Hey, there friend! Welcome to Tuesday and another edition of the Cross & Kin Family Entertainment blog, Tuesday's Musical Notes! Our other media outlet is the YouTube channel Cross & Kin. Both of these are your one-stop shop for insight into great movies, books, and of course music. 
Tuesday's Musical Notes is a blog that focuses on the trivially important facts about your favorite songs and combines them with a commentary about the song that perhaps you'd never considered before. Cross & Kin is our video outlet for conversations about popular, sometimes even iconic, books and movies, with the occasional music thought thrown in just to bring balance. We hope you'll join the ever-growing group of folks who check out both! And now on with the blog portion of our program. Welcome to Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!
Tuesday's Musical Notes is a blog that focuses on the trivially important facts about your favorite songs and combines them with a commentary about the song that perhaps you'd never considered before. Cross & Kin is our video outlet for conversations about popular, sometimes even iconic, books and movies, with the occasional music thought thrown in just to bring balance. We hope you'll join the ever-growing group of folks who check out both! And now on with the blog portion of our program. Welcome to Tuesday's Musical Notes!!!
Before becoming your intrepid blogger, I was a retail store manager for Hastings Entertainment. This was the company of my dreams! Their assortment of merchandise was right in my wheelhouse, specifically books, music, and video (yup, we rented hard copies of what is streamed today!) I soon found myself with over a decade of managerial experience in specialty retailing and a group of folks who were the absolute best team in the business. During this time, the vast majority of new releases for music and video came out on Tuesdays. Thus my affinity for the 3rd day of the week. Most releases had someone who wanted them on their street date. We found preparatory work on Mondays to fluctuate based on the artist or box office smash that would be appearing on our shelves the following day. Needless to say, some Tuesdays were more exciting than others!
Flash forward to the summer of 2015. With the onset of online sales and digital downloads, record labels began being concerned about the multiplicity of street dates around the world for the different formats and the confusion it was causing among the music-purchasing public. The trade group for the labels, IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industry) determined the best way to even the playing field for street dates would be to enact a global street date for all music products released. The day of the week they chose was...Friday (Booo!!!). This essentially made Tuesday in the media retail world just another day while adding to the excitement quotient of Fridays. (Who doesn't love Fridays already?!!) Yes, we continue to anguish over this event as we see the excitement of Tuesday releases fading into the past. We aren't the only ones saddened by this pox upon our favorite day! Here is another lament for this transition brought to you by vanyaland.com: "Tomorrow is the last ‘New Music Tuesday’ before the global switch to Friday street dates" By Michael O'Connor Marotta on June 29, 2015
Three years before the street day change, Tuesday's Musical Notes made its debut. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "I'm Alright" (Kenny Loggins)) While our goal is to share great music with interesting insights, the cursory result has been to keep some excitement coming to you on Tuesdays. Because in our way of thinking, Tuesdays could keep experiencing a Forever Afternoon...
With the introduction of the lp in the late 40s, you see a phenomenon begin called the "Concept Album" - wikipedia.org article". These were records that had an overarching theme that all of the individual songs supported. In many instances, they told an intriguing tale with music being the format by which the imagery and poetry related to the listener. In the 70s and 80s concept albums were strewn all over the musical landscape as it seemed that all successful acts had to have at least 1 in their discography. Progressive Rock bands like Genesis (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Follow You, Follow Me" (Genesis)), and Yes (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Roundabout" (Yes), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Changes" (Yes)), were champions in the art of the concept album.
Today's featured artist The Moody Blues ("The Moody Blues" - Tuesday's Musical Notes search) pioneered the concept album for the late 60s. Their second album, Days of Future Passed is credited with ushering in the age of Prog Rock with its combination of symphonic sounds and psychedelic compositions. It saw the release of 2 singles, "Nights in White Satin" (believe it or not, it peaked at #103 in its initial release. Upon reissue in 1972 it soared to #2) and our song 'O the day, "Tuesday Afternoon".
Its original album release title was "Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)" at the insistence of record producer Tony Clarke. Writer Justin Hayward had originally titled the song "Tuesday Afternoon". As the song saw its impending release as a single the following year, Hayward transitioned it back to its original title for the 45. On some compilation albums, the song is listed as "Tuesday Afternoon (Forever Afternoon)" so every fan of the song, regardless of where they heard it first and how they know will find it an easily recognizable title.
You may also know of "Tuesday Afternoon" from the Visa Check Card commercial from 2009 which is very Prog Rockish in its media content: Visa commercial - Tuesday Afternoon 60-second version (bonus...Morgan Freeman voiceover!)
Lyrically "Tuesday Afternoon" reflects on a day spent in "Lypiatt Park" article - wikipedia.org. Hayward revisited that park and wrote the song as he reminisced about his time there with his mother and brother. "If you'll just come with me and see the beauty of Tuesday Afternoon" - One of our all-time favorite lines in a song. Ah, who needs Friday!!!
Monday saw Jesus curse a nonproductive fig tree, enter Jerusalem, and interact with the crowd and religious rulers.
On Tuesday, Jesus continues His teaching and in doing so, causes the plot to kill Him to gain momentum among those rulers that He calls "white-washed tombs". Between His gaining a large following and His open criticism of the status quo, it is easy to see how Jesus was amassing His share of enemies. Tuesday seems to be a similar day to Monday in that Jesus' main focus was to teach and prepare. This was appropriate as the preparation for Passover was beginning in earnest. Jesus was preparing His disciples to witness Passover in a way that they could not imagine. More about that comes later in Jesus' week.
His criticism of the "religion" of the day culminates in chapter 23 as Jesus professes 8 woes towards the ruling religious class. Remember numbers in the Bible always mean something. 8 indicates a newness or the beginning of something new. In this case, Jesus is expressing a new religion for those who believe in Him. This is a religious expression of freedom through Jesus. This is freedom from sin, and in many ways the 600+ rabbinical laws that the religious class had developed based on Leviticus. This is a religious excitement that is unadulterated by the things of this world. This is a religious ecclesiology that no longer requires the priesthood as all believers in Jesus become priests. Jesus is expressing woe to those who are leading the people astray and gaining power, popularity, and possessions for themselves and in the process describing what the "new" will look like for those who follow Him. Unfortunately, those numbers will see a dramatic decline in the remainder of the week.
So friend, how does that shape up for your Tuesday? Do you find yourself among those who Jesus is expressing the "new", or are you currently a white-washed tomb, having woe hurled in your general direction? Do you wince when Jesus calls out the scribes and Pharisees as He calls them hypocrites or do you find yourself being relieved that their hypocrisy is being exposed?
Monday and Tuesday are pretty homogenous in the last week of Jesus. Each had its moments whereby Jesus prepares His disciples and pokes those who will plan to destroy Him. It is easy to imagine in these encounters Jesus is the commanding figure as He teaches and rebukes with authority. This in and of itself makes for one busy...Tuesday Afternoon.
'Til Tuesday
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
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