Alex Henderson

Norman Connors
You Are My Starship/Aquarian Dream

In the early 1970s, no one was describing Norman Connors as a “soul star,” “R&B star” or “quiet storm icon.” Connors, at that point in his career, was known as a jazz drummer and an instrumentalist from Philadelphia—a city famous for giving us Philly Joe Jones, Mickey Roker, Bobby Durham and other world-class jazz drummers. And those who had heard early Connors albums like 1972’s Dance of Magic and 1973’s Dark of Light or heard him appearing as a sideman on albums by Pharoah Sanders, Sam Rivers and Archie Shepp (all major-league tenor saxophonists in the jazz world) had no doubts about his ability to handle hardcore jazz improvisation. But 1975 was a stylistic turning point for Connors. That year, he enjoyed a major R&B hit when his Stevie Wonder-influenced single “Valentine Love” reached #10 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. “Valentine Love,” a romantic male/female duet featuring singers Michael Henderson (who wrote the song) and Jean Carn, made Connors an important name in 1970s soul—and he continued to increase his R&B activity in 1976 with the release of two albums on Buddah Records: the chartbusting You Are My Starship and the lesser known Norman Connors Presents Aquarian Dream. 

You Are My Starship has one foot in jazz and the other in 1970s soul, and it is the soul offerings that enabled the album to reach #5 on Billboard’s R&B albums chart and helped Connors gain an abundance of new fans who didn’t necessarily know a lot about his jazz background. The haunting ballad “You Are My Starship,” which was written by Henderson and featured him on lead vocals, became an even bigger hit than “Valentine Love” and made it to #4 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. Other quiet storm gems from You Are My Starship became singles as well, including Henderson’s “We Both Need Each Other” and “Betcha By Golly Wow” (an inspired cover of the great Linda Creed/Thom Bell ballad that had been a huge hit for the Stylistics in 1972). “We Both Need Each Other” made it to #23 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart, while “Betcha By Golly Wow” peaked at #29 on that chart.

Henderson’s work with Connors clearly did a lot to help him launch a successful solo career. “Valentine Love” and “You Are My Starship” gave Henderson some valuable exposure, as did his male/female duet with the late Philadelphia native Phyllis Hyman on “We Both Need Each Other.” Hyman, meanwhile, is the only lead vocalist on “Betcha By Golly Wow,” and like Henderson, she went on to launch a successful solo career after working with Connors. Sadly, Hyman (who suffered from severe depression) was only 45 when she committed suicide by overdosing on barbiturates on June 30, 1995.

In addition to its impressive performance on the R&B charts, You Are My Starship reached #2 on Billboard’s jazz albums chart. Some jazz musicians wondered if an album that had so much R&B content even belonged on the jazz charts, but in fact, at least half of the album is devoted to jazz—and that includes trumpeter Shunzo Ono’s dreamy instrumental “Bubbles,” Connors’ “So Much Love” and a mellow performance of Sanders’ signature song, “The Creator Has a Master Plan.” Those who are familiar with the ethereal yet funky sounds that jazz pianist/keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith (not to be confused with jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith) was providing with his band the Cosmic Echoes in 1976 will notice a strong Cosmic Echoes influence on “So Much Love,” which features Connors on lead vocals. Connors’ singing on “So Much Love” is clearly mindful of the vocals that Donald Smith (Lonnie Liston Smith’s brother) brought to the Cosmic Echoes. And on pianist/keyboardist Onaje Allan Gumbs’ samba-flavored “Just Imagine,” the influence of Brazilian jazz-funk is impossible to miss.

Norman Connors Presents Aquarian Dream, the other album reissued on this CD, is not a Connors album per se, but rather, an album that Connors produced for the obscure band Aquarian Dream. And while Norman Connors Presents Aquarian Dream wasn’t nearly the hit that You Are My Starship was, those who heard the album found it to be an engaging soul/funk effort that drew on 1970s influences such as Earth, Wind & Fire and New Birth.

Although Norman Connors Presents Aquarian Dream makes a detour into instrumental jazz-funk with the infectious “East 6^th Street,” R&B is its main focus—and in 1976, Aquarian Dream had a talented lead singer in Gloria Jones. Aquarian Dream’s Gloria Jones should not be confused with the Cincinnati-born soul singer known for recording the original 1964 version of Ed Cobb’s “Tainted Love” (a big new wave/synth-pop hit for Soft Cell in 1982), although she’s an expressive soul singer in her own right. And the word “expressive” easily describes her performances on the gritty “Guitar Talk” and the mystical “Phoenix” as well as on the exuberant “I’ll Always Love You, T” and the vibrant “Look Ahead.”

While Norman Connors Presents Aquarian Dream has its share of uptempo funk/soul, the album has its quiet storm offerings as well—and they include “Once Again” (a ballad by Aquarian Dream keyboardist Jacques Burvick) and a passionate cover of the Paul Williams/Roger Nichols ballad “Let Me Be the One.” The latter came out of soft rock/adult contemporary and was recorded by both Williams and the Carpenters in the early 1970s, but Aquarian Dream’s version is pure northern soul.

Aquarian Dream left Buddah after Norman Connors Presents Aquarian Dream and went on to record two albums for Elektra Records before breaking up: 1978’s Connors-produced Fantasy and 1979’s disco-obsessed Chance to Dance (which was the only Aquarian Dream album that Connors wasn’t a part of). Fantasy had a pearl of a single in “You’re a Star,” which wasn’t the hit it deserved to be. And joining forces with producer Jeff Lane (best known for his work with Brass Construction and BT Express) on Chance to Dance didn’t bring Aquarian Dream commercial success either.

But despite Aquarian Dream’s inability to score a hit in 1976, Connors was no doubt counting his blessings that year given how well You Are My Starship performed. Indeed, this reissue demonstrates that 1976 was a very busy and productive year for the jazz drummer turned R&B producer.

—Alex Henderson, August 2013

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, JazzTimes, Jazziz, AlterNet, Salon.com, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, Latin Style, The New York City Jazz Record and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) has also contributed several thousand CD reviews to The All Music Guide’s popular website and series of music reference books.