On this day in music history: December 15, 1979 - Do You Love What You Feel by Rufus & Chaka Khan hits #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart for 3 weeks, peaking at #5 on the Club Play chart, also peaking at #30 on the Hot 100 on February 2, 1980. Written by David Hawk Wolinski, it is the fourth R&B chart topper for the Chicago, IL R&B/Funk band. Following her guest appearance on Quincy Jones number one R&B hit Stuff Like That the previous year, the producer will sign on to work with Rufus on their eighth album Masterjam. Sessions will get underway at Westlake Audio in Hollywood, CA in mid 1979 just as Jones is completing work on Michael Jacksons Off The Wall. During the sessions for the song, Wolinski and Jones will have a disagreement over the songs bridge that will nearly lead to Hawk withdrawing the song from the album. Eventually all is worked out in the end with the song being recorded as Wolinski intended it. Released as a single in late September of 1979, Do You Love What You Feel an immediate smash on R&B radio and on dance floors around the world. The song will also be issued as a longer extended version (remixed by engineer Bruce Swedien) that is released in the US only as a promotional 12 to radio and club DJs (with original copies becoming sought after collectors items), but will see a commercial release in the UK. The success of Do You Love What You Feel will send their album Masterjam to number one on the Billboard R&B album chart (#14 Pop), driving its sales to Gold status in the US.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 02:00:07 +0000