First we catch Justin Bieber on the security camera in the downtown Hamilton Dunkin Donuts a couple of weeks ago, and now Earth, Wind & Fire is making the journey all the way to our town this weekend to perform in front of thousands of faculty, alumni, students and parents. Who knew Hamilton was such as celebrity hot spot?? Not without good reason, as we are celebrating Homecoming, Parent’s Weekend, and the Colgate Bicentennial in one spectacular weekend of events. Talk about killing three birds with one stone!
But back to Earth, Wind & Fire, I mean how did Colgate manage this? They are huge. I mean we did have Aretha Franklin and Juicy J at Spring Party Weekend the past couple of years, so I guess there can’t be any complaints with Colgate’s choice of performers. Well, I’m not complaining, but I guess I can’t speak for everyone.
Anyway, we wanted to give you a bit of backstory on Earth, Wind & Fire in case you live under a rock and don’t know how legendary and iconic they are.
Maurice White founded the band in Chicago back in 1970. Maurice dubbed the band “Earth, Wind & Fire” based on his astrological sign, Sagittarius, which has a primary elemental quality of Fire and seasonal qualities of Earth and Air. Honestly so relatable Maurice, looking up the qualities of my astrological sign is one of my favorite things to do on Buzzfeed! But turning that into a band name is so much cooler than googleing “What does my love life mean according to my astrological sign” or “What type of personality does my astrological sign have”.
Earth, Wind & Fire has been described as one of the most innovative and commercially successful bands of all time. Rolling Stone says “they were arguably the biggest black rock band in the world, scoring nearly a dozen gold and platinum albums, and charting Top 10 singles like ‘Shining Star,’ ‘Sing a Song’ and After the Love is Gone'”.
Here is the Rolling Stone’s list of 12 essential songs by Earth, Wind and Fire to listen to before their concert this weekend!
- “Sweetback’s Theme” (1971)
- “Devotion” (1974)
- “Shining Star” (1975)
- Ramsey Lewis, “Sun Goddess” (1975)
- “That’s the Way of the World” (1975)
- “Sing a Song” (1975)
- “Reasons” (1975)
- “Brazilian Rhyme (Beijo)” (1977)
- “Go Get You Into My Life” (1978)
- “September” (1978)
- “Boogie Wonderland” (1979)
- “Let’s Groove” (1981)