Balearic Breakfast | Episode 193 | And Everything Stops...
- by The Lioncub
- Sep 17, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Sep 27, 2024
Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy broadcast the 193rd episode of Balearic Breakfast on her Mixcloud on September 17th 2024.
About this episode. – Just before heading to Margate Arts Club where she was about to play on the 14th of September, Colleen posted the request line for today's show, saying:
"Good morning! North Devon was like a lush English rainforest and I’m definitely heading back for more walks on the southwest coastal path - the vistas were stunning. And a big up to @thefarmersarms_ - if you’re ever in Bideford try to pay a visit. And thank you to Bradley Circles of @findourbalearicspirit & @djsmokinjo for being my special guests on last week’s show which is archived on my Mixcloud.
We are still reeling from Dani Moore’s sudden passing and two other legends have also passed to the next realm: Sergio Mendes and Frankie Beverly. On this weeks show we will pay tribute to them and we will also dig out some new music so now over to you for your requests and dedications. Remember you can join me for the live stream on my Mixcloud Live on Tuesday from 10am to 12 noon BST.
Just packing my record bag before heading down to the @margateartsclub for @dancetimesthree - the sun is out - can’t wait! Enjoy your weekend"
Lately, times hit hard, or is it just me? Anyway, as we shall see, today's show had a special vibe: a lot of love towards lost and beloved artists and friends in a beautiful set, curated and structured by our Captain! As they say, Onwards...
"This morning’s Balearic Breakfast is now archived on my Mixcloud for your listening back pleasure. In today’s show we celebrate the musical legacies of Sérgio Mendes, our dear Danielle Moore of Crazy P and Frankie Beverly. It’s an emotional show with some heartfelt words and dedications from the Balearic Breakfast family and thank you to all who contributed and who joined in the live stream this morning. They all live on through their music."
Listen back to the 193rd episode of Balearic Breakfast:
PLAYLIST
(1989) Electra – Autumn Love (Future 3)
Sérgio Mendes
(1968) The Fool on the Hill
(1978) That's Enough for Me
(1970) Righteous Life
(1977) The Real Thing
(1978) Ned Doheny – To Prove My Love
Crazy P
(2002) Keep On (Daniel Wang & Brennan Green Remix)
(2009) Never Gonna Reach Me (Hot Toddy Remix)
(2019) This Fire
(2015) Hear My Song
(2017) Dedication (ft Danielle Moore) – Show Me Love
(2015) Cruel Mistress
(2017) In My Hands (Hot Toddy Remix)
(1978) Melba Moore – You Stepped into My Life
Maze ft. Frankie Beverly
(1981) Joy and Pain (Live)
(1980) Changing Times
(1983) We Are One
AND EVERYTHING STOPS...
A new day, the one you’ve been waiting for, impatiently. A new hour. The perfect one. The one that will lead you to that moment you expected so much. The precious minute then arrives, and you’re all set. In one second it will be the right time and everything stops.
A call, a message, an unexpected illness, an accident, we don’t know where your child is, I’m leaving you, I don’t love you anymore, I cheated, you have only a few months left to live, my god, Ashley just had a seizure, did you hear the news, Danielle Moore passed away.
In your perfect day now lies a black hole; it’s watching you, eating you, making you cry. It’s heartbreaking and heart-wrenching; whatever the word, nothing can explain the sadness. And you’re lost for words, and you’re lost for action. There’s absolutely nothing you can do but get swallowed by it and try, try with all of your useless might to smile, smile in a tear, send messages of comfort while being torn into pieces, stay close to your loved ones while dying inside and, by doing so, somehow, somehow, somehow keep on living, because when everything stops, there’s still something to do: believing that something from your recent past will ... stay...
THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE
The opening track gave me goosebumps and immediately brought this post's title to my mind. It was an instant shot. Autumn Love's lingering sadness took me by the throat (Paul Oakenfold's and Steve Osborne's masterpiece features the following samples: Drum beat and vocal from Soul II Soul - Keep On Movin / Drum beat and vocal from Tears For Fears - Shout / Drum beat from Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks / Vocal from Donna Summer - Love To Love You Baby, beautifully encapsulating the end of the 80s sonic vibes). Of course, it was dedicated to the late Claire Dodd, Balearic Burger's John C. Bawcombe longtime friend.
Tears came rolling down as I was thinking about a friend of mine who is presently battling an aggressive form of cancer, yeah, sometimes life hits hard. What more is there to say? The show went smoothly and we were all happy to be together despite the sadness that could be felt throughout today's episode...
I love how Colleen built today's show, with clear sections dedicated to each artist that we lost recently. Time would have permitted, we could have added a tribute to the late Tito Jackson who passed away on September 15, 2024... Tough times indeed... But let's get back to today's episode...
As I said, Colleen organised today's show in sections, 3 of them (with Ned Doheny's To Prove My Love and Melba Moore's You Stepped Into My Life (a cover of the Bee Gee's 1976 song) acting as – lighter and happier – separators, both from the heydays of Disco). And there's also something more: each part respects the show's musical legacy if I can put it that way. Let's look closer at what I mean here!
Sergio Mendes' part is relaxed, with changing rhythms lurking on the Balearic side, the Brazilian musician being known for playing Bossa Nova, often mixed with funk. Drawing his musical inspirations from his passion for Jazz (a style he discovered in 1956 at 15), although, like Nina Simone, he studied Classical Piano from an early age, Sergio Mendes played with artists such as Cannonball Adderley or Herbie Mann, among others. Thanks to the Balearic Breakfast Familly's outstanding requests, Colleen's set beautifully encapsulates Sergio's musical legacy.
The soundstage on The Fool on the Hill (and the realism of the sound) is astounding even when played on laptop speakers (hence what I said before, you don't need high-end equipment to train your ears), and Colleen's mixing delicate as can be while That's Enough For Me starts (a cover of the Patti Austin song taken from the 1977 Havana Candy studio album)!
The light Righteous Life then beautifully gives way to The Real Thing, which, although keeping its bossa-nova groove intact, gently lurks into disco!
Originally written by Stevie Wonder in the 1970s for Sergio Mendes, this tune was covered by Vanessa Williams in an astounding 2009 Balearic Version, but it seems Stevie Wonder did not record it. And I love it how much this last Sergio Mendes' song opens it up to Ned Doheny's "To Prove My Love", both tracks sharing a very similar tonality!
My relationship to the DJ community started with “To Prove My Love,” which was on the Prone record. It was a groove that I had been fiddling with at home that I had no melody for and only background vocals, no actual lyrics. [Steve] Cropper, the producer of the album, heard this and went, “Oh my god, that’s so great, let's do that.” We jump on this thing, he calls a bunch of players, and we stay up all night making this thing and it was one of those things where we staggered out of the studio in the morning and the sun was coming up and you really felt like you had done something fabulous. CBS never released the Prone album, they wouldn’t do it. I don’t know how, but it found its way to England – they sent over what is called a “TV mix,” which is everything but the lead vocals. It got to London and they went completely nuts; apparently it influenced the acid house people. If you go out in clubs you can still hear it now, and that was a long time ago.
Crazy P's part has a more upfront rhythmic approach (as expected), and keeps evolving upward until Melba Moore's You Stepped Into My Life arrives. This part, dedicated to Danielle Moore, is also the longest and strongest one of today's episode, beautifully relying on the two other parts of the show, which acts as a kind of "pedestal". Colleen's astounding mixes (Never Gonna Reach Me / This Fire & Show Me Love / Cruel Mistress) took our breath away... Of course, Greca's dedication brought tears to our eyes, and I want to thank her for sharing it with us here on the Balearic Breakfast blog!
Greca's Tribute to Danielle Moore
To the formidable Danielle Moore.
I am still in disbelief, you were so full of life and energy no one could have ever imagined this happening. I never met you... but I loved you.
Being late to the Crazy P party I first came across you at the beginning of Covid when I became obsessed with the tune ‘One True light’. I ran to my laptop and spent the whole evening watching you strut your stuff in Crazy P and that was that I was hooked from that very moment. Your performance radiated through the screen and hit me like a bolt of lightening, the voice, the style, the moves, the haircut - lets face it you rocked a bob like no other! You were the whole package and more.
You made it look so effortless and natural like you were having the time of your life, I can’t recall ever having witnessed such a performer, nor do I think I ever will... You knocked my socks off lady and I freekin loved it! We chatted on line a few times and you were always so warm and friendly. I was so happy to learn we had lots in common and I felt a strong connection, I reckon if we had met we could have been friends! And that’s the point, that’s how you made us feel. Listening to every Crazy P show on Worldwide FM on repeat changed my musical world for the better.
Listening to the three of you chat and laugh while playing your carefully curated selections was a true pleasure, your musical tastes blowing my mind, inspiring and making me feel so happy, I thank you for your brilliance. The outpouring of love is like nothing I have ever seen, you were clearly loved and I hope you knew that. You leave a massive hole, but your legacy will never die. To everyone who ever loved you, never stop dancing. Greca"
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly's section is more relaxed, groovier, and it beautifully follows Melba Moore's You Stepped Into My Life. The band was actually discovered by Marvin Gaye under the name Raw Soul and recorded its first studio album in 1976. Joy and Pain's live version made me realize that the title I chose for today's post had a dual message... It just stopped me in my tracks, and I shared my feelings on the chat about it: of course, everything stops when life hits you hard, but everything also does stop when you listen to some good music or when you see a great artist live, everything stops then too... Once again, I intellectually joined Colleen without thinking about it, and it brought tears to my eyes as I cracked up the volume of my stereo listening to Frankie Beverly's perfect vocals (supported by a band like no other and an audience hot on its wheels!).
I was struck when I heard Colleen beautifully letting Changing Times enter the mix; moments like these always bring thrills down my spine (both songs are initially from the 1980 Joy and Pain studio album, as reminded by our Captain, this version being taken from the 1981 live in New Orleans album).
Ending on the nostalgic and reflective "We Are One", this last part is the perfect closure for an immensely emotive show... And I would like to share it a few words written by Clifton in 2009 on his blog: "One of their best songs is a cool groove about unity titled We Are One. It is the title track of their album released in 1983. It features the smooth vocals of the great Frankie Beverly and the soulful melody with the classic Maze sound. Pay special attention to the organ in the background. We Are One explains the idea that despite the cruel and hurtful things we do and say to one another, we are all connected and can get through anything with the love we have for one another. In the song Frankie Beverly lets us know that if we are one no matter what we do and we just need to put it all together things would be better. The words fit a lot of issues going on around the world and especially here in New Orleans. It’s a perfect song for bringing family and friends together. It’s perfect for a community that has been shaken by disaster and fighting through rough times. It also could be a great song for a country that could use more of a united feeling. It’s a great song of a great R&B album."
All in all, this specific structure created a beautiful balance, showcasing Colleen's delicacy, preserving the family's emotions with happier moments, speaking about her forthcoming projects, which allowed us all to keep a smile during this very moving show. Thank you, Colleen...
COLLEEN'S NEWS
Wednesday, 18th September: Classic Album Sundays presents ‘Hard Candy’ with Ned Doheny (click here to buy the tickets) ;
Tuesday, 24th September at 8pm GMT Colleen will celebrate the 30th anniversary of Portishead's debut album 'Dummy' (click here to join Classic Album Sundays) ;
Monday, 14th October: Classic Album Sundays presents Saint Etienne at The British Library with National Album Day, celebrating the 'Foxbase Alpha' album with Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs (click here to join the live stream).
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