# The Strange Magic of: Earth, Wind and Fire



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Surely a case of severe scheduling error on the part of someone apportioning time for various activities in a multiple-use space. Here is a small group of young women, interested in personal fitness, clad in either their underwear or in gym attire (not entirely sure) and attempting various sorts of calisthenics, who find themselves forced to share both space and time with some musicians calling themselves Earth, Wind and Fire, and singing a catchy tune called _Let's Groove_. The women are not to be pushed aside, however, and continue with their calisthenics right through the performance, to their credit. The band appears to have a bright future, and I predict that the world will hear more of them and about them. Luckily for us, a well-equipped passer-by captured the entire incident. The incompetent scheduler has been reassigned.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

I was in severe doubt to click the link. But I did. EWF has progressed in the last 40 years I see. Now at least they have some strange magic and I cannot simply discard them altogether. 

Oh, how I hated them. At that time (being 15 or so) I experienced for the first time the world - and music in particular - was not just all about making progress. I should have become a realist back then.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I saw them in 1979 play in that charmless gigantic hangar originally known as the Birmingham NEC Arena - I was mainly into hard rock and prog but I gallantly stepped in at the last minute to take the place of my friend's girlfriend who was too ill to go.

EWF were just about at their commercial peak at that time (_September_, _Boogie Wonderland_, _After the Love Has Gone_ etc.) and as I had no exposure at all to their work apart from the recent hits I was expecting nothing more than two hours of sophisticated disco music interspersed with a few smoochy ballads. How wrong I was - sure, they played the hits, but most of the set consisted of the early to mid-70s hard-core funk which I found out was their original _metier_. Even the recent disco-edged material was given more heft. Plus, the stage show was amazing - colourful costumes, optical illusions, dazzling lightshow and hi-energy choreography.

Being long-haired and dressed in my usual denim and leather got more than a few funny looks from the crowd which consisted of black funksters, white soulboys and teenage disco dollies but it was worth it as to this day it remains one of the best shows I've ever seen. It also made the scales fall from my eyes in a musical sense as, intrigued, it was only a matter of time before I started checking out the likes of P-Funk and James Brown.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Let me repeat here yet another variant of my all-time favorite Morimur quote: "If you don't like [Earth, Wind and Fire], you must be dead!"


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Earth, Wind and Fire excelled not only at Funk but also at Mellow. Here is one of their great mellow marshmallows, _After the Love has Gone_. Few groups came close to EW&F in their sorts of music.....


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