August 9, 2025
#518
Gentle reader,
Note: You do not have to read the parts in blue unless you want to. :-) Also, click or tap on any photo and a second window will open over this one with larger images. That way, you should be able to read the music lyrics and descriptions easily.
1991, that was thirty-Five years ago, as of this writing. And at that time, I was truly miserable. I'd been working for Washington, D.C.'s Subway company working on their cars, for the past nine years. I had a nice house in the country: a 3,000 square foot, split foyer single family house on a hill and in a cul-de-sac. Our address number was: 3. Just 3. To our left was 1. [Interestingly, that neighbor's last name was Warner, ours is Robb. We live in Virginia. Our U.S. Senators (then) were Named: Robb and Warner. Not the same Senator Warner we have now. That one was a Republican and no relation to the current senator who is a Democrat. Senator Charles "Chuck" Robb, was a Democrat.] I had a fifty MILE commute to D.C. and our marriage, to the woman whose very own FATHER warned me not to marry her because she's crazy, was truly on the rocks. First a little historical background.
Kenny holding his little girl Amanda, who he sings to in one song and we hear her sing an intro to another one of his songs on the CD.
I had met that same Chuck Robb, way back in the early 1980's when he was then Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. We were living in Richmond (Virginia's capitol). My own family had first heard of Major Charles Robb, USMC, who was in charge of the Marines serving in the White House in Washington, D.C., under President Lyndon Banes Johnson, better known as LBJ. LBJ became President when JFK (John Fitzgerald Kennedy) was assassinated in November, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.
In LIFE magazine was an article about how Major Charles Robb and the President's daughter, Lynda, had fallen in love and gotten married in the White House. Soon after, Major Robb was off to Vietnam. Coincidentally, a former Marine I am now friends with served with and was friends with Chuck Robb in Vietnam. Small world.
Anyway, my (then) wife and I were at a little festival in downtown an area called Shockoe Bottom. She had wandered off, leaving me alone and I saw an old Ford Model A convertible sedan pull in and park. Everyone jumped out and walked away except the man in the rear seat on the passenger side. I recognized him, it was Lt. Governor Chuck Robb. I walked up, said hello and showed him my driver's license. He smiled, we shook hands and proceeded to compare family backgrounds. Nice guy.
Fast forward a few years, I was separated from that wife, living with my sister up in Arlington, VA. A much shorter commute to D.C., for sure. I was working part time at a Pizza place delivering pizzas. I worked with a number of Marines from TBS* (within Quantico USMC Base). The Marines and I became friends.
*The Basic School. So named because it was the school for freshly minted Second Lieutenants in the Corp to find out the basics of command.
I wanted to help my new community (Arlington) and had heard of The Navy League from my then-mother-in-law, who had worked there. She had told me about their youth program: the Sea Cadets. Since I had Marine friends who might help me, I wrote to Senator Robb (a former Marine) and asked him if the USMC had anything like the Sea Cadets. He told me about the Young Marines which was sponsored by The Marine Corps League. I called the YM's National Commander and he was delighted to find out what I wanted to do and told me that his Unit was having a graduation soon and invited me to attend as his "Honored Guest".
I later founded the first of three Young Marines units. The first in Arlington in a very poor neighborhood. Later on, I founded another one in Alexandria, VA and then a third in Manassas, VA. We then formed a Battalion. The photo above is when I met Chuck's wife, Lynda (you know, the President's daughter). I was at a festival in Arlington, recruiting for my unit and heard she was there. I told my Marines to carry on and left to track her down. When she saw me she said, "A Marine!" I explained that I was not exactly a Marine and about the program her husband had told me about and about when I first met her husband. Her staff member shot the photo and later mailed it to me.
I could go on and on, but you are here to see what I have to say about Kenny Loggins' 1991 CD Release: Leap of Faith.
This is the back cover of the CD with the songs listed.
Back to the PRESENT: I was sitting here surfing the Web on my PC and wanted some music. I walked into the listening room and quickly looked through the Rock/Pop CDs from the 1960's through 1990's. I spied Kenny Loggins' 1991 CD Release: Leap of Faith. "Ah, perfect! I have not listened to this in YEARS!"
In the room we (my current and forever wife, Nancy) designated before we moved into this house as "The Office" no relation to either TV series of that name. Not that either of us did the kind of work which required a home office. Any-way, IN that room, I have a stack of very good stereo equipment which has changed much over the years. In fact, NONE of the earlier equipment is still in my possession and this stack is of much better quality.
I put the CD in the OPPO and cranked it up. I was immediately struck by just how AMAZING the CD sounded. I thought, "Have I never played this at home?" The music is so excellent and so well recorded that my mind was blown by how great it sounded and how deep my 8" woofer speakers could go!
The Yamaha A-S301 in the first new piece of Yamaha equipment I have ever bought.
The Yamaha A-S301 has digital optical and coaxial inputs. A nice feature.
I mounted the BOSE 301's set up to use the corners/side walls to "reflect" the music from the second tweeter and bass reflex port.
The right Klipsch KG4 (below) speaker looks like it is trapped in the corner, but I can hear it just fine from my desk chair.
Why? The things he was going through (a bad marriage) and his concern for the environment, fear of nuclear war, etc. all put into outstandingly well produced and well played music.
Back page of the liner notes (CD booklet) above and centerfold image below.
So, to conclude: If you don't have this CD and you want to hear how amazing it is for yourself, get it!
Thank you SO much for taking the time to read this article. And for humoring this 69-year-old-man by reading some history which my life somehow connected with, albeit briefly. Feel free to leave a comment below or via Facebook. I write two other blogs: Pictures of Nancy. The Love of My Life. and People Say I'm Special. But I Don't Know Why So, if you have the time take a look at them. At the very least you will see how pretty Nancy is and maybe even learn something while you are at it.
Scott Robb
August 9, 2025
#518
