Saturday, June 19, 2021

Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Papaya"

On this week's episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM I kept the blabbing to a minimum and let the music do the talking. 

In the past I've mentioned how I've got this fun compilation record that was put out by Rhino Records which features a bunch of covers of Louie, Louie, which was made most famous by The Kingsmen. A few years later Rhino released a second edition on CD but I admit I haven't checked it out and I don't really plan on it. You can only listen to one song so many times, right?

I've always liked the older Rhino Records logo by William Stout

Well, the reason I bring this up is because I played Los Sprinter's cover of the Rolling Stones' Paint It Black and I've floated the idea of doing an entire show dedicated to different contemporaneous versions of the song. There are definitely enough versions to fill an hour program but I'm not too sure if that'd get boring fairly quickly. Who knows, maybe I'll just make a playlist that people can peck away at during their own time. 

Speaking of covers, you heard Paul Revere and The Raiders play a cover of Donovan's Catch The Wind, which is another song that's been performed by many artists over the years. While quite a few renditions of the song are strange, my favorite is a toss-up between Eartha Kitt's or Buck Owens'. If you feel like you are in a more sentimental mood you can check out Sammy Hagar's dramatic take on the song or perhaps Glen Campbell's more subdued version. 

Finally, before we get to the playlist I want to quickly circle back to Louie, Louie and show you this "citizen complaint" over The Kingsmen's version which asses that the lyrics are "obscene" and "filthy." In case you didn't know, the FBI actually had an investigation into whether or not the song contained lyrics which could be considered lewd and/or pornographic and someone had to read and compile multiple interpretations of the lyrics including some which were distributed at Sarasota Junior High School in Florida. It seems so silly and quaint nowadays but I can't help but love how the square that wrote the complaint ended it on such a poetic note.

How can we stamp out this menace?

Sunday, June 13, 2021

Mark Romanek's disowned film Static (1986) Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Spinach"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM you heard a typical selection of garage rock bangers and far-out psych songs but on this post I'm going to focus on this week's obscure film recommendation, Static (1986).

The protagonist's collection of malformed crucifixes

I think what attracts me to this film is how its surreal nature leads you to believe that anything is possible, however, in a sort of strange way, the film is still somewhat grounded in reality. There are no floating spirits, time traveling, or demonic possessions and although the characters are bizarre and quirky, they don’t have any qualities which could be interpreted as being supernatural. I’ve seen others compare Static to a David Lynch’s work (such as Blue Velvet and TwinPeaks) due to its small-town America setting, melodramatic acting and general strangeness but absent is Lynch’s sinister overtones, sexual deviancy, or otherworldly events. 

Static's take on a small town cafe
 

Without spoiling too much of the plot, the film centers around an invention the protagonist (Ernie Blick) creates which he believes will dramatically change how people view religion and the afterlife. The audience isn’t made aware of what Ernie’s invention is at first so as he hypes it up to his fellow townies you are drawn into the excitement as well. Because Ernie seems a little off you can’t help but question whether or not he’s invented a cure for cancer or the next hot selling infomercial product.

A small group awaits the unveiling of Ernie's invention
  

Finding a decent copy of Static is fairly difficult. The first time I heard of the movie was when it was aired on Comet TV and I started watching when the film was already at the halfway point. Instead of watching the film with limited context, I looked it up on IMDB and told myself I’d find it streaming somewhere at a later date. From what I can tell the only way you can watch Static online are from old VHS/Laserdisc rips which are uploaded to various video sharing sites. The best quality version floating out in the universe in this present day appears to be the version which was broadcasted on television back in 2017 and with all the ads and possible edits/censorship it’s certainly not the most complete or preferred viewing experience. When I tried to find out why there is no Blueray or proper DVD release (the only official DVD release is supposedly of horrible quality), I found out that the director, Mark Romanek, isn’t too fond of his directorial debut and has said on The Reel World Matters that: 

 “For me it seemed premature. Like I had an opportunity to make a film before I felt I had much to say or knew what I was really doing as a filmmaker, so I just find it this sort of embarrassing bit of juvenilia.” 

Of course, it's just speculation but I assume that Romanek himself has no desire to approve of an official HD release and it's more than likely that there isn't really much of a demand for it anyhow. Romanek considers 2002’s One Hour Photo to be his first real film but his most well-known directorial works are probably his music videos which include: Nine Inch Nails' Closer, Michael and Janet Jackson's Scream, and Fiona Apple's Criminal. 

The movie is a quick watch and if you can handle watching a lo-fi copy of the film, I believe it's worth seeking out, especially if you are a fan of unusual low budget storytelling.

And if you are just here for the music, you can check out this week's playlist below:


 


Saturday, June 5, 2021

The Shadow Knows - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Arugula"

On this week's episode of Hippie Love Turbo on KUCR 88.3 FM you heard a deep cut from Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, The Shadow Knows. The Mindbenders are best known in the U.S. for their hit songs Game of Love and a version of A Groovy Kind Of Love which you may also know from the Phil Collins' version which appeared on the soundtrack of his 1988 film Buster. Unlike The Mindenders' hit songs, The Shadow Knows is brooding and slow with odd howling and shrieking in the background. The song was originally performed by The Coasters, a group that gained fame from their novelty songs Charlie Brown and Yakety Yak. The Coasters' version is a bit cheerier than The Mindbenders' version which leans more towards the macabre.

The Shadow Knows is based on the radio drama The Shadow which famously used the line; "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows." and due to the popularity of the radio drama, the line; "The Shadow knows" became a sort of catch phrase which people would repeat in their daily lives. 

Did you brush your teeth today? The Shadow knows.

Tearing your face off? The Shadow knows.
 

Although there were many pulp magazines, comic books, and serialized dramas based on The Shadow my first and only real exposure to the character was through the 1994 film starring Alec Baldwin. If you watch the film within the context of 1994, you can understand why the film received underwhelming reviews and box office sales to match. The film is fairly stylized and has exciting visual effects but at the time many people were quick to associate The Shadow with other film noir/pulp/golden age comic inspired movies such as Batman Returns (1992) and, perhaps in a more damning way, Dick Tracy (1990). It's one of those films that you really want to like but ultimately it leans too hard on aesthetics and ignores the importance of good dialogue and character building.

If you want to listen to some of the old episodes of The Shadow radio drama, check out the collection on Old Radio World. Tracking down issues of the pulp magazine aren't as easy but I've found a few archived websites which has text versions of The Shadow Magazine, as well as, a couple scanned issues on archive.org.

Have you listened to this week's playlist? The Shadow knows.

 

Val McKenna - Now That You've Made Up Your Mind
Village - Man In The Moon

Saturday, May 29, 2021

Dancing and Surfing Birds - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Date"

On this week's episode of Hippie Love Turbo, (totally not a repeat!) on KUCR 88.3 FM I talked about the third episode of the early 2000s television show Grounded For Life and how one scene in particular stood out for its honest take on a problem many music lovers have had to deal with over the years. I'm not talking about scratched records, warped tapes, or broken jewel cases but rather that moment where you hear a new or different song from an artist that you love and you can't help but think to yourself; "This sounds a lot like another one of their songs." Ah yes, the dreaded filler song. Nowadays it's not so much of a problem. You can pretty much find anything online for free or nearly free but back when you had to buy physical media it was a bummer hearing multiple tracks with the same melody or similar lyrics etc. 

A valid argument.

The example I gave on the show was The Trashmen's song Bird Dance Beat which is a near carbon copy of their hit song Surfin' Bird. In fact, they even reference Surfin' Bird in the lyrics!

Well, the kids here are a wailin' so let's do it now.
'Cause the Birdman's singing papa ooh mow mow.
If you've heard the Surfin' Bird you can't go wrong.
'Cause they're playin' and a singin' with a Bird Dance song.

However, I must admit that I forgot to talk about an even more blatant example in ? & The Mysterians' version of Can't Get Enough Of You, Baby which came out a year after their biggest hit 96 Tears. The two songs' intros are exactly, note for note, the same and the way the organ's chords pulse couldn't be more similar. 
 
In the end, there are probably dozens of other examples of soundalikes but when you listen to this sort of music you have to keep in mind that there are only so many chords that you can use in rock n roll and the number of those chords are probably cut in half when you factor in amateur musicians playing open chords in their parents' basement/garage/shed. If you know of more artists that recycled their hits feel free to list them below and thanks for listening!

Saturday, May 22, 2021

50th Episode Special!

Last week's episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM was the 50th Episode Special! Throughout this show's run I've never played the same song more than once but for the 50th episode I thought it'd be fun to revisit some of my favorites.

When I first got the idea of starting a new show I imagined that it would focus on bizarre and rare tracks such as library/production music aka Muzak or elevator music. I liked the idea of having a show that played music that wasn't intended for attentive listening but rather as background sound for when you were shopping or when a radio host needed to make an announcement. Eventually my idea for a show morphed into something that's a bit more palatable but you can sort of see traces of my original concept in the music I play during my speaking segments. I've never really talked about the songs that I use for backing tracks but there aren't very many. Below you'll find a playlist of my bumper music and after that you can find the tracks that I played on the 50th Special Episode! Thanks for tuning in and I'll catch y'all next time.


 

Saturday, May 8, 2021

Billy Bass - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Breadfruit"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM you heard The Others' cover of Howlin' Wolf's Smokestack Lightning and I talked about how the group (or some version of the group) recorded more music in 2012 and that I wasn't able to find any of it. Well, I guess I didn't look too hard because after the show I found the band's Soundcloud and YouTube channel. If you're interested in hearing their newer material I suggest that you first watch their live in-studio performance of Al Green's Take Me To The River which I first heard performed by a robotic fish. However, to my ears Big Mouth Billy Bass' version sounds more like the Talking Heads' adaptation. 

Clip from WLUK-TV FOX 11 story describing how a Billy Bass stopped a burglary.
 

Some of you out there might feel pretty nostalgic for good ol' Billy Bass. It's already been a over 20 years since the gag gift's big debut and I'm sure you may know of at least one person in your life that has one collecting dust in the attic, hiding in a box, or perhaps even proudly hanging up in the living room. Supposedly, Queen Elizabeth had one, as did George W. Bush, and my grandparents, but as with most fads Billy's popularity waned over the years after outselling another gag gift fad, the Pet Rock. According to the inventor of the Billy Bass, Joe Pellettieri, one of the main reasons sales plummeted was due to retail closures such as KB Toys and the drugstore chain Eckerd. 

Although Billy Bass isn't as common as he used to be, the fish has inspired many tinkerers over the years and has popped up in many projects such as the wall of 75 Big Mouth Bass at The Royal Palms in Chicago, Donald Bell's Bluetooth hack, Ben Eagan's Echo Dot mashup, Simon The Magpie's Big Mouth Bass Guitar, as well as, a bunch of circuit bent versions such as OK Housecat's. 

Now someone needs to find a way to hack a Chia Pet.

Check out this week's gag gift inspired playlist below:


 

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Acid and The Leap of Faith - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Plum"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM you heard a song by the band Mike Stuart Span named Children of Tomorrow. The band's history is very complicated and I won't try to make heads or tails of it here but there is a great write up by a Reddit user named mindlesspleasures that summarizes the band's history fairly well. While it takes a while to wrap your head around the band's convoluted history, one thing that stood out to me is how every biography about Mike Stuart Span sort of glosses over the death of their guitarist Nigel Langham. According to the band's official website:

"Tripping on LSD, guitarist Langham fell to his death after leaping through an upstairs window. The band were left in a profound state of shock; despite the blandishments of the encroaching psychedelic era, the Mike Stuart Span subsequently became a resolutely drug-free zone."

If you've ever been curious about LSD and its effects on the human psyche you've probably heard the ever-present story of the reckless hippie, blasted out of his mind, discovering that in his altered state he has gained the ability to fly. Due to his inebriated state the hippie gleefully leaps from a tall window only to discover that he has, in fact, not gained the ability to fly and that his poor decisions lead to his untimely demise. It's one of those stories that gets repeated time and time again and I've always assumed it's been planted in everyone's imaginations by well-meaning squares but after reading about Nigel Langham I began to wonder much truth is behind the urban legend. 

A typical drugged out hippie as portrayed by Johnny Welfare on The Simpsons.

It seems that the most popular version of the story comes from the tragic death of radio personality Art Linkletter's daughter Diane Linkletter. Mr. Linkletter attributed his daughter's death to psychological damage caused by psychoactive drugs and said that the person who first sold Diane LSD was “the man who murdered my daughter.’’ Because Linkletter had killed herself by jumping from a building and because of her father placing the blame on LSD, the story took on a life of its own over the years and transformed into a cautionary tale of accidental death caused by being high in the wrong place at the wrong time. Snopes delves into the case and explains how evidence of Ms. Linkletter's drug use is actually fairly scant. 

Nevertheless, as I began to do some more research, I discovered that Linkletter's death wasn't the first falling death associated with LSD. According to a United Press International article in 1966 Vernon P. Cox, who was only 20 years old, jumped out a third story bedroom window after saying: “as long as I’m on a trip, I think I’ll go to Europe." The article also claims that a police representative stated:

“You know how that stuff works. He probably thought he was a bird and tried to fly out the window."

Eventually the famous LSD proponent Timothy Leary was ordered to pay $100,000 to Cox's family after a judge ruled that Vernon was inspired to drop acid after attending one of Leary's lectures. The time frame makes it seem as though the lecture Cox may have attended took place at the first (and perhaps only?) LSD Conference in San Francisco. Regardless, this event helped cement the idea that LSD causes people to jump from great heights. 

Years later the death of Ruth Moment Armistead followed a similar pattern to Diane Linkletter's when Armistead had leapt from The University of Texas' UT Tower after bouts of depression caused by mental breakdowns which her family associated with psychedelic drugs. Moment's death led her father to create a lobbying group known as the Legal Drug Control Society which pushed for stricter drug laws and at the time of LDCS' creation Mr. Armistead was quoted saying: “My daughter didn’t jump off that tower - LSD pushed her off.” For a more in-depth and heartbreaking analysis of the events which lead to Moment's demise check out this article by Christie Lypka.

Unfortunately, high-flying psychedelic deaths didn't end in the '60s and '70s and there have even been several documented cases within the last decade. While there are some kernels of truth to the acid induced leap of faith one should note that it's much more common to die from accidents related to legal drugs such as alcohol. Yes, drinking is more common than dropping acid, however, every person that drinks doesn't automatically become a drunk driver just as every person that takes a psychedelic trip doesn't leap out of a window.

If you gleam anything from this simple blog post it should be that acid is a serious drug that should be respected and some people are more vulnerable to its negative effects. Does that mean you shouldn't try it? I'll leave that up to you but if you're going to experiment with hallucinogenic drugs, you should understand the risks, have a trusted spotter, and stay away from dangerous settings including heights, train tracks, and volcanoes. 

Although I don't agree 100% with his assessment, I'll leave you with a quote from Bill Hicks' 1992 comedy special Revelations where he discuses the matter.

"Always that same LSD story. You’ve all seen it. 'Young man on acid, thought he could fly, jumped out of a building. What a tragedy.' What a dick! Fuck him! He’s an idiot. If he thought he could fly, why didn’t he take off from the ground first? 

Check it out. You don’t see ducks lining up to catch elevators to fly south. They fly from the ground, you moron. Quit ruining it for everybody."

You can check out this week's playlist below:


 

Saturday, April 24, 2021

Surf Rock Radio Special/Playlist!

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM was a Surf Rock Special!!! Everything on this episode was dripping with reverb and had a faint smell of salt and sunscreen. Things are starting to open up as the boring apocalypse (the Covid-19 pandemic) begins to fade away and like many others I am starting to dream of a summer filled with seaweed and sand. While we're not quite in the clear, you can still enjoy nature by participating in some fun and socially distant activities such as beachcombing, which is the process of searching the shoreline for neat artifacts, fossils, and seashells. In fact, beachcombing is such a well loved activity that there's even a magazine dedicated to it! 

During the second set of the show you heard Newport Beach by The Super Stocks and I spoke a little bit about Newport Beach's preeminent surf spot that's known as The Wedge. The Wedge is mostly known for it's large waves which reach up to 30 feet, but there's also a tragic history to the surf spot which involves the death of a child and his father's quest to tame the wild waters through the creation of a jetty. Although I didn't play the song on this special, Dick Dale, who is most well known for his version of Misirlou, immortalized The Wedge in his 1963 song of the same name. If you can't head over to Newport but you want to check out The Wedge for yourself, there is a neat webcam which you can watch here.

Anywho, you can check out the sunburned surf special playlist below:


 

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Takeshi Kitano's Violent Cop! Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Plantain"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM you heard Ty Wagner's garage rock classic I'm A No-Count and I spoke about how he was off the radar until he discovered used copies of his singles were selling for a decent price online and that there was a demand for his return. Ty only released a couple singles during the '60s, I'm A No-Count/Walking Down Lonely Street (1965) and Slander/I Think I Found Love (1966), which had some regional airplay but fell into obscurity until they were rediscovered on compilations such as Back From The Grave Volume 7 (1988) and Keb Darge And Cut Chemist Present: The Dark Side (2017). Around 2013/2014 Ty returned to the music scene as he began preforming live again, recorded some new material, and released another single featuring Misery Train/Soul Exercise which he had recorded in 1967. Interestingly, Ty Wagner is also known as Downtown Dennis and has a real estate company in Everett, WA. If you'd like to know more about Mr.Wagner there's a fairly comprehensive article written about him here. 

For this episode's film recommendation I present to you Takeshi Kitano's 1989 action/crime drama Violent Cop. Prior to directing Violent Cop Takeshi Kitano was most well known for his comedic roles on Japanese television and his role as Sgt. Gengo Hara in the 1983 war film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence starring David Bowie. Reader's may also recognize him as Vic Romano from the Spike TV show Most Extreme Elimination Challenge which was a edited and modified version of Kitano's Japanese game show Takeshi's Castle. In fact, Kitano has had a long and interesting career where he's dipped his toes into various forms of media including: comics, television, painting, and perhaps most strangely, video games with one of the most unusual games ever made, Takeshi no Chōsenjō. Although he's not a household name in the U.S. he remains incredibly popular in Japan.

Violent Cop follows the tough-minded detective Azuma and his rookie partner Kikuchi as they become intertwined in a case involving their colleagues and a local drug ring. However, the plot is fairly loose and meanders as Azuma displays his brand of tough justice a-la Dirty Harry. The flowing nature of the plot helps develop Azuma's character as a sort of wandering force of nature. Azuma is detached from reality as if he's merely watching his own actions unfold before him, unable to control his own destiny.  

The world of Violent Cop is without remorse and just about every character lacks moral agency which leads to a few surprising (and often violent) interactions. Although the violence in the film doesn't feel overly gory (maybe I'm the wrong person to make that distinction) there are a couple instances where it seems as if Kitano had truly assualted his costars. The whole thing is a wild ride that has just the right amount of tension which leads to an explosively simple, yet unexpected ending. If you are a fan of gritty low-budget crime films I'd say this is one to add to your list.

As a somewhat unrelated aside, I noticed a mask that was used as a prop in the film's introduction matches a mask that I had used in an unrealized installation of sorts that I was working on when I thought I'd someday become an artist. Spooky, isn't it?



You can listen to this week's playlist below:


 

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Honeydew"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM I didn't talk too much (how's that possible?) but I did mention the first appearance of The Electric Prunes on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and how Dick Clark was amazed by the sound on their single I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night). 

A gassy thing?
Gassy?
 

If you've ever watched American Bandstand you've probably seen how most, if not all, of the bands lip-synced the songs. However, because of the far out sounds on The Electric Prunes' recordings, it's even more apparent that the group isn't really playing. In fact, if you pay close attention you'll see that their gear isn't even plugged in! I've always wondered if the people watching at home had any idea that it wasn't really live. Sort of like how people think wrestling is real. Anyhow, a later incarnation of The Electric Prunes performed live on European television which illustrates that they did have the chops, even if they weren't able to prove it through American Bandstand.

After talking a bit about the Prunes I mentioned how Tulsa, Oklahoma was home to the garage band Young Aristocracy and how Tulsa is also home to the 6th tallest statue in the U.S., Golden Driller. To put the height in perspective, the Brontosaurus in Cabazon is about 10 feet shorter than the Golden Driller.

Golden Driller Photo Credit: ThaiTum
 
Back in the awful year of 2020, the city of Tulsa decided to repaint the Driller so that it would kind of resemble Elon Musk. This was a fun, yet sort of bizarre, attempt at enticing Tesla to build a factory in Tulsa. Because of the statue's simple features I think the result ended up looking more like a low-poly video game model; specifically one from 1997's Goldeneye 007. If you'd like to read more about the statue there is a great write-up that you can read about here. I hope to visit the Golden Driller one day. Perhaps, on my way to the Jolly Green Giant that I talked about on the Strawberry episode.

Thanks for tuning in! You can check out this week's playlist below:


 

Saturday, March 20, 2021

Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Olive"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM I threw out a slew of factoids that I'll quickly sum up before we get to the movie of the week. Firstly, I played Double Yellow Line by The Music Machine and mentioned that the paint that's used for road markings is mostly thermoplastic, which comes in a powder form, needs to be heated before applying to the asphalt, and typically contains glass beads which helps make the lines more visible. 

After my riveting paint rambling I talked about Os Tartaros' home city Porto, Portugal. Many people associate Port Wine with Porto because it's famously named after the city despite the fact that the wine is actually made in the Douro Valley. The wine is uniquely sweet and the grapes are still smashed by foot to this day. 

Finally, towards the end of the show you heard a cover of Jamo Thomas' I Spy (For The F.B.I.) which I mentioned was also covered by the Los Angeles mod/ska band The Untouchables. The band was one of the first, if not THE first ska bands from the US and they had a few hits on the UK charts including: Free Yourself which reached #26 in 1985. On a somewhat related note, did you know ska was around before reggae?

With all that being said it's time to check out this week's film recommendation Daimajin aka Majin the Monster of Terror. The movie mixes samurai and kaiju elements to tell the story of a village that sits at the feet of a mountain where an old demon statue god lives. The villagers respect the old demon god and appease him through ancient rituals when his anger causes earthquake-like tremors. Unfortunately for the villagers, during one of the demon god's earthquakes a group of rebel samurai successfully stage a coup against the village's samurai lord. The samurai lord's family flees to the mountains where they hide near the mountain god's resting place for a decade. Most of the movie follows the samurai's conflict and how the new samurai lord rules the village as a ruthless dictator. Because the movie is fairly short there isn't enough time for the plot to get stale and in many ways it reminds me of the pacing felt in old western movies. Of course the big payoff is in the end when the demon god awakes from his slumber and attacks the village after a botched attempt at destroying him. Unlike most Japanese monster flicks, the plot keeps your attention enough that you don't get too bored waiting to see the final conflict. It's a fun and quick watch that is worth a watch if you like samurai movies, big monster movies, or campy period pieces.

Anywho, you can check out this week's playlist below:
 

Lindsey Troy Post-Deap Vally, Rumi Koyama, and The Who - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Red Pontiac Potato"

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 &...