IT'S GETTIN' HOT IN HERE! TURN UP THE "GOOD TROUBLE" MUSIC!
Greetings, family!
The Summer of ‘25 has hit us with plenty! Incredible heat, incredible floods and incredible attacks on decency and the rule of law have become standard fare in this nation! Now, it’s time for GOOD TROUBLE LIVES ON protests on Thursday, July 17th. Please plan on participating somewhere somehow!
Protest info: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/07/15/good-trouble-lives-on-protest-locations/85209977007/
https://patch.com/new-york/midtown-nyc/good-trouble-rallies-nyc-protest-trump-s-record-civil-rights
This sign was displayed at one of the NO KINGS marches I attended.
My response? The times mandate music and all forms of passionate expression from artivists like me … and I am heeding the call. My latest composition, NO CROWNS FOR CLOWNS, was written and recorded during the two weeks leading up to Independence Day. Our new video was aggressively pulled together for this song during the past two weeks. We wanted it to be ready for Thursday’s GOOD TROUBLE LIVES ON protests!
NC4C is only my second exploration of rap or hip-hop as a songwriter. My first effort, MY STREET, was written in the early 1980s and was influenced by the late, great Gil Scott-Heron. To keep it real, I am not sure who my “hip hop” influences are, since I am not a regular consumer of the genre. I definitely like the drum and percussion beats, but the rest often leaves me much less impressed. And I also admit that the effort my younger son, Sampson, puts into crafting interesting “beats” (not just the drums and percussion, if you did not already know that) is admirable.
What I do know is that I recently heard the phrase “no crowns for clowns” and it instantly wormed its way into my creative consciousness! Then one day somewhere in New York City, I heard a kick drum pattern that instantly resonated with me. Finally, like all of us, I was fed for months a steady diet of even more severe Trumpian lies, attacks and abuses of power, which triggered me saying to myself one day, “Liar, liar! Burning bright …” and I had a flashback to my mother reading me William Blake’s poem, The Tyger. A song was born …
I could not resist taking this picture near my apartment.
I leave it to you to decide if this piece works and if it appeals to you; that’s all I can do. You can read many details about the song and its creation on the YouTube page and elsewhere. For different reasons, I enjoy learning the thoughts of listeners who have been paid something to endure my song, so I will include them here. While I admit that I have not included as many less complimentary comments, suffice it to say that I found these to be the most helpful in evaluating how to proceed in the future when writing something like this.
Allow me a moment to thank my college classmate, Jeanne Heifetz. Jeanne is someone who is a dedicated progressive activist and ALWAYS thinking up fascinating ideas. As soon as she heard I was working on this most recent song, she said, “Oooh! I have a friend who does animation and I want to connect you two!” She did just that and that’s how I met my newest artivist friend, George Hagen. We have yet to meet in person, but I like the way this guy thinks and works. All the animated clips in the new video were created by George. Had we collaborated from the very start of this — and had a chunk of additional time — who knows what would have exploded from our brains!!!
This is a poster made by George Hagen.
So I give a special shout out to Jeanne and George! Videos are costly investments — of both money and time! It’s much easier to commit the time, however, if you know that the money is not going to be an issue. George and I collaboratively created art that we wanted to create, and that was a powerful thing.
Now, with a five songs either completed or almost completed, and three more to fully record, my first album is on track to be completed by Summer’s end. PREACHER MAN - VOLUME 1 will be a stunner! I am quite excited about being so close — even if my resources are diminishing fast (Pre-orders of my album are greatly appreciated. The pre-order price is only $5.00, so you will receive 1 full album download for every $5 you donate)!
A few quick notes before I get back to work:
First, have a safe and wonderful remainder of your summer. Second, mark Friday night, August 1st on your calendar. That’s when the next FIRST FRIDAY will be held by the New York Chapter of the People’s Music Network. As I said earlier, artivists are here and speaking out.
Third, the opening concert of the Peoples’ Voice Cafe’s 2025-2026 season will be Saturday night, September 6th, featuring the singer-songwriters Mario Cancel-Bigay and Ruben Gonzalez. These are two stellar artists and I guarantee that you will have a wonderful concert experience!
Our set included original songs, Beatles, Elton John, Steely Dan and a Stones parody: “Brown Splenda”!
Finally, I would like to thank those of you who came out to Connolly’s Klub 45 on June 28th to join my brother Geoffrey and me for our FALSTAFF’S FOLLY gig as well as the 15TH STREET band’s double set.
I was on stage from 8 to 11 PM … and ended up totally exhausted! I am sure you are a perfectionist like I am, so you will understand when I say that I know I can perform even better (even at 66). But I had a blast nonetheless — and so did the audience!!! For helping to make that night special, I would like to give a shout out to our bandmates that night — Zack Staples on guitar and bass, Barbara Frankel on flute, Justin Tinker on tenor sax, and Beau Brady on drums. They made the most out of two rehearsals and it was a great performance experience. The 15TH STREET band delivered two strong sets as well — Mike Hiller (songwriter, lead vocalist and guitar), Kristen Meade (songwriter, lead vocalist and percussion), Warren Shaw (drums), Nate Fenlon (bass), and Doug Murphy (songwriter, lead guitar and vocals). My role is keyboards, recorder, vocals and percussion.
Not sure exactly when my next live performances will be, but you will be the second to know! Peace and love always!
Chris
So … here are those quotes about NO CROWNS FOR CLOWNS. These are from people who did not see this video:
“Oh, I love this! The message is perfect and I completely agree with your lyrics. But that beat is stimulating too and it makes me want to dance. It reminds me of old style Hip Hop from the 90's. I hope you have a video online because I want to share it. Great job with the instrumentals. Synthesizer? It's cool how you've woven those patriotic tunes into the song and synced them with your beat. This chant "Liar Liar" might work some magic. Maybe it will manifest something that will help us. "No Crowns for Clowns." You did good. I hope this song goes viral.” (Female 66)
“I enjoyed this piece. There were a lot of interesting elements at work, from the "Yankee Doodle" rendition, to the callback to William Blake's "The Tyger." The musical interlude between vocals was quite pleasant. The vocals were strong and I heard the lyrics easily. The ending refrain was kind of a disorienting cacophony, but it kind of worked in this context, making it sound like a disenfranchised crowd speaking up. I agree with the singer's political” (Male 43)
“I like the production and sound quality of the song. I like the structure and flow of the song. I like the lyrics and think they fit the song good. I think this song would work on soundtracks and more. I think the song would be a streaming hit. I would check out more from the artist. I would share this song on social media. I think the song is good and would listen to it again. I would dance and party to this song.” (Female 37)
“This song has a very world vibe thanks to how it's put together. The singing is wonderful, the drums are lively, and the song structure works well. The words are really fresh and well-written. I easily understood what the song was about.” (Male 30)
“The song is kind of awesome it seems like a mix of older stuff too the beginning sounded like an old Nursery rhyme. I quite like the vocals too they just have a very good almost industrial type sound to them.” (Male 42)
“I liked the lyrical content and delivery on this track and thought it had a rather interesting and creative sound to it overall. Fans of more underground lyric based hip hop may enjoy it.” (Male 37)
“Masterfully blends heartfelt lyrics with catchy pop melodies, creating anthems that resonate deeply with millions of fans across generations of all ages and I can see it on the radio.” (Female 43)
“I like the minor key of yankee doodle dandy! I also think this song has a good beat and is going to be stuck in my head for a while! I also like the message it's telling.” (Female 43)
“This is a perfect song for the political climate right now. I'm not sure if it’s for the US, but perfect timing. I like the song and think it should be on the radio.” (Female 53)
“The message is spot on. Well done! Never were truer words set to music. Is someone offended by the lyrics? The sane are offended by the Great Pumpkin in office.” (Male 58)
“I really love the way that the artist of this song chose to play the instruments that are used during this song, they all sound really good to me.” (Male 28)
“Really interesting song, I enjoyed listening to it a lot. Thanks for bringing world music back into the modern musical scene, I really do enjoy it.” (Male 26)
“If this is about Donald Drumpf, it's the best song ever! It's still good for dancing and rhymes well. I think it will be good for decades.” (Female 52)
“The bass is amazing in this song and really makes me feel pumped up. The vocals are so unique and different, making the song interesting.” (Male 34)
“I love this big booming drum sound! The snare sounds great! This beat gets my blood rushing and makes me ready for war! Fun vocals!” (Male 47)
“I like his storyteller style. Interesting storyline. I liked this song.” (Male 72)
“Im gonna be honest. This song kinda scared me. Not my kind of music. Not my style at all. Scared me. Probably what the goal was here. But yeah not a fan. Sorry. And the beginning music-- sounds like something from barney...... Not sure how I feel about this.... But GREAT VOCALS.” (Female 39)