life imitates art

this film is about a band otherwise known as 'the group' (EW&F) who constantly gets snubbed in the music industry by a virtual no name act called the Pages (undoubtedly a knock off of the hit group 'The Carpenters').
It appears the 'Group' can't understand why they're constantly getting ignored by the establishment when everyone else is telling them they're the greatest band in town. What they'll end up learning (while yearning) however is quite simple: "That's the way of the World"..

The soundtrack from the film by Earth Wind and Fire is possibly one of the greatest albums in the history of R&B in my opinion. Certainly one of the most important and influential in the history of Black music. Hell I can remember as a teenager reading a review of ANOTHER ARTIST's album and the reviewer abruptly changed gears in mid review by referencing this album saying (or something to the effect:) "..and we all know that's the best music out there" (ref: 'Players' magazine circa 1974..-hey I said I was a teenager!)...a reference standard indeed. I'd put 'Spirit' and 'Gratitude' in the top 50 as most influential as well. Now I've always felt black artist's always got the short end of the stick back in the day since their music was usually limited to 'black radio' stations. I mean think about it, Brittney Spears has sold over 80 million albums in 3 years by the time she was 19!..can you honestly believe her songs will be played 30 years from now? By contrast, I hear at least 10 different songs a day on the radio by EW&F!
But this album ladies and gentlemen was a bona fide 'cross-over' meaning it played on just about every station on the FM dial (with the exception of Country). I remember even hearing it on album oriented rock stations, evidence the college crowd was listening as well. And TRUST ME, you didn't hear a lot of black groups on Album oriented rock stations!

Not only was the music ground breaking (which spawned a whole slew of sound alike 'funk' bands), but more importantly 'the message' they put forth in their music. Previously they told us: "Keep your head, to the sky", "We're the people, of the Mighty, Mighty people, of the Sun" and of course: "You're a shining star, no matter who you are.." These are words I wanted to hear as a black youth back in 1974,..NEEDED to hear.. so much in fact I quit listening to album oriented rock and rock and roll overnight and became a lifelong fan.
When EW&F released this landmark album we were all anxiously awaiting for the film to be released. But to our dismay it never happened. Thankfully it has finally been released on DVD with a superb audio commentary by Ralph Johnson and Verdine White. I picked mine up online for dirt cheap. Watching EW&F perform (and hearing Maurice White say 'Man, you a Jiiiive turkey!') are well worth the price of admission.

Yet their appearances in this film are waaaay too brief; merely cameo's if you will.
Most of their hits are well represented albeit in instrumental form ('Shining Star' and 'happy feeling' have brief vocal accompaniment).
Kind of makes you wonder exactly which target audience Sig Shore was trying to attract. Oh, there's a scene of them performing Happy feeling 'live' at a ROLLER RINK of all places..they would later sell out stadiums in real life.

One irony of this film is of course 'the group' (Earth Wind and Fire) became a huge, super group in real life, So big in fact; Sig Shore himself probably couldn't afford to have them return for re-edits to make this film worthy for a re-release back then!

Second irony: would EW&F have gotten as big as they were had it not been for the film and match up with the amazing Charles Stephney whether direct or indirect? (we all know Maurice was the genius behind EW&F but he's been noted as saying Charles was the 'coach' whilst he was the quarterback).


Ok, so here we are; Multiple platinum and gold albums later, a slew of grammy's, a change in the landscape of R&B, the most influential bassist in the history of R&B, and last but not least: industry respect, which now brings us to our:

Third and final irony: (and hardest IMO, or the 'life imitates art' aspect) did EW&F finally find out 'That's the way of the World' when they essentially 'sold out' to the suits and the industry when disco rolled around? What happened to the 'message' when it was replaced with 'boogie wonderland', got to get you into my life, et al? To me it was all downhill after the 'I am' album..

To me, for every new 'pop' fan they captured, an untold number of die hard fans felt alienated; abandoned..yet even THOSE fans stayed on hoping the next album would be a return to their roots. Sadly it never came. Sure, hits like 'September' came along albeit attached to a greatest hits album. Everything thereafter as far as I'm concerned was 'pop art' although 'after the love is gone' is an exception.

But in all honesty; and unlike a lot of other acts, they didn't sell out to GET on top of the pop charts...instead they got on the old fashioned way..THEY EARNED IT! They were welcomed and accepted..and rightfully so, the music was superb!
The trick is 'staying' on it...not so easy in the world of pop music. And so the vicious cycle continues...

But there are exceptions. Take the title track: 'that's the way of the World'. Here Maurice White could've written about anything, and given the nature of the film's script, he could've easily taken a negative approach to the lyrics.

Instead he wrote a masterpiece..:

"we come together on this special day, sing our message loud and clear. Looking back we’ve touched on sorrowful days Future pass, they disappear
You will find peace of mind If you look way down in your heart and soul
Don’t hesitate ‘cause the world seems cold
Stay young at heart ‘cause you’re never (never, never, ..) old at heart

That’s the way of the world


But I digress... Listen, I know these guy's have to eat, they have families too. Hell, why NOT make a buck or two? And besides; didn't they give us 5 or 6 albums of pure enjoyment? And furthermore, if you didn't get the 'message' after 6 years, brother, you probably ain't gonna 'git it' by now! Not to mention the message from another dozen or so sources such as the Emotions, Denise Williams, Ramsey Lewis, Pockets...add dozens more through the 'ripple effect' caused by their influence on other groups..
I think this is why we all gave these brothers a well deserved pass in that regard (as well as others ie: Kool & the gang, the Commodores etc.,).
And I guess that's why they call it 'the business' too... It's easy for one to sit back and criticise decisions while not really knowing what goes on in music board rooms as depicted in this film..

And speaking of this film; this was supposed to be a movie review, not a group review! So..
Some good studio recording techniques shown; Harvey K is great, vintage EW&F footage in this movie..otherwise (and unfortunately) not much else.

Anyway, Thank you EW&F for the amazing journey you've taken us on (and back again)...!