Besides putting a hitch in your giddy-up, Barry White can really put a smile on your face. A whole new generation watches shy, stuttering lawyer John "The Biscuit" Cage gather courage from listening to White on television's "Ally McBeal." show. Sales in excess of 100 million continue to climb. His "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" pops up in unlikely spots -- an episode of The Simpsons, for example. White followed in the footsteps of Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes, and even the politically charged Gil Scott Heron, all sharing creamy baritones and a tendency to mix spoken word with song. Those pillow talk interludes showed White's speaking voice to be deeper (and more impressive) than his singing voice. Like an amorous Orson Welles doused in Brut 33, White used the heady brew of disco sheen and bedroom voice to score hit after hit in the '70s. His "Love's Theme" in 1974 pretty much sums up White's mojo, but the hits kept coming until 1979 (perhaps corresponding to the moral backlash against the sexual revolution?). But even chaste monks can't help but be tickled by Barry White.
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