“Sing a Song” (Earth, Wind & Fire)

Today’s classic song of the day is “Sing a Song” by Earth, Wind & Fire. This peppy little single debuted in November of 1975 and rose to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

“Sing a Song” was written by EWF members Maurice White and Al McKay. It supposedly started with a guitar riff by McKay, but I can’t hear that as the basis for the song. It doesn’t matter, the song itself is a good but simple one, the entire tune (verses and choruses) based on a simple I – vim7 – iim7 -iim7/V chord progression, repeated over and over again. (In the key of A, that’s A – F#m7 – Bm7 – Bm7/E. That’s it. No other chords, no other order.)

The tune builds multiple layers on those chords, with McKay’s snarky little guitar part and punchy, syncopated horn licks throughout. It’s one of the most joyful of EWF’s many hits and it really stood out on the radio during my senior year in college.

Earth, Wind & Fire had a good number of Top Ten hits back in the ’70s and early ’80s, with even more on the R&B charts. Their biggest hits included “Shining Star” (#1 in 1975), “Got to Get You Into My Life” (#9, 1978), “September” (#8, 1978), “Boogie Wonderland” (#6, 1979), “After the Love Has Gone” (#2, 1979), and “Let’s Groove” (#3, 1981). The group, albeit with a lot of replacement members, is still touring today.

And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Earth, Wind & Fire performing a much faster version of “Sing a Song” live. It looks like they’re having fun.