Freeze Frame Centerfold Angel In Blue J. Geils Band

Freeze Frame Album: Freeze Frame (1981)
Centerfold Album: Freeze Frame (1981)
Angel In Blue Album: Freeze Frame (1981)
J. Geils Band

A freeze frame is a still image taken from a piece of moving video - perhaps the most famous one is Judd Nelson with his fist in the air at the end of The Breakfast Club. In this song, the singer recounts a memorable week with a lovely lady through the use of film production metaphors. Let's take a look:

It was a rough cut Tuesday - A "rough cut" is an early version of the work, often without details like graphics or music. It's what you look at to get a basic idea of how it's going to turn out.

Thursday morning was a hot flash factor - Not really a film term, but a "hot flash" could be a burst of light used to capture a still image. It shows that the singer is warming up to the girl.

Friday night we danced the spotlight grind - We all know what a spotlight is, and we can assume that things worked out well if he did the "spotlight grind."

Now I'm looking at a flashback Sunday - A flashback is a device where you go back in time to see something that happened earlier. He probably can't stop flashing back to his spotlight grind.

There are other film terms in the song as well, including "zoom lens" and "proof sheet." It's all a clever way of describing an interesting week.

Freeze Frame was written by J. Geils Band lead singer Peter Wolf and keyboard player Seth Justman, who also produced the album. Wolf brought an energy and swagger to the songs he worked on, while Justman was often the creative engine, specializing in various keyboard sounds.

Justman joined the band a few years after they formed, adding piano and organ to their mix, and quickly becoming a primary songwriter. The group was one of the first rock bands to emerge from Boston, with a sound that also incorporated blues and soul. Throughout the '70s, they earned widespread acclaim but just modest chart success, with their most successful song the 1974 track "Must Of Got Lost," which made #12 US.

In the '80s, keyboards came into vogue, which was perfect for Justman. His song "Centerfold" was the first single from the Freeze Frame album, and a monster hit, going to US #1 in February 1982 and staying for six weeks. "Freeze-Frame" was the next single, and it peaked at #4 in April. In March, Peter Wolf was on the cover of Rolling Stone (sharing space with the subhead: "Herpes, The Pill, VD: Why Sex Isn't Fun Anymore"). They went from club gigs to arenas, opening for The Rolling Stones. The fame was sudden, and few outside of Boston knew that the band had been around since 1967.

Many bands hate doing videos because they are so tedious, but in the early '80s, they were usually shot quickly with just a loose concept. In this one, the fun the band was having was real. Peter Wolf told Goldmine in 1983: "By the time an album is finished, there's less pressure on you and the video serves as a kind of release. Hence, us throwing paint all over each other in the 'Freeze Frame' video."

It also helped that they had a sympathetic director: Paul Justman, brother of the band's keyboard player Seth. He also directed the J. Geils videos for "Centerfold" and "Land of 1,000 Dances." Perhaps Paul helped out with the film references in the lyric.

Unlike most hit songs, there's not much to the chorus in Freeze Frame - it's basically Peter Wolf yelling "Freeze Frame" and the band calling it back. Each chorus lasts about 10 seconds. The hook is in the keyboard riff, and the sparse chorus leaves lots of time to develop the story in the verses.

Freeze Frame has a very unusual opening, with the gang yelling "Freeze Frame," and then a series of camera clicks. Around this same time, Duran Duran's "Girls On Film" was big - that song also opened with camera sounds.

Freeze Frame was used in the movies Lucky Numbers (2000), Middle Men (2009) and A Few Best Men (2011). It also appeared in two episodes of The Simpsons: "Home Away from Homer" (2005) and "Homerazzi" (2007).

Centerfold is about a guy who had a crush on a sweet, innocent girl in his homeroom in high school. Years later, he's looking through a girly magazine and sees his homeroom crush as the centerfold, and it rocks his world - no longer is she the innocent girl in a fuzzy sweater that he dreamed about. Rather than being titillated, he is disappointed, as his "memory has been sold."

The J. Geils Band signed with Atlantic Records in 1970 and made a name for themselves as a great live act with a blues-based sound. "Centerfold" was a musical departure for the band - a new wave sound similar to what The Cars and The Police were doing. It was also their biggest hit, earning them a slot touring with The Rolling Stones, the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and heavy rotation on the new cable network MTV with a video showing the band playing in a classroom surrounded by girls in Catholic school uniforms.

Centerfold was written by the band's keyboard player Seth Justman. He insists that the reason you didn't hear much synthesizer on earlier J. Geils albums is because they couldn't afford them: The band was trapped in the record company debt cycle, constantly owing money despite their success.

The Centerfold video was directed by Paul Justman, brother of the song's writer Seth.

Freeze Frame was the band's third album with EMI; they signed with the label leaving Atlantic. In earlier years, the band chose their singles, but EMI picked "Centerfold" as the lead single and were handsomely rewarded when it went to US #1 for a startling six weeks and also helped send the album to the top spot.

Centerfold was used in The Office episode "Customer Survey." While Dwight and Jim are talking, Dwight blasts it in his car in case customer service is eavesdropping on their conversation.

Centerfold also appeared in these movies:

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
The Watch (2012)
Grown Ups 2 (2013)

And in these TV shows:

The King of Queens ("Fatty McButterpants" - 2000)
My Name Is Earl ("Jump For Joy" - 2006)
The Office ("Customer Survey" - 2008)
Glee ("Naked" - 2013)
The Goldbergs ("The Circle Of Driving" - 2013)

"Angel in Blue" is a song written by Seth Justman. Cissy Houston and Luther Vandross appear on the song as back up vocalists. "Angel in Blue" was also released on a number of J. Geils Band compilation albums, including Centerfold, The Very Best J. Geils Band Album Ever and Best of The J. Geils Band, as well as several multi-artist compilation albums.

"Angel in Blue" was released as a single in 1982, where the song reached the Top 40, following the Top 10 hits "Centerfold" and "Freeze Frame" from the Freeze Frame album. It peaked at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100, remaining there for two weeks. It also reached #39 in Canada and #55 in the UK.