Intimate | 3 to 5 BOPS

Intimate: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 24 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Eddie Kendricks, Isaac Dunbar, Kleeer, Natalie Cole, and Years & Years.

Ah, you know what time it is! It’s 3 to 5 BOPS time – WOO! On 3 to 5 BOPS, it’s all about brevity and sweetness… for the most part! There’s a theme/topic, 3, 4, or 5 songs, and a blurb – two paragraphs or less.  3 to 5 BOPS, hence, is a mini playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 24^th edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with INTIMATE in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Eddie Kendricks, 🎙 Isaac Dunbar, 🎙 Kleeer, 🎙 Natalie Cole, and 🎙 Years & Years. Okay, let’s get into it!

1. Years & Years, “Intimacy”

💿 Night Call • 🏷 Polydor • 🗓 2022

“It’s too late to get off this road, I want ya / But I’m not one for casual intimacy.” 🎙 Olly Alexander (🎙 Years & Years) desires more than a casual, sexual relationship in the future on 🎵 “Intimacy”, the standout fourth track from 💿 Night Call (2022). Even so, for now, he wants this guy so much, he has no plans to stop ‘being with’ him. In the chorus, he continues, “Maybe one day something will change in me / Intimacy.” What’s interesting is that Olly views intimacy in two different ways.  Casual intimacy is associated with casual sex, which he references throughout “Intimacy” positively and negatively. “No need to be pampered to be your man,” Olly sings, continuing, “If all you got is under the covers then I’m good with that.”  Of course, he also desires something deeper, even if he’s giving mixed messages: “Your sex is heaven / As far as I’m concerned / I want you to stay / But I don’t want you to be another lesson learned.” “Intimacy” gives us the best of both worlds from Years & Years.  Sure, there’s awesome sex, but also, it explores going deeper, transcending sex.

Appears in 🔻:

• Years & Years, “Intimacy”: After Dark 🕛 🌃 8 (2022)
• 15 Steamy Songs Best Listened to After Dark, Vol. 2 (2022)

2. Natalie Cole, “Inseparable”

💿 Inseparable • 🏷 Capitol • 📅 1975

“Inseparable / That’s how we’ll always be / Inseparable / Just you and me.” Damn, I want a love like that 🎙 Natalie Cole!  The late, great 🏆 Grammy winner ranks among the most versatile musicians of the all-time encompassing jazz, pop, and R&B/soul. 🎵 “Inseparable”, from the 1975 album of the same title, this record is considered one of her best – a gorgeous, love-filled ballad. Cole sings with incredible authenticity and finesse – she’s a class act.  This soulful, well-written record was penned and produced by 🎼 ✍ 🎛 Charles “Chuck” Jackson and her ex-husband, Marvin Yancy.  On this brief, two-and-a-half-minute record, Natalie ensures we understand how deep this bond is.

“We’re like a flower to a tree

Like words to a melody of love

There’s no way we could break up

No words that could make us blow our thing

We are just

Inseparable.”

Other shout-outs include the lush backdrop (the keys, the strings), the harmonic progression, and the aesthetic and vibe.  💿 Inseparable is an awesome album! Furthermore, “Inseparable” is also an awesome song.  It starts and ends with the treasure that was Natalie Cole.

via GIPHY

Appears in 🔻:

• Natalie Cole, “Inseparable”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 8 (2022)

3. Kleeer, “Intimate Connection”

💿 Intimate Connection • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 1984

“Bear-skin rug, fireplace / I rub my fingers all over your face.” Ooh la la 😈! One thing is crystal 🎙 Kleeer on the 1984 electro-funk classic, 🎵 “Intimate Connection” (💿 Intimate Connection): The sex is lit 🔥! “Secrets learned, secrets to keep,” 🎙 Woody Cunningham continues singing sensually in the first verse, “With one concern, we have no time for sleep.” Hmm, wonder why there is no time for sleep 🤔.  Well, something tells me that “Cling to me for the magic ride” has nothing to with a car…

Anyways, “Intimate Connection” is the definition of a vibe.  As silky smooth and sexy as Cunningham’s vocals are, so is the sound of the backing instrumental.  Those synths (🎙 Norman Durham) and drum programming – those glorious boxy sounding drums – are as important to the success of the track as Cunningham is.  As playful and tastefully titillating as the verses are (“Dawn decorates a night of ecstasy / A breakfast menu of you and me”), it is the chorus that is the centerpiece – the crowning achievement: “Intimate connection, baby (serious) / Oh, baby.” Sure, the chorus is simple but there’s just something so electric about those harmonized backing vocals emphasizing just how serious this intimate connection is.  Such a shame that 🎵 “Intimate Connection” did not chart on the pop charts, sigh.  It did achieve success on the R&B chart, as well as being the sample of choice for the 🎙 2Pac classic, 🎵 “California Love (Remix)”.

via GIPHY 

Appears in 🔻:

• Kleeer, “Intimate Connection”: Midnight Heat 🕛 🔥 24 (2023)

4. Isaac Dunbar, “intimate moments”

💿 evil twin • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2021 

“I’m scared to love and bare the rest.” That is an honest and authentic lyric from alternative pop wunderkind, 🎙 Isaac Dunbar.  It’s also incredibly relatable.  The contents of those lyrics seem representative of 🎵 “intimate moments”.  Dig deeper into this highlight from Dunbar’s 2021 album (EP), 💿 evil twin, and he reveals his fears:  “And I might cry but I’ll never show it / Can’t let you down, can’t let you down / I have a fear of intimate moments / If you’re around, why am I down?” So, he has a partner, at least in the context of the song, but he also has anxiety? Yes, that is the situation and honestly, no, it is not far-fetched or unusual.  It speaks to how complicated relationships are and how tough it is to for some people to be vulnerable – be an open book.

With a stellar theme and thoughtful and emotional songwriting, there is no shortage of positive attributes that make “intimate moments” a winner.  The production (🎛 Joel Little) , sound, and aesthetic are terrific.  Dunbar, of course, is incredibly gifted, shining with  a calm, cool, collected brand of vocals in the verses. Generally, in the verses, he sings in his lower register, in more of an undertone, which is win.  Even so, he impresses with a tuneful melody, particularly in the chorus.  Speaking of the chorus, Dunbar rises to the occasion vocally sans over singing.  The bridge marks a welcome contrast, though doesn’t depart too far from what Dunbar established through most of 🎵 “intimate moments”. All told, it is a terrific song.

via GIPHY

Appears in 🔻:

• Isaac Dunbar, “intimate moments”: LGBTQ Bopz 🌈🎶 12 (2023)

5. Eddie Kendricks, “Intimate Friends”

💿 Slick • 🏷 UMG Recordings, Inc. • 🗓 1977

“Your love, takes me higher / My life, you inspire / Fill me with love and desire / Your love takes me higher.” For legendary soul singer, 🎙 Eddie Kendricks, his relationship with his lover is lit 🔥.  Clearly, the former Temptations standout is I-N-F-A-T-U-A-T-E-D on 🎵 “Intimate Friends”, which graces his 1977 album, 💿 Slick. ‘Slick’ “Intimate Friends” is in numerous ways.  For one, the production by 🎛 Leonard Caston and David Van dePitte is soulful to the n^th degree.  It is worth noting, in 2005, 🎙 Alicia Keys reminded us how awesome the instrumental from this song is, sampling it in her 🏆 Grammy-nominated hit, 🎵 “Unbreakable”.  “Intimate Friends” is also slick considering the theme and lyrics.  🎼 ✍ Gary Glenn composed a gem which Kendricks does a fabulous job of bring to life.  Intimate friends feels like something more than platonic friends.

To his credit, Kendrick never mentions the word sex. That said, does he need to? Intimacy can mean different things, but it is easy to infer that making love is part of the script.  In the second verse, Eddie sings, “Our love shines brighter, than the morning sun / Two hearts together becoming as one.” Yes, they are in a long-term, committed relationship.  Also, they seem to be, ‘making to do’ as well. The big takeaway, however, is that this is terrific soul classic, one that doesn’t earn the same acclaim as the bigger, better known hits, including his own no. 1 hit, 🎵 “Keep On Truckin’”.

via GIPHY

Appears in 🔻:

• Eddie Kendricks, “Intimate Friends”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 23 (2023)

Intimate: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 24 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Atlantic, Capitol, Polydor, RCA, UMG Recordings, Inc.; cottonbro studio via Pexels]