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Sade
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when she emerged in the mid 80s, seemingly out of nowhere, beautiful and exotic, playing soul music with a hint of jazz, she was the icon of cool. but as time went by, and she took ever greater control of the multifarious aspects of record production - writing and producing - sade was recast as an icon of womanhood.  naturally
it was all too much for her detractors who just couldn't get their heads
around someone looking so good being so gifted, determined and adroit;
sade didn't fit into the established scheme of things where female artists
were eye candy in a male driven industry. but to her millions of fans
around the world, and the countless singers and musicians who offer sade
their thanks, she is a constant source of inspiration. however, ironically sade adu is both an icon, and an iconoclast. she is the myth, the enigmatic diva who has presided over 30 million albums sales. who cherishes her private life more anything else and prefers the company of old friends to the glitterati lifestyle. but she is also the myth breaker who has dismantled many of the old music business ways, taking the power of creative control away from the men in suits and putting it where it belongs, with the musicians themselves. for example, one of the dozens of commonly held misconceptions about sade is that each new album is in some way a comeback, as though the lady were reemerging from retirement. of course, if you wanted to be charitable the sheer length of time between sade albums could provide grounds for such a misconception; four years from 'stronger than pride' to 'love deluxe', and eight between that multi-platinum album and 'lovers rock'. the real reason is of course very different. sade has quite simply rewritten the music industry rule book. her albums aren't products that come around with punctuality of trains, they are individual pieces of work that require both a purpose and a reason. and if those creative forces don't dovetail snugly into the established music business format, so be it.  the fashion stylist of minimum fuss for maximum effect applies that same principal to her music; if you have nothing to say, don't say it! helen folasade adu was born in nigeria, on january 16, 1959. her parents bisi adu and anne hayes, met in london when her father was studying at the london school of economics. the couple moved to west africa when bisi was offered the post of university professor. later, when the marriage ran into difficulties, anne returned to england, taking four year old sade, and her older brother banji, to live with her parents. by the early 70s, living on the essex coast, sade had learnt to ride and kept a horse, that she paid for with a succession of saturday jobs. she read a good deal, developed an interest in fashion, and acquired a taste soul music at discos at nearby american air force bases, and at local clubs in ilford and on canvey island. she told uk journalist robert sandall about seeing the jackson five on stage in london: "i was more fascinated by the audience than by anything that was going on on the stage," she said. "they'd attracted kids, mothers with children, old people, white, black. i was really moved." she sees the same social mix at her own concerts now. "and that's the best thing we've achieved." in 1977 sade arrived in london for a three year course in fashion design at st.martin's school of art. graduating she set up a small fashion company, making mens' clothes, with a friend, gioia mellor, who still designs many of sade's stage outfits to this day. it's matter of record she was living above a disused fire station in north london, with a large record collection and cat called cylinders, when lee barrett, who was to subsequently become her manager, famously asked her if she could sing? she found that she could, but what she enjoyed more was the process of songwriting, and in many ways this is what sustained during the early years, living hand to mouth out the back of tour bus, when the only thing that threatened to hold her back was a bad case of the nerves. as her songwriting matured, progressed and shifted away from the jazzy soul of 'diamond life' so her production skills also grew from strength to strength. she could claim some production  credits
on 'promise' but by 'stronger than pride' she and the band were a fully
functioning autonomous unit with a firm grip on every aspect of the recording
process. perhaps the most confounding thing about sade, the one aspect of her character that so annoyed the british media in the early years, was her determination to maintain a private life. for those who cared to listen she felt there is enough of her, and her life, in her songs. of course, it wasn't enough and the rumour machine swung into action. for the record she married a spanish film maker in 1989. they parted company some years ago and she now lives in london, in a large, uncluttered victorian house, that she renovated with her brother. she has an old mercedes that she likes to drive fast ("she turns into an immature man behind the wheel" says friend and video director sophie muller), and she has been trying to quit smoking for as long as anyone can remember. and she still stays up very late most nights, a habit that is proving to be quite tiring with a beautiful three year old daughter to attend to.  you might think that the modern media - television, video internet - would provide the perfect tools for sade to promote her music across the globe without ever having to leave her door. but that's forgetting the three she spent on the road before she signed a recording contract. sade adu and the sade band are first and foremost a live act, and that's where her heart remains. "if you just do television or video you become a tool of the record industry," she told sandall. "all you are doing is selling a product. it's when i get on stage with the band that we defy all those things that have been said about us by rock'n'roll journalists. when we play i know that the people love the music. i can feel it." 
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If you would like to hear more of Sade stop the video
and click on one of the titles below
Discography:
Diamond Life
Promise
Stronger than Pride
Love Deluxe
The Best of Sade
Lovers Rock
Lovers Live
DVD's and Singles
King of Sorrow
Lovers Live
Sade Live
Live Promise Pride Love
Click on the Thumbnails to open and close each picture,
you can also drag the pics around if you need to thanks.
