Creator to Creators S5 Ep 18 Pure Energy

“Midnight Magic” and Pure Energy, the R&B/funk/dance group that brought it to life andwill release it September 8, have more in common than creator/creationLisa wrote the vocals and the melody. Curtis Hudson, lead guitarist and vocals, addedthe funk twist, brother Ray Hudson is the bass guitarist, and together they have putsome magic in “Midnight Magic.” The song is a hot, hopping, purely fun dance trackAnd the video tells visual stories of people waking to the magic of midnight, showcasesCurt and Ray in all their glorious funk, and if Lisa’s magnificent, soaring vocals don’tlevitate you right off the floor, you might be dead.Pure Energy — Curtis, Lisa and Ray — are also looking for some magic at midnight.The song was written back in the early ’80s, when the group was hot but the musicindustry was often geared more toward snuffing fire instead of sparking it.Pure Energy disbanded in 1984, at least as a performing, recording entity.Until this year.“We were always trying to put songs out on other artists,” said Ray. “We decided ‘Hey,we need to try to get some exposure for some of this material we have,’ like Madonnaand other people we started working with. And we found that that was working for us.”Madonna and a song she made famous, “Holiday,” illustrate the point. Curtis and Lisawrote “Holiday,” regarded as the single that really launched Madonna’s career.“We actually wrote that song for our group, Pure Energy,” said Lisa. “We presented it toour record company, and they said it wasn’t a hit. And Madonna did it and, you know,the rest is history.”“We thought we could have done ‘Holiday,’ but our record company didn’t hear it forus,” said Ray. “That kind of helped us decide we need to go a different direction.”The group formed in the mid-’70s. Their first single, “Party On,” made it to No. 7 on theBillboard Dance Charts. Members of the group served as writers and producers forother artists, including Jean Carne, Maxine Singleton, Wranda Rawlins and LaurieceHudson. Curt wrote and produced “Body Work,” which became a hit for the group Hot Streak onits platinum soundtrack for the movie Breakin’. “Body Work” was also sampled by MissyElliot for her 2005 worldwide hit “Lose Control,” which was nominated for Best RapSong at the Grammys and won a Grammy for best short form music video.Curtis also co-wrote the song “Remember Us” for John Legend, which earned Legend aGrammy for Best R&B Artist in 2021. With his and Lisa’s son, Eric Hudson, Curtis alsoco-wrote two songs on the Isley Brothers’ new album, Make Me Say It Again Girl. Curtand Eric teamed up to produce “Midnight Magic.”Eric himself is a five-time Grammy winning producer who has written and produced forsuch artists as Whitney Houston, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Usher, andThe Weekend. Now, Lisa, Ray and Curtis are ending almost 40 years of temporary disbandment. They never stopped believing in Pure Energy. They never stopped performing, writing andcollaborating.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/creator-to-creators-with-meosha-bean--4460322/support.