As this year's big satire and commentary on race but it's even weirder and funnier So Boots has always had a lot to say for the soundtrack he collaborated with among others Jenelle Monet Killer Mike and fellow Oakland resident Merrill Garbus of tune yards it's a work that's well worth listening to let's hear a tune from it this is hey Saturday night Riley in the cuckoo lab rating with 2 yards on the sorry to bother you sound. a movie created by the Quds leader sorry to bother you boots Riley he's a rabble rouser from the word go I don't think he would be averse to being termed a communist certainly a socialist he's a super smart guy and he's made some amazing records I love how he's transitioned from basically being a hip hop mc into the leader of a funk band the coup is turned into a mighty mighty funk band if you're a get a chance. To see them live you definitely should avail yourself of that opportunity you mention the confusion about the similarities between the title of this record and the one he released in 2012 I think the record that he released in 2012 under the same name sorry to bother you is a stronger record cut for cut than the soundtrack that he has created while he was making the movie I think he may have been a little distracted making that movie in with good reason it's all he had to say to his movies at incredible reviews but for the listeners who are saying Ok I haven't seen the movie I just want to hear this band and in that respect I would tell them you're better served by going to the previous 3 coup records sort of bother you in 2012 pick a bigger weapon in 2006 party music in 2001 those are great cool records this is a pretty good one it's a little bit more hit and miss it's heavy on the cameos and what I do like about it as how he's updated the sound he's basically taking what Parliament Funkadelic and Sly Stone were doing in the early seventy's and mid seventies that sort of political brand of funk and updating it for today and where is that sound coming from today while he's looking at people like outcast and you know Monet was on the record in a Killer Mike who's part of that whole Atlanta scene I think about half of it is really strong the other half of it you know I'm not so sure I buy that sort of prog funk track I don't know ever sticky sunrise listen to it it sounds like Styx trying to do a funk drag I know it'll existence are a little bit you know real cheesy and it is real Clint and I would say there's some real Clinton on the on his record but that's wrong isn't that one of the. I have a higher prog tolerance than you I and I love the movie and so maybe I love the soundtrack more because of that but Craig I think it's an inspired collaboration working with Tune yards on. Those 2 tracks and I think Boots has always been about breaking down John red doors and reaching out across communities so now mad that is for the moment that reminds us we have more in common than separates us many of us and I like the album a lot I think it's a great introduction to the coup and I hope if you haven't heard them before and you only come in because of the movie you will dig deeper and be older coup song the magic clap that should have been a worldwide mega hit twice as big as happy. That is a little bit of Amanda Shires with a song called charms from her latest album called to the sunset Amanda is a skilled a very skilled violin player 18 prodigy she was in the Texas Playboys as a youngster growing up in Texas that is not a band that you just walk right into that is a band full of prodigies and she's gone on to have a successful solo career as I said Texas based artist originally moved to Nashville in her twenty's and has put out 6 studio albums since 2005 while doing various studio sessions for other artists among them her husband Jason is bull she's a member of his 400 unit touring band so She's a distinguished career but never really a huge amount of recognition outside of a cult following until her 2016 record my piece of land. Break out the champagne by Amanda Shires on her new album to the sunset the 5th of a solo career that I think often been sadly overlooked Greg but it is the best Amanda has a way as a as a creative writing m.f.a. Of telling a short story in every song that seems on the surface the 1st $34.00 listens Ok besides being wonderful musically to be rather placid and enticing and hokey and then you realize there's these dark undercurrents going on you know that the the song The closes the album Greg was and I paying attention it's a it's a as a novel really it's about a man a recovering. Addict who borrows a pickup truck drives to the center of Nome Alaska and kills him. And she wonders to what extent she found a man in song to what extent she's responsible is a little moments like that the opening track parking lot you think it might just be 2 lovers right and she's walking away from him and then does the Pirro in the parking lot and comes back but you wonder also if there's something wrong there is this a relationship she should be walking the way. And . I have a limited country tolerance I like my country rock and rag and underground I think Amanda Shires problems been she's in the middle she's not quite as pop as Kacey Musgraves and not quite as greedy as as Nico case and other bloodshot type acts but a lot of her violin on this album has fuzz on it and our love that you put the violin in the fuzzbox I really love this record Well obviously. I'm glad you do because I do as well Jim you know I think she's been unfairly pigeonholed as an Americana artist you know America used to be kind of cool I now feel it's kind of like a stereotype for acoustic folk introspective sad and for that reason I think would be so wrong to dismiss Amanda Shires because she's nothing like that on this record she's busting. All of those cliches and John are saying stereotypes this is a pop record but it's also got as you said. On this record yeah there's noise on this record. You know she used to have this and she still does this sort of the. Vulnerability in her vocal style you mention that song parking lot Pira wet and the way she sings that line I turned around it's like whoa. You know she's not hesitant about this this is a declaration. That that attitude pervades this record I'm going for it also you mention the songwriting you know her ability these songs are very pithy but she packs so much information into a few lines that song we just played break out the champagne 1st couple lines in that song are talking between bathroom stalls Kelly said the world would end tonight I mean short story writers want to open their short stories with lines like that like Ok I want to know what happens next what Yeah what's this all about that's the way her songs go she is able to create these very vivid images in just a few words in her songs so the combination of the sonic adventure isn't as with the great songwriter anything Amanda Shires has made a record of her career if people don't start paying attention now they're just wrong but they need to do is their loss. As always we want to hear from you call and leave us a message on our hotline 85900 Tell us what you think about those albums or find us on Facebook Twitter or Instagram Coming up we talk with billions showrunner and screenwriter Brian Koppelman about discovering Tracy Chapman and how he transition from being a music talent scout to a screenwriter that's in a minute on Sound Opinions from Chicago N.P.R.'s. I'm pretty sure the next time an open source family fight in the Democratic Party in our own front yard the legendary the fear and Tip O'Neill back again to press the charge against my cats one is that it's not enough to be a good old incumbent the people say. Today at 4 on Calle they'll be in San Francisco. On the next 2 nights of spades another report from the general side of African music with valuable gotten some e.t.a. David killed and Kevin nothing and more and Stephen hit a program called Song of Africa on the next hearts of spades. Join us for 2 hours of music from the hearts of space starting this evening at 10 here on Calle w. San Francisco don't shave maybe because you're a criminal Bob. And it's my job to shut him down and put him in jail if that's true you're not very good at. You're also. Welcome back to sound opinions I'm Jim dear Goddess my partner is Greg cot and this week we are joined by our guest Brian Koppelman Brian's the show runner co-creator and executive producer of the super acclaimed Showtime series billions you heard a clip from it just a minute ago Damian Lewis plays Bobby Axelrod a corrupt billionaire hedge fund manager his nemesis Paul Giamatti is Chuck Rhodes a us attorney for the state of New York the sovereign District of New York Greg he's hell bent on indicting Axelrod for all sorts of crimes but is he any less guilty himself that's the whole show along with his writing partner David Levine Koppelman leads billions both an incredible story telling and in music that's right Jim that music is incredible and complement does it incredible job of selecting songs for the series that strike the mood of the scene and elevate the show as a whole develop these characters it's exactly the way you want to see music used in a long form medium like the series for the last 20 years complement has worked as a screenwriter co-writing films like rounders and Ocean's 13 and more but I 1st met him in the early ninety's when he was in the record business as an n r guy you know but basically a talent scout in the music industry you know and he's had a career there that's pretty estimable he's worked with artists like Tracy Chapman Metallica 5 for Fighting the list goes on and on let's also mention that Brian has a podcast of his own Greg the moment with Brian Koppelman Is that enough build up Brian welcome to sound opinions it's a thrill to be here guys I really never miss listening to an episode of the show it's really important to me in my week to week life so great to talk to you both well wait till what you have to say after we get. We don't really care if late that yeah Brian you come from me I'm. Cicle background I mean you were 13 right and you're managing bands or something and producing shows very early age you seem like this was your destiny Well that's exactly right my father was in the record business he was a music publisher and sometime record producer and I grew up really in a house that was filled with music and I grew up going to recording studios with my father I would listen to demos of my dad all the time I would watch him help produce or coax a lead vocal out of a singer and those were some of the most magical times in my life that whole thing of living around music. Made it such a central part of my life and of my consciousness and I really thought the in our guys my dad wasn't in our guy and I really thought that being our person being the person who picks the music for the label and helps make the records were give me as close to these artists I loved and maybe I could I could help them and so that's what I wanted to do and that's what I geared my whole life towards And you know I started managing bands when I was young and I started going to recording studios with with bands when I was young and then as as you probably know when I was a college through a fortuitous series of events I came across Tracy Chapman and began working with her I'm generally credited with discovering her. And. Said. That in making the change. I mean you were still at at Tufts University Yeah and you managed to get Tracey signed Yes and it was an incredible life changing thing I mean I've said this before but it's really true I was helping to organize an all campus boycott classes in order to lead the divestment movement because I'm sure you guys remember what it was like in the late eighty's in colleges where they were all in the best of their endowments in corporations to business in South Africa and we were trying to stop that and along the way a friend of mine said there's the singer you should get to play at the rally and I went to see this singer and it was Tracy Chapman and he came out on stage she played talk about a rebel Don't you know. Talking about it. Sounds just. Don't you know. Talking about it. And you got a picture of being 1000 years old and sitting there now having a lifetime of being prepared for the advantages I've had and it's something that I think white guys in their fifty's don't talk about enough but if you were a white guy growing up when when we did and had the advantages I did of the exposure to all this stuff if you weren't prepared to leave at the opportunity something was wrong with you because we were given this incredible free pass in the world the people of color and women just weren't then in the same way and so I was really positioned by a lifetime of thinking about this stuff and by sort of like being around it to recognize what Tracy was doing and I have the added benefit of being young and innocent in a certain way that's a selfless way to describe it Brian but the old school I mean you really are one of the last generation of the old school record company people right yes that you know they all talk about having ears Did you ever consider you know what does that mean that means you 1st time you heard talk about a revolution you say yeah I had always thought about that idea of would you recognize it could you recognize it could you see it and but that's only part of that job and what happened to me as I became quickly disillusioned by the machine of the record business which is different now but I think there's always some version of it the machine of the record business was something I was bad at and part of the reason I was bad at it was I had total sympathy for the artists and I for whatever reason I found myself more interested in the process of how they wrote their songs than I am talking to the promotion guy about how to get the song on the radio which made me bad at the job I was bad to the very artist that I loved I couldn't do what they needed me to do what they needed me to do was convince program directors to play their records and all I wanted to do was hang around with them and talk about whether or not the bass should be on the tonic and that was not really what the job called for. So Brian you leave the music industry you get into writing for poor t.v. In movies how did you make that transition. Well a few different things a few different things happened I had started to get burned out frustrated by Really I thought I wasn't doing a very good job of balancing all these things in the way that I wanted to when I really was not happy in the job and then Amy My wife got pregnant with our 1st child and Sammy was born and when he was born I had this realisation that I wanted to be the kind of father who would tell him to chase his dreams and I realized that I wasn't I was setting my office one night. And I was never cigarette smoke in my life I got out through 29 years of my life without ever smoking a cigarette but I had just picked up the habit for a week and I was smoking a cigarette in my office and I was eating like a cheeseburger you know before dinner and I realized I was unhappy and that I had to face the fact that I was a block screenwriter that I was a blocked writer and that I really wanted to do this and that if I didn't make this change and listen to the secret calling that I had in my heart I would become something inside of me would die and I felt like when when something inside of you dies like any other death it's toxic and I felt like that toxicity would bleed on to those people that I loved and that instead of being a good father and husband I become a better one and that I had to find a way to make that change and I went to Dave was my best friend he was bartending and I said I'm ready to do this let's write a movie together but I'm still blocked I don't know how to I don't know how to like get out of this and he gave me a book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and I did the exercises in that book and around that time went to a poker club and called him in the night and I said I know what the movie is and we then went to a basement and we wrote every morning before I went to work and after he bartended and 4 and a half months later we came out with the school finished great play 4 hours. No Limit Texas Hold'em is the Cadillac of poker. Each player is still 2 cards face down 5 cards are dealt face so. These are community cards everyone can use to make the best 5 card. The kid again is playing the game. So rounders comes out in 1988 you go on to write Ocean's 13 which comes out in 2007 in 2016 billions it's sort of this cat and mouse game between 2 alpha male characters both trying to do what they believe is best for themselves trying to win it's set against this backdrop of Wall Street and the hedge funds and making as much. Money as possible I want to talk about an iconic music moment in the show when you use even the losers by Tom Petty season 2 episode 11. Weeks . I don't want to give any spoilers but I'll get so that's a great one to talk about because that song even the losers was. In the script right from the beginning the moment we started writing the episode and we had the idea for what that episode would be which is this you're right I want to spoil it but we're just a lot of reversals in it that episode it was clear to us I remember writing even the losers into the script and knowing that that was going to be a very special part of it sitting with David and we put that in and. And knew the way we're going to use that song throughout the episode and when you have that kind of feeling it's like getting the idea for the big plot twist it's the thing that makes the whole piece have a unified voice a unified tone Oh what a thing to be able to get that song and use it in that spot and then because of the world we live in now to get to see people react to it that's really interesting because the friends I have who are in the movie and television business right it's kind of Anathema or was for decades that you shall not dictate what the songs will be right usually it's like that's somebody else's job we don't want to hear from you showrunner screenwriter even director what the music's going to be well the intent in movies that's true that the director picks it although a screenwriter could indicated in television the showrunner usually works for the music supervisor in the music supervisor make suggestions. But I do really give it a level of thought and focus. Showtime they want the shorts I mean look think about how well David Chase used music on The Sopranos or mount wine or use music on Mad Men I think it is part of the job description the question is how deep is your knowledge how obsessive are you about this stuff and obviously I'm a fanatic you know what I mean. Never stopping thinking about music listening to music making lists of songs I have giant list each season of songs to use so that that dictator song that we used this season or the Willy De Ville song you know what a thrill as I'm sure would be for you but what if the road to put a mink to Bill's song yeah on a Sunday night as television shows. And. I can see the sea. King I dread. To. Think I'm. Sure. Just. More people than he ever reached from a nobody and what's great to me is you know I could see that sort of people don't want to read song is missing it's like and then I saw people who were like hey great use of meant to fill and that's really satisfying to me Well I think what's interesting to me is we're in this golden era of t.v. In the way it's using music as as a plot point as a character development point you know sort of a punctuation point seems like television now is at a point where the music is so integral to a lot of shows yours included that it is coming from these very astute kind of guys who are interested in not just cinema or t.v. Or the visual aspects but are deep deep music geeks like yourself the opportunity wasn't there is what I'm saying maybe 203040 years ago well sure you're totally right but and beyond that the. Fact that there is Spotify and that they're streaming i Tunes and that there's Pandora means that I have at my fingertips all the music right everything but the fact of the matter is that that able to go down the you know in a way that you couldn't twice how would you do it 20 years ago how would you remember he wait I think Spanish stroll with me we're to have that album Oh yeah that's I had to move that to the head at the start how would you stumble upon how would you find that you know I'm a tell you like one of the music use of people love this year and we still have a new ones I think what I'm happiest about is the song that started the last season was a song called Born in San Anton by a kind of guarantee calf who had 1000 streams ever before the show and then people lost their minds of what a cool song was. Hard. To. Remember something that I stumbled upon a spot of by by by just it was in some recommendation algorithm and that song came on and I remember getting it and sending it to Levine immediately and going that wouldn't open the season with the song I know exactly to use it and he heard it he was like we were he wrote the scene that goes with it and it was one of those incredible moments that never would have happened if we didn't live now and then he made $0.78. But I mean he was but you know you talk to that guy and that changed his life yes Jim that really changed his life right that I now had millions of people hear a song it went up the chart on whatever the thing is were people check what the song is for Sam and it became He had a little moment and then it's up to him right to write all the other songs and get himself to where that pays off how difficult is the licensing landscape out there because I used to hear stories about how prohibitive it could be to use a. Song in a t.v. Or movie in the end a lot of decisions were economic ones how much is that a factor in say you've had a Dylan song in every season we will always have a deal and well chosen by the way any key moments I mean visions of you and. The such. As you. Know. I love that song I love the placement of the cost a lot of money it's Ok well there is so it's not it's not as prohibitive as it once was but also show time we make the show for budget we don't go over a budget where good partners and they're good partners for us. We at the beginning of this whole thing said to Showtime we're going to spend x. Music on the show here's how we're going to use music here's why and you guys are going to see that people are going to notice this and it's going to be considered a real feature of the show and they supported that so that when and then after the 1st season when it was clear that people were reacting to the music in that way when we did that stuff and it and it worked it it created a belief in them so that you know there are things like legs up and we have been able to figure out the some people have we have been able to figure out how to get as open song in the show yeah I can understand how sharp objects has like 43 Zeppelin songs in every episode so yeah somehow we haven't been able to like figure it out because of the way you have to get clearances with them which is like send them the heat seems to get personal approval you know the way we do our schedule on the show it seems impossible I say one that I love though that I wouldn't have that people really reacted to this year was I wish I was your mother my mother Hoople. That was another thing work that came across that song listening to some streaming service and I hadn't heard in a long time the new the cover versions and that that opportunity to match what's going on in the show to this incredible song that music people know and love but a lot of people don't know and then to make that marriage happen it's a huge privilege man I can't believe I get this you know the music geek in me I can't believe I get to do this is it one is there one that's broken your heart so you have you couldn't get Zeppelin so you know I think the only song we couldn't get was the up one song Ok all right and then. I mean another part of it is I can and this is a benefit of having grown up in the record business and working at it till I was 30 . Is I I do have the ability to reach out to people I know was the actual question a lot of the time you know if it's really yeah we made a movie called Solitary Man and used the Johnny Cash version the Neil Diamond song and I remember it was impossible in the studio that we made that we force incredibly cheap and they wouldn't pay but I remember the studio guitar remember John Leventhal who played guitar you know Sean who produced the show called and records and his marriage Rosanne Cash and I remember that I worked with John on a session once in the in the ninety's and I wrote him and reminded him and then he asked and then Roseanne asked her brother and then her brother was like Ok I can figure out how to get you guys the master recording and so you have to be super rich like I'll use anything I have to to try to get the song if there's no other way to do. The other but I still like him in me. But there's a little day in the play the games. For. The solitary and. When we come back Brian Koppelman shares more behind the scenes information about billions and reveals the secrets to his creative success plus Greg and I will take a trip to the desert island what are you bringing this time Jim earlier in the show we played some music by the Ku I'm going to play an artist that heavily influenced the making of the coup and their aesthetic excellence that's in a minute on Sound Opinions from Chicago N.P.R.'s. K l w is the broadcast partner for the 2018 Cabrio festival of contemporary music and we're featuring 4 exciting performances from earlier this month in Santa Cruz with music director Christie much a lot o. And a dynamic range of repertoire I'm sorry please join me starting on Sunday August 19th for broadcasts from the Cabrio Festival here on Cape. 91.7 f.m. Your call is a daily solutions oriented conversation about things that matter. Together and how we create dialogue and take action to help create the world we want to. Join me for days at 10 am here on. Subscribe to your call on i Tunes or wherever else you find your podcast. Donating a great way to help support k l w and fave on your taxes call our representative at 88 k l w that's 888-525-9227. That this firm has any firm has these days is its winning streak. Of knowing the answer you break that. Whole thing. Nobody lives here until you can the idea that I can shock the world with. Welcome back to sound opinions on Gregg cut he's got us and that's a clip from the Showtime series billions co-created run by our guest this week Brian Koppelman I wanted to know how Brian's past experiences as a screenwriter and director using music affected how he sees and uses music in billions Yeah of course each time you go you learn I guess watching movies right I mean being obsessed by movies and music and books that you know those things in comedy were like the things that I was obsessed about geek ish about and the pathetic New York Knicks for my whole life and so yeah you're constantly studying and refining I think what happened though is in the 4th episode of the 1st season of billions we use the song Oh no. This. And it would say if you counted blow the heads to God the eyes of all them on the associate. And I remember finding the song and figuring out we could use it to begin and end the episode and that the psychopathic line worked really well with what we're talking about on the show and remember David and I putting it up in the editing room and watching it. And that was really the roadmap it was on the 4th episode when it locked in and it was a lightbulb moment for us it was like This is how we're going to use this is the way that we're going to deploy these songs so that something in the way that the guitars are played or something in the drums or something in the lyrics has to has to strike off the stuff happening on screen so that it's resonance echoes you know said it's resonance grows and that if we if we're obsessive enough to not stop until we create those moments we would have the chance to make a show that would have an impact and that that was the moment the crystal and the. Food. That's. Interesting you know I also think the choices are are unconventional like they're not exactly super obvious like I thought the key scene for you I think it was in the last season when Taylor Taylor is this non-binary character I mean that's again are not yet Taylor Mason played by. Gender non-binary character amazing amazing character amazing addition to the show the tryst that goes on involving Taylor the track that you chose was the Killing Moon by echoing the Bunnymen and there were actually there was a conversation between the characters about that song and how they both connect to it which wouldn't be the 1st song I'd say when you know like you're going to have a romantic moment you know that. Seriously. When it. Comes to. Be. It struck me like wow that's cool was that So are you making those musical choices and then writing the scene or does a scene sort of inspired the song choice how does it work I remember that So Dave and I have a writing staff some of whom write the 1st draft of episodes and some of them write episodes and the writer of that episode had written that scene based on you know us all outlining it together and he'd written a draft of the scene and then wrote and a song plays that Brian and Dave will pick because you know. I've been in there and I remember sitting with David and we were checking I.D.'s back and forth and I said chilling moon and they had me and yes oh my God Killing Moon and then we played it in the room you know and. Read the scene while killing me as we rewrote that scene and then as we did and we put Killing Moon on in the room it was just like clear and then you know we had to find the perfect turntable so that our prop person went and searched out the perfect the perfect turntable and then we get we wrote that dialogue where they're talking about can I put this on yeah you know it's exactly what I would have chosen and we just had this feeling at the end that song which appears the whole episode there's a certain tone a certain mood. Area begin to. Be a. Period of. Gravity of. The area the area and in a place at the end of the episode too and it it really works but but often we're trying many many ideas once in a while you get something like Sammy Davis Jr budge angle switch that also came right at the beginning the moment we thought of that the morning writer said what if we do this thing in a cemetery I just put on Bojangles. And I was like What if this. And everyone was like what with the whistling Oh my God you know. And. They dance for you. It's a beautiful but it does feel like a life times per suit of loving music so much I can't tell you guys and this is why I'm so obsessed with your show is that you know listen to people who feel about music the way I do in this wife tweeted a few times you know I am equally happy when I'm disagreeing with you except on the Captain Beefheart that's like that's something that I wasn't happy you may grow up some day Brian but I appreciate the cap not happy. To see Brian switching gears I've got a guilty pleasure for you if you'll indulge me we talked earlier about your work in the record business before movies and t.v. And your dad was was famous in the business Charles Koppelman was the case of s b k records he executive produced Wilson Phillips debut in 1990 so Carnie and her sister Wendy Wilson China Phillips I'm a huge fan of that band when are we getting a Wilson Phillips reunion can I tell you they are the loveliest Ok so I went to an exercise class in New York and I found out that the instructor had just been battling cancer and she played hold on in the class you know that I knew those people they just happened 2 months ago. And she was crying this woman was really saying I have my final chemo this is the power of music an amazing thing she said I My final chemo session tomorrow and this song I play at the beginning and end of every chemo session that's what gets me through and she played hold Aqsa the sun was. Such. A huge the budget and tax it was just such a case of got. To. Cut. Oh thank you and because of what I do now and because of what I did then and I have a decent reach and so I was able to write China Phillips husband Billy Baldwin I told him what happened and Billy told China and 2 days later I get and I said to Billy would it be possible to send a signed picture I would love to hand this one and a signed picture saying you know hold on. Instead China got Wendy and Carnie and they sang a version of hold on for this one not for anybody's not not never for it's a real down back to their benefit they just made an i Phone tape and send it to me wanting nothing so that I could send it to this woman and you wouldn't think the pop stars you know even pop stars who are past where they're they have a kind of currency would do that kind of thing but I found musicians to be and it's part of why I love musicians so much I find them to be so generous so giving of their art and if they know that they can do something that doesn't cost them a lot and it will have great benefit I find them incredibly willing to do it and it's one of the things that never ceases to move. Brian I want to wrap up the interview by asking you and your advice for all our listeners out there who have creative aspirations and maybe they don't know how to achieve them earlier you mentioned the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron as the thing that really helped you reach the goal of becoming a successful screenwriter the gist of it is Dream Big apply rigor and take some sort of action every day to get you closer to your goal what have you done today Brian I'm talking to you guys. And maybe a star is not a one cent of what I do every day I'll just say for anyone out there for anyone listening who like has some dream that most people would say was insane which you know every single artist that you guys play on your show every woman who picked up a guitar every man who sat down at the piano had an unrealistic dream an impossible idea that what they had to say or what they had to play mattered and meant something and might mean something to somebody else this this message of the ability to transcend your limitations and what you believe your limitations and so at but what I do every day is a. Every day I journal and every day I take a long walk and every day I meditate and I do those things to get out of my conscious have a conscious head that's telling me who am I to think that I can do this special stuff who might think that my what's in my imagination matters and if I do those things I can get the negative voices out of my head and I can center myself to move forward for the day and so that's what I that's what I did today and that's what I do every day and listen to a lot of great music. We have been talking to Brian Koppelman here and Sound Opinions writer producer brilliant music lover fan to sound opinions that's the only flaw in his armor Brian thanks for coming on our show what a pleasure thanks guys. For the phone was. The name that we shipped thank you get. As often as possible here on Sound Opinions from like take a trip to the desert island and put a quarter of the jukebox playing you a song we can't live without Greg having tipped us that this has something to do with the coup I'm eager to hear what you got yes Jim Well you know I was inspired not only by the coo but also hearing this song performed not by the original artist but by a band called Duran Jones in the indications at the Lollapalooza festival here in Chicago in Grant Park I really enjoyed Lollapalooza despite my Some of my best it's things that I think you are not turned out to be a fascinating experience some of that some of the bands that I saw in that in the experience interacting with the audience and change the tone of that festival in a lot of ways for me and Duran Jones in the indications that I think ran away with the weekend by performing the song it is a song originally written and produced by Curtis Mayfield the great Chicago artist Don't worry you. There's a hell below we're all going to go and the reason it resonated so much with me and I think everybody else who saw it was that we were just waking up to the news of these horrible shootings across Chicago dozens of people killed or wounded and it was just staggering to hear that coming down of the festival and then to hear this song so directly address a lot of the issues that are going on in this city the Curtis Mayfield was writing about you know 40 years ago and Mayfield as many people know was the guy who helped write the soundtrack for the civil rights movement with the impressions and super and Superfly and a lot of people they think about his seventy's music when he basically was a solo artist he had put the the impressions to bed was is Superfly and if not that maybe let's do it again the great song that he wrote for the Staple Singers which was a 2000000 selling single in the mid seventy's both of you know both of these things both of these works associated with movies but his solo debut Curtis simply titled Curtis in 1900 really changed the direction of his career if you think about the impressions there was a grace to that music an elegance almost in that soulfulness there was a power in it but also a sense of you know we're going to uplift everyone I don't think Curtis changed his mindset when he began his solo career but there was a lot more edge to it and you can really hear this is the opening track from his solo record Don't worry if there's a hell below we are all going to go Wow Ok You know it's and you're in Duran Jones in the indications play this is the song couldn't have been more potent and timely you know that fuzz bass in the sun you talk about you know bring in it that way that doesn't sound like anything like the impressions you get that land percussion those wow my guitars the strings he was laying the blueprint for what became the the Superfly soundtrack Yeah in this song The refrain is don't worry and he's basically saying yeah we better worry and he's calling out brothers and sisters blacks and whites. Get your act together we're killing each other but we need to respect each other and if we don't we're all going to go up in flames a powerful message from Curtis Mayfield that still resonates today don't worry. We are all going to go down to. Cut. Let me come close to the one and only Curtis Mayfield Greg's desert island. I love the title. We're all going to you know what we have on the show next week next week . You can find all our episodes at Sound Opinions dot org and subscribe to our podcast where we get those things sound opinions is produced by Brendan Banas Alex Claymore an eye on the contrary. In turn is Hanna Edgar. The alan s. . And Sound Opinions everyone's a critic so now it's time to 0 . I am right Jetta I'm from Detroit and I live about 3 blocks from Rita's father's church I was 10 years old when I 1st heard her saying rockabye a baby with a big thing already an 8 mile row in the plaza here everybody's talking about the. Closer to. God. But what she represents to me is a baseline that you could always go back to and find what ever story you need in the Bible wherever you find stewing you'll find song nearby she embodied that she was an instrument thank capsulated in a black woman's body and black women know how often you hear a mother singing from the kitchen in the spiritual Lol you will fall timber and she took it outside the home and she put it on when. The reason why so many Americans can relate to her is they can relate to the black woman's music the boys that own their. Own saying I. Am. 0 going. It was Patrick time from Detroit Michigan your show Aretha Franklin was absolutely wonderful in every fan for my entire life and was a cashier at a grocery store in 1607 when I was still in high school and we were all rocking out to respect we're talking this morning here in Detroit again thank you for the tribute for this icon and this woman who represents our city so very well. 0 I guess the secret from Chicago just Conan about your program I'm the late great Retha lifelong thing and I learned a few new things and then appreciate that but I disagree about you dismissing her wrist years I really think that she had good quality cuts and a lot of those albums and you know during those areas to hear she had excellent taste in collaborators like Mary Kay Blige John Legend and going till some big boulder in a modern direction but no matter what she still has the research that she will be many. 0 of them. Running it to me that you learn I'm from Atlanta Georgia and I'm calling in reference to the passing of Aretha Franklin and I just heard the sacred little segment so all that really touched me the most was when she was asked to sing at the Grammy I saw it live 0 on television and Whitney is something that is unfair live and perform. I was so proud of the African American woman who we. Have. Never. Right and I am very. But. She will. Be. # No more Mrs you. To give us your opinions and Sound Opinions line 888-859-1800 we'll be back next week with more sound opinions produced by w.b. Easy Chicago and distributed by p r x. And then California speaks we ask you a question each week and then we share the answers we receive wrapping up our work on this project we've got one more question for you and it's the one that sparked it in the 1st place ready what should we do to bring people in this country together call 1833. That's 183-377-3252 extension 2 we want to hear your voice. From the New York Times on Michael. Is that it Korea will blow up its nuclear test site actually that North Koreans invited me to go watch that happened today they did have yours you gave Now I frankly felt that that was kind of theatrical. Big deal from the New York Times. Tomorrow afternoon and every weekday afternoon at 530 here on k l w San Francisco 91.7. I'm Christopher Mike this is open source and a Mad Cap midpoint in the age of trump it is the season suddenly of Alexander Ocasio Cortez in the Democratic Party a o.c. For short but the bold young waitress and straight ahead socialism toppled the last boss in New York just someone in a party primary for Congress we're walking through the Boston version this hour maybe the Boston variation it's not nasty but it could be close eye on oppressing the bold but not radical black woman trailblazer taking on the street smart ex mayor and often unconventionally liberal 10 year incumbent I kept you on oh but some of this is a race to measure the power of gun blood and the loss of seniority and experience and there's a color line all through it who's right or left and what do you.