The song that changed everything for Anita Baker… “Sweet Love” truly is a classic and what’s interesting to me as I think about the impact in retrospect, the song was truly appreciated generationally. I was in high school when “Sweet Love” debuted and it was just one of those songs that you could get anyone from a teen, to someone in their seventies and above to agree on.
Anita Baker was able to capture an incredible share of the public consciousness and off the strength of “Sweet Love” the Rapture LP would remain a solid seller and a mainstay at radio and on TV (through her videos) for a solid two years. VH-1, long before they became whatever they are now (back when they played music) used to rock the video for “Sweet Love” daily, probably harder than BET at the time.
Anita Baker was able to put Jazz, R&B, Soul and Gospel in a pot, mix it up and in the process became one of the dominant forces in Black Music for the remainder of the decade and well into the 90’s.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
