Bobby Caldwell
Bobby Caldwell. A white kid from Manhattan who sang What You Won't Do for Love with so much soul that Black radio programmers assumed he was Black. The label kept his photo off the album cover intentionally. When he finally toured, audiences gasped. But by then it was too late to care -- the song was a standard. Tupac sampled it on Do for Love. It's been covered in jazz clubs and wedding receptions and karaoke bars for four decades. The song outlasted the surprise.
Essential Listening
1What You Won't Do for Love