I’ve just been writing about Lenny Kravitz for my book on music. His early days. A retro sixties sound but fresh and individual. I first heard him when I was living in Paris in 1989-90 on a fantastic radio station called Radio Nova. The song sounded to me like a Beatles track, maybe a White Album song, with John Lennon singing. That and a bit of Prince for good measure. I was intrigued, but for a while I didn’t know what the song was or who was singing it. Eventually I figured it out”.  “Let Love Rule” by Lenny Kravitz. 1989.

Lenny’s first album was also called “Let Love Rule”. It’s a great album. Songs like “Freedom Train” and “Sittin’ On Top Of The World” add to the brilliance of “Let Love Rule”.

The second album, “Mama Said”, from 1991, feels like early seventies compared with  the sixties “Let Love Rule”. It’s funky and soulful in places. “What Goes Around Comes Around” exemplifies that. Curtis Mayfield meets Stevie Wonder, circa “Innervisions”. Love the sax workout at the end too.

Lenny is a man of many talents, including acting. In recent times he’s been Cinna, the costume designer for Katniss and Peeta in “The Hunger Games”.

But I love those early songs.