DeBarge, All This Love | Throwback Vibez

In the 39^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “All This Love” by R&B collective, DeBarge. 

“I had some problems / And no one could seem to solve them / But you found the answer / You told me to take this chance.” The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez ! Throwback Vibez is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils ! All genres of music are welcome. In the 39^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “All This Love”, performed by DeBarge.

El DeBarge serves up sweet, love-filled vocals on “All This Love”, a highlight from the DeBarge catalog. El DeBarge has a once in a lifetime voice, a ‘high’ tenor who fits the bill of a countertenor pretty solidly. “There is so much love inside me / And all that I have,” he sings with ease, continuing, “I give my all to you / All, all my love, baby.” “All This Love,” a pop hit peaking at no. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, appears as the fifth track on the R&B collective’s 1982 album, also titled, All This Love.  Besides those silky smooth, expressive vocals by the lead singer, the sound and production are smooth as well.  R&B/soul saw a shift in its sound throughout the 1980s, yet, this 80s Motown cut maintains the lush, sophisticated qualities that characterized the soul of the 70s: keyboards and horns, thoughtful harmonic progressions, etc.

Refocusing on the theme, it’s all love baby.  El DeBarge and company decided to try love, and liked it, apparently! “Oh, I love how you make me feel this way / My love is getting stronger every day, my baby,” he sings in the bridge, adding, “And after all I went and put myself through / I found that all I really need was you, my darling.” Sigh, the feels, the feels, the feels.  What more is there to say about “All This Love”? It is six minutes of absolute and utter love. Greatness too!

DeBarge • All This Love • Motown • 1982

 DeBarge, “All This Love”: Throwback Vibez No. 39 (2023) [: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Motown; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]