Japanese Saxman Sadao Watanabe is a legend in the jazz music world, with an incredible 70+ albums to his credit over more than six decades on the scene. But for all his critical acclaim, through the first quarter century of his career Watanabe was far from a household name in the popular music circles.
That all changed in 1990, when Mr. Watanabe teamed with an all-time singer on a song written by Hall of Fame hitmaker Diane Warren. Warren had composed the ballad “Any Other Fool” with Robbie Buchanan and recorded it on legendary singer, Dusty Springfield in the late 80s. However, the song didn’t make the cut on Springfield’s 1990 album, Reputation. The rumor is that Springfield wasn’t happy that Warren had also shared the song with Watanabe for a collaboration with the great Patti Austin, who had a string of hits in the prior decade via solo albums, guest vocal performances and duets with James Ingram.
Maybe Springfield had a point, because the Watanabe/Austin combination was an across-the-board smash, hitting the top 10 on the pop, R&B and jazz charts, and giving the saxophonist his most commercially acclaimed song ever.
The performance by both artists is fantastic, and shockingly the hit song is currently out of print and not on Spotify or Apple Music. So we are just enjoying hearing it on YouTube and remembering this fantastic Lost Gem that sounds as good now as it did more than three decades ago. Check it out.