Vocal Harmonies - The "I'm In Love With That Song" Podcast - Music Commentary, Song Analysis & Rock History

Released in 1979, “Message in a Bottle” was the opening track on The Police’s second album, Regatta de Blanc. The song features the signature sounds of the band: Sting’s evocative vocals and bass, Andy Summers’ intricate guitar work, and Stuart Copeland’s dynamic drumming. But what exactly makes this song resonate with so many listeners, even decades later? Listen to this episode and we’ll find out.

Take advantage of our discount code lovethatsong and save 15% off t-shirts & merch from your favorite bands at OldGlory.com!

TRANSCRIPT:

Sending out an SOS over the Pantheon Podcast network– it’s time for another edition of the “I’m in Love With That Song” Podcast. My name is Brad Page, and I’m the host of this modest podcast, where each episode we examine a different song, hand-picked from my library of favorite songs. We’ll put the song under the microscope and take a close look at all the elements that make the song work– discovering where the magic comes from. No musical expertise is required here; amateurs and professionals, players and fans, and first-time listeners all are welcome here.

This time around, we’re traveling to 1979 and setting our sights on one of the most important bands of the era. Andy Summers, Stuart Copeland, and Gordon Sumner, who you probably know as Sting: Three very different personalities who came together as The Police and recorded a long list of classic tracks, including this one… a Song called “Message In A Bottle”.

In 1976, Stuart Copeland was playing drums for Curved Air, a progressive rock band, and during a tour of England, he met a bass player named Gordon Sumner, who was a semi-pro musician playing in a local jazz band; he worked as a teacher for his day job. Sumner used to wear a black and yellow striped shirt on stage, which earned him the nickname “Sting” from his fellow bandmates.

The two of them decided to form a band and were joined by a guitarist named Henry Padovani. They played some gigs and in May 1977 released a single called “Fallout”.

That would be the only recording of the Police with Henry Padovani. Sting and Copeland had been working in a side project called Strontium 90, which featured Mike Howlett of the band Gong, and a guitar player named Andy Summers. Summers was ten years older than Sting and Copeland, and had played with The Animals, Kevin Ayers and Dantalian’s Chariot. Now, go back and listen to our “Rubble” episode if you want to learn more about Dantalian’s Chariot.

But Andy Summers had a lot of experience and definitely made an impression with his guitar playing, and he was asked to join the band. The police only played two gigs as a four-piece, and then Padovani was fired, and the famous trio was in: Copeland, Summers and Sting.

In February 1978, the band was offered a spot in a Wrigley’s Gum commercial under the condition that they dye their hair blonde. Apparently, that made them look more “punk”. They were a struggling band, desperate for money, so they said, “sure”. And that’s how the police got their distinctive look– those three blond heads. They did end up filming that commercial, but it was never aired.

Stewart’s older brother, Miles Copeland, was an executive in the music biz and got them a deal with A&M Records. On a shoestring budget, they recorded their first album, “Outlandos d’Amour”.

But the band was not a hit right out of the box. When “Roxanne” was first released as a single in the UK, it didn’t chart. The second single, “Can’t Stand Losing You” did better. But the third single, “So Lonely”, that didn’t chart either.

But in February 1979, “Roxanne” was released as a single in the US and it managed to make it to number 32, which in turn caused it to be reissued as a single in the UK. And this time it made it up to number twelve.

The band came to America in 1979 and famously drove themselves and their equipment all around the country on tour in a little Ford Econoline van. About as unglamorous as it gets. But stardom was on the horizon.

By October 1979, they released their second album, “Regatta de Blanc”, recorded earlier that year on another tight budget. This time, though, that was intentional. They had made enough money off of the first album to cover the cost of the second album, as long as they did it cheaply enough, which meant that they could do it all on their own without any record company interference.

The first single released from the album was “Message In A Bottle”. It’s also the song that opens the album– side one, track one. The song was written by Sting, and features Sting on lead vocal and bass, Andy Summers on guitar and Stuart Copeland on drums.

The song kicks off with the drums and some guitars. Let’s focus on those guitars for a minute. What I’m hearing is two guitar parts, one on the left and one on the right. But they both have a heavy amount of chorus effect on them, which thickens them up and can actually make it sound like more than one guitar. So now let’s just hear the guitar that’s on the left channel. And here’s the one on the right. They sound pretty similar when you listen to them separately, but put them back in stereo, panned left and right, and it really sounds three-dimensional.

Okay, so after that intro, there’s a quick drum fill that brings us right into the first verse. Let’s hear what Stuart Copeland is doing on the drums during the verse.

And that brings us to what I would call the pre-chorus. There’s some layered vocals here, along with an organ that’s pretty low in the mix. Listen for that.

That organ is just kind of holding down a drone or what’s sometimes called a “pedal tone”. Again, it’s really low in the mix. This is one of those things that’s kind of meant to be more felt than heard. But let’s bring that to the front and also listen to those overdubbed vocals.

Let’s hear just sting’s lead vocal.

Listening to that, I’m actually surprised at how restrained it is. He’s singing that pretty softly compared to the energy level of the rest of the parts. And I particularly like that gentle “yeah” at the end of “Message In A Bottle”.

Sounds like Sting clucks his tongue there. Let’s back that up and hear that again.

Just a couple of tasty guitar licks there from Andy Summers. Theres also a few simple but well-placed tom hits that lead us into the next verse.

Copeland is playing something completely different on the drums on this verse than he was in the first verse. So let’s hear a little of that.

That brings us to another pre-chorus. This time, that organ is a little bit more to the front. There’s some more guitar licks there, way in the background, almost inaudible. Let’s bring those front and center.

I gotta admit, I never even noticed those were there before. So let’s back it up and listen to the final mix again. And now that we know those guitar licks are there, let’s see if they pop out to us any better now.

Now, these licks are a lot more noticeable. We haven’t really listened to Sting’s bass part yet, and he’s no slouch on the bass, so let’s hear a little of that.

And now let’s bring in Stuart Copeland’s drum part. His work on the hi-hat is especially great.

And meanwhile, to counterbalance all of that, Andy Summers is playing some lush chords, drenched in that chorus effect. Andy also gets in some more of those guitar licks in the background here. So let’s isolate those.

Now let’s put that all back together and hear the final mix.

I like that extra guitar chord flourish at the end there. It’s almost kind of spacey and dreamy for a few seconds there.

And that brings us into the last verse. Let’s hear the vocal.

Fantastic drumming here by Stuart Copeland. Let’s go back and just listen to that.

They’re multitracking the vocals here, and now they’ve added harmony to the vocal.

More Andy Summers guitar. We’ll listen to that.

Do you ever notice at the very end of the fade, sting does something a little different with the vocal? Maybe it’s a mistake. Let’s see if we can crank that up and hear it a little better.

The Police – “Message In A Bottle”

The Police would go on to release three more albums, total of five albums– studio albums– in their career. It’s a relatively small catalog, but every one of those albums is a classic.

They split in 1986. They did one reunion tour in 2007, but otherwise, they focused on their solo career. I suppose it’s possible there could be another reunion, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. They gave us five great albums and establish a sound that still resonates and inspires today. Thats more than most. Thats enough.

Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. I’ll be back in approximately two weeks with another new episode. If you’d like to support the show, head on over to oldglory.com and buy a t-shirt or two. They have a bunch of Police shirts, along with all the other bands that you love. And if you use our discount code, “lovethatsong”, you’ll get 15% off, and we get a little kickback. So it’s a “win-win”, as the corporate weasels like to say.

And please tell a friend about this show, because your recommendations really do help to spread the word.

You can find all of our previous episodes on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, and you can communicate with us on Facebook. If you’d like to find more podcasts like this, check out the Pantheon Podcast network. Its home to a ton of other music related podcasts.

Well, thanks for being a part of this show, and for listening to this episode on “Message In A Bottle” by the Police.

Many bands would be running out of ideas by their 8^th album, but not Earth, Wind &Fire – many consider All ‘n All to be their best record. Freshly inspired by the varied sounds & rhythms of South America, Maurice White brought his genre-blending compositions to new heights on this 1977 album, as evidenced by the opening track, “Serpentine Fire”, which White himself described as Earth Wind & Fire’s “most ambitious single”.

TRANSCRIPT:

Sing a song and keep your head to the sky, ‘cause you’re all shining stars. This is the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast, one of many fine shows on the Pantheon Podcast Network, and I’m your host, Brad Page. Each episode, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dig into it together, looking and listening for all those magic moments, the little things that turn a good song into a great one. Don’t worry if you’re not a musician or musical expert, you don’t need to be. We’re just going to tune our ears into the arrangements, the performances and the production that make it a great song.

This episode we’re listening to one of the biggest, most successful acts in history. Call ‘em R&B, call ‘em funk, call ‘em Afro pop, jazz, soul…. any way you look at it, this band has an incredible catalog of music and a bunch of huge hits. We’re going to explore one of those hits right now: This is Earth, Wind And Fire with “Serpentine Fire”.

This is our second visit with Earth Wind And Fire. We covered the song “Shining Star” back on Episode 56– check that one out if you haven’t heard it yet. It’s one of my favorites. So let’s recap just a little of Earth Wind and Fire’s history here.

Maurice White was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1941. For a while he played with Booker T in Memphis before he moved to Chicago to live with his mother and stepfather. He attended the Chicago Conservatory of Music, played drums around the scene, and worked as a session drummer at Chess Studios, where he played with many of the greats: Etta James, Chuck Berry, Junior Wells, Muddy Waters, just to name a few.

In 1969, he formed the Salty Peppers with Wade Flemings and Don Whitehead. Eventually he moved to LA and changed the name of the band to Earth Wind and Fire, based on his astrological sign. In 1970, his brother Verdine White joined the band as their bass player. Earth Wind and Fire released their first self-titled album in 1971. Their second album, “The Need of Love”, came out the same year, and a third album, “Last Days And Time”, was issued in 1972. That was the first album with vocalist Philip Bailey, who would share vocals with Maurice White and become a critical factor in the band.

“Head To The Sky” came out in 1973, and “Open Our Eyes”, their fifth album, in 1974. This album features “Mighty Mighty”, which was kind of their first big crossover hit.

In 1975, they released “That’s The Way of the World”, their 6th album. It was also the soundtrack to the film That’s The Way of the World, and the band appears in the movie. “Shining Star” is from this album, and it would become their first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. See our previously-mentioned Episode 56 for more details.

The title cut was also issued as a single.

Maurice White was a musical visionary, but he was more than that, too. He envisioned bringing people together spiritually through his music. He viewed their next album, the album that would become “Spirit”, as their most important album so far. He was also interested in showing a different vision of black masculinity than what you typically got from celebrities. He wanted to present the band as “sons of a royal and noble Africa”.

The album cover featured the band all dressed in white, eyes closed in meditative poses with three large white pyramids behind them. This was the first of many album covers that would feature eastern and Egyptian imagery.

He wanted to awaken spirituality among his audience. Not so much religion, but spirituality. His goal was to share his interests– mysticism, Buddhism, Egyptology. As Maurice said, “Our vibe was definitely afro-centric, but not a separatist one. It was about community, the family of man.”

Sadly, as they were working on the “Spirit” album, they lost a key member of their family. Charles Stepney had worked closely with the band on their last few albums as producer, arranger and contributing songwriter. He died on May 17, 1976 from a heart attack. He was 45 years old. He was a close friend of Maurice White and the whole band, really. The album would be in many ways a tribute to Stepney. “Spirit”, their 7th studio album was released in September 1976.

After the success of the “Spirit” album and the massive tour that followed, by now, Earth Wind and Fire were putting on an amazing stage show and they were a huge concert draw. But Maurice White was exhausted. He needed a break. He took the first vacation of his life, spending two months touring South America. He visited drum schools in Brazil and absorbed the sounds and rhythms of the various cultures. When he returned home, he brought these fresh ideas to the next Earth Wind and Fire album, which would be called “All In All”, their 8th album of all new material.

Now, you would think at that pace, eight albums plus a live album, all within six years, that they would have run out of steam. But many people consider “All In All” to be their best album.

“Serpentine Fire” is the song that opens the album, and what a way to kick it off. It was written by Maurice White, Verdine White and Reginald Sonny Burke. It was produced by Maurice White.

\Maurice has described the song as “profoundly odd, an idiosyncratic mixture of African music, tango and gospel blues, with an abstract lyric about Kundalini energy.” Kundalini is a form of divine feminine energy located at the base of the spine. When awakened, it leads to spiritual liberation. Kundalini is a Sanskrit word meaning “coiled, or coiled like a snake”.

Maurice White says “Serpentine Fire” is Earth Wind and Fire’s most ambitious single because it’s so musically abstract. The song begins with an intro played by the bass, keyboards and percussion, with the horns joining in after the first four measures. You can already hear that Latin feel in the percussion.

Let’s go back and listen to the keyboards because it’s a very dense mix. A lot going on. Sometimes it’s hard to pick out the individual parts. There are at least two keyboard parts, one on the left and one on the right. The one on the right has a phasing effect on it. From there, it’s going to break out into a supremely funky track.

Let’s break that down a bit. Like all good funk songs, at the heart of the groove is the bass guitar. Adding to this syncopation is both the percussion and the horn parts. So let’s listen to those.

Little further down in the mix are the keyboard parts.

And there is one guitar part in the left channel. Let’s hear all of that together again. Now for the first verse.

Let’s check out the vocals. This is Maurice White with an occasional harmony by Philip Bailey. The vocals are doubled with a decent amount of reverb on them.

Let’s continue with the rest of that verse. This is the chorus where Philip Bailey takes over. Philip was renowned for his falsetto, and the way it contrasted and complemented Maurice White’s vocals is one of the most magical things about Earth Wind and Fire.

At the end of the chorus is a short section where they bring in the gospel influence. You can see how they’re blending all kinds of elements together.

That brings us back to the main riff. I love that vocal bit at the end there.

We’l pick it back up for the next verse.

That groove is so great. I want to hear just a little of the bass, the horns and the percussion. We’ll keep a little of the guitar in there, too.

I want to hear more of Maurice White’s vocal track.

And I’d like to hear just the vocals on that part, too.

There’s kind of a big finish there this time around. They could have ended the song right there, but just when you think it’s done, they kick back in.

Notice how there’s tuned percussion.

And that brings us to the last chorus. The guitars and keyboards are going to make their way forward a bit in the mix here at the end. The guitars are still difficult to make out, but there are two guitar parts in there. That’s pretty crazy, right? And of course, there are still the two keyboard parts. And of course, that killer bass guitar part that I just got to hear it by itself one more time.

All right, let’s go back to the final mix. We get another round of the chorus vocals, then the horns take over as the song fades out.

“Serpentine Fire” by Earth Wind and Fire. The “All In All” album was released in November 1977. The album cover featured artwork by Shusei Nagaoka. Shusei didn’t speak English, and Maurice didn’t speak Japanese, but they met and Maurice was able to articulate his ideas by showing him books on Egyptian art and UFO’s. Nagaoka sketched out some ideas and a relationship was forged that would result in a whole string of album covers for Earth Wind and Fire. Nagaoka created a bunch of other album covers for ELO, Jefferson Starship, and Deep Purple, but my favorites of his are the covers he did for Earth Wind and Fire.

Thanks for being a part of this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. You can find all of our previous episodes on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or just look for us in your favorite podcast app. We’ll be back in about two weeks with another new episode. Until then, check out some of the other great podcasts on the Pantheon Podcast Network.

It’d be great if you left a review wherever you listen to the show, and if you’d like to contact us, you can find us on Facebook, or send an email to lovethatsongpodcastmail.com.

If you’d like to support the show, the best thing you can do is to tell a friend about it, because your recommendation really does mean a lot. As always, remember to support the artists you love by buying their music. And thanks for listening to this episode on Earth wind and Fire with “Serpentine Fire”.

Click here to play the podcast

Everybody knows “Baker Street”– even if you don’t know the artist’s name or the song title, you probably know that sax riff. But there’s more to Gerry Rafferty than “Baker Street” (or “Stuck In The Middle”, for that matter). Here’s an incredibly moving song that’s every bit as good as his biggest hits.

TRANSCRIPT:

Welcome, true believers, to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. My name is Brad Page, your host here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, where each episode, I pick a favorite song of mine and we explore it together on our never ending quest to understand what makes a song great. We don’t get into music theory here, so you don’t have to know a lot of jargon or technical stuff, we’re just going to listen together and see what we discover. On this edition of the podcast, we’re going to contemplate a song by Gerry Rafferty. Chances are, if you know the name Gerry Rafferty, it’s from this song [Baker Street]

But on this episode, we’re going to explore a song you may not have heard before. This is a song by Gerry Rafferty called “The Ark”.

Gerry Rafferty was born in Scotland in April 1947. He was the youngest of three children, and by some accounts, his birth was unplanned and his father resented his very existence. His mother would take Gerry out of the house on Saturday nights and stay outside, late into the night, just to keep Gerry’s drunken father from beating them.

When Gerry was 16, he formed his first band with a friend, Joe Egan. Firs,t they were known as The Mavericks, and then they became The Fifth Column, and they released a single in 1966 called “Benjamin Day”.

That single failed to make any waves. So, Rafferty quit and joined a group called The Humble Bums, which also featured Billy Connolly, who eventually become a legendary comedian. Here’s one of Gerry’s songs with the Humble Bums. This one’s called “Shoe Shine Boy”.

Eventually, Rafferty decided to try being a solo artist, and released his first solo album in 1971. It has a great album title– he called it “Can I Have My Money Back?”

The solo career was slow to get off the ground, though, and by now, Gerry was married with a young daughter. So he teamed back up with his old friend Joe Egan and they formed Steelers Wheel. Their first album came out in 1972 and features this song– and I’m sure you all know this one, too.

“Stuck In The Middle” was a top ten hit in the US and the UK. Steeler’s Wheel would release three albums between 1972 and 75. But the band split up, and they were entangled in a bunch of legal problems, which meant that Rafferty could not release a new album for three years.

But finally, when he recorded his second solo album, he was more than ready. The album “City to City” was released in January 1978, and thanks to the chart success of “Baker Street”, it became his biggest selling album. “Baker Street” is mostly famous for that saxophone part, but I’ve always loved that guitar solo, played by Hugh Burns. The “City to City” album also features “Right Down The Line”, which was another big hit from this record.

But the song we’re going to talk about today is “The Ark”. It’s the song that opens the album, side one, track one. It was written by Gerry Rafferty and performed by Tommy Ire on piano, Gary Taylor on bass, Henry Spinetti on drums, Graham Prescott on mandolin and fiddle, Glenn Lafleur on tambourine, Barbara Dixon on backing vocals, the great Jerry Donahue on electric guitar, and Gerry Rafferty on lead vocals and acoustic guitar.

The album was produced by Gerry and Hugh Murphy. The album, and the song, open with some traditional instrumentation. This was performed by an Australian group called The Bushwhackers has a real Celtic feel to it. Probably reminiscent of the sounds that Gerry heard growing up in Scotland.

That’s essentially the melody for the verse. After that opening section, the song switches to more traditional rock instrumentation for the actual verse.

This is a fairly stark but beautiful song, I think, anyway. Let’s take a look at the elements that make up this verse. The piano is the most prominent instrument, but there’s also an acoustic guitar that’s strumming along underneath it.

That chord change there on the piano, that gets me every time. It’s simple, but there’s just something righteous about that. And what the bass and drums are doing couldn’t be any simpler. It doesn’t need to be any more complex than this. All of the instruments are leaving plenty of space.

So let’s go back, hear all of those parts together, and add the vocals in.

I like how the drums skip a beat there. It breaks out of the simple repetition and kind of perks up your attention at the end of the verse. So let’s go back and listen to all of that and how it brings us into the second verse and set.

I’ve read in a couple places that Gerry had perfect pitch. I don’t know if that’s true, but there is a certain effortlessness in his vocals that they just seem to flow out of him so naturally.

And check out that great little electric guitar fill by Jerry Donahue.

Let’s back that up and start again and listen for more of those guitar fills by Jerry Donahue.

Let’s talk about the lyrics. Apparently, Rafferty had the idea for this song as far back as 1970- 71, but it was one of the last songs that he finished for this album in ‘78, almost eight years later. He really had to work at this one. I guess he was reading some books about philosophy or spirituality and about the ark– Noah’s Ark, and what it represented metaphorically or symbolically rather than literally. I think the song is about if we can wake up, if we can become aware, then we can start out on a journey to enlightenment. That’s where it begins. We’re all on this journey together. Here’s the chorus.

This is a great verse. Let’s focus in on his vocals here.

And that’s a nice little drum fill there, too. Everything about this track in this whole album is immaculately recorded. It’s just a great sounding record.

Let’s listen to the vocals. On the chorus, Gerry is harmonizing with Barbara Dixon, but he has also overdubbed his voice in layers. He was really masterful at that.

And that takes us into an instrumental section where the electric guitar plays off of the Celtic instruments from the beginning of the song. It’s an interesting choice. And Jerry Donahue gets off some great guitar licks here. This is a really well-structured solo.

Rafferty repeats the first verse here, but this time he’s double tracked his vocal.

More great guitar fills here.

And listen to the tambourine.

The Bushwhackers and their traditional instruments join in one last time here at the end.

Gerry Rafferty – “The Ark”

Gerry Rafferty was a very gifted man, but he hated being a celebrity. If you grew up in the did, you’ll remember when “Baker Street” was on the radio constantly, you couldn’t get away from that song. It made Gerry Rafferty a rich man… but it didn’t make him a happy man.

He was a great musician and songwriter and a singer with perfect pitch, but I think he was also very insecure. He didn’t seem to be that into playing live, and I don’t think he ever toured America. He didn’t like being a rock star and he lived a pretty private life. And he was an alcoholic.

By 1990, his wife of 20 years finally left. He struggled with depression and volatile behavior. In November 2010, he was admitted to the hospital and put on life support due to multiple organ failure. He was eventually taken off life support and sent home with his daughter, where he died of liver failure on January 4, 2011. He was 63.

A trace of loneliness and alienation runs through many of his songs, and you can hear it in his voice. You can hear it in this song. But this is also a song about hope; that we can wake up from this sleep and set out on our journey. I hope that Gerry Rafferty finally found the ship to take him on his way.

Thanks for listening to this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. New episodes are released on the 1st and the 15th of every month, so we’ll be back soon with another new show. Until then, you can catch up on all of our previous shows on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com, or find us on your favorite podcast app– Spotify, Google, Apple, Stitcher, Amazon; you name it, his show is there.

We are part of the Pantheon Network of podcasts, home to many other great music-related shows, so be sure to check them out. And if you’d like to support this show, well, the best thing you can do is to just tell a friend about it, because your recommendations are the most valuable thing.

So thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode on “The Ark” by Gerry Rafferty.

REFERENCES:

Gerry Rafferty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Rafferty

Steelers Wheel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealers_Wheel

The Humble Bums
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Humblebums

Billy Connolly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Connolly

Barbara Dixon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Dickson

Jerry Donahue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Donahue

The Bushwhackers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bushwackers_(band)

Pantheon Podcast Network
https://pantheonpodcasts.com/

Tag: Vocal Harmonies

The Police – “Message In A Bottle”

Earth, Wind & Fire – “Serpentine Fire”

Gerry Rafferty – “The Ark”