''Street Player'' is the sixth studio album by

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

band

Rufus Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include: Given name Politicians * Rufus Ada George (born 1940), Nigerian politician * Rufus Al ...

(and their fourth album featuring singer

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

), released on the

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

label in 1978. ''Street Player'' was the band's third album to top ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s R&B Albums chart and also reached #14 on Pop. The album includes the singles "Stay" (US R&B #3, US Pop #38) and "Blue Love" (US R&B #34).

History

In 1978, Rufus and Chaka Khan were a top-selling band. Their last four releases had gone platinum and the group continued to sell out in arenas as a headlining act with fiery Khan leading the way. By this point, Khan's stardom outside the group had grown and it led to the group drifting apart. While Khan opted to stay a member of the group, other members were uncomfortable that Khan was now offered solo contracts. After the release of this record, Khan would sign a solo deal with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

releasing her debut album, featuring the hit, "

I'm Every Woman "I'm Every Woman" is a song by American singer Chaka Khan, released as her debut solo single from her first album, '' Chaka'' (1978). It was Khan's first hit outside her recordings with the funk band Rufus. "I'm Every Woman" was produced by Arif ...

". While Khan went on to a solo career, Rufus cut ''

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

'', in 1979, without her. Khan, however, didn't leave the group, returning for their

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

-produced ''

Masterjam ''Masterjam'' is the platinum-selling eighth studio album by funk band Rufus (and their fifth album featuring singer Chaka Khan), their debut on the MCA Records label following their purchase and dissolution of ABC Records, released in 1979. His ...

'' later that same year. Also after the departure of original drummer Andre Fischer, Richard "Moon" Calhoun took over on this album on drums. This would be his only album with the group. Additionally, the jazz/rock band

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

featured a version of the title track on their 1979 album ''

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'', with

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera ( ; born September 13, 1944) is an American retired musician best known for being a lead vocalist and the bassist of the rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985, before launching a successful solo career. His c ...

on lead vocals. The song was co-written by Chicago's drummer at that time,

Danny Seraphine Daniel Peter Seraphine (born August 28, 1948) is an American drummer, record producer, theatrical producer and film producer. He is best known as the original drummer and a founding member of the rock band Chicago, a tenure which lasted from F ...

. The track "Stay" was later covered by

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the ...

on her 1997 album ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'' as well as performing on the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

crime drama ''

New York Undercover ''New York Undercover'' is an American Police procedural, police drama that aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and ...

'' episode "Vendetta", first aired on April 24, 1997.

Track listing

The listing of tracks on the back of the album as distributed in Canada (GRT of Canada Ltd.) is in the following order: * Destiny * Stranger To Love * Street Player * Stay * Best Of Your Heart * Finale * Take Time * Blue Love * Turn * Change Your Ways The listing on the album labels (sides 1 & 2) is as on the main listing.Physical copy

Personnel

– lead vocals, background vocals *Tony Maiden – guitar, percussion, lead vocals, background vocals * Kevin Murphy – keyboards *Bobby Watson – bass, percussion * David "Hawk" Wolinski – keyboards, background vocals *Richard "Moon" Calhoun – drums, percussion, background vocals *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', ''Rock with You'', ...

– trumpet, flugelhorn *

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

– saxophone, flute, piccolo *Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone, flute * Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone *Helen Lowe – additional background vocals *Everett Bryson, Jr. – percussion

Production

*Rufus, Roy Halee – producers *Roy Halee, George Belle – engineers * Clare Fischer – string arrangements & conductor *Seawind, Rufus – horn arrangements *Brian Gardner – audio mastering

Charts

Album Singles

References

External links

*
Street Player
' at Discogs {{Authority control 1978 albums Chaka Khan albums Rufus (band) albums Albums produced by Roy Halee ABC Records albums