QM LL Cool J-I Need Love 9:30:25 6.05 PM

Photo: Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com
Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 2.0
Intro keyboardist and Vocals by: Gail Nobles
Story by: Gail Nobles

Today’s topic is LL Cool J who brought us some unforgettable memories with his hit “I Need Love.”

On the radio, I was hearing remixes in the 1980’s. Rap mixes within rap mixes with fast tempo and beats. Voices were proud and boastful. And one night, just out of the blue I heard the most beautiful catchy tune that was unusual for a rap. The slow keyboard sound caught my ear and then the beat dropped. It was LL Cool J with his rap hit: I Need Love. I was in high school. The song quickly became popular. Some boys in class would get together to write down the words and say the rhyme using their desk in class for a drum while the teacher was out of the class. Girls sat to listen. The rap was loved. It was different than any rap ever heard. It was about love.

One night, I was at home listening to the disc jockey live on the radio playing the song at the roller skating rink. More and more people were entering in there as that song was played. I thought a fight would soon break out, but there was no way I was expecting that at the moment they played LL Cool J hearing the words “I Need Love”.

Soon, after hearing the rap being played on the radio, I saw LL Cool J’s music video featuring a girl sitting on the bed, crying and heartbroken, as LL walked away. Many girls in the crowd were screaming, reaching out for him, but LL was growing tired of that kind of life. The heartbroken girl still loved LL, but her feelings were hurt by her father’s disapproval, as he snatched her picture of him off the wall. My eyes were glued to the television as I waited to see what would happen next. The next thing I knew, the girl reached LL Cool J through the crowd, and they were back together again. After watching the video, I understood the deeper meaning of the rap.

"I Need Love" is the second song released from LL Cool J's album called Bigger and Deffer. It shot to number 1 on the Hot Black Singles chart and hit number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song was also one of the first rap hits to get popular in the UK, reaching number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1988, it won a Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap Single.

I i’m Gail Nobles. Thank you for listening to Q Memors - a show about music radio memories.

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