Music

Phil Angotti/Juliette Foster Soundtrack (Jam)

By Dan Pavelich

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Phil Angotti just might be Chicago’s best-kept secret. In a city that has seen it’s share of musical trends come and go, Angotti has diligently followed his heart, making pop music that really matters. Whether going solo, as is the case with Juliette Foster, or leading his crack band The Idea, he remains true to his heart.

Juliette Foster, judging by the vintage mid-sixties design of it’s packaging, is a soundtrack to accompany a film that doesn’t exist. And yet, with the first listen I was immediately blocking out the camera angles of each scene in my head. Maybe a young Dustin Hoffman played the awkward young man, hopelessly in love with Juliette. Juliette herself might have been played by Mary Tyler Moore.

With only his acoustic guitar & a cello as accompaniment, Angotti launches into the title track, Juliette Foster. Our story begins with memories of seeing Juliette in school and hopelessly trying not to stare at her. As The hours played, I imagined the boy waiting for the girl on a playground, though she doesn’t show. The shear feeling of heartbreak conveyed in these first few songs is crushing.

On Julie’s Song, the theme of longing continues though slightly more upbeat. This might’ve been the radio single back in ‘66 when our movie was released. Upside Down flows with more nice cello work. With lyrics like “I didn’t want to hold your helping hand,” we’re pulled into a relationship where both the boy and girl love each other, but hold onto reasons why their being together won’t happen. Trying To Find Out About Something finds the boy (now a young man) in L.A., trying to find himself by writing a play. Still, though Juliette remains in his thoughts, he poises himself to convince everyone that they have both moved on.

Angotti’s smooth voice, coupled with some nice acoustic finger picking, gives No Moon a very Paul Simon feel. East Side Country Blues/Uncle Ron’s Raincoat is a nice Dylan-inspired piece of folk, complete with wheezing harmonica. At times, I often heard the voices of these artists, even though it was Angotti providing all of the vocals. Interesting.

The concept of Juliette Foster really strikes me as a great idea. Not just a great idea, though, but a great idea that is fully realized. To listen to it is to return to the playgrounds of our youth….to remember feeling the butterflies of first love….to let that love slip away and ultimately regret it forever. I hope someday there’s a sequel worthy of our main characters, in which Juliette and the boy cross paths again later in life and finally get things right.