Balearic Breakfast | Episode 20 | A Message In The Music...
- by The Lioncub
- Jan 12, 2021
- 11 min read
Updated: Sep 7, 2024
Worldwide FM broadcast the 20th episode of Balearic Breakfast on January 12th 2021.
About this episode. – It is pretty often that I reluctantly indulge in listening to "older" Balearic Breakfast episodes. Not because I don't like them but because they plunge me back into a mental place (and times) I wish I had never been to. This 20th episode is one of them. It does have that "weight" to it; there's some deep concern in the music the Balearic Breakfast Family chose; it's not your "free" and happy episode. Of course, it has its happy outbursts, but they're if I can put it that way, "strained" by a darker force.
Take a second and think of what was happening back then: there was the pandemic, and countries were starting to administrate the vaccine but no one really knew how to halt the virus, so contradictory decisions were made (in France, a new curfew was put into place and scientists were not at all convinced by its positive effects on the spreading of the virus, the Presidency of France fearing a new lockdown would not be accepted by the population...) and change was always in the air (UK entered its third national lockdown on January the 6th...), you never knew what each day would bring. Also, on top of it, there was a palpable tension in this world of ours with the astoundingly disgusting events happening in the US with the then president, Donald Trump, contesting the electoral results and urging his supporters to march on the Capitol, the week before this episode took place... And I'm not even starting to cover all of the other related topics here... "We just don't know what's going to happen. There's so many things up in the air. Whether it's the pandemic or the politics or what's going on in the United States."
So yeah, these uncertain times were taking their toll on the Balearic Breakfast Family, and when Colleen asked us to request songs reflecting our times, of course, both songs of hope and songs reflecting our times were put onto the request line posts on Facebook and Instagram. With an "easy to read" musical narrative (one of Colleen's finest in fact), and as we shall see in the listening section of this post, this episode is one that can't be easily forgotten!
"What is Balearic? Goodness knows but we do quite a number on stretching the boundaries. You can hear for yourself as this morning's Balearic Breakfast is now available on demand on the Worldwide FM website. It's a musical mashup put together from your requests. And sending a special shout out to all who joined in on the video and chat on Mixcloud Live - it's great to get the family together."
Listen to the 20th episode of Balearic Breakfast:
THE PLAYLIST
(1964) Odetta – Got my mind on Freedom
(1970) Neil Young – Don't let it bring you down
(1980) Gil Scott-Heron – Willing
(1973) The Honey Drippers – Impeach the President
(1981) Brian Eno & David Byrne – America is waiting
(2015) Andy Bey & The Avener – Celestial Blues (The Avener Rework)
(1991) Sounds of Blackness – Optimistic
(1999) Romanthony – Hold on (Classic Vocal)
(1981) Change – Hold Tight
(1974) William DeVaughn – Be thankful for what you got
(2013) Jean-Claude Gavri (feat. David Bowie) – Les Dance (Club Cut)
(1997) M People – Fantasy Island
(1973) Chuck Mangione – The Land of Make-Believe
(1997) Ballistic Brothers – Love Supreme
(1990) L.U.P.O – Hell or Heaven
(2005) Loosefingers – Dreaming of Better Days (12" Version)
(2011) Coyote – Love
(2000) Naoki Kenji – Dos Mundos
(1990) Depeche Mode – Waiting for the Night
(1985) David Bowie – This is Not America
THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE
I know it seems weird, but the goal of this blog is to make you listen to this show differently. Everything Colleen does is set to make you react, even if it's not consciously. So, never take anything for granted. Don't think it's a show on "autopilot" mode; it is not the case, and it will never be.
When I started listening to this episode, I had forgotten about it (today is September 09th 2024, as I write these lines). The first thing I did before writing and listening to this episode was check what hapenned in the world back then on the Covide front. Then, I hit play and was taken aback by the lyrics and the first song's tonality. Then a second... what, wait, a second song without Colleen speaking? What on earth... And then, a third song? And still no Colleen?! This 20th episode is one of the few starting with more than one song. These three songs go very well together intellectually; this is where my passion for the show grew and grew; it became something I needed: my weekly cup of Joy and Fresh air!
(1964) Odetta – Got my mind on Freedom
From the late musician activist who inspired many in the 1960s folk scene, including Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and even Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called her the queen of folk music. And that song was from her 1964 LP, It's a Mighty World. – The first in-depth biography of the legendary singer and “Voice of the Civil Rights Movement” (Odetta, A life in Music and Protest), who combatted racism and prejudice through her music, was issued in 2020 and written by author and journalist Ian Zack.
(1970) Neil Young – Don't let it bring you down
From Neil Young's 1970 studio album "After the Gold Rush" (his third actually), "Don't Let It Bring You Down" is a song about hope that never was issued as a single (as Neil did not bother about hits) and which was funnily described by its composer as follows: "Here is a new song. It's guaranteed to bring you right down, It's called 'Don't Let It Bring You Down.' It sorta starts off real slow and then fizzles out altogether."
(1980) Gil Scott-Heron – Willing
Gill Scott-Heron's "Willing" is a song about racism, and it beautifully embodies Gill's altruistic nature (a beautiful article about him here). The song has been played during Balearic Breakfast in another version. 1980, the studio album from which Willing is taken was well received by critics back in the day.
Did you hear how well Neil Young's and Gill Scott-Heon's songs go together? Colleen always manages to create such a flow! Keeping our musical revendication strong, she then chose to play The Honey Drippers' Impeach the President / Brian Eno's America is waiting, followed by The Avener's Rework of Celestial Blues, putting the sampling aspect in the music on a lovely little pedestal, which is also a form of protest, when you think about it! Sadly, Colleen's hopes about Donald Trump didn't come to fruition! I loved it so much when Colleen gave us hints by saying, "Of course, the message is in the music. Impeach the President, America is Waiting" (there's much more to come down the line 🤠).
(1973) The Honey Drippers – Impeach the President
Roy C., Roy Charles Hammond's Honeydrippers. Roy sadly passed away in September, so he didn't even get a chance to hear his song being revived. Originally penned for the President Nixon impeachment, the song has been sampled many times by dozens and dozens of hip hop artists.
(1981) Brian Eno & David Byrne – America is waiting
The opening song from their 1981 LP, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, which was one of the first using sampling to a large degree with the samples taking centre stage rather than just rhythmic background.
(2015) Andy Bey & The Avener – Celestial Blues (The Avener Rework)
From the singer who's worked with Gary Barth, Stanley Clark, Horace Silver, Andy Bey for the original of which the song's called Celestial Blues. The original is from his debut 1974 LP, Experience and Judgment, which he composed but not the first one to record as the song was cut by Gary Bartz a few years before in a funkier but less inhabited version! This cool rework is from French producer Tristan Casara (aka The Avener).
The next phase of the show will bring us a more uplifting musical moment with songs that really elevated our tired spirits back then, Romanthony's Hold On lyrics talking straight to our hearts... Pay attention to how Colleen did not focus on the rhythmic side of the selections but on the message conveyed by each song, gently leading us from revendication to hope and ways to keep that hope alive and well; this path then leading us to a natural and Direct Escapism through Dance and allowing us to reach The Land of Make Believe... Read that again... and listen back to the songs. Isn't what's happening here simply beautiful?!
(1991) Sounds of Blackness – Optimistic
From Sounds of Blackness's first studio album, issued in 1991, Optimistic was written and produced by Gary Hines, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The urban contemporary gospel song featured vocals from Ann Bennett-Nesby, Carrie Harrington, Coré Cotton, Patricia Lacy, and Jamecia Bennett and was released as the group's debut single, reaching the top three on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart. In a recent interview to The Fader, Gary explained: “We [wanted] to create something that’s not a flash in a pan, but something would be a classic that you’d hear 20 years from now,”
(1999) Romanthony – Hold on (Classic Vocal)
Fun fact, the song was first issued in a "dirtier" version by Romanthony, who believed his fans would love that unpolished version, and then remastered by Daft Punk and reissued in 1999 (see here). Fun fact number 2: you can hear Romanthony's vocals on Daft Punk's "One More Time"!
(1981) Change – Hold Tight
Released in 1981, "Miracles" is a single by Change, a studio group founded by Jacques Fred Petrus and Mauro Malavasi, featuring vocals by Diva Gray. The track, along with "Paradise" and "Heaven of My Life", topped the US dance chart for five consecutive weeks.
(1974) William DeVaughn – Be thankful for what you got
Ranked at number 374 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time," "Be Thankful for What You Got" is renowned for its recurring lyric: "Diamond in the back, sunroof top, diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean," which has been utilized in various songs through sampling and interpolation. The song's title originally was "A Cadillac don't come easy" (DeVaughn then working as a government employee). It was rewritten in 1972, selling a million copies and becoming a soul classic recorded with MFSB band members! The song has been famously covered by Massive Attack.
(2013) Jean-Claude Gavri (feat. David Bowie) – Les Dance (Club Cut)
One of Tel Aviv's most prolific and eminent DJs, a world-renowned producer, remixer, keyboardist and vinyl fiend, French Jean-Claude Gavri proposes here a Balearic reduction of David Bowie's 1983 hit, produced by Nile Rogers with Steve Ray Vaughan playing the lead guitar and found on Bowie's studio album from the same name. The song, as heard in the lyrics and as explained by Nile, deals with "the dance that people do in life; the conceptual dance of not being honest. He sings, 'put on your red shoes and dance the blues.' Like you're pretending to be happy but you're sad"
(1997) M People – Fantasy Island
M People (fronted by Heather Small) is known for their 1993 hit "Moving on Up" 1997 saw the release of their fourth studio album "Fresco", on which a song about unity, love and friendship ("Fantasy Island") can be found, being the album's second single back then and peaking at number thirty-three on the UK Singles Chart.
(1973) Chuck Mangione – The Land of Make-Believe
Land of Make Believe is the eighth album by jazz artist Chuck Mangione. The title song, written by Chuck Mangione, like all of the other tracks found on the album, is sung by Esther Satterfield. It also features Mangione's older brother, Gap Mangione, and jazz trumpet player, Jon Faddis. This very song was a favourite of David Mancuso, and he often played it at the loft. The album is an authentic audiophile experience, with a beautiful soundstage and the instruments sharing that realistic feel. Also, the dynamics are Huge!
Keeping the rhythm steady, Colleen then takes us to the next part of the show which opens with the astounding mix taking place beetween Chuck Maglione's and the Balistic Brother's tracks... While the magic is clearly there, this moment winning the Wow Effect of the show as I'm concerned, something slightly darker shows itself on our dancefloor. Some clouds are there, and they will stay for a while, with the following songs being slightly more worried... Listen to how Impeccable Colleen's mixing is here... She simply reaches musical heights without effort, ending this part of the show with the incredible Waiting for the Night, which, once again, spoke so rightfully to all of us... Can you feel the Force we were back then (and the one we still are to this very day...), and can you understand why this show is so important to us?
(1997) Ballistic Brothers – Love Supreme
British-based band comprising Ashley Beedle, Rocky & Diesel of X-Press 2 (Darren Rock, Darren House) and David Hill (of Nuphonic Records), the Ballistic Brothers crafted jazz-influenced funky electronica music, releasing two full-length studio albums in the mid-1990s. Love Supreme is taken from their second 1997 studio album, Rude System. The album's closing track is heavily influenced by John Coltrane's studio album "Love Supreme", released in 1965, especially its opening track Part 1 - Acknowledgment which shares the same rhythm and a very close melodic line!
(1990) L.U.P.O – Hell or Heaven
German Techno/House/Electro producer and DJ Lutz Ludwig, born in 1957, was a former DJ at Munich's "P1" club. He began releasing his own House Music tracks in 1990 on Low Spirit Recordings in collaboration with Klaus Jankuhn. His debut track "Hell Or Heaven" quickly climbed to the second position in the national Italian charts, title the subsequent release, "Keep It Up", achieved success in the UK and US Dance & Disco charts. His third release, "So Hard", marked the end of his prosperity as a House Music artist. All of these tracks featured vocalist Cathy Adams. After a three-year hiatus, he returned in 1994, shifting his focus primarily to Trance Music with less success. Following the electro-music trend, he resurfaced towards the end of the 1990s but sadly passed away on April 10th, 2014.
Fun fact: the lacquer for that release was cut at Pauler Acoustics in Germany, which is, as of today, producing Stockfish records releases, among others!
(2005) Loosefingers – Dreaming of Better Days (12" Version)
American DJ, record producer, and musician who has recorded under various names, most notably Mr. Fingers, Larry Heard, issued Dreamin of Better Days in 2005 on the Soundtrack From The Duality Double-Play album.
(2000) Naoli Kenji – Dos Mundos
From the German-Japanese keyboardist producer Naoki Kenji. Dos Mundos from the album Tozai, the new sound of Japanese breakbeat cultures. This one came out about 20 years ago
(1990) Depeche Mode – Waiting for the Night
Depeche Mode, Waiting for the Night from their classic album Violator, which came out just over 30 years ago now. Francois K mixed that record. The band hired him, and Danny Miller hired him, because of his work with Kraftwerk. – The song was a complex musical piece, as explained here. The book Colleen speaks about, "Halo: The Story Behind Depeche Mode’s Classic Album ‘Violator’" is available here.
Ending the show with David Bowie's "This is Not America", Colleen leaves us on a deep reflective note... Wait, wasn't this the state we were all in (no play on words intended here, I promise...)?
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