I love records that are spectacular in all directions where writing, performance, recording, production and vocals all come together in one cohesive package.  Innovation and inspiration… all the pieces make us feel something special.  It’s a gift when it works.

Before even studying a record, I know it’s great because there’s this feeling of envy in my gut.  I can’t not play it, no matter whether I love the artist or not.  It makes me want to get to work.  Great records have always done this to me.  On the contrary, lifestyle records or trendy, hipster fads do just the opposite.  I listen, nod my head, and know I won’t be putting it on in the car.  Rarely have I been wrong.

Elvis made me pick up a broom and imitate him.  The Beatles made me want music as a life.  Santana’s “Samba Pa Ti” inspired me to play lead guitar.  CCR made me want a band.  “Pump It Up” and “Working Week” by Elvis Costello made me want to be a songwriter.

Nowadays it’s songs/records with creative chord changes, lyrics that inspire, smart production, sounds from an innately talented mixer, a smooth, instinctive vocal and maybe most of all grooves with a solid bass line and beat… everything.

First entry, and in no particular order but just what’s in my head at this time may be a surprise- Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On”.

“Three little birds sat on my window – And they told me I don’t need to worry”.

It’s a carefree lyric, but clever in it’s use of images to create the feeling of someone breaking through the walls and challenge in life.  The birds (innocence) swing by to console and remind her how to find herself, and the next line is beautiful:

“Summer came like cinnamon, so sweet
Little girls double-dutch on the concrete”

A rich vision here, conjoining the senses of sight and smell.  When a female sings ‘little girls double-dutch on the concrete’, it’s a strong inner-city image.  A reflection of innocence she now longs for.  She’s reflecting back to a time there were few problems in her world.  The scent of cinnamon is reminiscent of something mom (your best friend as a kid) would be baking in the kitchen.

Pre-chorus conflict:

“Maybe sometimes we got it wrong but it’s alright
The more things seem to change
The more they stay the same   Don’t you hesitate”

Somewhere she messed up.  Haven’t we all.  She thought she graduated from one hard place, only to find she’s in another.  Pain is pain.  So you moved on, got stronger but the hurt feels the same.  Forgiving ones self is usually the first step to fixing.  Don’t even think about it, just go.

The chorus:

“Girl, put your records on
Tell me your favorite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans
I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down
You’re gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow”

Little in life gives you the immediate impact of taking away a hurtful, regretful moment like putting an old record on to make you happy.  “Sapphire and faded jeans” – I love that… Sapphire is a blue image akin to blue jeans, but sparkling like youth.  ‘Faded jeans’ are something we’ve all owned and felt a deep attachment.  When the day comes we have to toss them it’s like losing a chapter of our life.  A tangible metaphor for great times, hard times, people we found, people we lost, all of it.  If our blue jeans could talk…

Such a great lyric, and displays experience from the songwriter.  I don’t know which of the three writers were most responsible for this… maybe they all played a part… but so good.

The track begins with a 3 bar intro of a single gut string note, then two, then three… transitioning horn swell into the downbeat- ‘Three little birds’ verse begins.  An affirmative walking groove of 90 bpm is a perfect companion for shedding self-doubt and finding your strength.  The verse is comprised of the same chord progression as the chorus, with an 8 bar B-section & breakdown for a fitting palette reset to start dipping to the beat of the chorus.

This kind of neo-soul is implied but not as obvious as a Jill Scott or Angie Stone since it’s on a classical guitar and not a stereo panned Rhodes piano.  The ascending chord progression plays over a descending bass line, which lends symmetry to the lyrical ups & downs.  All these elements work together to make us feel like dealing with our problems.  Inspired!  Producers Steve Chrisanthou and Jimmy Hogarth did a flawless job.

Corrine’s vocal is silky, yet not manipulative.  She conveys the perfect sentiment of the words she sings.  The use of background vocals are abundant but not that noticeable unless you focus.  It’s more a subliminal group in her head like ‘we got you!’

This record was hugely successful in both the US and UK, and has been covered, synced and soundtracked many times.  Where there’s inspiration, success follows.  Spectacular!

Cheers-

Jude

People love to leave their best impression.  IG, FB, TikTok & X are filled with good fortune.  Good folks on lavish vacations, new cars, remodeled homes, infinity pools, pricey ‘fits’ for every day of the year, perfect bodies, or even just “# blessed I found the love of my life.”  If social media were a gauge for human success, we’d want for nothing.

I try not to use it as a ‘show & tell’ for adults, but sometimes my lack of revealing personal issues lead some to believe I don’t have any.

And that impression couldn’t be farther from reality.  The truth is, the last 6 years have been the most challenging of my life.  I don’t talk about it publicly other than broad-strokes… because it’s ugly.  It has to do with people.  Trust.  Betrayal.  I chalk it up to paying a karma from long ago, and some beliefs that may need an adjustment.

Back in the 80’s there was an SNL skit with Al Franken playing a character named Stuart Smalley… an insecure, effeminate man in pastel blue and purple sweaters looking sheepishly in the mirror, reciting things like ‘I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it people like me!’

It was pretty funny actually, but as I got older I realized it was also a little sad, because it ridiculed and laughed at something most people desperately need… and now more than ever.  Positive reenforcement.  Positive beliefs.  Positive affirmations.

Before I had a hit song on the radio, I was in a state.  My first record had gone straight to the ‘has-bin’ and my deal with Warners was in jeopardy.  I struggled to make rent.

Funny side note… one day Michael Bay, the director was still in college and you know… a rich kid from Brentwood, all that.  Anyway he visited my apartment because our girlfriends were friends, and as he stepped inside he looked all around, up and down along the walls and ceiling in amazement.  I wasn’t sure what he was going to say but finally he opened up his mouth and laughed ‘you live here??’.  Ha!  Funny I was kind of proud of that apartment until that day!

Anyway, a dear friend and sort of guru handed me a copy of the Louise Hay book ‘You Can Heal Your Life’ and said ‘Jude I think you need this’.  I did.

One message from the book was that whatever is wrong with you is due to your very own belief system.  True or false I liked it.  It left me in control, not anyone else.  It also came with a tape of daily meditation/affirmations.  I did it every day.  Until I felt a shift.  And you know, it worked.  Not only then, but every time I’ve had to reinvent or realign myself.

The next record ‘A View From 3rd St.’ wasn’t exactly Dark Side Of The Moon on the richter scale, but it did a few significant things to change the quality of life.  I created my own signature sound… plus ‘Baby, It’s Tonight’ was a huge radio song and earned a good deal of money from airplay.  It also allowed me to keep my record deal.

Coming from a fairly healthy amount of dysfunction… little play on words there… I like what Tony Robbins says about self calibration.  He likens it to a pilot with a navigation system.  The plane drifts and constantly goes off course.  The navigation system adjusts repeatedly and brings the aircraft back to a place where you can literally land it on a dime.

That’s most of our brains, emotions and life.  Constantly going off course and in eternal need of calibration, realignment and self-care.  It’s like our bodies and the gym.  We don’t go to a gym and work out for 6 months, then say ‘ok i’m good!’.  We have to eat right and constantly work our body parts with motion and muscle.  The same is true with ‘E’motions and mental health.

In my  Fresh Coffee YouTube page, I’ve created 10 videos with subliminal affirmations.  This is music you can put on and just go about your business, but the messages are heard through the subconscious.  There will be more in the next year with real voiceovers.  It’s fun to create, and well… I do it because I need it.  Feel free to check them out sometime, or there are many others online.  Consistency is key.

https://www.youtube.com/@freshcoffee6879

I’d open up about the pineal gland and what TV, film, music and graphene oxide, aluminum, fluoride and wi-fi are doing to us, but it would make this post conspiratorial and too long, so will have to save it for another time.  Cheers!
Jude

Disclaimer:  I have no intention of making this a religion based page or to preach to anyone.  This is a current topic, and one way overdue.

SO… the world has stepped in to act as our conscience and lend at least a grain of sanity into the Cloward-Piven reshaping of this poor ol’ country of ours.  Never has a land tried harder to appease everyone’s everything.  Never has a land been so shamed for doing so.

The Olympic committee barred Lia Thomas from competing, because that’s the way it should have been all along, duh.

Then, with so many Catholic and Christian countries around the globe like Italy, Mexico, Spain, Phillipines etc., witnessing the opening ceremony to the games act out a Last Supper blasphemy ritual, these Catholic countries didn’t waste a minute to call out what has become a very normal blatant disregard for Christianity.

Thank you world.  America would never have the fucking balls.  If they did, they’d surely point out the equally hard to swallow beliefs of Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists…  but you’ll never hear that.  Why?  The answer is simple.  They don’t fear Christians.  It’s like that scene in 1985’s “Witness”, where the local teens are all picking on the Amish as they try to get through town, because they know the Amish won’t fight back.  It’s ‘against their religion’.

All one needs to do is watch any modern American or British show to see how our film and television makers feel about Christ.

Remember when Larry David ‘splashed’ on the painting of Christ’s face, and the naive and brainwashed Christian mother and daughter thought Christ was crying.  guffaw guffaw.  Not.

How about the more recent EVIL, where Kristen delves into the world of Catholicism and Exorcisms and becomes a demon who cheats, lies, murders.  The list goes on and on so much that it’s impossible to keep score.  I notice it in almost every show I watch.

It’s never a Muslim, never a Hindu or Buddhist, never a Rabbi… always Christ, and to be honest people have had enough.

If you don’t believe me, you’re probably not a Christian so you wouldn’t notice.  I’m not a church goer, but I pray with consistency, and i do come from that small town, middle class world of church goers and feel passionately willing to fight for their right to believe what they want without ridicule from a completely hypocritical media, who by the way pays homage to Satanic symbolism on an equal basis.

Walking on water, Immaculate conception, miracles… whatever.  I also believe in the rights for Muslims to believe in 72 Virgins, for Hindus to have a series of Gods and past lives, or for Jews to think they’re ‘ God’s Chosen Ones’, even though all are hard to grasp with our limited logical and dimensional minds.

If I had to guess, based on shows i’ve watched on Netflix, HBO and the rest, my number would be 85% of all shows have at least one scene with a smear toward Christianity, using insanity, violence, poverty, drug abuse, hypocrisy or worse… pedophilia, incest, child abuse, mass murder.  They’ve also managed to tie this to southerners in general.  The southern accent automatically makes you a Maga hat wearing AR-15 toting Christian right wing nut bag menace to society… an existential threat.

Producers of all film and TV need to be held accountable, for this is the REAL hate speech, and these are the first people at the podium calling others racist, homophobe, xenophobe, antisemitic.

I’ve seen so many posts on social media since the Olympic opening with people saying to Christians, ‘get over it’, or ‘you’ve jumped the shark of sensitivity’, but you know what?  People have had it… especially coming from those who profess to love so much, then publicly seethe, dox and spew venom on anyone who disagrees with their extremely narrow-minded rainbow agenda.

The world owes Christianity a profound and sincere apology.  One massive boycott from Christians would affect any product on the market.  They’ve done their able best to make sure most Christians don’t have a microphone to organize this, but keep pushing, media  -they’ll make a microphone of their own.