At 50, Sade's still a Smooth Operator

Silky singer Sade Adu turns 50 years old today, and wouldn't you know it ... the perfect reader mail arrived this week to help commemorate the day. Take it away, Dr. Dim...

"Hey, Sean and Steve. I have an idea for a blog battle for you guys. It was an old debate two of my 80's drinking buddies and I would get into on occasion. Who is the sexier package: Whitney Houston or Sade Adu?

"Both hit the scene at roughly the same time. Whitney in 1985 and Sade in 1984. Both are black female singers. Both had a few hits (Whitney may have had more). Both eventually had issues with chemical or alcohol abuse. Only one took part in LiveAid and only one is truly sexy."

"For me, it's Sade. Hands down. No contest. But my buddies disagreed. They preferred loud, brash, flashy Whitney. I don't know how they could prefer her to the soulful, smoldering, worldly, exotic beauty of Sade."

"Sade may not have the vocal range of Whitney, but she has everything else. She has a great voice and an intelligence to her songs -- which she writes! And I always loved it when her thickly applied lipstick smeared her teeth. I would just imagine that lipstick getting ... elsewhere. Sorry, I digress."

"What has Whitney got? She was cute in those days. Young and energetic. And she could do an excellent impression of an air raid siren. Just listen to that crap cover of Dolly Parton's I Will Always
Love You. I hate that song. It's a '90s song anyway."

"I'm not sure you guys would be interested in the debate idea, but I can figure out which side you'd come down on. Sean seems like a Whitney guy (although neither Whitney nor Sade could be considered chunky but funky) and Steve would probably go for Sade."

"Anyway, the answer is Sade. Everything about her screams sexy! Whitney just screams. What do you think? Yours stuck in the 80's, Dr. Dim"

Well, Doc, no need to debate it now. You did it just fine. Everyone else agree with his conclusion?

Happy 50th birthday, Sade!

Comments

[Jamal]

Sade is an icon, her art is timeless
like a Picasso painting , like bob Marley.
her art will never be forgotten.
on the other hand, Whitney may have
better vocal skills, but her musical
content is very commercial and now out dated.
u can listen to any Sade song anytime and it would still feel contemporary.
cant say the same for Whitney.
Sade hands down plus she is A LOT
hotter than Whitney.

[Alex]

Sade. She singularly influenced a generation of neo-soul singers (india.arie, maxwell, amel larrieux, d'angelo etc.) Vocal range may be limited but the whole package is pure liquid SOUL. Sure had style but substance as well (she wrote her own music). Just as thin-voiced Astrud Gilberto defined bossa nova in the 60s and you still can't hear a bossa nova beat without thinking of her style.

[Erica]

I love both. If I had to choose however I would say Sade. No one before or after her has her voice. She just oozes sex appeal effortlessly.

[Hi There (California Guy)]

Thanks, Lissy. I've never watched Absolute Beginners but I'm sure it's a great movie. I will look for the film and watch it.

To anybody who's a fan of Sade, you should watch her videos, which are enchanting to say the least. Watch the videos to Smooth Operator, Stronger Than Pride and Paradise. They are so uplifting and WOW. Makes me wanna fall in love all over again.

I remember when Sade made her US tour in the summer of 2001. Sade fans -- old and new -- flocked to the stadiums to watch her perform. I remember watching someone interview her on Toronto's Much Music and he hold Sade that he would always listen to her music alone to unwind and at the end of the interview, he kissed her hand gently. That was very magical.

[LA]

Hands down its Sade, she is so smooth so beautiful. She was my first crush about 20 yrs ago. I remember as a kid I used to sneak into my Dad's music collection and jam away at some Sade!

[Lissy]

I would highly recommend an addition to your Sade playlist the song Killer Blow from Absolute Beginners. I'd have to say that that number had a lot to do with why I went to see the movie six times in the theater when it came out. I highly recommend the movie as a whole, actually.

[Hi There]

Ever watch Indecent Proposal? How about True Lies? Ever listen to NO ORDINARY LOVE? Sade has the most beautiful voice on Earth.

Everybody I know adores Sade. I am a fan of Whitney's but her music is packaged and popcorn / sugar-candied if you know what I mean.

Sade is pure soul. Sade is mesmerizing. Sade is classic and always #1 on my list of music.

Recommendations:
CHERISH THE DAY
I COULDN'T LOVE YOU MORE
MAUREEN
TAR BABY
SOMEBODY ALREADY BROKE MY HEART
MR. WRONG

[Dr. Dim]

Holy, crap!

I go away for a weekend and Spearsy posts my Sade email. I gotta start checking this blog on the weekends.

I guess I should have realized that it might be used for mass consumption, then I would have omitted the lipstick comment. (I was referring to getting lipstick on my collar, of course.)

Nice to see that my drinking buddies appear to be in the minority. Well, at least as far as the 80's nation is concerned.

Thanks, everybody.

Seriously, I meant lipstick on my collar.

[CaliforniaGirl]

Hard to believe Sade is 50> She has a unique voice & her music was so seductive. Her first album was the first CD we bought when we brought home our first CD player in 85 or 86 (can't remember which). Anyway, I always thought Whitney was over produced in the studios regardless of her abilities.

[Alex Rosco]

Only SADE

[don in tulsa]

ah mariah, miss got my divorce and my money and now i'm screwing every wannabe rapper in sight.

[Johnny B. Goode]

People,
There's no need to argue about this. Let's accept Mariah Carey as the compromise choice and move on...

whitney houston rules !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[don in tulsa]

I HATE TYPEPAD!!!!! another lost post. anyway sade hands down. whitney could hit the scales but is also the poster child for disfunctional adults. as for carteris (SP?) she was much older than the rest of the cast of that crap show so it's no wonder she's older than obama. don't you love it when 30 year olds play teenagers?

[xcalibur]

Sade's songs all sound alike.. BTW, Whitney has always had a sax player. Back in the day it was Grammy nominated sax guy Kirk Whalum.

[packrat666]

Sade hands down. No one comes close to her.

[Truth]

Sade is sexier but Whitney is WAY more talented. lol

whitney has the total package.she crosses all barriers and she can sing much better than sade

of cause it is whitney she is sexy and don't need to show her body to sell records like madonna mariah janet

[Bassnote]

Sade, no contest. Whitney has always been and always will be nails on a chalkboard to me.

[Jeff in Cuba]

This just in:

Citing a need for "the steadying influence of his elders", President-elect Obama nominates Gabrielle Anne Carteris as UN ambassador.

[Neil]

Spears, stop anouncing these birthdays, it gets more depressing by the minute. I just read somewhere recently that Gabrielle Anne Carteris an original cast member from BH 90210 is older than our next president Barack Obama. That really made me feel old.

[Ian from Baltimore]

I'll take Debbie Gibson

[Steven Sow]

This isn't really a battle, Sade all the way.

[Miguel]

Sade,no doubts!

Is she 50 already? Time goes fast.She was just 49 the other day.

[Glenn S.]

Sade's music tapped into a sophistication that we seem to have lost. She has always presented a classy image that is worlds away from the in-your-face antics of the current crop of divas.

Diamond Life is one of my work CDs and I've found myself playing it a lot lately. I guess those tales of jetsetting smooth operators are a nice little escape from the real-world drugery.

[Spears]

For Vegas Girlfriend, Sade wouldn't work at all. I'd probably lean toward Bryan Ferry or Harry Nilsson.

[Benji]

If you and your date listen to Sade while eating a romantic dinner - and you still can't seal the deal - there is NO hope for you.

[Michelle]

Sade, hands down. Whitney was "cute" back in the day--now she's scary. Sade has kept it classy.
Plus, Sade had SAXOPHONES in her songs. (Sensing a theme here, Spearsy?)

[Marissa]

Most definitely! Sade. I admit to possessing Whitney's freshman effort, but they she started shouting at me and I didn't like it.
With "Smooth Operator" aside, Sade definitely knows how to soothe a savage beast and turn him into a purring kitten -- but maintains the heart of a ravenous tiger.

A most excellent letter, Dr. Dim.