Bob James - Playin' Hooky

Playin' Hooky is not one of Bob James's famous albums. Supposedly, his band Fourplay is terrible, but this album is half good half bad. Apparently i'm supposed to steer clear of the tracks with fellow person named James, Boney. I'm just gonna lean into the bad guesses I established when confusing his daughter for his wife and say Boney James is either not related at all, or he's Bob's saxophone playing Aunt on his mother's side. Supposedly Boney is hackwork personified, but i'll be the judge of that.

Early on in his career Bob was Avant Somethingorother, but this is 1997 Mario, sorry Warner Bros., so Classical arrangements and Dadprovisation is what we should expect. Only a couple tracks with background vocals, so that shouldn't be a problem. Press play.

Aw, yeah. A little bit of Detective Dog Lawyer electric piano, and the Jimmy Buffet equivalent of Samba. A freakin' coach's whistle?! You remember that store in the mall called Brookstone that used to sell personal massagers and minecraft furniture. This would fit right in.

Boney doesn't sound like a hack on Mind Games at all. He does sound like Dentist Office Sax, but i assume that's the intended aesthetic. I actually have one of his albums queued up next, so we'll keep focus on Bob.

Ooh, i love the intro for The River Returns.  The "exoticism" is a little much, but it's quite enjoyable for its playfulness. I personally could do without the vocalizations, but they aren't particularly annoying.

Ok, the rain sticks and nature sounds are a little too much, but Organza is a pretty nice slow jam with great bass playing.

Nah, Hook, Line, and Sinker is totally fine. What horrible thing did Boney do to garner all the hate. No, he's no Moon Hooch, but these are smooth jams. Who in their right mind would Sanders or Zorn these things? At the very least, he's not playing an Oboe shaped Screech Whistle like he will on track 7.

Oh yeah, Glass Hearts is great. A fair bit of that questionable exoticism, but it's definitely meant to be sentimentally nostalgic rather than appropriationally indulgent.

Yeah, even Boney's Soprano Sax playing is perfectly fine. Is it just because he looks exactly like Kenny G? I suspect it's the long curly brown hair and Hawaiian shirts you really don't like.

E: Ah! No! I don't like Do It Again at all! Make it stop. 

B: Hell no. Crank it up! Introducing Rasheeda Azar doing her best Traci Lords impression.

E: I am very uncomfortable.

B: Good. Sandra?

S: Skip, stop being such a prude. This is gooooood. I'm slightly confused that Bottle likes it, but i sure as hell do.

B: What's not to like? These last 3 tracks are exquisite. Bass that could give Barry White a run for his money, a touch of Miami Noir, this is a feel good then make your move album. It starts out fun and ends up sexy. Am i right?

S: Mmmmmm hmmm.

E: Um, er, uh, i need some fresh air.

S: You really do like this, Bottle? 

B: Not known for lying, that i know of. Do i want to listen to it every day? Probably not. Is it a fantastic and effective album for its intended context/audience? Absolutely. Better than Sting's Decade of Somnambulent Sagas.

S: Indeed. Let's hear it again.

B: Already reaching for the play button. But first, how'd you manage to bring Skip back to below ground level?

S: I didn't, i was starting to run out of creative ways to thwart him. I thought i might actually have to decapitate him. Much to my surprise, Astrud Gilberto solved that problem like a dream.

B: Oh, did it? Well, lucky I was thinking about you all at the time.

S: Indeed. Perhaps a thank you is in order.

B: You're welcome. Now, would her highness care to play hookey again?

S: She would, indeed.

Part 3