Luther Vandross: C/D, S/D

What do people think of his version of "A House Is Not a Home"?

I think "Creepin'" is kind of awesome.

That's a totally banal statement I guess but true just the same.

That song was inescapable in my childhood.

Yes, he's shmaltz, and yes he hasn't always got good material to work with, and yes, his band is a often a single Casio keyboard as it is a proper one, but in spite of that : I love him. I love his voice. I love his delivery -- his songs have always struck me as the most heart-felt shmaltz ever. There is something about the way he works a tune that seems so natural in spite of everything, and so charming.

When I hear all those "crooners-on-steroids" who have emerged since him, who take his scatting and delivery styles and make them ten times more showy and labored, I miss Luther even more. Because the thing about Luther is that generally, he knows what a song needs, and knows when to leave it alone, or when to give it some extra "umph". Not so with the singers who idolize him.

The songs : Luther's version of "A House Is Not A Home" is one of the sweetest, warmest things I've ever heard, and something that I reach for instinctively whenever I am feeling sad. It's an excellent song to begin with, but in his hands, it has lightness, gentleness, and "smile" quality (I don't know how else to describe it) that cheers me up immensely. This is the song to listen to if you are only going to listen to one song of his, and so much better if you listen with the lights low.

The thing that's even more remarkable about my Luther infatuation is that I first encountered him when I was deep in my Sonic Youth/alt-rock phase, so it's remarkable that Luther's music even registered on me! I guess, in retrospect, it was like a palate-cleanser -- something to perk me up after all the arty-angst of the other bands I was listening to then. And though I hid his Greatest hits collection in the back of my album pile so my alt-music-friends wouldn't see it, Luther was not forgotten, and I continued to pull that album out and listen to it regularly (in private).

Eventually though, I came clean and admitted to everyone that, yes, I was a Luther fan, and most of my friends took the news well -- though it did amuse them all at first -- and that's why now I'm being paged to threads like this by those same friends. (Thanks Ned!) :)

Good news for the person who lost his Luther greatest hits comp -- a new one has been reissued, with a better track-listing too -- one that Luther chose himself. I believe it's called "the Ultimate", and you can find it in any major record store. I'm tempted to pick it up too, even though I have most of the songs in other formats already.

As for songs of his that I love : "House Is Not A Home", "Here and Now", "Never to Much", "Any Love" , "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "If Only For One Night" and his latest "Dance With My Father", which is a real tear-jerker in light of what's happened to Luther health-wise.

-- amateurist (amateuris...), July 18th, 2003.

god that video is great. does anyone else like that video?

p.s. i have no memory of starting this thread!

The man can turn a single good note into twenty-four great ones.
-- My name is Kenny (bogususe...), October 23rd, 2004 1:37 PM. (later)

I'll have to get friend Stripey over here on Monday, she'll have much positive to say. I know comparatively little of his work but what I do is pretty damned good.
-- Ned Raggett (ne...), October 23rd, 2004 1:42 PM. (later)

This has been done, I believe, but classic....if only for "Give Me the Reason".
And compairing Luther Vandross to Billy Ocean is like comparing Iggy Pop to Good Charlotte.
-- Alex in NYC (vassife...), October 23rd, 2004 3:56 PM. (later)

classic. never too much is close to perfect.
-- bulbs (michaelparkinso...), October 23rd, 2004 4:07 PM. (later)

Luther Vandross: Skinny or Huge?
-- noodle vague (noodle_vagu...), October 23rd, 2004 4:35 PM. (later)

I own a 2CD comp, and the single person whose taste in R&B I respect the most is a big fan, but I don't really "get" him. Can someone plaese provide one of those eye-opening semi-essays that pop up every now and then on CoD threads and make the greatness of the artist being discussed painfully apparent?
-- Daniel_Rf (filosofiaebolacha...), October 23rd, 2004 4:51 PM. (later)

Heheh, trust me Daniel, Stripey will do the job there. :-)
-- Ned Raggett (ne...), October 24th, 2004 6:36 PM. (later)

Luther Vandross: Skinny or Huge?
He loves Oprah and wants to be more like her.

Okay, enough sarcasm.
And compairing Luther Vandross to Billy Ocean is like comparing Iggy Pop to Good Charlotte.
Oh, boo. Billy Ocean doesn't suck. He's not as great as Vandross (as far as I can tell) but he doesn't suck.
-- Lord Custos Epsilon (L.Custo...), October 24th, 2004 7:51 PM. (later)

b-b-but...billy ocean?
-- bulbs (michaelparkinso...), October 24th, 2004 8:13 PM. (later)

He's the first Vandross wannabe that popped into my head.
And considering the wide (and perverse) taste of ILx, I was waiting for somebody to jump in with "Billy Ocean is the greatest musician since Beethoven and Vandross is a talentless hack" kind of insanity.
Or even worse "billy 0c34n is grebt u r all gay!" rhetoric from some random Billy Ocean fan club message board member.
-- Lord Custos Epsilon (L.Custo...), October 24th, 2004 8:15 PM. (later)

he's pretty awesome isn't he?

is he feeling better? he was very sick last year, if i recall.

"the other side of the world" is great

Revived, cuz I'm listneing to the first Change album and the absolutely spectacular "Searching." That low bass synth throb -- yum!

yeah deej hipped me to that last week, I like the housey Searching remix too. Glow of Love (the song) is a stunner, happiness just leaping from his chest. stripey so otm, he gives you so much to connect to even despite the material at times.

Yeah, last year I wrote a little something postulating that Lutha never topped "The Glow of Love," for the reasons you said: articulating happiness, etc. I'm rather glad he didn't write it!

one of the best disco records ever

luther said during an interview once that 'glow of love' was his favorite song that he ever recorded.

also 'angel in my pocket' is an incredible, incredible non-luther track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pgh3tlia10

janet jackson + luther doing pop house o_O :D

also 'angel in my pocket' is an incredible, incredible non-luther track

Yes! The strings-bass-drums-guitar rival peak Chic.

OPO=My Sensitivity ?

every time i go back to that change record i am unbelievably happy

yeah deej hipped me to that last week, I like the housey Searching remix too. Glow of Love (the song) is a stunner, happiness just leaping from his chest. stripey so otm, he gives you so much to connect to even despite the material at times.

-- tremendoid, Monday, September 10, 2007 9:07 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Link

just found a copy of the 12" w/ the house remix of 'searching' on it, its just got the album versions of 'glow of love' and another track (i'm spacing on it) on the flip but a good find for like 3 bucks. my usual spot in chicago was selling it for i think 12-15

also 'girls affair' is ultimate set-opener

(non-vandross related)

That first Change record has been my Discovery of the Year.

Re Lutha's solo work: get Never Too Much and Give Me The Reason. Now.

Just picked up the 12" of this one. Love, love, love early Luther:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXMh8PuLpxg

Also don't see any mention of this great Toto cover he did with Charme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Kr9qNLRRE

He has another deep album track on Busy Body called "I'll Let You Slide" that's one of my favorite Vandross tracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9tPtYwGP6c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy-XAbDqopk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDvkwavsDkY

^^^dance mix is important, but this video kinda is too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc7mfAsNao4&feature=related

luther!

Love this song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_UegmM8Q-g

Such a great song, probably my favourite song of his that isn't on the Never Too Much album. Love the Jimmy Mack reference.

Just heard "Dance with my father" this morning on an old-school r'n'b radio program playing Father's Day themed songs. Was never a big fan, but I like this tear-jerking one

^^ same response. Also: the homoerotic vibe is unmistakable.

beautiful song. lovely thread.

for once i don't hear any homoeroticism in a song about a father, what is wrong with me

i blame luther's mom. j/k

lol

The tenderness with which he describes their movements. It's hard to imagine a straight songwriter essaying this subject.

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/2025/01/03/luther-never-too-much-documentary-cnn-streaming-how-to-watch-hulu/77412395007/

Luther doc is now streaming on Hulu

Will watch. I tried listening to the Ultimate Luther Vandross compilation mentioned upthread; other than the first track (the disco-ish "Never Too Much") it all registered as "This is not the kind of thing I enjoy at all, but he's very good at it." But the story behind the work might be more interesting (to me) than the work itself.

It's an excellent doc. You haven't lived until you've heard the man sing about Geno's Pizza!

Also, the talking head choices are for the most part excellent. No Santana, no Fred Armisen, thank god.

yeah the difference is really noticeable when you watch the recent yacht rock doc. the luther doc having access to and choosing to rely heavily on his lifelong close friends makes it special. it really is able to burrow into who he was as a person as opposed to simply interrogating what he accomplished

i posted about the doc in another luther thread but i was just overall struck by what i thought i knew/understood about this man and his music as someone w/ a passing understanding of the narrative of his life/career vs how much more there was to discover. the way his legend has been told does not account for his humor and wit, the complete lovability of his personality, the elaborate regality of his performances, the depth to which he touched other people's music. the way i understood him was so reductive compared to the portrayal of the doc, which is really its main thesis

Excellent post

J0rdan reviewed the film: https://slate.com/culture/2025/01/luther-vandross-gay-documentary-never-too-much-cnn.html

unperson's comment ("This is not the kind of thing I enjoy at all, but he's very good at it") at times summarizes my own responses -- and I listen to way more R&B and hip-hop. At his most perfunctory his songs are exquisite boxes he has designed so that he refuses to enter them at the last moment; he and Marcus Miller worked together way too long. I wrote about these ambivalences a long time ago, and I've gotten over most of them. Unless his arrangements have some zip I respond to him when I can hear the anguish ("It's Over Now," "Give Me the Reason," "If Only For One Night," and my beloved "Other Side of the World") or the joy ("I'll Let You Slide," "Never Too Much," "Stop to Love," "Power of Love/Love Power," etc.).

I found it interesting that his two favorite songs are "My Sensitivity (Gets in the Way)" and "Any Love," both so gay-coded you can see the rainbows.