4 Times that Jazz/R&B Singer Randy Crawford Crossed Over with Famous Collaborators

Throughout the 1980s, Randy Crawford was something of a regular on the U.S. album charts, with releases typically peaking in the lower half of the Billboard 200. She had even longer-lasting success on the R&B singles chart, placing songs well into the late ‘90s. For her work with jazz keyboardist Joe Sample, Crawford was nominated for a pair of Grammy Awards in the late 2000s. Yet these successes and accolades haven’t helped her to have more than a fleeting presence on Top-40 radio in the U.S. Crawford’s biggest success as a pop artist came in the UK, where she placed 13 singles on the Official Singles Chart, including two Top-5 hits, “One Day I’ll Fly Away” and “Almaz.”

However, there were four occasions where a collaboration helped Crawford to reach a U.S audience beyond those who were familiar with her R&B and jazz hits. While two of these kept Crawford close to her jazz roots, one involved working with a progressive rock legend, while the other was a duet with a former teen heartthrob.

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“Hoping Love Will Last” by Steve Hackett from Please Don’t Touch (1978)

Please Don’t Touch was Steve Hackett’s first solo album after leaving Genesis (and second overall), and he recorded some of the tracks in New York and Los Angeles. Crawford was one of several American musicians who contributed to the album. When it was being recorded in late 1977 and early 1978, she had yet to make an appearance on any chart singles or albums in any country. In addition to Crawford, Hackett used Steve Walsh of Kansas and Richie Havens to sing lead on some of the album’s tracks. While Walsh and Havens provided vocals on two tracks each, the ballad “Hoping Love Will Last” is the only song that Crawford sang on.

Hackett did not release “Hoping Love Will Last” as a single, but Please Don’t Touch is his highest-charting solo album (peaking at No. 103) with the longest stay (14 weeks) on the Billboard 200. The guitar whiz thought enough of the song that he made it the closing track on his 1992 compilation album The Unauthorised Biography.

“Street Life” by The Crusaders from Street Life (1979)

The jazz fusion band The Crusaders had been crossing over to the Billboard Hot 100 ever since their instrumental cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” hit No. 95 in 1966. However, “Street Life” marked the first time—and the last—that either The Crusaders or Crawford had a Top-40 hit, as it reached No. 36 on the Hot 100. A rerecorded version of “Street Life” was used in the films Sharky’s Machine and Jackie Brown.

The song was co-written by Sample and Will Jennings. Sample was The Crusaders’ keyboardist, and Jennings went on to become Steve Winwood’s longtime lyricist as well as the co-writer of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” and “Up Where We Belong” by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, among many other hits. This would not be the first or last time Crawford would collaborate with Sample. He had been a part of The World Jazz Association All Star Band, and in that capacity, Sample performed on Crawford’s 1976 debut album Everything Must Change.

“Your Precious Love” by Al Jarreau and Randy Crawford from Casino Lights by Various Artists (1982)

Crawford sang all four songs from Side One of the Casino Lights soul jazz compilation. That included three duets with Al Jarreau, who was no stranger to jazz-pop crossovers. Their cover of the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell 1967 hit “Your Precious Love” was recorded at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, and the performance is loaded with star power. Joining Crawford and Jarreau on the track are Richard Page of Mr. Mister and Bill Champlin of Chicago, and frequent Steely Dan collaborator Larry Carlton plays the song’s guitar solo.

Crawford and Jarreau’s version of “Your Precious Love” just missed the Hot 100, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under chart. It also spent 15 weeks on Billboard’s R&B chart, which was actually two weeks longer than the tenure for Gaye and Terrell’s original.

“Taxi Dancing” by Rick Springfield from Hard to Hold (1984)

Erstwhile teen idol Rick Springfield spent much of the ‘80s making songs that appealed to listeners of Top-40 and rock stations. Springfield’s fourth single from the soundtrack to the 1984 film Hard to Hold was a change of pace from his typical fare. “Taxi Dancing” is a straightforward pop ballad, with Crawford and Springfield alternating the lead vocals in each verse and singing the lead together in the choruses. Though it is probably the poppiest track that Crawford has sung on, it did not quite match the success of “Street Life.” “Taxi Dancing” spent 10 weeks on the Hot 100, peaking at No. 59.

While Hard to Hold is technically a soundtrack album, it also serves as Springfield’s eighth studio album. He wrote and performed on seven of the album’s 10 songs, with Graham Parker, Nona Hendryx, and Peter Gabriel performing the remaining tracks.

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