The Drop the Needle Podcast

Ep. 49 – The Code We Live By: LAPD Stories, Freemasonry & Music with Raymond Foster

Original air date: December 18, 2025
Host: Jim Alstott
Guest: Raymond Foster (Retired LAPD Lieutenant, Author, Freemason)

Episode Overview

This episode welcomes Raymond Foster, a retired LAPD lieutenant, author of eight books (including "The Temple Within"), consultant, and deeply engaged Freemason. The conversation explores Raymond’s law enforcement career in Los Angeles during turbulent times, offers an insider’s perspective on Freemasonry, and concludes with an engaging discussion about how music shapes identity and experience. Throughout, the discussion aims to dispel myths, reveal personal transformation, and emphasize the importance of living by a code—all underscored by the connective power of music.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Raymond Foster’s Background & Early Life

[03:17]

• Native Californian, raised in Long Beach.
• Enlisted in the Coast Guard at 16; police academy at 21.
• Explains a quirky start with the LAPD; delayed academy entry due to age and finally got in when someone quit on the first day.
• Served 25 years, ended as watch commander, then transitioned to teaching, consulting, and writing.
• Multiple community leadership roles: Chair of the board for the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary president, Masonic Lodge past master and ritual coach.

“My wife says if I join anything else, it better be the French Foreign Legion.” – Raymond Foster [05:17]

2. LAPD Stories: The Wild West Era of Policing

[06:12]

• Reflects on policing during the violent height of the crack epidemic.
• Outlines the chaos: multiple shootings in a single night; violence greatly diminished since.
• Shares “mild” but harrowing story of a near hour-long car chase (104 miles in 57 minutes), a rookie partner nicknamed "the Turtle," and a comically dangerous detour through a dirt lot to outmaneuver suspects.

“My last night [on the job] I was the watch commander in 77th Division... I’d been to three shootings and seen two and a half dead bodies within two hours.” – Raymond Foster [06:37]

• Police chases, intuition (“I hear the radio... that’s a red Ford Taurus”), tactics, and the physical toll of high-adrenaline work.

“My right quad hurt because I’d been pressing on the gas for an hour.” – Raymond Foster [12:10]

3. Freemasonry: Debunking Myths and Understanding Tradition

[13:33]

• Describes Freemasonry as a fraternal society with secrets, not a secret society; most "secrets" are limited to handshakes, passwords, and ritual wording.

“Secrecy breeds misinformation. Gives people a space that they can make whatever up they want to…” – Raymond Foster [13:46]

• Differentiates Freemasonry from other secret societies (e.g., Skull and Bones at Yale, the Jolly Roger as a piratical symbol).
• Notes historical Masons from George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to Walt Disney and Buzz Aldrin (“...Buzz Aldrin drew the square and compass in the lunar dust on the Moon.” – [16:28])
• Explains the inheritance and lineage requirements for who is recognized as a Mason (“...there’s a lineage that traces [lodges] back to the formation of the first Grand Lodge in London in 1717.” – [24:21])
• Discusses the organization’s evolution on social issues—some lodges more inclusive than others.

“I think that masonry is going to become more relevant... I think that young men are seeking belonging, guidance, a place where they can fulfill who they should be.” – Raymond Foster [32:51]

• Explains common symbols: square and compass as moral and spiritual metaphors, circles as signs of infinity, and addresses misconceptions about “pagan” or “occult” aspects.

4. Rituals, Degrees, and (Not) Riding the Goat

[27:43]

• Three degrees for standard Masons: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason.
• Appendant bodies (Scottish Rite, York Rite, Shriners, etc.) provide additional lessons but don’t constitute “higher” Masonry.
• Addresses persistent myths about hazing, strange rituals, and the use of goats: “...there’s only three degrees in Masonry… These other degrees are moral lessons; we’re a fraternity with secrets, not a secret society.” [28:49]
• Discusses changes in process (no longer memorizing long passages as entry requirements for other Masonic bodies).

5. The Enduring Value of Fraternity

[31:55]

• Masonic lodges survive, Foster argues, because “they’re useful and valuable.” Membership is about living by firm principles and developing as men with a moral code.
• Increasing interest from younger men, which Foster sees as evidence that the organization is poised for a renaissance.

6. Symbols and Public Misconceptions

[35:11]

• Breaks down symbolism:
  • Square and Compass: spiritual and moral tools, infinite in interpretation.
  • Eastern Star’s pentagram: often misunderstood, not “satanic.”
  • Emphasizes layers of meaning, value of contemplation, and the universal quest for personal growth.

“If you just sit and you think about the nature of the infinite... contemplation on these questions is the most important part.” – Raymond Foster [39:23]

7. Music as Life’s Soundtrack

[40:16] – [59:35]
Jim shifts focus to Raymond’s musical history, reinforcing the third “pillar” of the podcast—music’s power to express and connect.
Key Highlights:

• Early love: “I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family, embodying adolescent transitions.
• Family singalongs: “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt”; Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog (Three Dog Night) [47:53].
• High school band: Playing and scoring Elton John, regular jazz band numbers, and classical band repertoire.
• Eclectic tastes: Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson (country), Baroque music, early rap (Eminem), jazz, marches (John Philip Sousa—who was himself a Mason).

“Sousa wrote pieces specifically for Masonic lodges... if you listen to Sousa, you’ll hear the melody, but you’ll also hear the counter-melodies struggle underneath, and that’s the struggle of life, the conscious and the unconscious.” – Raymond Foster [53:06]

• Music as motivation: “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits; “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by CCR for drive and steadfastness, disliking gossip/traitors.
• Fun fact: While stationed in St. Kitts, breakfast soundtrack was always “Shake It Off” and “Girl on Fire”—so memorable they became accidental earworms [56:22].
• Song as life-mirror: “The Highwayman” (self-transformation, reincarnation), and “Teach Your Children Well” (living by a code).

“I believe I’ve led multiple lifetimes in this life... this idea of transformation, even within one lifetime, is doable given how we live.” – Raymond Foster [57:42] “Central to that song is the idea of having a code to live by. I think every human being has to have a code.” – Raymond Foster, on "Teach Your Children Well" [58:12]

8. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On police work:
  “Within two hours I had been to three shootings and seen two and a half dead bodies... it was a different time.” [06:37]
• On chasing suspects:
  “If you got a maker you wanna get right with, now’s the time, because I’m not going to stop.” [11:52]
• On secrecy:
  “Secrecy breeds misinformation... that’s really part of the Temple Within—the only things that are secret are our modes of recognition.” [13:46]
• On music’s power:
  “Sousa’s music expresses the struggle between the conscious and the unconscious... if we listen to our counter melody, how beautiful it can be.” [53:06]
• On belonging:
  “Just living by the principal tenets of the organization and belonging to it will make you a better man and probably more effective in society.” [31:55]
• On personal growth:
  “The most important thing is... thinking through what we actually believe and stand for, that’s what inculcates that into us.” [39:23]
• On transformation:
  “I believe I’ve led multiple lifetimes in this life. ...Transformation within one lifetime is doable.” [57:42]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Raymond’s Intro/Background Story: [03:17]
• LAPD “Wild West” Adventures: [06:12] – [13:02]
• What Is Freemasonry, Really?: [13:33] – [16:28]
• Secret Societies and Masonic Lineage: [19:28] – [24:21]
• Myth-busting: Hazing, Goats, and Rituals: [27:43] – [31:20]
• Symbolism Explained (compass, square, etc.): [35:11] – [39:23]
• Boot Camp & Band Story: [40:16] – [42:39]
• Music Pillar Q&A: [46:41] – [59:35]
• “The Code We Live By”—Transformative Songs: [57:33] – [59:35]

Closing and Where to Connect

• Raymond’s books, blog, and contact: hightechcj.com [60:26]

Summary

This episode delivers an intimate view into the personal, professional, and spiritual journey of Raymond Foster, moving from gritty LAPD stories to Masonic wisdom and the heartbeats of a life shaped by music. Listeners are reminded of the value in living by a personal code, seeking community, and embracing transformation—set, fittingly, to each person’s unique soundtrack.