Trippin' Out With Another State of Mind - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Cranberry"

Did you tune into this week's episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM or did this week's episode tune into you? On this episode you heard a lot more psych stuff than usual but it felt like a nice change of pace, ya know? 

At the beginning of the show, you heard Vacuum Cleaner by Tintern Abbey, a band which has appeared on a bunch of compilations over the years despite having released only one single. Because of the single's rarity, original copies have been known to fetch prices up to a grand. If that doesn't quite fit in your budget, you can always check out the recently released compilation Beeside which features the band's complete recordings, including demos and unreleased masters. The compilation was put out by Cherry Red Record's Grapefruit imprint and you can tell there was a lot of love put into the release which comes on two discs and features a biographical insert. You can also see some photos from the band and their releases on a blog named Sir Henry at Horringer Court.

Later in the show you heard Talking To You, a song from another short-lived band, The Savage Resurrection. The band's only full length album has had a few re-releases over the years but not all copies are equal. If you want to hear some bonus rehearsal tracks you'll have to check out Mod Lang's release, though in my opinion, the bonus tracks aren't worth spending any extra dough if you can find another cheaper option. As of right now, you can listen to both Beeside and Mod Lang's version of The Savage Resurrection on Spotify.

On the last episode, I wrote about Lynn, Massachusetts and during my research I found out that Mike Ness was born there. Reading about Mike Ness reminded me of how some years back, I had seen an old worn out VHS copy of Another State of Mind, a documentary about the 1982 tour Social Distortion (Mike Ness' band) and Youth Brigade had throughout the US and Canada. The film was obviously a low budget affair, with poor audio and limited lighting, however, for the most part its production setbacks actually add to the ambience of the film. The movie's look and feel reflects the same principals the bands were trying to achieve; make something meaningful with what you have for the type of people that can appreciate it. 

Youth Brigade practices their song Fight To Unite

 

Throughout the film, Youth Brigade's Shawn Stern serves as a sort of anchor for the tour's DIY ethics and, although you can tell he knows the tour is likely to fail, you can't help but appreciate his ability to help organize two bands, setup shows in a pre-internet age, and deal with the logistics of a crappy bus while trying his best to keep everyone fed. Even when the tour is falling apart Stern displays a sort of punk wisdom as seen towards the middle of the film after the bands have played another show where the promoters refused to pay the bands what they were owed. The bands are obviously frustrated and are beginning to question whether or not they should continue with the tour and the interviewer asks Stern if the bands can find some sort of unity. Stern soberly replies with:

"What about unity? If you're hungry, nobody's unified. Yo know? Ha. If you got nothing to eat there's nothing to be unified about. You- you can't be fed on unity"

Dealing with another bus breakdown

 

There are a few moments of filler in the film, such as a bizarre instructional scene about dancing in mosh pits, some kids practicing stage dives at a local pool, and a quick aside at a punk themed Christian church but I wouldn't say they detract from the film overall. In fact, I'd say part of what makes the film really shine is how it presents the goofiness of punk scenes and how its participants can both be antagonistic towards society while also searching for communities of their own. The movie doesn't shy away from showing the silliness of dying your hair or putting on makeup or being a chucklehead with your friends on a bus. These people were young and had a lot of heart but through their interviews you can see they struggled to find their voices and at times had difficulty expressing why they felt punk music was the appropriate outlet for their angst. A reoccurring theme throughout each interview is that the kids were looking for something that was fun, somethings to do, and a way to release their aggression. You know, fairly basic teenage stuff. 

Similar to another film which I've covered before, Style Wars, Another State of Mind doesn't appear judgmental, nor does it try to present the participants as hard-asses that are bringing down the system through loud and fast rock and roll, riots, and spray paint. For the most part I avoid documentaries or biographical works that focus on punk subcultures because they tend to glorify punk's destructive nature or they build up musicians as if they were mythical, overdose resilient, sexual monsters when in reality, the vast majority of people in the scenes were low to lower middle class suburban kids that were trying to find somewhere to fit in. 

I guess it's kind of funny giving a punk documentary recommendation during a psychedelic episode but that's just the way it goes sometimes! Catch you guys next week!

Make sure your head is right and peep this episode's playlist below:

 

The Cinders - If You Ever

Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Parsley"

Here's the rundown on what you heard on this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM. Firstly, I talked about The Syn and how they played regularly at London's historic Marquee Club which was open from 1958 to 2008 and had hosted many legendary artists during their prime. In particular, they played with Jimi Hendrix during one of the busiest nights in the club's history. There's a lovely site about The Marquee Club which features an interview with Peter Banks where he mentions performing with The Syn while famous music groups such as The Beatles and Rolling Stones watched on.

"I didn't enjoy the night at all because Syn had to play two sets and we had, you know, a lot of pretty famous people in the audience and we had to come on and do one set, go off, and then come back and do another set, which was a terrible thing to do because everybody certainly didn't come to see us!" -Peter Banks

The Syn disbanded some time in '67 but reunited in 2004 with a completely different sound. The band released Syndestructible in 2005 which featured songs that were less psychedelic/garage sounding and more prog rock-ish which makes sense as both Chris Squire and Peter Banks left The Syn to form Yes. If you're like me and you don't know a lot about Yes I'm sure you'll still recognize their song Owner of A Lonely Heart which itself marked a change in Yes' sound.

Later in the show I talked about the group Los Shain's and how they were from Peru's capital Lima. Lima is home to the Larco Museum which houses hundreds of Peruvian pre-Columbian art pieces including: ceramics, textiles, and metal jewelry. I know that it's fairly unlikely that I'll ever venture out to Peru, however, the Larco Museum has a fantastic virtual tour of the museum's permanent collection that's definitely worth checking out if you are interested in early Latin American art.

 

Speaking of art, I can't forget to mention this week's movie suggestion Style Wars, a movie about young graffiti artists and B-Boys set during the late '70s and early '80s in New York. The film is a documentary that was originally made for PBS and went on to gain a cult following over the years. When it comes to documentaries I tend to like films that serve as a snapshot for specific moments in time. In Style Wars you see a New York that feels like a smaller and more isolated version of itself. A New York that's composed of train tracks, bridges, service tunnels, and abandoned building as opposed to the bright lights and towering skyscrapers that you're used to seeing in our modern media. The kids featured in the film belong to a cultural subset with unwritten rules and ethos that set them against society.

 

Some of my favorite parts of the film feature the squares that try to understand the graffiti artists and their motivations for painting subway trains. New York's mayor Ed Koch, seems especially out of touch when he explains his idea of building fences in which vicious dogs can guard the sacred subway trains from vandals or how he seems convinced that his dopey anti-graffiti campaign will make a difference with the youth. 

As you see subway trains completely covered in paint, both inside and out, you can understand why the authorities were frustrated with the graffiti, however, when they talk about the cleanup costs and how the pieces are eyesores etc. you can't help but giggle at how silly the whole thing seems. Everyone is completely unaware of just how important graffiti culture would become throughout the world and it's almost quaint when you hear people talking about how they can squash the city's vandalism problems.

Anyways, you can find this week's playlist below:

 

 
The Dept. of Sanitation - Don't Ever Leave Me

Dat En Wat - I Can Live Without You

Kitty Lanier - I Know, Oh Yes I Know