Album Notes

****The Making of Politics for Kids**** Fate would have Thought billed with Beyondo, the Pizzas and Big Swifty at the Creek and the Cave in Long Island City, Queens, NY on Halloween of 2006. Thought dressed as a Goth band, and with the lights low proceeded to make the people dance, sweat, and chant. One of those people dancing that night was Producer, and Funky Monkey’s Leader Joshua Sitron. “I thought they were a Goth Costume Band who played fun, danceable, original music. I was totally captivated and wanted to recreate that feeling in my studio and make a record. Plain and simple.” This couldn’t have been a more perfect time for Thought and Joshua Sitron to collaborate. The music Thought created over the previous 7 years together had slowly evolved, and matured from funky jazz arrangements, and original Country Songs (believe it or not), and the occasional cover (Bill Withers, David Byrne, Greatful Dead), to eclectic, pop, funk, afro-beat and soul inspired original songs. They drew on, and continue to draw on their experiences from Buffalo/Rochester NY, NYC, and beyond. Thought had built a repetoire of over 20 songs new and old to take into the studio. In fact, MiWi and Joshua had planned to find tracks on an old hard drive from a session Thought recorded a year earlier, and work with those tracks… The hard drive had crashed, and despite hours of trying to recover it, those sessions were lost forever. It was a blessing in disguise. Joshua, along with MiWi and PJ began working on one of the newest Thought songs called Nobody from scratch that very evening at the Playground in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The studio is no more than five Brooklyn Blocks from the Treehouse (PJ and MiWi’s abode, and formerly Tim’s). That was the summer of ’07. Thought had produced it’s first Single for what would later become Politics for Kids. After a tour of the Carolina’s, and California with Thought Live featuring Nobody, the bonus single, Thought went back into the studio with Joshua to work on the next 10 tracks. During Fall of ’07, Joshua and Thought spent at least two days a week, recording, creating, mixing, tweeking, discussing, experimenting, and repeat- most times until the wee hours of the morning. By the middle of January ’08, it was time for the Mastering process to begin, along with Art Work, and pressing of the record. This is the result of the work, love, and collaboration for this special, ground-breaking, genre-twisting, Urban-spiced Pop record, Politics for Kids. Intelligent Dance Music for ears, eyes and feet. Enjoy! In the words of one fan Rona from NYC via Ann Arbor Michigan: Politics for Kids: Makes you feel Makes you dance takes over your emotions Brings smiles to your lips Brings tears to your eyes Politic for Kids is a party. IN the words of another fan - Chris Cox from Brooklyn, NY... "The first time I heard Thought's Politics for Kids, I was walking through a cold slantwise springtime rain, but I felt like I had my face turned to the clear warm sun." Thanks Guys! You heard it! *** Inside the music- song by song*** About the music, and lyrics by Michael R. Williams IN all of the songs, I’d love for the listener to interpret for themselves. Most of them are stories, some true, and some fantasy, others true but stretched like silly putty. NOBODY came as a rejection of the self and ownership. After many late night talks with dear Matty, always harping about sayi I in my songs, I decided to through “I” out the window. Or, at least give up ownership of the things that make me look the way I do, write the way I do, and I try to do the same for YOU and your things… I remember sitting with Eric Biondo after a shift at Jazz at Lincoln Center (We were Ushers making $10 an hour to hold the door for people as they entered the High Art Concerts). We were at a bar eating chicken wings when I showed him the first draft of the lyrics. He said to me, try and make it more an illusion. Or something li