This was one of the most unique and catchy songs of the 80s…Higher Love.
Now, if you didn’t know, Steve Winwood has been in the spotlight and in the music industry for a very long time. He was in the famous Spencer Davis Group from 1964 to 67, and then he was in the big band called Traffic until 1974. He then went out on his own and did a couple of solo albums, but this album in 1986 was his huge breakthrough and is really one of the biggest albums from the 80s.
For this album, he hired Ron Weisner as a manager, who had also worked with Madonna and Michael Jackson, and he really pushed Steve to get out of his comfort zone. He had been recording his albums in his home studio, but Weisner said, “No, you’ve got to get out of your home and go to a studio.” So they went to New York and recorded the album there.
Higher Love was written by Winwood and Will Jennings, who, by the way, wrote Tears in Heaven, My Heart Will Go On, and other big hits. The background vocals on the song featured Chaka Khan. This earned two Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for that year. And it went to number one here in Canada for a week.
It’s been covered a few times, most famously by Whitney Houston back in 1990. That version was released in 2019 as a dance club song, and that was a big hit. It’s a song exploring spirituality. In the opening line, he says, “Think about it, there must be a higher love. Without it, life is a wasted time.”
Winwood’s unmistakable, bluesy voice is iconic, and so is the incredible accompaniment from the legend Chaka Khan. Here’s Higher Love! (Beware… the video is very 80s!)
