Balearic Breakfast | Episode 180 | A Lover's Soulful Truth...

Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 180th episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud and Twitch TV socials on June 18th 2024.

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About this show. – Once again, our dear Captain was very busy a few days before today's show! On Saturday afternoon, the 15th of June, Colleen celebrated the release of the "Balearic Breakfast Vol 3" vinyl compilation, including Zero7 (Sam Hardiker) and Flamingo Piers band members, and Balearic Breakfast Family's members (like Lee Zee, Mark Sanford, who came along with his son, or even our dear Bert François), and also John (@film2046 on Instagram). Bert and John Kindly shared beautiful pictures with me of the event that took place at the @ntloft. The weather was not very Balearic, but judging from the pictures and videos shared on Colleen's socials, it was a moment not to be missed, climaxing on a song we all know...

Today's show was an absolutely stunning, coherent musical voyage, and I really don't think I will need to explain the post's title to you, as a majority of the songs played perfectly present its philosophical message... All right, all right, maybe a tiny touch then! 🦁

As always, let's hand the mic to our dear Captain...: "This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now up on my Mixcloud and features tributes to two recently passed talents: Angela Bofill and Francoise Hardy. Also featured are my forthcoming Cosmodelica remix of @bryonyjarmanpinto (coming out on @tru_thoughts on the 11th July) and a host of soulful and Balearic sounds. Thank you for your requests this week and don’t forget next Tuesday will be our Balearic Breakfast Pride special. Please suggest songs by artists from the LBGT community when I post the request line on my socials this Saturday.

And if you are in East Anglia, this weekend I’m playing two sets at @firstlightlowestoft in Lowestoft – a Saturday evening set from 7 to 8 pm and then a Balearic Breakfast sunrise set the following morning on Sunday from 5 to 6 am. Join us to be the first Brits to welcome the sun during the summer solstice weekend on the most eastern point of the UK. And if you aren’t headed to Glastonbury and are looking for a last minute escape, we are hosting our @lastnote_party Summer party on Saturday, the 29th June on an olive farm in the beautiful mountains of Umbria in central Italy. For more info please contact infolastnote@gmail.com

Have a great week and thanks for listening."

Note: Colleen will be featured in DJ Emma's "Boogie Boulevard" show this very Friday, on 1BTN!

Listen back to the 180th edition of Balearic Breakfast:

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PLAYLIST

(2019) Roseaux (feat. Olle Nyman) – Heart & Soul

(1978) Angela Bofill – Summer Days

(1978) Angela Bofill – Over the Moon and Under the Sky

(1981) Angela Bofill – Tropical Love

(2001) Soulstice – Wind (Fila Brazilia Mix)

(1980) Rick James – Summer Love

(1980) Starship Orchestra – New-York New-York

(2024) Casinoboy – Searos

(2024) Charlotte & Reinhard – Guardian of Sleep

(2014) Deadbeat & Paul St Hilaire – Peace and Love

(NOL) Copanema – Se Voce Disse Que Vem

(1981) Teena Marie – Portuguese Love

(1979) Southern Exposure – On Our Way (John Luongo Mix)

(2024) Bryony Jarman-Pinto – Moving Forward (Cosmodelica Remix)

(2023) Alfredo Linares – La Musica por Dentro

(José Parla & Phenomenal Handclap Band Remix)

(2024) Balearic Jukebox – Feel The Magic (Discoteca Dub)

(1977) Norman Connors – Once I've Been There

(1991) Urban Soul – Alright (Club Mix)

(1988) Francoise Hardy – Partir Quand Même

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THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE

This 179th episode of Balearic Breakfast is all about Love's strong (yet painful and somehow disillusioned) reality. Love can hurt, regardless of the people involved… Sometimes, Life makes it impossible for its wings to open in the wind’s inviting dance, and painful decisions must be taken...

The opening song (by the French trio "Roseaux", or Reed in English) [Note 1] perfectly represents the yearning one feels when being in Love, the light pain, the Hope, the Need to be close to the loved one, the need to take care of the "Aura"... This feeling of belonging will stay present throughout the whole show, and is also greatly presented in Angella Bofill's songs [Note 2], the tonality really says it all here (and of course the lyrics)! Colleen takes a direct approach in her mix for Angella Boffil's second track [Note 3]. This song was, of course, already featured in the show in the past, and we also feel here the escapism that takes place when someone is in love! Keeping the Soulful vibe alive, Colleen then plays the very natural-sounding "Tropical Love" [Note 4], taking us to a musical embrace like no other...

The Lush atmosphere is enhanced by the following song, Wind (Fila Brazilia Mix) [Note 5], which keeps the soulful vibe as vibrant as ever, even somewhat bringing the worried feeling felt in the previous songs to the forefront... Rick James' "Summer Love" [Note 6] shares a very close rhythm with the previous song. We still have all of the elements we already described here, with slightly more positivity in the air this time around, and we're really in for a lover's dancing moment with our dear Captain!

In the next song, the very jazzy Starship Orchestra's "New-York New-York” [Note 7], the love groove is definitely lost, and strangely enough, the same feeling is present in Casinoboy's "Searos" [Note 8], which keeps the "walking" rhythm found in the previous track, vibrant. There’s something here, something driving the listener ahead no matter how bad the weather is... These two tracks go so well together when you think about it; listen back to the show, and you'll see what I mean... Colleen is always striving for musical unity when she works on her shows! The next song, Charlotte & Reinhard's "Guardian of Sleep" opens up the sky [Note 9]; although we still feel it's always quite low over our heads. This feeling does not change with the machine and dubby-like sounding number that is Deadbeat & Paul St Hilaire's "Peace and Love" [Note 10].

You should be able to picture the show's evolution by now; from a yearning, we moved to a closer part of the relationship, only to be thrown into a more worried reality. What a beautiful and pictural musical path!

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The second hour of the show starts with Copanema's "Se Voce Disse Que Vem" (you told me you'd be coming) [Note 11], which clearly is an invitation to the loved one! We really dig deep into the Lover's Soulful Truth, don't we?! Colleen really knows how to make the music flow. Listen to how beautifully she introduces Teena Marie's Portuguese Love [Note 12]. What's not to love in this mix?! She enhances Copanema's "Se Voce Disse Que Vem" with "Portugueses love's" dynamic introduction; well done, Colleen! Furthermore, the Soulful intention is so present here it reaches new heights! The "Drive" this 179th episode has is really something to experience; the road is so beautiful, full of twists and turns, with ups and downs. It is long, and you never know what is going to happen under that lover's sky! The loving car keeps on rolling on the mountain's road as Southern Exposure's "On Our Way (John Luongo Mix)" [Note 13] starts! Do you see what I hear Musically since the beginning of this second hour? I feel we never touched such "large visuals" before this episode, it's really a show we could turn into a comic!

Starting the last half-hour of the show with her own remix of Bryony Jarman-Pinto's "Moving Forward" [Note 14], Colleen allows the listener to discover another emotion of the Lover's Soulful truth! As I wrote on the blog a few weeks ago (this song was featured on the last Balearic Brunch aired on NTS on June 1st 2024): "Even if it is being said that "Moving Forward" celebrates the deep sense of security and steadfastness Bryony cherishes with her partner while navigating parenthood together (read more about these changing times for Bryony here), this uplifting song has a broader meaning perfectly fitting today's show!". I still think the same about this song right now!

While Colleens slightly changes up the pace here, "La Musica por Dentro" [Note 15] still very much showcases what's inside a lover's mind, the very Balearic tune perfectly embracing today's theme! And then, we're taken out of this world as Colleen blends the previous track with Balearic Jukebox's "Feel The Magic (Discoteca Dub)" [Note 16] in an absolutely Perfect Mix. I mean WOW!!

Taking us to the ultimate level, Colleen plays two songs that nicely go together: the joyful Norman Connors' "Once I've Been There" [Note 17] followed by Urban Soul's "Alright (Club Mix)" [Note 18], beautifully ending the show with Françoise Hardy's moving song "Partir Quand Même" (Leaving Anyway) [Note 19] (a song about a woman who chooses her freedom over love's imprisoning grips...), fully closing today's "Lover's Soulful Truth" themed show...

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Footnotes:

[Note 1] 'Heart and Soul' by French music project Roseau, featuring the vocals of Olle Nyman, who I believe is a Swedish singer-songwriter, has a couple of records out. And that is from Roseau's second album, Roseau II, released in 2019.

[Note 2] Angela Bofill, sadly passed to the next realm last week. The singer songwriter was born and raised in the Bronx to Cuban and Puerto Rican parents. She studied music growing up, and she performed in New York City's All City Chorus, which featured the best singers from the city's high schools across the five boroughs. Angela Bofill got her break when Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen signed her to their GRP label, which was a smoking hot label in the late 70s and early 80s. They produced her debut album, Angie, which featured the single This Time I'll Be Sweeter, which was co-written by Gwen Guthrie. Her following album, Angel of the Night, had more success, and then she signed to Clive Davis's Arista label in the 1980s. She worked with Narada Michael Walden, The System, and George Duke and was one of the first visible Latina artists in the world of R&B. And what a voice she had, effortless, beautiful, a voice that has resonated with many of you. This is a song from Angela Bofill's debut album that welcomes in the solstice this week. Here she is with Summer Days.

[Note 3] 'Over the Moon and Under the Sky' was reissued on Grooveline as a 12-inch with her version of People Get Ready, on the other side.

[Note 4] Angela Bofill's 'Tropical Love' from her third album, 1981's Something About You.

[Note 5] Soulstice's 'Wind' features the brother and sister duo of Gabriel and Gina Rene, along with Andy Caldwell and turntablist Mei-Lwun Yee.

[Note 6] The very talented, yet very complex, late Rick James with 'Summer Love' from his fourth album, Garden of Love on Gordy Records, a subsidiary of Motown. And that was the label that enthralled the young Rick James who idolized Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye. It was James's following album, 1981's Street Songs, that brought him his greatest success with the massive Top 40 hit Super Freak. But Rick James' career and life were to spiral out of control in the following years. Still, he was a great musician, a great, great producer, and also a colleague and mentor to Teena Marie.

[Note 7] 'New York, New York' by Starship Orchestra, featuring vocals by Joe Salter, produced by Norman Connors. In fact, some of the band members were frequent collaborators of Connors, playing on his albums. And also another group that Norman Connors put together called Aquarian Dream.

[Note 8] London producer and DJ Toby Tobias wears many hats, including that of Breaks producer Alphonse. He also goes as Casinoboy with a more mellow, shall we say, Balearic style. 'Searos' is his first release as Casino Boy on the Rimini, Italy-based label Duca Bianco in over a decade.

[Note 9] 'Guardian of Sleep' is the title track from the latest EP by Belgian duo Charlotte and Reinhard, now out on Music for Dreams. It's a taster from their forthcoming album. And these two are also members of one of my favorite modern European disco house collectives, Reinsand, also on Music for Dreams.

[Note 10] 'Peace and Love' by Canadian-born Berlin-based producer, sound artist, and music technology educator Deadbeat, born Scott Monteith, with the vocals of Paul Saint-Hilaire. The Caribbean singer-songwriter also goes by the name Tiki Man but had to stop using that name about 20 years ago after doing a great album with Rhythm and Sound, which is basically the guys from Basic Channel.

[Note 11] Copanema's 'Se Voce Disse Que Vem' was just sent over to me by the label head, Kenneth Bayer, and I'm really feeling it. It's one of his own projects, Copanema, fusing Danish artists like Trolls Hammer, along with Brazilian artists. So, Copa is for Copenhagen, and Nema is for Ipanema. Now, this outfit released one album in 2019, the double album Deixa A Música Tocar, and this one will be featured on their forthcoming album.

[Note 12] The inimitable Teena Marie with 'Portuguese Love' from her fourth LP, 'It Must Be Magic', fully written and produced by Marie herself, who was nominated for Best Female R&B Performance at the 1982 Grammys for that one.

[Note 13] Southern Exposure, a one-off Canadian disco project led by Willie Morrison and Ian Dunter, who are also behind THP Orchestra, or Three Hats Productions. You may remember THP's 'Two for Love'. They did four albums, actually. But this project, Southern Exposure, was a one-off, and they released one EP called Headin' South, and we just heard the lead single remixed by Boston native John Luongo. Grooveline Records put out a great double CD of his remixes called 'Can You Feel the Force', which is named after Luongo's remix for A Real Thing. There's also remixes for Dan Hartman, Jacksons, Patti LaBelle, Johnny Mathis, Marlena Shaw, Melba Moore, Santana. Truly a stellar catalogue of remixes.

[Note 14] Bryony Jarman Pinto is a gifted singer, songwriter, and musician who was born in London and raised in Lancaster. Five years ago, she released her first album, Cage and Avery, on the Future Soul label, True Thoughts, a really great label. She has a gorgeous sound that seamlessly blends folk, jazz, and soul. So I was absolutely delighted when I was asked to remix a single from her latest and second album, 'Below Dawn'. It's an album that's a poignant reflection on pregnancy and motherhood. It's a really intimate album. I've remixed her forthcoming single, which will be released on the 11th of July.

[Note 15] Alfredo Linares with 'La Musica Por Dentro', originally from his 1974 'Mi Nuevo Ritmo' studio album. The remix is by José Parlá and Phenomenal Handclap Band's Daniel Colas. Jose Parla is a Brooklyn-based painter who has a platform called Re-Latin. Alfredo Linares is a Peruvian-born Columbia-residing pianist and a bit of a cult figure in South America, who's also played with the Quantic Soul Orchestra. 'La Musica Por Dentro' came out on 7-inch on the Spanish label Mushroom Pillow last year.

[Note 16] This is Balearic Jukebox, who are based in Brighton on the southern Riviera of England, with 'Feel the Magic', a very non-Balearic shingle beach. Balearic Jukebox just released this on Bandcamp, which has three different very good remixes.

[Note 17] The multi-talented drummer, composer, songwriter, and producer Norman Connors grew up in Philly and once sat in for drummer Elvin Jones at a John Coltrane performance while he was still in middle school. He worked with Michael Henderson, Gene Karn, Phyllis Hyman, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and had so many projects of his own, as I mentioned earlier in the show. 'Once I've Been There' is a cut from his 1977 album 'Romantic Journey'.

[Note 18] 'Alright (Club Mix)' is a 1991 single from Urban Soul, who is Roland Clark. Such a great catalog of music. He has soulful house sounds. The club mix was remixed by two guys I used to see all the time when I worked at the New York record shop 'Dance Tracks' back in the 90s. Freddie Sanon from Shelter Records and Manny Diaz from Polar Records. Had a lot of great stuff like 'The Black Rascals' and 'Casio Air'.

[Note 19] The late French singer, songwriter, actress, and icon Françoise Hardy rose to fame early on with her song Tous les Garçons et les Filles, and then her career spanned for over half a century, during which she released 30 albums. She was also a muse to fashion designers like Yves Saint-Laurent and Paco Rabanne and not only that, but she developed a career as an astrologer, and she wrote both fiction and non-fiction books. She is a multi-talented woman who'll be very missed but who made the most out of her 80 years. Sadly, she succumbed to lymphatic cancer, which she'd struggled with for the last two decades of her life, and she recently passed away just a few days ago. 'Partir Quand Même', composed by Jacques Dutronc, is taken from her 1988 studio album 'Décalages'.