Anita Baker has been a musical icon for the better part of the last 40 years. In that time she has become a favorite of HBCU marching bands looking to show off their musicality with a ballad or two.
So it’s no surprise that North Carolina A&T’s marching band, “The Blue And Gold Marching Machine” chose to create a medley of some of the classics in the Anita Baker cannon. It did so Saturday in Atlanta as part of the HBCU All-Star Battle of The Bands in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The medley kicked off with a pair of hits from her 1983 debut album – “The Songstress” – “You’re The Best Thing Yet” and “Angel.”
“The Blue And Gold Marching Machine” then shifted to Baker’s breakout album, dipping into “Sweet Love” and finishing with “Caught Up In The Rapture” from 1986’s “Rapture” album.
The medley was an immediate hit with the crowd gathered in the stadium, home to the Atlanta Falcons and the Celebration Bowl. Per usual, the band uploaded its performance to Youtube, where it immediately caught fire. And the smoke from that fire reached all the way to The Songstress herself.
She retweeted the video with a message attached.
“Is there Someone, i can call? Where, do i send, A *Thank You* Note?
These, Musicians
The Arrangements
Lordy.
God.
ABXO,” she tweeted with emojis.
The Blue And Gold Marching Machine twitter account replied by giving the artist her flowers once again.
When the original is amazing and the artist is a musical treasure, our job was easy! No thanks necessary. It was truly our pleasure to perform these classics!
It’s safe to say that the BGMM just gained a new fan in Anita Baker.