Earth, Wind & Fire - The colorful funk that set the '70s ablaze

In the past, the compilers of American charts have had more than a few problems cataloguing elusive black music. Rhythm and blues? Soul? Simply "black music"? We'll have to settle for a color to define the music with which Earth, Wind & Fire forced their way onto the sales charts in the second half of the Seventies. Their greatest hits have recently been collected in a new compilation from Columbia, the label that hosted the band during the defining years of their history.

Earth, Wind & Fire are cited, alongside Kool & The Gang, as the textbook example of mainstream funk. Yet one of their biggest hits, "Boogie Wonderland", still fills dancefloors during disco revivals. And their ballads, built on gospel-rooted vocal harmonies, overflow with soul.

The secret behind such a broad vision of black music lies in the long career of Maurice White, the band's undisputed leader, a lover of Egypt and of "Mother Africa" in general (as attested by the "pharaonic" album covers). A jazz drummer and later a successful producer, White formed The Alty Peppers in 1969 with his brother Verdine, who would later become Earth, Wind & Fire. But the band only truly took off in 1972, when twenty-one-year-old Philip Bailey joined the lineup with his unmistakable falsetto.

The band's music combines the soul of black music and the tenderness of soul music with flashes of electronic pop. The result is an explosive blend of sound and rhythm that took dancefloors around the world by storm. For about a decade, it was one long string of hits, like "September", "Fantasy", "After The Love Has Gone", "Let's Groove".

Then, starting in 1983, the first signs of fatigue began to show. From that point on, the group reunited only occasionally, whenever Bailey and White weren't busy with their respective solo projects, sometimes trying their hand at hip-hop with little success (the disappointing Heritage from 1990), more often shamelessly indulging in their old sound, as on In The Name Of Love in 1997.

The revival may leave some unmoved, but Earth, Wind & Fire remain a source of inspiration for hip hop and house music. It's no coincidence that the compilation bluntly titled The Ultimate Collection includes three remixes. Just a light dusting was enough to bring it up to date. The hard work had already been done.

The sporadic comebacks in 2003 with the nostalgic The Promise and, two years later, with the polished neo-soul of Illumination, only fuel regret for the sound of their golden days.

Ride the wave of great music

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