Music Scene
It's elemental: They'll bring the hit tunes

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

•	Earth, Wind & Fire 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Blaisdell Arena $45, $55 526-4400, 591-2211

"Uh-uh, no way," assures percussionist/vocalist Ralph Johnson, one of three survivors of EWF's mirrorball 1970s heyday — along with bassist Verdine White and vocalist Philip Bailey — still touring with the group. "We have such a catalog of tunes that we can never get away from the hits. We never get tired of playing the stuff. And so that's what we'll be doing. All your favorite stuff."

A tough order for a group with 22 albums (six of these consecutive multimillion sellers) and 16 Billboard Top 40 hits to its credit, six Grammy Awards and card-carrying membership in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But then again, would you really allow these guys to exit the Blaisdell in one piece without hearing "Reasons," "September" or (OK, we'll admit we "kind of" like it) "Boogie Wonderland"?

They certainly doubt it. And so, once again, it'll be back to the beginning this weekend for EWF's first Honolulu concerts in nearly 14 years. Back to a pre-Osama — heck, we're talking pre-Reagan — era safe for gooey ballads about spiritual unity, funky R&B dance floor hits that managed to teach a thing or two about jazz, and the occasional sequined metallic spacesuit or band-spewing onstage pyramid.

Formed by drummer/vocalist Maurice White and his brother Verdine in 1970, EWF had, by 1972, already released a couple of musically daring, albeit poorly selling, albums of what would become its trademark sound when Maurice decided to make some major adjustments.

Axing six band members — save for Verdine and himself — White enlisted Bailey, Johnson and three other musicians (including saxophonist Ronnie Laws) for Version 2.0 in search of a tighter, more cohesive lineup that would take the band to the next level, sonically and financially.

"The mission was really quite simple: We just wanted to be one of the greatest bands ever," says Johnson. "Maurice's vision for the band was that he wanted a band that could play all styles of music and do a great live presentation. And that's what the band evolved into."

It would take another pair of tepidly selling albums — and another band restructuring that kept Bailey, Johnson and keyboardist Larry Dunn — for the EWF juggernaut to really begin rolling, but when it did, it certainly seemed an overnight success. Co-written by Maurice, Bailey and Dunn, "Shining Star," from the soundtrack of the film "That's the Way of the World" (in which the band also starred) reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1975. Only the band's third Top 40 hit, the half-million selling "Shining Star" also went No. 1 R&B and won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group. Though the film itself was a bomb, its chart-topping soundtrack managed two more hits in its title track and "Reasons."

The in-studio arrangement that created "Shining Star" — Maurice as producer and lead writer, with other members co-writing — was a proven hit-making force by 1976. EWF embarked on a six-year run of million-selling singles, albums and sold-out concerts.

"Those years were nothing but fun," remembers Johnson. "I mean, it was like we had nothing else to do but the music. Nobody was married, so all we had to do was hang out with each other. We got better on our instruments and got turned on to a lot of different music of the time. It was a time of exploration and learning."

Much of that instruction came from group leader Maurice White, who Johnson credits with keeping the group grounded during the madness of its late-1970s peak.

"He would turn us on to books to read that would help us get a sense of what life was like beyond just this band," says Johnson.

White's interest in, among countless other things, astrology, self-image psychology, and his African roots was reflected not only in EWF's music and elaborate stage shows, but in books he regularly doled out to his bandmates, such as Napoleon Hill's "The Master Key To Riches," Maxwell Maltz's "Psycho-Cybernetics" and Richard Bach's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull."

"And we were readers!" insists Johnson. "We were open vessels. You could pretty much give us anything back then, and we'd say, 'OK, let me check this out.'"

When a string of five consecutive Top 10 hits between 1978 and 1981 courtesy of albums such as "I Am" and "Raise" came to an abrupt halt with 1983's virtually hitless "Electric Universe," the band, both physically and creatively spent, went their separate ways. After moderately successful solo ventures, Maurice and Bailey reteamed with Verdine and Johnson in 1987 for the album "Touch The World" and its No. 1 R&B single "System of Survival."

Though EWF's hit-making days seem all but over, the group — armed with its "all the hits you can stand and more" live act — remains a top concert draw. Recently the band ended a successful 30th anniversary concert tour.

"Part of our success is understanding that the music is bigger than any one, two or three individuals in the group," says Johnson. "The relationships are great. And it's because we have a mutual respect for one another. We understand what we had to go through to get here, so we take nothing for granted."

The group has even survived Maurice White's 1995 decision to bow out of EWF's concert lineup after being stricken with Parkinson's disease, a degenerative neurological ailment that, while non-fatal, restricts muscle control and movement.

"He's doing fine ... a whole lot better," says Johnson of Maurice, whom he still calls his mentor. "When we did Los Angeles in October, he came on stage the first night and just surprised everybody. He'll do that every now and again." Maurice, who also performed at EWF's 2000 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, continues to write, produce and record with the group. His deep natural voice is replicated onstage by keyboardist Robert Brookin and, surprisingly, falsetto Bailey.

Which leads to a question likely on the mind of any longtime local EWF fan worth his copy of "That's The Way": After two decades of Bailey knocking out heavenly falsetto highs on "Reasons," can what used to be right, possibly be wrong?

"Oh, sheesh ... I trust you'll be at the show to hear this," scolds Johnson, at any questioning of "The Voice." "You're going to see he hasn't lost anything. He's only gotten better. Absolutely."