Those who fail to learn their history are doomed to repeat it. OK, this topic is not so extreme, but you get the point.
In a recent debate over measuring certain artists against each other, I began to realize that often times these arguments are based on one's generation. Those who feel a sense of nostalgia over a certain genre, artist tend to hold that feeling very close to them. It reminds them of where they were when they heard a certain song on the radio or first watched a music video (e.g. Michael Jackson's Motown 25 performance and/or Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance).
This brings me to my original intention of this blog: recognition. With all due respect to Dr. Dre and Kanye West, arguably the most influential producers of the past 30 years have been Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (pictured). The former members of The Time, Jam and Lewis were no doubt greatly influenced by the group's all-seeing maestro, Prince. What Gamble and Huff were to the 70s (the innovators of the "Philly Soul" sound), Jam and Lewis were to the 80s. Some purists looked down on their emphasis on electronics, but nonetheless, their fingerprints were all over some of the best songs of the decade.
Now as for Teddy Riley, there are few producers/songwriters that are as overlooked as the creative genius behind New Jack Swing. An often forgotten genre/time, it can be credited with revolutionizing modern R&B music. If you name a modern R&B star (Beyonce, Usher, etc), their sound is the new generation of New Jack; urban beats with an ode to hip hop. For a quick description of the New Jack era, one would only need to check the discography of groups like Guy and New Edition and artists like R.Kelly and Mary J. Blige, the Queen of Hip Hop Soul (a derivative of New Jack Swing).
Those who think P-Diddy invented the remix should know when he was Sean Combs and under the wing of Andre Harrell at Uptown Records, Puffy took his cues from the New Jack movement that he heard on every urban radio station. When the elements of solid, upbeat rhythms meet easy to remember choruses/bridges then you have the perfect marriage of music. Riley was able to maximize on the trends of the time and put it into musical form.
So spare a thought to Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis in the musical history of our music.
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