The J. Geils Band
Rage In The Cage
Good Morning!
Today we’re listening to “Rage In The Cage” by The J. Geils Band
You never forget your first time.
I have listened to thousands of rock songs over the years. If it's a band that plays pop/rock, there's a good chance I've heard it. Today, I get to write about them.
But it wasn't always that way.
Until I started school, I'd never heard rock music.
Growing up in the late 70s/early 80s, my dad listened to contemporary jazz (George Benson, Stanley Turrentine, Earl Klugh). My mom lived on a steady diet of music from the early '60s (Beach Boys, early Beatles, etc.). It's all I'd ever heard, so it was all I knew existed.
You don't know what you don't know, right?
My classmates had clearly been brought up in different homes than I had.
There were a lot of firsts in those early weeks of first grade. Making new friends meant making trips to new homes, where I heard all kinds of new sounds. Records that didn't sound like anything I'd ever heard.
Records like "Freeze Frame" by J. Geils band. Released on this day in 1981.
The record was new ground for both the band and me.
They'd always been a band firmly rooted in blues and rock. But after seeing some success dipping a toe into New Wave with 1980's Love Stinks, they continued to do so with 1981's follow-up, Freeze Frame. Until then, the band had only a few accolades to show for their work, but that soon changed, and millions heard the band for the first time- including me.
The record was a smash, and the band never looked back.
"It’s not a preconceived thing of ‘Let’s get something on the radio,'" added [keyboardist & producer Seth] Justman. "I mean, what we’re trying to do is grow. The reason you didn’t hear too much synthesizer before is because we couldn’t afford them."
That may be, but the A-side to this single did make it to the radio. Maybe you’ve heard it?
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Here, Justman’s genius shines through as he accomplishes this deviation while he still preserves the album’s overall integrity. “Rage In the Cage” is a frantic collection of beat-based tangents that is spastic and entertaining. Some wild sounds are nicely placed bit by bit to project audio that is at once natural and artificial, with the natural drumming by Bladd complimenting everything else (bass, horns, harmonica, and synths) which straddle the line between synthesized and natural.
Read the rest of the look back here.
Listen:
“Rage in the Cage” by The J. Geils Band| Freeze Frame, 1981
Click the record to listen on your platform of choice.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this track. I'm also curious what some of the first records you heard were!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
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I usually try to give all your recommendations a listen Kevin, but my utter dislike of 'Centerfold' is so ingrained I can't possibly try anything else by The J.Geils Band, so I'll have to pass on this one!
Regarding records at home, my mum had a very limited range of Country LPs, mainly Jim Reeves (I can still hear, "the sound of distant drums"!) but then ...
... an older cousin left home and (weirdly in my view) simply gifted me her whole 7" singles collection. In amongst a lot of Beatles was 'You Really Got Me' by The Kinks, and I was sold. I still think there's a valid argument Ray Davies (well before his time) invented Punk with that song.
(For those who haven't yet - try my music themed novel at: https://challenge69.substack.com )
A band is more than its hits. Those guys paid their dues playing blues-rock long before "Centerfold" came along.