Black History Month Celebration: Remembering Keith Barrow

Black History Month is a good time to say a name that doesn't get said enough: Keith Barrow. Born and raised in Chicago, Barrow sang R&B and soul through the 1970s — soulful vocals, heartfelt performances, and a catalog worth digging into. He never became a household name. He should have.

His path ran from Chicago to New York City to Los Angeles, where he signed with Columbia Records/CBS around 1976. Before his own records took off, he had a charting single as a writer: "Teach Me (It's Something About Love)" for Blue Magic, on their fourth album "Mystic Dragons," reached No. 48 on the Billboard R&B chart. He could land a hit before he ever fronted one.

His self-titled debut, produced by MFSB guitarist and songwriter Bobby Eli, came out in the summer of 1977. The first single, "Precious," didn't do much. The second album did. "Physical Attraction" (1978) held his biggest hit and signature song, "You Know You Want to be Loved," which climbed to No. 26 on the R&B chart that summer — plus the disco cuts "Physical Attraction" and "Turn It Up," both dancefloor favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHzIY_vxO1Y

Keith Barrow's You Know You Want to Be Loved Featured on Soul Train

In 1980 Barrow moved to the Capitol Records label and recorded his third and final studio album, "Just As I Am," which carried the single "Why Love Half The World (When You Can Love The Whole World)." Then his health began to fail.

Barrow died in 1983, at 29, from complications of AIDS. Soul and R&B lost one of their own, years before most of the industry would even name the disease that took him.

The records are still here. "You Know You Want to Be Loved" still gets played, "Physical Attraction" still moves a room, and classic-soul fans still pass his name along like something valuable. This Black History Month, we remember Keith Barrow, Chicago's own. Play the records. That's how he stays.