Let's Groove

"Let's Groove," produced by Earth Wind & Fire's eternal lead man Maurice White, was the last Top 10 Billboard hit for the group and their second-to-last appearance in the Billboard Top 40. This is also right at the end of their "classic" period, before they went on an eight-year hiatus. The song is about losing yourself in the music, which in the hands of Maurice White is a more spiritual message than you might think. The groove can take you to a place of positivity and presence, and you can find it right on the dance floor. Allee Willis, who wrote "September" with White, told us that the chorus of that song goes "bada-ya" because White never let a lyric get in the way of a groove.

Maurice White was very good at adapting the Earth, Wind & Fire sound to changing times, making them one of the few bands that was successful before, during, and after the disco era. White was going after a big audience with this song, and he found it. Shortly after it was released, he explained to NME: "It's really just knowing the feelings and fundamentals involved in producing a hit. Just like writing a story. It's not less honest than a piece of jazz. Take the new record, 'Lets Groove.' It's real honest. We just went in and done it - a natural giving thing. Just saying, Hey man, enjoy this with me. Share this with us."

That synthesized voice sound was created using a device called a vocoder, which predates Auto-Tune by decades. A year earlier, Roger Troutman and his band Zapp had an R&B hit with "More Bounce To The Ounce," which used a talkbox to produce a similar sound. Other hits to use it include "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra and "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen.