SOS Band in Amsterdam

The highly anticipated show by the SOS Band last night at Paradiso in Amsterdam was truly remarkable. Not only because the two singers who had replaced the almost iconic Mary Davis several years ago, really delivered, but because the songs still sound really fresh after all these decades. Singer and trumpeter Abdul Ra’oof, the only member left from the original band, excelled on both his instruments. Singers Marleen Thimas and Kayla Cox easily smoothed their way through classics like “Weekend Girl”, “No One’s Gonna Love You”, “Even When You Sleep”, or “For Your Love”. “Take Your Time (Do It Right)” from their debut album back in 1980 underscored their ability to tear the roof off the house. The packed Paradiso (sold out with 1.500 people) sang along to most of the tunes which was simply astounding and yes, they truly deserved all the accolades. I think the sequence of the songs which I think is very important in every show, was super entertaining too.

There were several highlights for me: “High Hopes”, one of the very first songs which the legendary writing and production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wrote for the third SOS Band album in 1982 (and which was executive-produced by the equally legendary Leon F. Sylvers), was done in a slightly faster tempo. And “Tell Me If You Still Care”, written by Jam & Lewis for the extremely successful 1983 album “On The Rise”, has lost none of its soulful and magical charme (even though I hoped for a longer version, but there were simply too many songs which had to be squeezed in). The band was tight throughout, especially with another of their biggest hits, the immortal “The Finest”. And of course, the mighty “Just Be Good To Me” wrapped up an enticing and mesmerizing night. I had the pleasure of talking to Abdul for a few moments after the show and I just wanted to thank him for contributing to a major part of the soundtrack to our lives for way over 40 years now.