TS: Junior Walker on Foreigner's "Urgent" or Andy Hamilton on Duran Duran's "Rio"?

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Which is the better example of early eighties AOR/radio smash sax soloing? (aka, my Dave Q question)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 9 November 2002 17:45 (twenty-three years ago)

Sonny Rollins on the stones' "Waiting for a Friend".

― earlnash, Sunday, 10 November 2002 00:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Clearly the best early 80s sax solo is the one that comes closest to approximating the Grand Daddy of all AOR / radio smash sax solos that is Insert Name Here's contribution to "Walk on the Wild Side". Clearly, then, the winner is Clarence Clemons on Mr. Springsteen's "Dancing In the Dark".

― David R. (popshots75`), Sunday, 10 November 2002 06:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Ned fooled me! Anyhow, good points to the previous two, but, um, Junior Walker all the way.

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 10 November 2002 10:05 (twenty-three years ago)

david sanborn to thread

― chaki (chaki), Sunday, 10 November 2002 10:13 (twenty-three years ago)

branford marsales and sting!

― chaki (chaki), Sunday, 10 November 2002 10:14 (twenty-three years ago)

branford marsalis and public enemy!

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 10 November 2002 10:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Ned fooled me!

One tries. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 10 November 2002 19:26 (twenty-three years ago)

dave q questions are my favorites, even if I can't think of anything to add to them.

― James Blount (James Blount), Sunday, 10 November 2002 19:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Um....Actually, whoever plays sax on Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street," Supertramp's "Logical Song," and Quarterflash's "Harden My Heart" (Rindy Ross! Rindy Ross!) (and MAYBE Men at Work's "Who Can It Be Now?", or was it "Down Under," I forget...) are probably as good as either of those mentioned at the top of this thread. Though "Urgent" is indeed pretty great. (In the Foreigner version, anyway; Junior Walker's cover version on his solo album a year later was pretty stiff.) Don't even remember "Rio" HAVING a sax solo, though, so what do I know?

― chuck eddy, Tuesday, 12 November 2002 18:15 (twenty-three years ago)

But Chuck! It's so there -- and they made major play of it in the video as well (even though it wasn't Hamilton himself doing the miming, which is a severe pity).

All that said, I don't remember the Supertramp or Quarterflash solos at all myself! Which is weird because I can hum them both very well, so oh well! And it was definitely "Who Can it Be Now?"...

Hm. I'd love to write an article on this, actually! What's the modern equivalent to this kind of instrumental solo, I wonder? (As opposed to vocal solo from guest MCs, though I suppose you could really go nuts and extend the line of descent here from Junior Walker on "Urgent" to Redman on "Dirrty" or something...).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 12 November 2002 19:10 (twenty-three years ago)

eight months pass...

I have it on good authority that the background sax (the entire song except J Walker's solo) on Urgent as well as I do what I do-9 1/2 weeks- was Frank Elmo.

― Nl Younger, Thursday, 7 August 2003 00:35 (twenty-two years ago)

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