Just The Way You Like It

Album: Just The Way You Like It (1984)
Charted: 32 64
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • It was the Waffle House - that bastion of late-night breakfast - that inspired this song, written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis before their meteoric rise. They're from Minnesota, where they don't have Waffle Houses, so like many Northerners, they eat there when they travel south.

    Jam and Lewis were in Atlanta working with The S.O.S. Band. They brought along a killer track but didn't have any ideas for the title or lyrics. The recording sessions would often stretch into the wee hours, so of course they hit up a Waffle House after. It was there that Jimmy Jam saw a sign: "Hot coffee served just the way you like it." He turned to Terry Lewis and said, "I got it."

    "Being from Minnesota, Terry and I didn't get to experience a lot of grits and eggs - that kind of eating," he told Red Bull Music Academy. "We loved Waffle House. We couldn't wait to go there because they were open 24 hours, and we would go there after we'd leave the studio early in the morning... So, the Waffle House gets the credit for inspiring that track."
  • "Just The Way You Like It" was the lead single and title track to the fifth S.O.S. Band album. Their first single, "Take Your Time (Do It Right)," was their biggest hit. They struggled to follow it up but got a big break when they started working with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who wrote and produced some songs on their fourth album, On The Rise, including the hit "Just Be Good To Me." The band started going through lineup changes after that and released their last album, One Of Many Nights, in 1991.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Kerry Livgren of Kansas

Kerry Livgren of KansasSongwriter Interviews

In this talk from the '80s, the Kansas frontman talks turning to God and writing "Dust In The Wind."

Don Brewer of Grand Funk

Don Brewer of Grand FunkSongwriter Interviews

The drummer and one of the primary songwriters in Grand Funk talks rock stardom and Todd Rundgren.

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. SchmitSongwriter Interviews

The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.