R, crowd-funding and more offered by some impressive young companies. | | | |  | Vulture | | The artist mute button, explained. | | | |  | Glamour | | The 'Without Me' singer has gone from Internet emo kid to stadium pop star, but her rise didn't come without challenges. | | | |  | Pitchfork | | Kapil Seshasayee's "A Sacred Bore" speaks directly to other South Asians, rather than using the neutered language of mass-media representation. | | | | | Billboard | | For the past 30 years, Asbury Park was regarded to some degree as an Atlantic Ocean-adjacent wasteland: the boardwalk was tattered, the beaches were vacant and entrepreneurial ventures were impermanent. | | | |  | Mixmag | | 'Bush doofs' are no longer the psytrance-centric get-togethers they once were. | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | From Cher and Mariah Carey to Whitney Houston, here are some of the most star-spangled moments in big game history. | | | |  | Radio Survivor | | Quite a lot of shade is getting thrown at CDs in the press these days. The LA Times reports, "The compact disc era may finally be entering its hospice stage," while Rolling Stone declares, "CDs Are Dying Three Times as Fast as Vinyl Is Growing." | | | |  | Longreads | | How the songwriter's abandoned third album became two albums. | | | |  | NPR Music | | Ken Mansfield was the U.S. Manager for Apple records when the Beatles played their final gig on a rooftop in London - and one of the few people who was actually with the band to witness it. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | Patti Austin & James Ingram | | | | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2019, The REDEF Group | | |
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