Earth, Wind & Fire – Sunday Morning (1993)

In a classic bit of Cassingle Vault good news/bad news, I give you, ladies and gentlemen, an Earth, Wind & Fire single!

(wild applause)

…From 1993!

(slow clapping, bewildered looks, scattered laughter)

Yes, gang, EWF was still kicking around the major-label pipeline in ‘93. They had, in fact, recently left their longtime label home — Columbia — for a new deal at Warner Bros. This wasn’t entirely unexpected; since being coaxed back into action by the Columbia brass in the late ’80s, EWF had found itself trapped on the steady downward sales slope that helped convince Maurice White to disband the group in the first place.

Here’s how dire things had become for the kings of “September”: If I’m remembering this right — and no one is here to disagree with me yet, so let’s just say I am — the release of the band’s 1990 effort, Heritage, was kicked off with a Burger King promotional tie-in. Yes, during Black History Month 18 years ago, you could get an Earth, Wind & Fire cassingle with your Whopper.

Genius. (more…)