John Morrison's Culture Corner on World Cafe
Prince performs live at the Fabulous Forum on Feb. 19, 1985, in Inglewood, Calif.
Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
World Cafe
The Culture Corner: R&B music in the ’80s
From Prince to Whitney Houston, the ’80s was a pivotal decade for R&B music in the mainstream.
Setlist
Feb
13
R&B in the 80s
World Cafe
- Maze, "Before I Let Go"
- Michael Jackson, "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
- Prince, "I Would Die 4 U"
- Guy, "I Like"
- Whitney Houston, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)"
Every week for Black History Month, World Cafe correspondent John Morrison is taking us through the history of R&B through the decades. This week, we dig into the ’80s, when R&B’s influence was being felt more and more across music.
“Much like the larger history of Black music, there is always this tension between the creativity and innovation that happens in the Black community and how that music exists in the broader community,” Morrison says.
In this session, he’ll talk about that tension, the creativity and the innovation and how it touched the broader community. Morrison will also talk about his own personal connection to some of the songs from that era.