Alphabet Soup Week 22: The K Tracks

Soundtrack songs, favorite bands, and a discussion of the bhakti yoga practice of Kirtan. Suit up and strap in for another exciting installment of Alphabet Soup!!

Welcome to Week 22 of Alphabet Soup!

I didn’t realize until researching this week’s installment, that two of the tracks on this week’s playlist were included on motion picture soundtracks. And while I never owned either of the soundtracks in question, I was a huge fan of soundtracks in general. Sadly, looking back at my mp3 catalog, it appears that I never digitized my soundtracks, which I estimate would have numbered close to a hundred discs in my collection.

I’ve written previously about my appreciation of John Hughes’ use of music in his films and the soundtracks from two of his films would likely top a list of my favorite soundtracks of all time. 1986’s Pretty in Pink and 1987’s Some Kind of Wonderful, released when I was in my mid-teens, packed a one two punch that captured the heart of this closet lovesick romantic who was outwardly too cool for school (and for his own good). At some point, probably next year after I’ve wrapped up this weekly series, I’ll pull together a post on soundtracks as they’ve been quite influential on my musical journey.

Given how busy life is right now, and in the interest of limiting the amount of time dedicated to this week’s entry, let’s jump straight into the music!

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ALPHABET SOUP WEEK 22: The K Tracks

This week’s selections:

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TRACK: "King" from The Best Of UB40 - Volume One (1987)

ARTIST: UB40

While I would have loved to consider myself a big fan of the English reggae band UB40, the reality is that I only ever dipped into a fraction of their discography. Of the nine studio albums released between 1980 and 1989, I only owned three: 1983’s Labour of Love, 1986’s Rat In Mi Kitchen (discussed masterfully by friend of Joy in the Journey, Steve Goldberg, in a December 2023 post) and 1989’s Labour of Love II.

I only realized my fraudulent fandom (thankfully I was only “exposed” to my inner critic) in 1990-91 when I purchased the 1987 compilation CD The Best of UB40 – Volume One and discovered that more than half the tracks were from albums I’d either never heard of or not listened to in their entirety. I came to love that collection of some of the band’s earliest hits with King (originally on 1980’s Signing Off) and One In Ten (originally on 1981’s Present Arms) topping my list of favorites.

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TRACK: "Keep Moving" from In The Clear (2005)

ARTIST: Ivy

Keep Moving is from Ivy’s fifth studio album, 2005’s In The Clear, an album which has somehow managed to go unappreciated in my collection. While scrolling through my list of K tracks about a month ago as I was compiling this playlist, I came across the name of this song and didn’t recognize it. So I gave it a listen. And I still didn’t recognize it. At all! It was love at first listen and I immediately knew it would make the cut for the week 22 playlist. Later in the day, after I’d finished selecting and sequencing the playlist, I queued up the full album on Spotify and gave it a digital spin. Turns out that the album is absolutely gorgeous, and it’s been on pretty heavy rotation since then.

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TRACK: "Kiss From A Rose" from Seal (1994)

ARTIST: Seal

The first soundtrack song on this week’s playlist arrives in the form of Seal’s Kiss from a Rose, which was on 1994’s Seal, his second consecutive eponymous album (a little self indulgent? yes, perhaps), and appeared in the 1995 film Batman Forever (a year after appearing in another “classic” film, The NeverEnding Story III). Upon initial release the track found only middling success in the global charts, but after the re-release as the second single from the Batman Forever soundtrack, it had an impressive run, peaking at number 1 in Australia and in the US (on multiple charts) and attaining top 10 status in a dozen countries. In 1996 the song would earn Seal three Grammy Awards, winning Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

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As you make your way through this week’s playlist, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do any of these tracks really stand out for you? What do you like? What don’t you like?

Please click the button below to leave a comment.

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TRACK: "King of Pain" from Greatest Hits (1992)

ARTIST: The Police

The first Police album I ever owned arrived as a cassette copy of Zenyatta Mondatta which I traded for in 1980. While wandering around town after school one day, my best friend saw the cassette drop into the street from a passing moped. He picked it up, brought it to school the following day, and traded it for a blacklight bulb that I’d mysteriously managed to acquire. After filling in my collection with vinyl versions of their first two albums, 1978’s Outlandos d’Amour and 1979’s Regatta de Blanc, The Police rapidly became my first ever favorite band, a title they’d hold until the mid 80s when they were replaced by The Cure.

King of Pain was the second single from the band’s fifth and final album, 1983’s Synchronicity. The song topped the charts in Canada and reached number 3 on the US Billboard 100 as well as taking the top spot on the Billboard Top Tracks chart (now the Mainstream Rock chart). The album itself debuted at number one on the UK chart, spending two weeks in the top slot. In North America the album would spend a total of 17 nonconsecutive weeks at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and 24 consecutive weeks at number one in Canada, still holding the record for the most consecutive weeks at the top slot in the Great White North.

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TRACK: "Kiss The Rain" from Growing, Pains (1997)

ARTIST: Billie Myers

Coventry-based singer Billie Myers has released three studio albums over the course of her 16-year career. Her debut, 1997’s Growing, Pains, was by far the most successful, with its lead single Kiss the Rain peaking at number 4 in the UK charts. In the US the single would reach number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spend a total of 31 weeks on the chart. This is a sentimental favorite of mine as it appeared on a mixtape I made for my then girlfriend, now wife, Tina when she was in Houston for the summer of 1998, a couple months after we’d first expressed our love for each other and a few months before we’d be engaged (quick, yes, but when you know, you know).

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TRACK: "Know How" from The Riddle (1984)

ARTIST: Nik Kershaw

From an album perspective Nik Kershaw was a one and done for me. But what an album it was! The Riddle was Kershaw’s second album, released in November 1984 less than nine months after his debut, Human Racing. I likely heard of the album for the first time through its second single, Wide Boy, which was in the UK charts when I was over there for a visit in the summer of 1985, the same point at which I was introduced to tracks like King’s Love and Pride (from last week’s playlist), Dead or Alive’s You Spin Me Round, and Baltimora’s Tarzan Boy.

Unlike most songs on the album, including The Riddle, which Kershaw acknowledged was a nonsense song, there are a handful of tracks with quite incisive and meaningful lyrics. While not the best of that small group, Know How is one of a few tracks I connect with from a lyrical perspective. For me, the lyrics highlight the sense of superiority and the flippant abuse of power often exhibited by people that have attained some level of commercial, civic, or military authority.

I also enjoy the play on words in the chorus.

It's easy when you know how, know way
Know where and know today
Know mercy, know time
Know reason, know rhyme
Know how

I also love the vocal bridge at 2:05, sounding like something out of the film The Matrix with the Agent Smith-style, pitch-modulated: “I don’t care who you say you are, I can’t let you in heeeere.”

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TRACK: "Keepsake" from Lamprey (1995)

ARTIST: Bettie Serveert

While Ray Ray Rain, the third single from 1995’s Lamprey was included on my Trail Tunes post from Day 2 on the Dales High Way Trail, this is the first appearance on Alphabet Soup for the Dutch Indie band Bettie Serveert. I came across Lamprey, the band’s second album, in early 1995, not long after returning to university in Halifax after a year away from my studies to get sober and get my life in order. I fell in love with the album and soon acquired their 1992 debut album Palomine. I’d stick with them through 1997’s Dust Bunnies before losing touch with their music.

In researching this week’s installment I’ve been digging in to some of their later releases and am a little disappointed that I stopped following them as I’ve enjoyed much of what I heard. They haven’t released a new studio album since 2016’s Damaged Good but the band does continue to tour, though I haven’t been able to determine whether that’s regular or intermittent.

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TRACK: "Knock Me Out" from In Flight (2005)

ARTIST: Linda Perry

Linda Perry first came to my attention as the powerhouse lead singer of 4 Non Blondes on their debut (and only) album, 1992’s Bigger, Better, Faster, More! The album’s second single, What’s Up, peaked at #14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 but would go on to top the charts in over a dozen countries. Perry left the band in 1994 and the remaining members disbanded shortly thereafter.

Perry released her debut solo, In Flight, in 1996 and while the album received solid reviews it didn’t sell well. Perry turned her talents towards production and songwriting and worked with Pink on her second album Missundaztood, producing much of the album. She would later go on to work with Christena Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Adam Lambert and Adele.

Perry re-released In Flight on her own label, Custard Records, in 2005 which is when it made its way into my collection. Legendary Jefferson Airplane frontwoman Grace Slick joins Perry on the vocals of Knock Me Out, which also appeared on the soundtrack of the 1996 film The Crow: City of Angels.

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TRACK: "Kyoto Song" from The Head on the Door (1985)

ARTIST: The Cure

Kyoto Song from The Cure’s 1985 album The Head On The Door is the third appearance on Alphabet Soup from my favorite band. Following on from the dark goth rock trilogy of Seventeen Seconds, Pornography, and Faith, and 1984’s weird and wonderful psychedelic-leaning The Top, the album took some detours into pop territory with the likes of In Between Days and Close To Me. The release would be the band’s first to be certified gold in the US, beginning a string of six consecutive albums to achieve Gold or Platinum status, a run that would peak with 1989’s double platinum certified Disintegration.

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TRACK: “Karma Police" from OK Computer (1997)

ARTIST: Radiohead

We wrap up this week’s playlist with Karma Police from Radiohead’s 1997 album OK Computer, the third appearance by the band on Alphabet Soup. When going back over previous installments, while I wasn’t surprised to see multiple appearances from the band, I was surprised to see them all drawn from the same album. Their prior album, 1995’s The Bends, cemented my brief love for the band and OK Computer took that love to the next level. For some reason my musical tastes just weren’t aligned with what came next from the band. I really disliked 2000’s Kid A when it was released. I wonder now how much I was influenced at the time by the music critics who widely panned the album (many have since come around). While I still don’t consider it their best album, a view at odds with just about all of my family across the pond, I do find it a far more appealing and satisfying listen now than I did almost a quarter century ago (a quarter century?!? yikes!).

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Life in the key of K: Kirtan

About fifteen years ago, on a 12-step recovery-based spiritual retreat on one of the islands in Bermuda’s Great Sound, I was introduced to Kirtan, the practice of chanting the names or mantras of the gods and goddesses. This ancient call-and-response chanting, which originated from the Hindu tradition in India, is one of the most important techniques of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion.

I’ve been on a journey of spiritual discovery for many decades, and, for a time, Kirtan was an important piece of my connection with the Divine, with the Universal Spirit. Some of the most intense (non-substance-induced) bliss I’ve ever experienced has been within the context of devotional chanting, primarily when participating in a Kirtan circle with noted chant master David Newman (aka Durga Das). Sadly, David passed away last month, five weeks after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

For those interested in learning a little more about Kirtan, the video below provides a fantastic introduction. Introduction/Invocation is the second track from Jai Uttal’s ninth album, 2003’s Kirtan! The Art And Practice Of Ecstatic Chant. Be forewarned that the video is 20 minutes long (in case you’re interested but not that interested).

For a time, I struggled with the idea that I may be culturally appropriating this practice. After a period of intense reflection and through discussions with spiritual guides and mentors, I was ultimately able to reconcile my engagement with Kirtan and become more comfortable with practicing it regularly. Much of that comfort comes from an acknowledgment that, over the course of my recovery journey, I have been seeking to develop and enhance a relationship with a power greater than myself in as authentic a manner as possible. While I have borrowed from different religious and spiritual traditions, I believe I have done so with pure intent and no desire to exploit or coopt those practices in any way.

While I don’t have the time or inclination to delve deeply into my spiritual worldview right now, I will say that it’s grounded within the Western interpretation of the Sanskrit phrase Namaste, through which the literal translation “I bow to you” has been adapted to a deeper meaning: “the Light within me honors the Light within you”.

I don’t believe that any specific religious or spiritual tradition holds a monopoly on access to the Divine, but I do believe they all provide accessible pathways if you’re willing to look. From Native American pipe ceremonies to shamanic breathwork sessions, from a Kirtan Circle to a sound bath, from a walking meditation to a session of deep and immersive listening with a much-loved piece of music, opportunities abound for a connection with the Light (if that’s your thing; if it’s not, that’s more than okay - I’m a live and let live type of guy).

I think I’ll leave it there for this week. Thanks for sticking around, see you next week!

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Here’s the link to the running playlist which is updated on a weekly basis as each new installment is published:

ALPHABET SOUP RUNNING PLAYLIST

Tracks missing from the Spotify playlist:

• Allegory by Murray Attaway (Week 02)

• Face Me and Smile by The Lover Speaks (Week 12)

• From Your Mouth by God Lives Underwater (Week 13)

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Thank you for reading Joy in the Journey, I appreciate you being here! If there’s someone in your life you think may enjoy this post, feel free to share it.