My introduction to Julie Brown, not to be confused with Downtown Julie Brown, was through MTV where she served as host for Just Say Julie. She mad a name for herself be constantly going against the grain of what the channel represented. While other VJ's professed their love for songs, and the artists behind them, Brown would often go the opposite, making quips and mocking them. It was through this "shock jock" style that she carved out her own niche show, while gaining an army of fans that clicked were her sense of style and humor.
While she was noteworthy for me as a VJ, I personally had not clue that she was also an actress who starred in numerous television shows of the 80's, as well as a handful of movies, nor that she also had a brief stint with her own music career. So today, I'm hoping to start rectifying this by delving into the latter.
Julie Brown released her first album, Goddess In Progress in 1984, and this was followed in 1987 with Trapped In The Body Of A White Girl. Though she left the music scene thereafter, Brown would release her final album to date, Smell The Glamour in 2010.
Firing up her debut album, while not similar instrumental wise, the lyrics have a strong "Weird Al" vibe to them. For the most part, she's going for comedy, and to an extent it is mildly amusing. I admittedly chuckled to the lyrics of the open track, "I Like 'Em Big & Stupid". However, I don't think songs such as, "Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun" would resonate in today's society. If nothing else, it serves as an example of what was considered funny in the past versus today's hyper sensitive society who would most likely pan it for being too controversial of a subject to mock.
The album is technically an EP, and as a result only features five songs. Of them, the last track, Earth Girls Are Easy, would later be used in the film of the same name. For those of you familiar, you are are aware that this movie was not only written by Brown, but starred her alongside Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum, as well as a relatively unknown Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans.
There is an overall 80's pop vibe to Goddess In Progress, and it definitely has a commercial sound to it. This is probably why "Big & Stupid" and "Homecoming Queen" saw rotations on FM stations of the time, as well as the Dr. Demento Show.
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| 2007 Re-Issue |
Overall, it's also not a bad album. What I think I like most about it is the moment in time it perfectly captures. It represents the spirit of the 80's, a period where something like this could easily survive, and even become a part of mainstream music. Something like this would never fly in the 90's (and beyond). It would fall flat upon inception. I don't think many recording labels would even consider a discussion about this kind of project.
Goddess In Progress will never be an album that stays in my frequent rotation, but it was fun to hear, and harnesses what I loved about the 80's in its eighteen minute runtime. It's fun, it's pop oriented, and it's just intended to be entertaining with its carefree presentation.
On a closing note, I respect and appreciate that Brown acquired the rights to her albums, and self published them on CD in 2007. I wish more artists would do this so that great music which was only initially released on vinyl and cassette, or has long since been out of print, can rediscovered in this digital age.
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