Quincy Jones The Dude LP

The 40th Anniversary reissue of Quincy Jones' The Dude, available in a gatefold jacket for the first time, from remastered audio.

Quincy Jones utilized a lengthy list of studio musicians to perform the tracks on his 1981 studio album, including vocalist James Ingram on "Just Once" and "One Hundred Ways", and Patti Austin on "Razzmatazz". The album also features lead single "Ai No Corrida", which gained heavy dance airplay.

The Dude was nominated for twelve Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year) and won three at the 24th Grammy Awards: for Best Instrumental Arrangement; Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal; and Best Instrumental Arrangement (Accompanying Vocalists). It also earned Ingram three Grammy nominations for Best New Artist, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (for "Just Once") and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (for "One Hundred Ways"), which he won.

An enormous commercial success, 1981's The Dude is a cross-cultural success blending jazz, Latin music, soul ballads, and straight pop into an admittedly slick but never over-produced or soulless stew. The album opens with a surprise: 'Ai No Corrida' is a synthesizer-driven yet still-funky Latin dance track written by Chaz Jankel of Ian Dury & the Blockheads, suggesting that unlike a lot of musicians his age, Quincy Jones kept his ears open to new music. The proto-rap title track accomplishes the same thing. The rest of the album is more conventional, with James Ingram and Patti Austin trading vocals on a smooth collection of tracks highlighted by the masterful love ballads 'One Hundred Ways' and 'Just Once,' staples of adult contemporary stations, and the haunting instrumental 'Velas.' The Dude is an outstanding collection that was massively influential on the '80s R&B scene.