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Herbie Hancock - Lite Me Up (1982)

We begin our journey into the whacky world of Westcoast Yacht Rock fun at a curious juncture known as Lite Me Up, the 33rd solo record from jazz legend Herbie Hancock and the album that Daft Punk stole 95% of their ideas from for last year's bumpy but excellent Random Access Memories.

Musically, its sits in a nameless country that borders the entertainingly lyrical jazz-rock of Steely Dan and the superstardom-level R&B of Michael Jackson's Thriller. And like a good child, it takes many of the best elements from both sides of the "black" and "white" funk divide and incorporates them into one helluva smooth presentation. The most obvious instance of what I'm talking about occurs in the sublime bridge section of 'Gettin' To The Good Part', one of the coolest songs ever made and simultaneously a classroom worthy example of commercial L.A. jazz-fusion. Flawless and slick to the point of sounding near-mechanical, yet so melodic and confident in its strut that you'll get ensnared by the sheer force of its methodical propulsion anyway.

But make no mistake: this album pissed off a lot of people despite being the Herbmeister's best pop album, the last one he'd do before jumping headfirst into MTV electro-tinged stardom with instrumental cuts like 'Rockit' from the mid 80's onward. The critics hated it because it was smooth and radio friendly, the "old" Herbie Hancock fans didn't think it was "jazz" enough, and others thought it was a case of an older artist trying too hard to achieve relevancy in a changing landscape.

All idiotic complaints of course, seeing as the songs were...you know, pretty fuckin' ace and the ideal soundtrack for a blitz down Sunset Boulevard. Or, alternatively, a boat ride with all your awesome yuppie friends. Rod Temperton was fresh off the previously-mentioned Thriller boat and married his infectious songwriting sensibility with Herb's virtuosic skills behind the keys. Couple this with some production juice from the classic David Foster/Jay Graydon tag-team and a huge range of top class guests, backing vocalists and even guitar god Steve Lukather and the results range from the very good to phenomenal. I've already mentioned Gettin' To The Good Part', but the jaunty title track and the slinking orchestral funk of 'Motor Mouth' are Grade-A radio fodder and immaculate examples of this dream team at the top of their game. A level of praise that can be applied to any song here really. And Herbie even sings clean and vocodor-less on the only traditional yacht rock number here, the shimmery aptly-named 'Paradise', which just goes to show you he never even needed any help to begin with to knock one out of the park.

At a time when the lines between African-American contemporary radio and more "white-oriented" programming was falling down around everybody's ears in the wake of MTV, Herbie put out a killer yacht rock album that also happened to be an awesome early 80's pop-funk time capsule, proving good music didn't need to cater to one audience or the other: you could have it all and stay smooth all the while.

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