For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I wanted to venture to Ohio and show some love to Zapp and their classic song “Computer Love”. The lead single from their fourth album, “The New Zapp IV U”, “Computer Love” features vocals from Shirley Murdock and Charlie Wilson. The song was written by Murdock, Zapp Band leader Roger Troutman, and his brother Larry Troutman.
As someone who met his spouse of seventeen years online, I’ve always felt that “Computer Love” was a bit ahead of its time. “Computer Love” by Zapp is a song about love and how technology can bring two people together. Charlie Wilson is on a quest to find a woman with whom he can share his love of technology. The lyrics of the song state that sometimes people have to find love through technology.
In the song, there is an implication that technology is the new normal. The lyrics mention astrology and how the narrator used to use it to try to find love, but now he has found his match with the help of a computer. The narrator states that with the use of computer programs and technology, he has found what he was looking for.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase “Shooby-doo-bop” several times in a row. This is a form of repetition that is used to create emphasis. The lyrics of the song make it seem as if the narrator is searching for love and is willing to take it from whoever is available to him, even if that person is someone he has only seen on a computer screen.
“Computer Love” is about how technology has enabled a new way to date and form relationships. The song encourages openness and the courage to take chances in love.
Final Grade: A
“Computer Love” is available on all streaming platforms..
My introduction to Nate Dogg goes back to Dr. Dre’s 1992 debut, The Chronic, and the song “Deeez Nuuuts.” Even then, something about Nate’s voice set him apart from everybody else. He wasn’t just singing on rap records. He was bringing soul, gospel, street knowledge, and West Coast cool into the same space. He set the standard for hook singers in hip-hop, and dare I say, he’s still vastly underrated.
For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I wanted to give Stevie Wonder his due as he prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his masterpiece, “Songs in the Key of Life,” on tour. While the easy choice could have been “Knocks Me Off My Feet”—a classic that still resonates fifty years later—I chose “From the Bottom of My Heart,” the second single from his twenty-third studio album, “A Time to Love,” released in 2005.
It’s hard to believe that an iconic singing competition like American Idol has produced only two Black male winners in its more than two-and-a-half-decade history. Jamal Roberts made history last year when he won the show, following Ruben Studdard’s well-deserved victory in Season Two.