#499 Rufus, Chaka Khan, ‘Ask Rufus’ (1977)

New Entry

This was the album that made me re-do the countdown. Not wanting to spoil it for myself in case I did decide to do it, I thought I’d check the bottom two albums and make my decision off of that. I saw that Arcade Fire had dropped 349 spots and I noticed an album I’d never heard of before, this one. Two drastic differences make me realise that this countdown wasn’t just an updated version on the previous one I’d done (like the one I did was just an update on the one before it), but a completely new countdown. For those that never read the blurb – it is. They bashed down the countdown and started from the beginning, instead of simply updating it. 

I’ve never listened to an album by Chaka Khan, and filling the gaps in my music knowledge with albums I had never listened to was the reason I did this in the first place. I know her hits, of course, but artists are so much more than their hits and you can never full understand an artist until you hear their work in context.

This album was the platinum-selling fifth album by Rufus, their third with Khan. It was nominated for a Grammy in 1978 for 'Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals'; the only one of their three nods from which they didn’t walk away with the gong. The album opens with lead single, ‘At Midnight (My Love Will Lift You Up),’ a track that, if released today, would totally go on my monthly playlist (look out for those on Spotify, by the way, they’re still happening.