http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcwYEGdKto8
I have a real weakness for stuff that just shouldn’t work but somehow does — wonderfully. And there’s just no way in hell “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” should have worked. But we are talking Lou Rawls here.
Let’s take a quick look at the giant mess of a Spaghetti Approach the writers and producers (Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff) took to the song:
It has Philadelphia’s entire stable of female background vocalists!
Disco strings!
Piano chords so big and obvious Chopin would have cringed!
More cymbal crashes than a marching band dropped from a helicopter!
A Latin beat!
Seriously! Is that a cha-cha?
Enough braggadocio to embarrass Barry White!
That’s a pretty long list of sins for four-and-a-half minute R&B tune. On top of all that, you have to wait through a 35 second intro before Rawls comes in with the vocal. But then Rawls does come in — easy and effortless. And you smile. And your foot taps. And then you try hitting those low notes with him. And you’re smiling and tapping and singing in the car like an idiot.
Or maybe that’s just me. But this is a timeless song, when it should have been a forgettable mess.
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