Line #2 Music/EarthWindAndFire


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/earth_wind_and_fire_629.jpg]]
2	''[[caption-width-right:350:Do you remember the twenty-first night of September?]]''
3
4	->''"Hey, hey, Hey!\
5	Ba-dee-ya, say, do you remember?\
6	Ba-dee-ya, dancin' in September\
7	Ba-dee-ya, never was a cloudy day..."''
8
9	Earth, Wind & Fire are an American {{Soul}} group most popular in the 1970s. They were formed in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} in 1969 by Maurice and Verdine White, who later recruited eight other members to form the original 10-person lineup. They released two albums in 1971 while signed to Creator/WarnerBrosRecords, including a [[SelfTitledAlbum Self-Titled Debut Album]]. In 1972 they became a 12-piece group and switched labels to Creator/ColumbiaRecords.
10
11	During their run, Earth Wind & Fire have mainly considered themselves an African American pop group, specializing in jazz and funk songs with a broad pop appeal as they strove to break the musical color barrier. During the Disco Era, they also [[FollowTheLeader Followed The Leader]] with some disco songs, though EWF has otherwise not considered themselves a disco group.
12
13	----
14	!!Discography
15	[[foldercontrol]]
16	[[folder:Studio albums]]
17	* ''Earth, Wind & Fire'' (1971)
18	* ''The Need of Love'' (1971)
19	* ''Last Days and Time'' (1972)
20	* ''Head to the Sky'' (1973)
21	* ''Open Our Eyes'' (1974)
22	* ''That's the Way of the World'' (1975)
23	* ''Spirit'' (1976)
24	* ''All 'n All'' (1977)
25	* ''I Am'' (1979)
26	* ''Faces'' (1980)
27	* ''Raise!'' (1981)
28	* ''Powerlight'' (1983)
29	* ''Electric Universe'' (1983)
30	* ''Touch the World'' (1987)
31	* ''Heritage'' (1990)
32	* ''Millennium'' (1993)
33	* ''In the Name of Love'' (1997)
34	* ''The Promise'' (2003)
35	* ''Illumination'' (2005)
36	* ''Now, Then & Forever'' (2011)
37	* ''Holiday'' (2014)
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Live albums]]
41	* ''Gratitude'' (1975)
42	* ''Greatest Hits Live'' (1996)
43	* ''That's the Way of the World: Alive in '75'' (2002)
44	* ''Live in Rio'' (2002)
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	----
48	!!Let's trope tonight, share the spice of life...
49	* TheBandMinusTheFace: Their 2013 album ''Now, Then, & Forever'' was their first recorded without any creative input from Maurice.
50	** After developing Parkinson's disease, Maurice no longer toured and only rarely made public appearances, although he was still a formal member up to his death in 2016 and his estate owns all rights to the band.
51	* BandOfRelatives: Brothers Maurice and Verdine White were founding members, with younger brother Freddie joining later on. More recently, Philip Bailey and his son, Philip Bailey Jr.
52	* BreakupSong: "After the Love Has Gone"
53	* BuildLikeAnEgyptian: The band had a lot of Egyptian themes in their album covers, costumes, and stage shows, including having a pyramid-shaped UFO onstage.
54	* CoverVersion: Their cover of Music/TheBeatles' "Got to Get You Into My Life", from the soundtrack of the ''Film/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'' film, topped the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and made the Top 10 of the pop chart.
55	* {{Disco}}: Some of their late-'70s output.
56	* ElementalMotifs: Maurice White explains that he got the band name from his star sign Sagittarius, which is a fire sign, and according to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology_and_the_classical_elements#Triplicities_by_seasonelemental triplicities]], his sign had the seasonal qualities of earth (situated in Autumn in the northern hemisphere) and wind (situated in Spring in the southern hemisphere, and also represents Gemini).
57	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "After the Love Has Gone" fades into "Let Your Feelings Show" on the album ''I Am.''
58	* {{Funk}}: Their primary defining sound, with some {{Soul}} and {{Disco}} elements incorporated. The Whites termed it "Sophisticated Funk" in contrast to the "Hardcore Funk" of Music/JamesBrown and Music/GeorgeClinton.
59	* GreatestHitsAlbum: Many, but 1978's ''The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1'' is important since one of the two new bonus tracks included was "September", which is now the band's SignatureSong.
60	* {{Keet}}: Verdine's stage persona is this.
61	* LeadBassist: Verdine White is type A, C, and D, thanks in no small part to being one of the only two consistent members of the band.
62	* PowerBallad: "After the Love Has Gone" is the funk equivalent of this.
63	* RevolvingDoorBand: Verdine White is the only founding member left. Only he, Philip Bailey, and Ralph Johnson are left from the band's heyday in the '70s.
64	* SelfTitledAlbum: Their debut album.
65	* SiameseTwinSongs: "Shining Star" and "That's the Way of the World". They're usually slotted together seamlessly on compilation albums too.
66	* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: The backup and lead singers can be pretty difficult to understand at times, especially in "Let's Groove."
67	* {{Soul}}
68	* TruckDriversGearChange:
69	** Both "After the Love Has Gone" and "Fantasy" shift up a couple of steps for the last few chorus repeats.
70	** "Kalimba Story" suddenly jumps from A-minor to D in the second half of the chorus but drops back to A-minor for the following verses.
71	* VocalTagTeam: Many of the members handle both lead and backing vocals. In their heyday, Philip Bailey and Maurice White interchangeably handled most of the lead vocals.

Context Music / EarthWindAndFire