Anita Baker News: Anita Baker - Rapture

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Luther Vandross aside, soul music was at something of a crossroads by the mid-80s. Aretha Franklin had been listing since the advent of disco; Whitney Houston had set about her all-conquering pop dance career; and the machine-driven productions of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were becoming formulaic. However, Rapture, made by 29-year-old former Chapter 8 vocalist Anita Baker, reasserted the case for the genre.

Baker’s first solo album, 1983’s The Songstress �" a lush collection of quiet-storm soul �" was appreciated by the aficionados, but ignored by the mainstream. By the time she signed to Elektra in 1985, she had been...