SADE, 1985: "SHE WALKS IN THE ROOM WITH FELINE GRACE AND ELEGANCE"...

Decades On - Sweetest Taboos, No Ordinary Loves And Enduring Friendships...

Aug 04, 2025

My longtime friend Ruben Flores first hipped me to Sade.

It was late ‘84 and as he reminded me (specifically for this post) of how he made a cassette tape of the whole album from hearing it on the radio in his car!

I did indeed recall that he played it for me while he was driving. He was raving about it and I understood why.

Since I had stopped writing on a consistent basis for Blues & Soul magazine in 1984, I wasn’t as tuned in to what was happening in the music world at the time. What I do remember still is my reaction when Ruben played me tracks from Diamond Life…

We may have both thought her name was ‘Sade’ rather than ‘Sha-deh’ at the time and I didn’t know ‘Sade’ was a group. What I did know was that I loved what I heard.

The first three tracks on the Epic Records’ cassette were enough to draw me in: “Smooth Operator,” “Your Love Is King” and “Hang On To Your Love”.

Then, band’s hypnotic cover of Timmy Thomas’ classic “Why Can’t We Live Together” and the original tune “Cherry Pie” added to the joy…

The sound was ‘different,’ a cool mix of smooth jazz and soul with a decidedly British flavour, emphasised by lead singer Sade (Adu) who didn’t fall into the ‘usual’ habit of many UK vocalists, influenced by the obvious American accent of their favourite Black music artists. Listening to Sade at the time reminded me fondly of my London roots…

Worth noting, as an aside, that in interviews I did with another quiet storm musical fixture, one, Anita Baker, she often credited the success of Sade in the US for opening the doors for her milestone “Rapture” album to be so well received…

By March 1985, my name had crept back into the masthead of Blues & Soul as a contributor. The call to attend a music press gathering specifically for journalists representing international publications - hosted by CBS Records in their L.A. office in Century City - was irresistible.

Time to meet Sade.

We’re introduced to her one-by-one by the CBS publicist and when I say I’m there for Blues & Soul, Sade smiles in recognition since the magazine has been featuring her and the band on a regular basis in the UK.

She says something along the lines of me being a 'fellow Brit’ although the exact words escape me, forty years on. It matters not. Sade and I bonded in a room full of enquiring minds from across the globe…

I saw the group Sade at one of their first L.A. gigs in December 1985 at the Universal Amphitheatre and I took my friend Ruben as a way of saying thank you for introducing to me the mellifluous tones of Ms. Adu and the joyful musicianship of the band.

Ruben remembers that we went backstage. We met Sade and his fond memory is that she kissed him on the cheek! Not sure if she kissed me too: we both recall she was warm and kind.

Ruben still has the signed programme for the show….

In March 1993, I reviewed Sade’s performance, again at The Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. By now, the singer and the group were staples on US radio and had sold a few million copies of Diamond Life and the three albums that followed.

“They came, they saw, they conquered! Hot on the heels of the two million US sales for Love Deluxe, their latest album, UK group Sade have been packin' 'em in on a 17-city North American tour and their two-night stand in Los Angeles proved to be one of the early highlights of the cross-country trek.

Playing before a full house (6,000+) on both nights at the Universal Amphitheatre, Sade's hypnotic brand of moody, jazz-inflected music was received with total enthusiasm by an audience that was truly "mixed" in every sense. Couples, singles, gay and straight, black, white, brown, young and middle-aged (not too many senior citizens!) seem appreciative of Sade's distinctive sound and the response elicited by the group to key album cuts as well as obvious hit singles was proof positive that Sade's core fans are clearly very loyal.

While the ever-gorgeous Sade Adu remains the obvious focal point, group members Paul Denman (bass), Andrew Hale (keyboards) and Stuart Matthewman (guitars and sax) play more than an integral role in the sound that has propelled the group to international fame. With an excellent five-person unit providing musical support, a tasteful set and excellent lighting (which helped in varying the musical mood),the group literally flowed from one song to another, with minimal chat and maximum joy.

Kicking off the 'The Sweetest Taboo', the tempo remained "up" for 'Keep Lookin'' and 'Your Love Is King', with a stark change of scene for 'Feel No Pain', one of the key cuts from Love Deluxe. Sade and singer Leroy Osborne shared the spotlight, helping to create the right "feel" for the song whose lyrics are centred on the plight of whole families "on the dole". Fortunately, unlike so many musical contemporaries, Sade focus on subjects outside of the realm of romantic relationship and 'Feel No Pain' (co-written as is all their material by lead singer Sade with various members of the band) is a prime example.

'Smooth Operator' remains a staple in the Sade repertoire and received due response from the crowd while 'Stronger Than Pride' was a welcome inclusion, the title cut from the group's third album which also features the poignant and beautiful 'Haunt Me', easily one of the high points of the night. In fine vocal form, Sade (who sang for almost two hours non-stop) wove her special magic, leaving the audience spellbound as she sang the haunting song with the minimum of accompaniment.

In the same vein, 'Like A Tattoo', from the latest album, was given a dramatic reading before the group switched tempos to 'Kiss Of Life' (the latest US single) and 'Nothing Can Come Between Us'. Of the remaining nine songs that completed the evening, 'Pearls' stood out as one of the most compelling moments of the evening. A song about the life of a starving Somali woman, vocalist Sade's heart-wrenching rendition was extremely effective: the audience listened intently as the singer gave her all in a soul-searing performance.

'No Ordinary Love', the first single from Love Deluxe, was an obvious crowd-pleaser while 'Is It A Crime?' (a track from Sade's Promise album) remains one of the most identifiable and requested items from the group's ever-expanding repertoire.

Bounding back onstage for the first of their two encores, the group grooved through 'Cherish The Day' and 'Paradise' (complete with neat dance steps from Sade and Leroy) and that might have been the end of a thoroughly enjoyable evening… but the audience demanded one more song. It came in the form of 'Jezebel', yet another gem from Promise, with vocalist Sade once again showing her aptitude as a sensitive musical storyteller.

There's no question that any British expatriates felt proud to see the members of Sade get such an overwhelming response from a US audience: the only mystery is quite why homegrown music buyers have been so lukewarm in their reaction to Love Deluxe. Unashamed to admit that the set was easily one of my favourite albums of '92, I have shared that opinion with friends in the UK only to be met with an utterly bewildering reaction (try, "oh please — Sade's so boring now!")

Obviously, the relative lack of success that the album received in the UK reflects such a reaction and suggests that, once again, British record buyers are doing what they've done traditionally with anyone who dares to achieve any major success globally: ignore 'em!

Well, for once, the UK's loss is the US's gain — and Sade not only kept the flag flying bright, they also provided one of the best evening's entertainment Los Angeles audiences have seen in a long, long time. It would be fine with the two million of us who love Love Deluxe if Sade decide to make that move across the Atlantic and stay right here where they're truly appreciated!!”

I remember who I took to see Sade in 1993…

His name was Johnny. He was ‘no ordinary love’…

We knew each other for many years. There was a lot of ‘sweetest taboo’ going on!

He’s with the angels now…

Fast forward to May 2011. I live in London. I get a pair of tickets to see Sade at the massive 02 Arena. There’s a mix up at the box office but thanks to the intervention of veteran UK promoter Barry Marshall who recognizes me (by name if not by face), I get my pair of tickets….

My ‘plus one’ was Tarique.

Like Johnny, he was ‘no ordinary love’ … and truth be told, he was also a ‘smooth operator’ and I’d met more than a few over the years.

Last time I saw him was in 2016, leaving me with an unanswerable question, courtesy Sade & co… ‘Is It A Crime?’

Thank you, Ruben, my friend, for bringing the magic of Sade into my world, forty years ago, with music that evokes wistful memories of times when I truly experienced ‘Love Stronger Than Pride”…

The British Ambassador Of Soul, David Nathan

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