This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM featured a ton of garage rock classics and a couple newer tunes by Christina Jean & The Howlers and Lindsey Troy.
You might remember Lindsey Troy from an interview I conducted with her band Deap Vally back in November of 2023. Now that Deap Vally has called it quits, Troy is going the solo route with an upcoming album she has recorded at home with vintage analogue equipment. So far she's released a couple singles: Love Is Deeper and I've Seen the Willow Trees, which you heard at the end of the show. Lyrically, both songs are reminiscent of confessional poetry and musically it's a strong departure from the hard hitting and straight forward blues influenced rock of Deap Vally.
As for Christina Jean & The Howlers, you heard their song She Garbage, from their latest EP Get Trashed w/ The Howlers. The EP is full of buzzsaw fuzz and drippy reverb and overall, the band has a Cramps vibe, specifically around the Psychedelic Jungle era. It seems like they perform live quite often so if you like what you hear, check out their Instagram page and catch them live.
The first song of the night was The Kids Are Alright by The Who and although I typically lean towards the obscure side of rock, I go through stages in life where I listen to this song almost on repeat. I mentioned on the show that although there's a million covers of the song, I particularly like The Calamities' adaptation from their self-titled LP released in 1984 (In their home country France the album was also titled À Bride Abattue). The whole album is sweet pop-punk mix of covers and originals which is sometimes lumped in with the genre Twee-Pop. As time went on, the band became more polished and lost their punk-ish edge but if you're a fan of bands like Shonen Knife or The Shitbirds, you'll probably like their first release.
 |
| Rumi Koyama wearing an Endless Summer shirt in the 1969 film Me and My Siamese cat |
Towards the middle of the show you heard a song performed by Rumi Koyama named Watashino Inori. Koyama's music sounds like yé-yé at times with hints of GS music but most of her output consists of covers and sounds like the typical early '70s pop that dominated Japanese music charts at the time. From what I can tell through poorly auto-translated forums, YouTube comments, and various semi-dead leads, Koyama was poised to be the trifecta of a popular singer, actress, and model but for whatever reasons she only received moderate attention. According to her Wikipedia page, Koyama eventually left Japan for Los Angeles where she found a husband and left the entertainment business. There are very few clips from the movies she appeared in (including this scene where she sings The Supremes' You Keep Me Hangin' On, in the style of Vanilla Fudge's cover) but I've struggled to find full versions of her films. Maybe the clips are the full extent of her acting?
Anywho that's it for this episode! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm PST or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In.
Check out this week's playlist below:
The Bad Seeds - A Taste of The Same
The Others - I Can't Stand This Love, Goodbye
The Kandells - I Want You To Know
Blox - Hangin' Out
Rumi Koyama - Watashino Inori
The Pandas - Walk
Silk Winged Alliance - Flashback
Yanti Bersaudara - Pohon Kenari
The Ban - Bye Bye
The Tuesday Club - Only Human
Danny and The Counts - Ode To The Wind
The Arondies - All My Love
Phil and Harv - Darling
