Editor’s Pick: The Sade Situation

For years she was the poster child — literally the billboard — for the Smooth Jazz format. But with that format now in tatters, is there a place for the superstar somewhere in AAA?

My favorite Sade memory was when we booked her to appear in an interview program on VH1.

As part of the deal, we agreed to pick up the tab for her makeup artist. Seemed reasonable. Final cost? $7000.00

Oops. (Although since publication, several people have told me this was a bargain compared to many female superstars)

My second favorite was seeing her later that week hold court at a sold-out Madison Square Garden on the Lover’s Rock tour. Superstar.

Despite having sold 50 million records, one wonders about where Sade fits in the radio landscape these days. Once the face of the now all-but-defunct Smooth Jazz format, does she now simply fall through the cracks outside Urban?

First day sales of the new Soldier of Love would indicate that the consumer is again way ahead of the game. #1 at Amazon, #1 at iTunes, and likely to stay there for a while.

Saavy AAA programmers will look to see if and how she fits in. The title track is not exactly syrupy smooth jazz. And while one might expect to see stations like KINK or Cities 97 on board, no such sightings yet. But KRVB/Boise and WWMM/Birmingham are taking a shot.

This week Soldier went 34-17 on TheTop22.com’s Public Radio Songs chart.

View an excellent piece on Sade by Jon Pareles in The New York Times.

Check out the video for Soldier of Love here: