Skip Scarborough (November 26, 1944 – July 3, 2003) – The World's A Masquerade (1973)

The unsung giant of 70s soul songwriting wrote this lyrically deep message song for Earth, Wind & Fire's third LP Head To The Sky, with Maurice White on lead.

View most updated version of this post on Substack.

Open YouTube playlist of all songs in this post.

Skip Scarborough was a multi-talented songwriter and producer who wrote or co-wrote some of the most cherished, beautiful love songs of the 1970s, including Earth Wind & Fire’s “Can't Hide Love,” “Love Ballad” by L.T.D., and “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers.

Clarence Alexander “Skip” Scarborough was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He moved to Los Angeles to attend medical school at UCLA, while writing songs in his spare time. There he met undergrad Jessica Cleaves, who was one of two female singers in the L.A.-based vocal group Friends of Distinction. She introduced him to the rest of the group, and along with songwriters Jerry Peters and Anita Poree (who had previously written “Going In Circles” for the Friends) he co-wrote his first big hit for them, a song called “Love or Let Me Be Lonely.” Released as a single in early 1970, featuring Charlene Gibson on lead vocals, it went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #13 R&B.

When Cleaves left the group and joined Earth, Wind & Fire, Scarborough wrote the beautiful love song “I’d Rather Have You” which she sang lead on for their third album Last Days And Time (1972). It was the start of his fruitful collaboration with EWF.

He wrote another song for their next album Head To The Sky, released in 1973 and their last LP to feature Cleaves. “The World’s a Masquerade” was a lyrically deep message song, with Maurice White singing lead and Cleaves on backing vocals.

That same year, the Los Angeles-based group Creative Source (who were managed by 5th Dimension member Ron Townsend) released their self-titled debut album on Clarence Avant’s Sussex Records label. Its lead single was the Scarborough-written funky jam “You Can’t Hide Love,” which went to #48 R&B. Two years later, EWF reached #11 R&B and #39 on the Hot 100 with their much better known cover version, off the 1975 Gratitude LP.

In 1976, Scarborough produced Azar Lawrence's superb album People Moving, released on Prestige. He wrote its stellar soul-jazz-funk opening cut “Theme For A New Day,” which was arranged by Patrice Rushen with herself on piano.

Around this time he also wrote the epic, blissful jam “Theme for Relana” for Gene Harris, who used it as the opening cut to his 1976 In A Special Way LP. It was named for Scarborough’s daughter, who was photographed sitting on Harris’ lap for the album cover.

The song featured EWF members Verdine White on bass, Al McKay on guitar, and Philip Bailey on percussion and backing vocals, plus former member Jessica Cleaves on backing vocals. The album’s all-star lineup also included James Gadson and Harvey Mason on drums and percussion, Lee Ritenour on guitar, and Azar Lawrence on tenor sax.

Scarborough produced Con Funk Shun’s breakthrough album Secrets in 1977, for which he co-wrote the superb instrumental “Indian Summer Love.” He also co-wrote its phenomenal title track with the band’s multi-instrumentalist and lead singer Felton Pilate.

Propelled by its #1 R&B hit single and funk classic “Ffun,” the album hit #6 on the R&B charts and #51 on the Billboard 200 on its way to going gold. Scarborough repeated the magic when he also produced their next album Loveshine (1978), which went gold again and reached #10 R&B and #32 on the Billboard 200.

He arranged the horns on the album’s stellar title track, and wrote its epic slow jam closing cut “Can’t Go Away.“ He also co-arranged and played Fender Rhodes piano on the laid back jam “I Think I Found The Answer,” which was written by Linda McCall, the wife of the group’s drummer and co-founder Louis A. McCall.

Other notable late seventies love songs penned by Scarborough include the #1 R&B hit “Love Ballad” (1976) by L.T.D, and Bill Withers’ #6 R&B classic “Lovely Day” (1977), which he and Withers co-wrote together. He wrote the beautiful “No One Can Love You More” for Phyllis Hyman’s 1977 self-titled debut LP, and the superb slow jam “Love Changes” for Mother Factor (1978), the fourth studio album by the Atlanta-based R&B/rock group Mother’s Finest.

Rest in Power, Skip Scarborough.

Further info:

“Music World Hops to Songwriter's Beat,” Los Angeles Times, January 14, 1989.

“'Skip' Scarborough, 58; Songwriter, Producer, Arranger,” obituary, Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2003.

“Remembering a Music Hit Machine: Skip Scarborough,” Hipster Sanctuary, February 27, 2015.

#soul #funk #EWF #ConFunkShun #SkipScarborough