I alluded to it last Friday, but I just haven’t been in the mood to revisit grit-encrusted pieces of vinyl the last couple of weeks. I’m positive this is due in large part to my own familiarity with my collection. And when I say familiarity I mean it. These are albums I obsessed over, scoured for breaks and samples, lived with, slept next to (waking up in their midst, with beat-up covers staring me in the face) and dragged out of the house to play in “dusty” sets for years. I love them, each and every one. But sometimes they feel older than their actual chronological ages.
That being said, I was all ready to abandon the normal Records at Random format in some manner again this week. But my cogitation on an artists duty to his or her community and the influence local community life has on artist in turn in Wednesday’s post got me thinking. And as I flipped through the pile of long-suffering Records at Random candidates leaning against my desk-leg and my eyes happened to fall on a certain cover, causing me to beginning singing the words “there’s a message in the muuuuuusiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic,” I knew I should just put the record in that familiar sleeve on the turntable and get to typing.
The record was Message In the Music, the 1976 LP release from legendary Philadelphia Soul vocal trio The O’Jays, as appropriate a companion to my mid-week philosophizing as I could hope for. In fact, the synchronicity goes a lot deeper than the album’s title, or even the sentiment behind it’s classic title track. It extends to the ideology behind the very creation of the record and all the way to it’s cover. It’s printed there, in plain English, right on the back cover in the form of a short statement from Kenneth Gamble, one half of the Gamble & Huff writing and production team responsible for creating the disc and releasing it via their Philadelphia International label.
The word with music is one of the strongest, if not the strongest means of communication on the planet Earth.
Music is the first means of communication known to man.
It is the only natural science known to man.
We choose to “make a joyful noise unto the Lord” only to help vindicate His name. So his will can be done.
The word with music can do it’s part to calm the savage beast that lives in every man.
The message is PEACE.
The message is LOVE.
The message is WISDOM.
The message is UNDERSTANDING.
The message is UNITY.
The message is dedicated to truth and justice for all mankind.
Man Understanding Spiritual Information Clearly
“Understand while you dance.”
It’s not difficult to do just that when you hear the actual song “Message In the Music,” one of the archetypal uptempo conscious Soul compositions of the Disco era.
It’s the sort of rhythmic soul tune you can’t help but dance to. Its vocal hook is infectious. The multi-layered harmonies & throaty leads courtesy of group-members Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, William Powell that illustrate why these guys are as enduring a Pop music fixture as they are. The composing and orchestration, from the jazzily babbling keys, to the Latin-influenced percussion & acoustic guitars, to the squishy Funk-flavored synths, to the to classic string section and the surprise electric guitar solo, is phenomenal. And the lyricism is Pop-anthem simple, exhortive of dancefloor locomotion, indelibly memorable, enticing listeners to hum & sing along, and uncharacteristically (to modern ears at least) mature and responsible (noting that “things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be… in our neighborhoods”) for a club cooker.
Elsewhere on the album they literally “make a joyful noise unto the Lord” on the Blues-inflected Gospel/Soul ballad “A Prayer” and the Midwest Funk-tinged Disco-Gospel jam “Make a Joyful Noise.” And just because they have love for their fellow man and their God doesn’t mean they shy away from the more carnal aspects of love, as evidenced by the seductive Jazz-standard-styled “Desire Me,” the dramatic, but tender horn-and-organ-laden pledge “I Swear, I Love No One But You” and the sentimental groover “Darlin’, Darlin’ Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love),” which was memorably sampled by Minnesota for Big Pun’s hit single “I’m Not a Player.”
They return to calisthenic consciousness on “Let Life Flow,” where they emphasize living life unapologetically, unbowed by adversity, over a stirring string & brass arrangement. And they indulge in armchair metaphysics on “Paradise,” a Spanish guitar embellished groove adorned with popping hand-drums, a silky guitar solo and the requisite strings where they acknowledge that heaven and hell are states of mind attainable through human interaction in the context of the happiness one finds in a satisfying romantic relationship. Seriously, on the surface it’s an example of amorous hyperbole, but it’s underlying wisdom goes far beyond that and is really sort-of “deep.”
After all, if Gamble & Huff are right and you can “understand while you dance” you can certainly “understand” while you “love.” And that’s just the sort of positive, productive, inspirational understanding that human communication, be it musical, instructional, conversational, emotional, or even sexual, should always be trying to reach.
46 Comments
HipHopChica
Permalink
You have to check out Philly’s latest phenom: Aaron Mingo. His latest project is called the “Motion Picture Ming” mixtape. It’s philly international from a hip hop perspective.
niherasebekei
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, webmaster.
werewolf
Permalink
Very amazing site
Thanks, webmaster.
werewolf
Permalink
Cool blog
Thanks, webmaster.
werewolf
Permalink
Beautifull design
Thanks, webmaster.
Svetlana
Permalink
Very amazing site
Thanks, webmaster.
Svetlana
Permalink
Cool blog
Thanks, webmaster.
Svetlana
Permalink
Nice site
Thanks, webmaster.
helmet
Permalink
Beautiful design.
Thanks, admin.
helmet
Permalink
Nice site.
Thanks, admin.
helmet
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, webmaster.
helmet
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, admin.
helmet
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, webmaster.
were to buy
Permalink
Beautiful design.
Thanks, webmaster.
halloween
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, admin.
halloween
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, webmaster.
halloween
Permalink
Beautiful design.
Thanks, admin.
halloween
Permalink
Nice site.
Thanks, admin.
make your own halloween costumes
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, webmaster.
mario and luigi halloween costume
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, webmaster.
make your own halloween costumes
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, admin.
adult couples halloween costumes
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, admin.
captain morgan halloween costume
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, admin.
boy halloween costume
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, webmaster.
Elena
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, admin.
Maria
Permalink
Nice site.
Thanks, admin.
Sveta
Permalink
Beautiful design.
Thanks, admin.
Elena
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, admin.
Marina
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, webmaster.
Marina
Permalink
Beautiful design.
Thanks, webmaster.
Marina
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, admin.
Maria
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, admin.
Marina
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, admin.
Elena
Permalink
Beautiful design.
Thanks, admin.
Sveta
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, webmaster.
Elena
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, webmaster.
Pavel
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, admin.
Elena
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, webmaster.
Sveta
Permalink
Nice site.
Thanks, webmaster.
Pavel
Permalink
Beautiful design.
Thanks, admin.
Sveta
Permalink
Cool blog.
Thanks, admin.
Pavel
Permalink
Nice site.
Thanks, webmaster.
Pavel
Permalink
Beautiful design.
Thanks, webmaster.
Pavel
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, admin.
Elena
Permalink
Nice site.
Thanks, admin.
Maria
Permalink
Amazing site.
Thanks, webmaster.