K-Chuck Radio: Celebrating Earth, Wind & Fire Day

September 21 is officially Earth, Wind & Fire day, as it was declared in their classic song.

This song, to be precise.

Yep. “Do you remember … the 21st night of September…”

So on today’s K-Chuck Radio post, I want to share the major influence Earth, Wind & Fire spread upon our musical culture. Because Earth, Wind & Fire’s songs have been covered; they’ve been sampled; they’ve been pretty much poached.

Let’s start with September. First of all, you’ve got a Taylor Swift cover … who somehow moved the 21st night of September to a week later. Hmm.

But how about Earth, Wind & Fire moving that date all the way to … Christmas Day?

The rhythm track has also landed in this TLC song that incorporated segments of Bobby Hebb’s 1960’s classic “Sunny.”

Let’s go to another EW&F inspired track. EW&F leader Maurice White wrote and produced this track for EW&F’s partner group, The emotions. You’ve heard it, you love it, it’s part of 70’s oldies radio, “Best Of My Love.”

Twenty years later, Mariah Carey reinterpreted the rhythm track and created her own hit, “Emotion,” out of it.

And recently we have the Paul Russell Track “Lil Boo Thang,” which grabs the EW&F rhythm track and adds new lyrics.

And you can’t talk about Earth, Wind & Fire without mentioning the classic “Phenix Horns,” their built-in brass section that just kicked ass on every single track.

You know those horns were so strong, so so strong – to the point where Phil Collins and Genesis borrowed them over and over and over and over again.

Even when Phil Collins went solo, he leaned on EW&F’s Phenix Horns for extra punch.

Which brings us kinda full circle – where you’ve got EW&F lead vocalist Philip Bailey duetting with Phil Collins. Yes, you remember this song, too.

And then … I’m just going to leave this here, because when you’ve got one of the hottest talents on the radio today – Sabrina Carpenter – and this video basically shows her gyrating and dancing while the legends themselves are performing … well, someone needs to get their priorities straight. Or maybe that’s just me, espresso.

So anyways … Happy Earth, Wind & Fire Day on K-Chuck Radio!