Sade - Smooth Operator (Single Version w/lyrics)

3rd track from "The Best Of Sade" (1994). This ultra classy, Nigerian-born beauty and her eponymous English band came late to the Yacht Rock party. But that's okay. They ushered in a new round of authentic smooth right in the middle of '80s synthpop and did so as effortlessly as James Bond utters the catchphrase "shaken, not stirred." What, after all, could be smoother than Smooth Operator?

Btw, the original version, which is longer and features a spoken recitation in the song's intro, is from the band's debut album Diamond Life (1984). I like that version too, but it's not what I remember hearing on the radio back then. So I've chosen to go with the single radio edit.

~thatMimosaGrove

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"If Lionel Richie is the Commodore of all Yacht Rock, then Sade is the beautiful Siren. Her mix of soulful jazz and Caribbean rhythms sweep you away to a night on a champagne cruise. But they’re so timeless, it’s hard to know if you’re sailing in modern day or 1984."

~THE TOP 10 BEST YACHT ROCK SONGS

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Song written by Sade Adu and Ray St. John

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"Smooth Operator" is about a fashionable, devious man who lives a jet-set lifestyle. He is popular with women and breaks many hearts. The lyrics "Coast to Coast/LA to Chicago/Western Male/Across the North and South to Key Largo/Love for sale" imply that he uses women to obtain his income. It is also clear that he does not hold sincere affection for these women, as Adu sings near the end, "his heart is cold." The video to this song reinforces the message and the operator appears to be a professional criminal. In one scene, he displays a gun to an interested customer and in others, he appears to be a pimp. He succeeds in evading law enforcement, who have him under surveillance.

Sade
Sade Adu – vocals
Andrew Hale – keyboards
Stuart Matthewman – guitar, saxophone
Paul Denman – bass

Additional personnel
Terry Bailey – trumpet
Pete Brown – assistant engineering
Paul Anthony Cook – drums
Martin Ditcham – percussion
Simon Driscoll – assistant engineering
Dave Early – drums, percussion
Gordon Matthewman – trumpet
Robin Millar – production
Mike Pela – production engineering
Chris Roberts – photography
Ben Rogan – engineering
Graham Smith – sleeve design

~Wikipedia

[terryspatafora]

her music relaxes me so much I enjoy it so much