Jesse Johnson - Jesse Johnson Revue / Shockadelica / Every Shade Of Love

After teaching himself to play guitar at the age of fifteen, Jesse Johnson played in various funk and rock bands in his home state of Illinois.  In 1981, following the encouragement of a singer and a drummer from another local band, Midnight Express, at twenty-one he moved to Minneapolis.  On his second day in town he met Morris Day, who was playing drums in the band Enterprise and invited him to join them.  Day was friends with Prince, who was planning on featuring him in one of his side projects and introduced the two of them.  The side project was part of Prince's desire to write and produce for a diverse range of acts he created.  He asked Johnson to join this band and along with Day, Jimmy “Jam” Harris, Monty Moir, Terry Lewis, and Jellybean Johnson, they became The Time.  From 1981 to 1984 they released three albums, but those years were fraught with conflicts between the band and Prince, which eventually resulted in the band breaking up in 1984 after recording their third album, Ice Cream Castle.  Johnson was also frustrated with his time in the band, and didn't even play on any of their songs until "Gigolos Get Lonely Too" on the second album.  Having said that, he did do some writing and producing for some of the other bands around Prince, including Vanity 6 and Sheila E. With aspirations to have a solo career, he signed a deal with A&M Records and ended up releasing three albums for the label.  This new two-CD release combines those three releases along with a handful of bonus tracks.

The band on the debut album from Jesse Johnson’s Revue included Mark Cardenas on keys and Gerry Hubbard on bass, both former members of The Time, along with Michael Baker on guitar, Tim Bradley on keys and Bobby Vandell on drums.  The influence of both Prince and The Time is very strong throughout the album, which opens with the first single “Be Your Man”, a song that hit number 4 on the R&B charts (61 on the Billboard Hot 100) and is an infectious funky R&B tune enhanced with some really cool, spacey synths.  “I Want My Girl”, was another hit from the album (7 on the R&B charts and 76 on the pop charts) and is a slower ballad with an extremely catchy chorus and some short instrumental sections with some really cool “fluttery” synths.  The midtempo “She Won’t Let Go” and more upbeat “Just Too Much” are a couple of synth-driven funk tunes, the latter of which is notable for its popping bass.  The influence of The Time and Prince is especially strong on the dance tune “Let’s Have Some Fun”, while “Can You Help Me” adds a little bit of a rock edge to the funk.  The final two tracks are my favorites from the debut, largely because their sound really sets them apart.  The slower “Special Love” is a smooth, laid-back ballad with the synths taking on more of an electropop sound, while “She’s A Doll” is funky, but more on the rock side with more guitar and weird, often distorted keys.    

For his second album, Shockadelica, Johnson dropped the Revue name and released it as a solo album.  After opening with the straight-ahead Minneapolis funk of “Change Your Mind”, “Crazay”, the album’s first single and biggest hit of his career (number 2 on the R&B charts), found him teaming up with the legendary Sly Stone for a bass popping, synth driven slab of hook heavy funk.  Written by Pepe Willie for his band 94 East (a Minneapolis band that one point included a pre solo career Prince), “Do Yourself A Favor” has shown up on some early recordings by that band and was also recorded by Prince for 1999, but ended up being released as a bonus track years later.  Credited here as a co-write by Willie and Johnson, it’s a bouncy pop tune with squeaky synths that sounds almost identical to the Prince recording.  Driven by an interesting thick bass, a funky dance beat, synths and a scorching guitar solo, “She (I Can’t Resist)” was another hit, peaking on the R&B charts at 28.  With its synth blasts and more Sheila E styled percussion, “Addiction” is a taut, somewhat faster paced track followed by “Tonite”, a soulful Prince like slow jam, and the midtempo funk of singalong dance track “Burn You Up”.  With a subject matter that unfortunately still resonates very much today, “Black In America” closes the album out and is a powerful, largely acoustic guitar driven, folk tune fleshed out with some simple percussion and synth washes.        

His final album for A&M was Every Shade Of Love, and while the funk is still very present throughout, there is often more emphasis on the electronic and rock elements.  Opening track “Love Struck” was another hit for him (4 on the R&B charts and 78 on the Hot 100) and is a very catchy funk tune with that Minneapolis sound, but with the addition of more electronic elements along with a shredding guitar solo.  Starting off with another guitar solo, “So Misunderstood” is another solid funk track with a bit more of a rock edge, including more great guitar work, and some electronic elements.  “I’m The One” takes the funk sound and meshes it with electronic beats reminiscent of bands like New Order and Art Of Noise.  “Color Shock” takes a similar path, but with less emphasis on the funk and more on the electronic side along with guitar.  For a complete change of pace, “Every Shade Of Love” is a bouncy, upbeat sunshine-y dance pop tune enhanced wonderfully with chirpy female background vocals and saxophone from Eddie Mininfield, who has worked with a who’s who of artists, including Prince, Sheila E, Stevie Nicks, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and many more.  Shifting more in the direction of his earlier work, “Everybody Wants Somebody To Love” is a more straight-ahead funky dance tune, while “I’m Just Wanting You” is a nice, slow burning bluesy ballad.  “Stop-Look-Listen” closes the album out and is a high energy, bouncy pop tune with a fast-paced electronic beat.  Also included here are five bonus tracks, which include a remix of “She (I Can’t Resist)”, an extended version of “Crazay” and an eight minute dance mix of “Love Struck”.  The remaining two tracks are his contribution to The Breakfast Club soundtrack, “Heart Too Hot To Hold”, an infectious pop duet with Stephanie Spruill and “Drive Yo Cadillac”, the b-side to “Crazay” that has a bit of a Prince vibe and an insanely infectious groove that makes you wonder why it wasn’t a single itself.  While you can see, Johnson had numerous hit singles during this era, and even though he never became the household name of some of the other artists around him at that time, these three albums are quite impressive, making this a really nice collection to have.  

(Robinsongs)