''Warm Thoughts'' is a 1980 album by

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

. It features the top 40 hit, "Let Me Be the Clock". The album was arranged by Reginald "Sonny" Burke. This album also featured the semi-autobiographical tune "Wine, Women and Song", which proved to be the closest thing to a

Miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

reunion that occurred in the 1980s, with Smokey doing a duet with his then-wife, former Miracle

Claudette Robinson Claudette Annette Rogers Robinson ( Rogers; born June 20, 1938) is an American singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Miracles from 1957 to 1972. Her brother Emerson "Sonny" Rogers was a founding member of the group, which befor ...

, and Miracle

Marv Tarplin Marvin Tarplin (June 13, 1941 – September 30, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the group's original members and co-wrote several of their bigges ...

, with whom he shared songwriting credits, on guitar. The song "Travelin' Thru'" was written by Smokey's real-life sister, Rose Ella Jones, and two songs written by Robinson with fellow Motown artist,

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, and singer, songwriter, and former

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...

star,

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943) is an American-British actor and singer. He is known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television series ''Starsky & Hutch'' from 1975 to 1979; Joshua Bolt on ' ...

. This album was a huge success, reaching the Top 20 of The ''Billboard 200'' Pop Album chart, peaking at #14, and the Top 10 of Billboard's R&B Album Chart, peaking at #4.

Track listing

All tracks composed by

, except where indicated. #"Let Me Be the Clock" - 5:10 #"Heavy on Pride" - 4:07 #"Into Each Rain Some Life Must Fall" ( Doris Fisher, Allan Roberts) - 4:34 #"Wine, Women and Song" (Robinson,

, Pamela Moffett) - 4:45 #"Melody Man" (Robinson,

) - 4:53 #"What's in Your Life for Me" (Robinson,

) - 4:43 #"I Want to Be Your Love" - 3:57 #"Travelin' Thru'" (Rose Ella Jones) - 4:22

Personnel

* Smokey Robinson – lead and backing vocals * Reginald "Sonny" Burke – keyboards, arrangements (1-4, 6, 7, 8) * Ron Rancifer – keyboards *

Marlo Henderson Marlo Henderson was an American guitarist and saxophonist, who played in mainly blues and R&B genres. As a session musician he played on albums such as '' Off the Wall'' by Michael Jackson, '' Them Changes'' by Buddy Miles, '' Face to Face'' by Ev ...

– guitars *

Melvin Ragin Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as "Wah Wah Watson", was an American guitarist who was a member of The Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. Career A native of Richmond, Virginia, Melvin ...

– guitars *

Phil Upchurch Philip Upchurch (born July 19, 1941) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and bassist. Career Upchurch started his career working with the Kool Gents, the Dells, and the Spaniels, before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush, and ...

– guitars *

David T. Walker David T. Walker (born June 25, 1941) is an American guitarist, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to numerous session musician duties since the early 1970s, Walker has issued fifteen albums in his own name. Career David T. Walker was born to ...

– guitars *

Keni Burke Kenneth M. "Keni" Burke (born September 28, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist who began his career with four siblings in the 1970s band the Five Stairsteps. Biography Five Stairsteps As a member ...

– bass * Scott Edwards – bass * Wayne Tweed – bass *

James Gadson James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and ...

– drums * Scotty Harris – drums * James Sledge –

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s, backing vocals * Fred Smith –

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * Re ...

s, solos * Michael Jacobson – cello *

– arrangements (5) * Cheryl Cooper – backing vocals * Ivory Davis – backing vocals * Patricia Henley Talbert – backing vocals *

– backing vocals, lead vocals (4)

Production

* Producer – Smokey Robinson * Co-Producer on Track 5 – Stevie Wonder * Production Assistant – Randy Dunlap * Engineer – Michael Lizzio * Assistant Engineers – Ernestine Madison and Ginny Pallante * Mixing – Michael Lizzio and Smokey Robinson * Mix Assistants – Randy Dunlap and Ginny Pallante * Mastered by John Matousek * Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at Motown Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA). * Recording Coordinator – Barbara Ramsey * Talent Coordinator – Simone Sheffield * Art Direction and Design – Ginny Livingston * Cover Photo – Ron Slenzak * Lettering – Vigon/Nahas/Vigon

References

1980 albums Smokey Robinson albums Albums produced by Smokey Robinson Motown albums Albums produced by Stevie Wonder {{1980s-R&B-album-stub