Songs About Sports - "Wide Receiver"

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It’s been said by many before me - Sports are the ultimate reality television, because you never know what’s going to happen. One slip, one trip, one burst of energy can change everything in an instant. So I dredged up 10 Songs About Sports, and while we have had a football song, we haven’t had an American football song yet. Until today. American football fans, meet Michael Henderson, and his R&B hit, “Wide Receiver.” Michael Henderson (b. 1951 - d. 2022) was a premier fusion bassist and vocalist who played with some big names you might have heard of: He was a member of Miles Davis’ band (he played on the legendary Jack Johnson album, as well as Live-Evil and others,) he also played with Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, well, you get the idea. Additionally, Henderson was the vocalist on Norman Connors’ 1976 R&B hit, “You are My Starship.” In the meantime, the bassist released 8 solo studio albums and 19 singles. 1980 was a good year for Michael Henderson, with his album, Wide Receiver, reaching #35 on the Billboard 200 and #6 on that magazine’s U.S. R&B chart. The title track did well, hitting #42 on the U.S. Dance chart, and #4 on the U.S. R&B singles chart. It is 8-minutes of fun dance funk with humorous lyrics (“the referee must be smoking a joint;” “next time I’m kicking the son of a b*tch in.”) Truth be told, wide receivers are probably the most fun position to watch in American football. Athletic as it gets, they also seem to have the biggest personalities on the field. “Wide Receiver” tapped into that fun. Link is to the song, naturally: