In the 39th 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 39th 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]