Guest
Michael McDonald was born February 12, 1952 in St Louis, Missouri. As soon as he realized his musical abilities he sought out to play in local bands in the St Louis area until he was convinced to move to Los Angeles in 1970 to further his career. He released singles like the self penned “God Knows“ in 1971 on RCA, then “I Think I Love You Again“, “Where Do I Go From Here“, “Driving Wheel“ and “A Good Old Time Love Song“ were all issued by Bell Records in 1972. In 1974 he caught a break with Steely Dan, who hired him for the touring band and then he expanded his musical education within the band until 1980's “Gaucho“. That led to his studio work with them where his distinctive harmony vocals created this beautiful shimmery effect on the songs he sang background on like “Peg“ in 1977. The following year, 1975 he signed on as a temporary Doobie Brother to replace the lead vocalist Tom Johnston who had became ill on tour. The audience reception was well noted by the band who made Michael a full time Doobie, transforming the good time rockers into a seriously popular R&B based act with songs like “It Keeps You Runnin'“, “What A Fool Believes“ and “Real Love“ all making waves in the US with “Fool“ topping the chart for a week. After his run with the Doobies, McDonald turned solo and self produced. During his time with the Doobies he had kept busy doing guest vocals on a whack of other hits like Kenny Loggins, gearing up for his first solo effort, “If That's What It Takes“ in 1982 that delivered his greatest solo moment the #4 hit, “I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near). His next big hit was 1986's “Sweet Freedom“, a #7 pop hit. At the time,“I Keep Forgettin'“ was played often on “smooth jazz“ FM stations who also played Sade, Basia, Anita Baker, Kenny G and it fit right in. I decided to take shot at it and it came together easily. The production qualities on this one are nothing less than sterling, as is the voice of the man who sang it.
