Neon Plastic Army Men and Unknown Garage Rock - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Rambutan"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM was full of fuzz and grit. Sort of like your bellybutton except with a better backbeat. However, there were a few non-fuzzed out tracks throughout this show including a jangling song by a mysterious unnamed band.

The track Look For Me Babe has been attributed to a band named The Unknown but according to Teenbeat Mayhem!, the most informational book on regional rock from the 60s, the song was recorded by a long forgotten group. The confusion appears to come from a bootleg released by Moxie, a label from L.A.that specialized in releasing extremely rare and lost rock music. Back in 1977 Moxie released a single with two songs attributed to The Unknown; Look For Me Babe and Bluejean Man. If you listen to the two songs back-to-back it becomes apparent that the songs were performed by different artists. Look For Me Babe has an almost country sounding groove with singing that's practically spoken versus Bluejean Man which has the typical youthful strained vocal sound and semi-tuned guitars found in many countless garage rock songs. According to a list of every known Moxie release, the initial version of the single also features 2 songs by Frank Zappa as a B-side. I'd argue that the first release shows how Moxie was a bit fast and loose with how they compiled their releases further cementing that the band is most likely an unknown group rather than a band named The Unknown. Either way it's a fun little tune and the mystery behind it adds to its charm. 

Plastic army men as seen in Our Favorite Toys (1997)

As the show continued, I went on a little rant about the history of little green plastic army men and how the Vietnam War briefly changed how the toys were marketed. According to David Bergman, the CEO of Processed Plastics, a now defunct company that made a giant share of the green army men after acquiring another toy manufacturer Tim Mee Toys in 1965, there was a small downturn in sales due to anti-war sentiments in the US towards the end of the war. During an interview on the Discovery Channel documentary Our Favorite Toys (1997) Bergman stated that:

"During the end of Vietnam War, basically to take care of the decline in the sales of the figures, we decided to go to a neon type blues, bright oranges, reds to help keep our figure sales up."

Whether or not the new colors helped sales doesn't appear to be known to the public, however, I find it interesting that more hasn't been written on the subject. Although I clearly remember bright blue and red cowboys and headdress adorned Native Americans, I've never seen neon toy soldiers as described in the documentary. If you are interested in reading more about the little plastic guys I suggest you check out Plastic Today's brief historical write up, Toy Solider HQ's reviews of various army men and similar toys, as well as, a content rich blog titled World War II Plastic Toy Soldiers.

That's it for this episode's summary! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm or through KUCR.org. If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

Thorns - I Want You
Haymarket Riot - Something Else
The Bad Seeds - A Taste of The Same
Front Page News - Thoughts
The Basement Wall - Never Existed

Alki Point, Seattle and The Ventures-esque Stylings of Takeshi Terauchi and The Blue Jeans - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Endive"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM you heard a fun, mostly instrumental, song by The Jesters named after the Seattle neighborhood Alki Point. While talking about the song I mispronounced Alki Point as Al-key rather than Al-kai (pronounced like the ki in kite) and, ironically, towards the end of the show you heard a song by Marc Bolan (lead singer/songwriter for T.Rex) and I mentioned that there is a scene in the 2017 film Baby Driver where the lead character is embarrassed by his love interest, Debora, when she corrects his mispronunciation of T.Rex as Trex. Oh well. Wouldn't be the first time I didn't say something correctly and certainly won't be the last!

Trex?

Anywho, Alki Point is a lovely peninsula in Seattle that is known for its coastal views that include both downtown Seattle and the Olympic Mountains. When most people think of Alki Point they are thinking about Alki Beach where tourists like to gather during the warmest months, which there aren't many. The beach has served as a backdrop for small to mid-sized concerts over the years such as Sub Pop’s 30th Anniversary Party in 2018. 

Photo by Asahel Curtis Photo Company (1914)

 

Continuing along the coast of Alki Point are the expected eateries, a handful of small parks, as well as, a few landmarks including: the Alki Point Lighthouse and 8 and a half foot-high copy of the Statue of Liberty which was donated to the neighborhood as part of the Boy Scouts 1950 campaign themed Strengthen The Arm of Liberty. Although 200 replicas were distributed to various cities across the US, many have been removed or replaced over the years. In fact, the statue that sits in Alki Point is a copy of the original which had to be replaced due to damage caused by the natural aging process and vandalism. Appropriately, Alki Point was settled and partially founded by a New Yorker named Lee Terry and who had originally named the settlement "New York Alki."

Towards the middle of the show, you heard another instrumental song, this time by Takeshi Terauchi and The Blue Jeans. Takeshi, aka Terry, was in several groups over the years with his Ventures style guitar work being the main focus. If you dig The Ventures you'll like Terauchi's early work with The Blue Jeans, especially the 3 volumes of Beat! Beat! Beat! which includes a couple far out covers such as: The House of The Rising Sun and Please Mr. Postman. If you aren't a fan of overly polished studio work from the 80's I'd say you should avoid their 25th anniversary album although, as I discussed in a previous episode, that kind of sound can have its own charming aesthetics.

Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm or through KUCR.org! If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

4 Score - Mini-Skirt
Mustache Wax - I'm Gonna Get You
The Squiremen Four - Bitter End

Iggy Pop, The Stooges Doc, and Obscure Garage Rock (The Pubs and The Prodigal) Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Mangosteen"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM we dipped our toes in some obscure garage rock water when we listened to two mysterious groups: The Pubs and The Prodigal. As you dive deeper into regional rock music from the 50s and 60s you sometimes find yourself hitting information roadblocks. A lot of these smaller groups never experienced major national success and without direct involvement from the band, managers, or fans, there is little hope that any historical content will find its way onto the internet. Of course, it also doesn't help when a million bands share the same name or when the group used a fairly generic title that throws search algorithms into a dizzy spell but, as I've stated before, it's best to keep in mind that these groups were formed in a pre-internet, and even pre-independent band listing era, so they weren't worried about "search engine optimization" because such a thing didn't exist!

So, what do we know about these bands? Well, according to Mike Markesich's book TeenBeat Mayhem! (which, is definitely worth checking out!), The Pubs were from Pasadena, CA and put out 2 singles: Never Again / Pretty Please (1966) and The Lost Soul / Baby Cry (1967). The Pubs' Discogs page lists that Never Again was released through the private press company Custom Fidelity, meaning the band released it independently, while The Lost Soul was released through a vanity label known as "Velvet Tone Record Corp" which was run by a quirky singer/producer that went by the stage name Jimmy Velvet. A random archived eBay listing for The Lost Soul states that: "Only 500 copies were released of this recording, most of them are not in circulation." but I haven't been able to verify that claim and I'm not sure where that info came from. Both releases credit John Butzke as a songwriter but, despite the unique last name, I haven't been able to find out more about him. 

The Prodigal (Image found here)

As for The Prodigal, we know that they were from Tulare, CA, and they had one single, Reality / You've Got Me that was released on Mercury in June of 1967. Gary Hall is credited as the songwriter, Bruce B. Morgan was the producer and David Gomes, Richard Dorado, and Iggy Perez are listed as band members. There was a glimmer of hope in my search as I came upon a webpage that had an interview with Gary Hall conducted by Dick Lee, who is also a garage rock DJ and member of the band The Brymers, however, the audio file appears to be lost in the foggy mists of the internet. 

If I find some more info, I'll be sure to provide an update and, as always, be sure to let me know if you have any obscure media or contacts related to garage rock. I'd like to make sure this stuff doesn't disappear and typically it helps to have it archived online.

Iggy Pop playing drums on a giant riser (As seen in Gimme Danger)

And now for something that's the opposite of obscure I'd like to talk a little about this episode's film suggestion: Jim Jarmusch's 2016 documentary on The Stooges, Gimme Danger. Like a lot of people that are into late 60s and early 70s rock, especially the grittier side, I've enjoyed The Stooges for years, however, beyond a few random Iggy Pop interviews, I've never delved too deeply into the band's history. It seems that Gimme Danger was made for an audience with a similar approach to the band. You know The Stooges, you love their music, but you might not know a lot of the backstory. 

The film mostly assumes that you're familiar with The Stooges' work but there's enough foundational information that if you know nothing about them, you won't feel lost. Additionally, Jarmusch's stylistic directing, which splices archival footage, animation, and interviews with Pop, Scott Asheton, James Williamson, Mike Watt and more, keeps the film fresh during its nearly 2-hour runtime. Unlike many other rock orientated documentaries I never felt bogged down by information dumps or long drawn out salacious stories. There's no doubt that drugs and violence are explored in the documentary but thankfully they aren't the centerpiece. Instead, Jarmusch focuses on the band's humble yet freaked out origins and their ties to various art and social movements. 

It could be argued that the documentary glosses over some of the more controversial issues related to the band such as Pop's self-harm, Ron Asheton's sporting of Nazi regalia, and Pop's relationship with the famous underage groupie, Sable Starr. Perhaps Jarmusch felt that those topics had been explored well enough in other venues or maybe he sought to avoid controversy but either way it did feel like some aspects of the band were downplayed during the film. Although I don't think it overly detracted from the work as a whole, I would have liked to have heard more about these aspects of the group from Pop's own perspective.

Overall, the film is a solid glimpse into a band that was not only ahead of their time, but also went on to influence many other great bands despite finding little success during their early career. I highly recommend it.

That's about it for this week. Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm or through KUCR.org! If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

Pubs - The Lost Soul
Pagans - Baba Yaga
Fe-Fi-Four Plus 2 - I Wanna Come Back
Don Malena and The Dry Ice - Land of Summertime
The In Crowd - Why Must They Criticize
The Rebounds - Help Me
The Prodigal - Reality
The Denims - White Ship

Rocket to Stardom, Bob Yeakel, and Johnny Burnette's Success Through Stalking! Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Cherimoya"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM I kicked the show off with a fun instrumental by The Teen Rockers, a group that was comprised of some middle-school and high school aged kiddos from South Gate, CA. I won't delve too much into the history of the band but if you are interested in learning more about them check out this post, on a blog that goes by the name Doo-Wop, which was one of the few biographical sources I could find. 

During their brief existence, The Teen Rockers gained local popularity by performing at high school dances and by winning the televised competition show, Rocket to Stardom. For those of you who may not know, Rocket to Stardom was a talent show that ran on both KHJ-TV and KTTV-TV in Los Angeles and was similar to American Idol or America's Got Talent except with longer episodes more akin to international variety shows such as Sábado Gigante, or Wowowee. 

Background Image from Betty Yeakel's Matinee.

  

Rocket to Stardom was hosted by an Oldsmobile dealership owner, Bob Yeakel who was known for his outgoing personality and keen interest in entertainment and, from what I can gather from various comments, forums, and social media posts, was somewhat of an unusual cultural figure to the Los Angeles area and beyond. Unfortunately, in November of 1960, Yeakel died while piloting an aircraft, during a rainstorm, to his home in Indian Wells. According to a report in the Desert Sun, Yeakel's small passenger plane collided with power lines before eventually crashing into the San Bernardino freeway during evening rush hour traffic. Three passengers onboard the flight, including two of Yeakel's adopted children, and a motorist were also killed during the incident.

It seems that the show had a fairly weak or non-existent vetting process as critics and audiences alike were both entertained and sometimes bored by the shows contestants which ranged from decent to completely awful. In a Los Angeles Times article by Walter Ames, Ames stated that:

 "When Bob Yeakel first started his Rocket to Stardom marathon show some months back it was considered a freak show. In fact, Bob had to hustle to find talent to fill the all-night show."

Despite this, (or perhaps because of this) the show was extremely popular at the time and attracted a fair amount of artists and pranksters including: Duane Eddy, Phil Spector, and Lenny Bruce. For more information on the show check out this fun article by Steve Harvey for the LA Times that also talks about a similar program named Hollywood Opportunity and a few outrageous incidents which occurred during both shows' live broadcasts. If anyone out there has any copies of Yeakel's television shows I'd love to see them or work out some sort of digitization because the only surviving video I could find was some sort of a Christmas holiday special which doesn't seem to capture the same charm as Rocket to Stardom.

After The Teen Rockers you heard a tune by Johnny Burnette and The Rock N Roll Trio and I briefly mentioned that Burnette began working with Ricky Nelson after traveling to California in a last-ditch effort to find continued success in the music industry. In the June, 1961 issue of TV Radio Mirror, Burnette recalls how he came to California and bought a map of celebrity homes that included Ozzie and Harriet's house where he waited to for over an hour for the chance to speak with Ricky Nelson about a possible collaboration. According to Burnette, Ricky Nelson had heard Burnette's group before and the meeting eventually turned into an impromptu jam session in front on the Nelson home. Afterwards a deal was struck between the two artists which led to Nelson performing songs written by Burnette including: Just a Little Too Much and It's Late, the later of which has a subject matter that reminds me of George W. Bush's favorite song by the Everly Brothers Wake Up Little Susie. It's difficult to imagine a similar incident occurring today but in this case Burnette's stalking endeavor led him to success. 

Burnette as he appears in the TV Radio Mirror Article

 

 

Funnily enough, in the same article by Helen Bolstad, she explains how Burnette received one of his first recording contracts due to his appearances on a televised talent show named The Original Amateur Hour which was hosted by Ted Mack. Coincidentally, Los Locos Del Ritmo, who recorded the last song on this week's episode, had also gained popularity from performing on the same show. It's strange how sometimes unintentional patterns form when putting these shows together. Ah yes, serendipity.

That's about it for now folks! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm or through KUCR.org! If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

The Tigers - The Broken Earth
The Spiders - The Sad Sunset

Cover Albums, Cool Theaters, and a Happy New Year! Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Muskmelon"

Hello internet people! Did you have a good New Years? In case you hadn't noticed, there's been a slight change to the website. There was a little break for the holidays and I used that time to draw up a new little logo and switch some colors around. It's nothing major but it's fun to mix things up every once in a while. The new year has me filled with excitement for what's to come so I've been racking my brain to come up with some new content for y'all. 

For example, I've been trying out some ideas for possible Twitch DJ streams in the future but so far, I haven't hammered out all the details. I've spent days goofing around with the awesome open-source broadcasting program OBS and I amazed by how powerful it is. You can really do some neat experimental stuff with it and, even if you aren't interested in doing any sort of streaming, it's still a ton of fun and worth checking out. It sort of reminds me of making videos back in AV or Video Production classes when you were still in school, except with less VHS tapes and more creative freedom. Anywho, let's get into what you heard on this week's episode!

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM I spoke a little bit about a band named Black and Blues and how they're from Anderson, Indiana, a city that was formally known for their many Chrysler and General Motors plants. To many communities around the US, Anderson serves as an example of what other cities can do to survive the closure of major manufacturing hubs that leave behind vacant and outdated buildings while also taking away employment from most of the working class. Besides that, Anderson is also known for its university, many historical sites, thriving artistic community, and of course, The Paramount Theatre Center and Ballroom. The Paramount was one of many theaters designed by John Eberson, a prolific architect that was known for incorporating traditional design with highly operatic skylines featuring clouds projected on the ceilings via magic lanterns and stars created by high wattage lights. Eberson essentially created an architectural style of theaters which became known as atmospheric theaters. Although Eberson oversaw the construction of over a hundred theaters in the U.S. only around 50 are still open with even less still showing movies. The Paramount itself was almost demolished in the late eighties after it was left in disarray for around 4 years. Eventually a restoration project began after a local lawyer became interested in the theater after watching a television special hosted by Gene Kelly named The Movie Palaces. If you are interested in Eberson and atmospheric theaters in America I suggest you read David Naylor's American Picture Palaces : The Architecture of Fantasy. 

Have you ever been this customer?

Later in the show I played Sunny Cellophane Skies by the English rock band Status Quo and I mentioned how Teenage Fanclub's song The Concept opens with the lines: "She wears denim wherever she goes. Says she's gonna get some records by the status quo." I've always wondered if Teenage Fanclub was referencing the band or the general idea of a status quo and while I was researching the song I discovered that Death Cab for Cuties frontman, Benjamin Gibbard, had actually released an album that consisted entirely of covers of Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque. Covering an entire album may sound bizarre but it's actually a concept (hee hee) that I really dig and would like to see more of. The Flaming Lips had done something similar in 2013 with The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down... What a Sound which covers The Stone Roses self-titled album and in 2014 with an entire cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band titled With a Little Help from My Fwends. If you are into early '90s indie rock and you haven't checked out Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque you are really missing out on a classic. As I mentioned on the show, the album gives me feelings of nostalgia for a music scene which I never took part in. Be sure to at least check out their music video for The Concept which reminds me of the record store scenes in the '96 film Bandwagon which I talked about on the episode named Lychee. It's crazy seeing how independent record stores, to this day, still have similar aesthetics and I hope the trend continues for as long as possible (RIP The Mad Platter).

That's it for now! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm or through KUCR.org! If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

The Chevrons - Still In Love (With You)
Black and Blues - Bye Bye Baby
The Sands - Can't Find a Way
Früt of The Loom - One Hand In The Darkness
The Society - One Way Ride

Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Mustard Greens"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM I was feeling a little under the weather so I didn't speak much and let the music do the talking. Here's a quick breakdown of the things I mentioned on the show.

• First thing I talked about was a mysterious band named The Squires. The band name is fairly generic, which didn't help my research much, but I did find them on a 2007 compilation named So Cold!!! (Unearthed Mid 60s Sacramento Garage). If we trust the title of the compilation, I guess it's fairly safe to assume they are from Sacramento (I know. A brilliant observation on my part).  If the name sounds familiar you might be thinking of another band named The Squires which I played on the episode name "Jackfruit." They were from Bristol, Connecticut and the song I played is Go Ahead.
  
• The next band I spoke about was from Norwalk, CA and took their name from Link Wray's most popular song Rumble. The Rumblers released quite a few singles with Downey and Dot Records but a lot of their history is incomplete due to the fact that most of it was written on a fan-made Myspace profile and Myspace stupidly removed all blog posts back in 2013. That's not to say all is lost though because the band has an official Facebook page which occasionally posts about the band's history including a story where Dick Dale, during one of the band's sets at Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA, rode a skateboard across the stage.
• Later in the show you heard a song by Dino, Desi, & Billy which was comprised of Dean Martin's son Dino, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's son Desi, and their grade-school buddy Billy Hinsche who is also known for his work with the Beach Boys. Because the band was mostly made up of sons of famous recording artists, critics have argued that their success was due to the contributions of session musicians and studio songwriters. The fact that they were even signed to a major record label at all is often seen as a sign of nepotism rather than a reflection of the boy's talent. In an old biography on All Music, rock critic Richie Unterberger contends that: "bands like Dino, Desi & Billy took away valuable air time and sales from much better groups that really needed it, in an era in which chart considerations were much more vital to ensure an ongoing career." Take that as you will. For a little more insight into the group check out this old article with Billy Hinsche (who sadly passed away this year) on Classic Bands website.
  
• As the show went on you heard The Legends play their song Alright but the band's best known song is their cover of Gene Vincent's Say Mama which, to me, sounds heavily inspired by Buddy Holly. 

 

Some beautiful 90s special effects in Brooks and Dunn's Music video for My Maria

• And finally, I talked a little bit about The Plymouth Rockers, which was a band featuring brothers Daniel and Matthew Moore. Daniel had a few massive hits with his song Shambala, made popular by Three Dog Night, and a song he co-wrote with B. W. Stevenson, My Maria which I know from the 1996 version by Brooks and Dunn. As kids we heard the song practically non-stop on our local country radio station. You gotta love their cheese ball music video for the song!

That's about it folks! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm or through KUCR.org! If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

The Plymouth Rockers - Don't Say Why
Lords - She Belongs To Me

Let's Laugh at The Beatles - Beatles Novelty Records - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Cherry"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM I played a strange Beatles inspired song, I'll Let You Hold My Hand, by an all-female group named The Bootles. I say "an all-female group" but in reality, I couldn't find any real solid information on the group beyond photos from their singles and their appearance on the cover of Girls In The Garage: Volume 2.

The Bootles!

 

The band's gimmick appears to be that they wore wacky boots and if their sole single had been more successful, I'm sure their shtick would've been developed further. Imagine all the strange boots they could've worn! However, the world wasn't so lucky and the band fell into obscurity. What we do know is, their single was released on GNP Crescendo with the publisher credit being assigned to Neil Music Inc. The song itself was written by Chet De Milo and Mark Wiley who also worked together on the Eartha Kitt song No Second Chance, which appears to be difficult to track down as well. On the show I mentioned that I couldn't find any American releases of the single but upon further investigation I did find one listing on Discogs. Most versions of the single I found were released in Europe with covers that say something along the lines of the song being: "America's response to The Beatles." Of course, if you hadn't already figured it out, the song is a reference to The Beatles' biggest hit in America at the time, I Want To Hold Your Hand. If you'd like to dive deeper into De Milo's musical career I suggest you check out his unusual soft rock group Soft Soul Transition, aka SST (not to be confused with the another SST) and, since I mentioned Eartha Kitt, you should listen to her cover of one of my favorite Donovan songs Wear Your Love Like Heaven.

Continuing on with the Beatles theme, I had suggested during the show that you check out the compilation Beatlemaniacs!!!: The World Of Beatles Novelty Records which features a bunch of songs that attempted to cash in on Beatlemania. Most of the songs are fairly straightforward and honestly, a little forgettable, but it's a fun glimpse into The Beatles' massive cultural impact. My favorite track on the album is Link Wray's instrumental cover of Please Please Me, which is the only song on the album I could see myself listening to regularly. Probably because it's not really a novelty song. The other highlights of the album are The Fondettes The Beatles Are In Town, The Beatleettes Only Seventeen, Rainbo's John You Went Too Far This Time, and Terry Knight's Saint Paul. 

John You Went Too Far This Time is a stand out track on the album because its singer, Rainbo, is best known today as the actress Sissy Spacek (Carrie, JFK, The Help). Before acting, Spacek initially pursued a singing career which apparently died after this release. If you are familiar with Spacek's acting career you may have already heard her sing during her performance in the Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter. As for the song itself, well, it's quite a doozy. The song is strangely over produced with kitschy strings and horns behind lyrics that describe a young fan's infatuation with John Lennon. Eventually, the young fan explains how Lennon has gone "too far" as she reveals her disappointment over "that picture" which is probably a reference to the cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins.

Now I gaze in awe before that picture. 

My mind retires to the place it was before you came. 

I love the things you showed me up 'til now, John. 

But since that picture, I don't think my love will be the same.

At the time the cover sparked quite a bit of controversy due to its fully nude depiction of Lennon and Yoko. Famously, the cover was shipped with brown paper covers that censored the offending image and there were reports that shipments to New Jersey were ceased by authorities. 

 

The Beatles as seen in The Ten Commandments - Revisited by Max Brandel in Mad Magazine

 

Of course, Lennon had also previously caused controversy in the US after an interview where Lennon compared The Beatles' success to Christianity and Jesus' disciples. John You Went Too Far This Time alludes to this incident with the lyrics: "You were something special when you said, John, that you had more disciples than the man who was too green." I was surprised that hear that the incident was reduced to such a throwaway line but I guess the writers found genitals more offensive than blasphemy. Overall, the song feels a bit hokey and strangely prudish but it's definitely an interesting look into the social values some people held in the late '60s. 

I'll definitely be revisiting Beatles novelty songs in the future but for now I'd like to say thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm or through KUCR.org! If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In. 

Also, I'd like to give a special shout-out to the O.H. (original hippie) Hippie Harmonica Hal. Hal wrote in to share his appreciation of college radio and it really made my day. Thanks for the kind words, Hal!

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

Tasmanians - Baby

Del Shannon - Beyond Runaway - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Collard Greens"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM you heard a real groover by Del Shannon titled Move It Over. The song has a similar feel to Ray Charles's What I'd Say and Sir Douglas Quintet's She's About a Mover, so be sure to check it out if you dig those songs. 

Although most people know Shannon from his song Runaway, he had a fairly expansive discography which ranged from country to sunshine pop and soft rock. If you feel like taking a deep dive into Shannon's work, I suggest listening to his dreamy pop album Home and Away which flirts with psychedelia and sounds completely at odds with much of his earlier output. The story goes that Shannon was on tour in the UK when he met Andrew Loog Oldham, a producer that most famously worked with The Rolling Stones. Oldham had heard Shannon's cover of The Rolling Stone's Under My Thumb and liked it so much that he asked to produce an album for Shannon. A few singles from the session were released to disappointing sells figures, leading to the album being shelved for quite some time. One of the strangest, but most interesting, tracks on the album is a re-imagining of Shannon's top hit Runaway, this time titled Runaway '67.

If you'd like to continue your Del Shannon exploration, I'd suggest you also listen to Shannon's 1981 album Drop Down and Get Me which was produced by Tom Petty and features Petty's backing band The Heartbreakers. If you are a fan of Petty's, this album is especially worth listening to because many of the tracks sound like outtakes from Tom Petty and The Heartbreaker's own album Damn the Torpedoes, especially the title track Drop Down and Get Me and, another Rolling Stones cover, Out of Time. 

Shannon worked with Petty and The Heartbreakers again on his album Rock On! which features songs that I'd argue are written better than Drop Down but suffer from worse production values. Imagine Roy Orbison's 1989 album Mystery Girl but with worse sounding gated and compressed 80s drums. A particularly bad example is the opening track Walk Away where the drums sound like they were lifted straight from a Casio keyboard. Perhaps one day someone might be able to tweak the album and make it more palatable to modern ears but I doubt it.

Anywho, before I finish this post, I'd like to quickly suggest you check out the punk compilation Let Them Eat Jellybeans which features songs by DOA, Dead Kennedys, and Flipper. I briefly mentioned the compilation after you heard The Jelly Bean Bandits play their song Tapestries. The compilation has been out of print for some time now and features an alternative version of Black Flag's Police Story as well as some other rarely heard treats!

Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm or through KUCR.org! If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

The Sands - Open Your Eyes
The Chob - We're Pretty Quick
The T-Bones - Paint It Black
Crystal Chandelier - Setting of Despair

Food Rock Radio Special - The Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM was based on everyone's favorite essential aspect of life... FOOD! Yes, every song you heard on this episode was based on, or related to food, even the background songs. 

I didn't speak too much on this episode but I did mention a few things about potatoes (then again, when am I NOT talking about potatoes). 

Did you know that Americans eat over 115 pounds of potatoes a year with most of those potatoes enjoyed as French fries and potato chips? Speaking of French fries, there are arguments about whether or not France or Belgium can claim to be the origin of the salty side dish which is ironic because at one time France actually banned potatoes over fears that the vegetable could cause leprosy. 

One of my favorite ways to prepare potatoes is by mashing them but mashed potatoes are actually a younger dish than I had imagined. The timeless classic was first documented in the 18th-century by an English writer named Hannah Glasse in her book: The Virginia Housewife: Or Methodical Cook. If you aren't accustomed to reading old recipes you'll notice how simple Glasse's directions are compared to the sorts of modern recipes you may be used to:

POTATOES MASHED.

 
When the potatoes are thoroughly boiled, drain and dry them perfectly, pick out every speck, and rub them through a colander into a clean stew-pan; to a pound of potatoes put half an ounce of butter, and a tablespoonful of milk; do not make them too moist; mix them well together. When the potatoes are get- ting old and specked, and in frosty weather, this is the best way of dressing them you may put them into shapes, touch them over with yelk of egg, and brown them very slightly before a slow fire.

 

And for my final potato fact, I had mentioned that the stacked potato-based product, Pringles, aren't considered potato chips due to the way they are constructed by using a sort of potato dough. At first Pringles were marketed as "Newfangled Potato Chips" before other potato chip manufacturers argued that the potato chip term should only be applied to sliced potatoes with the FDA eventually making a similar distinction. In the year 2007, Procter & Gamble (the previous makers of Pringles) embraced their non-potato chip distinction when they argued in British courts that Pringles should not be classified as chips in order to avoid a tax known as a value added tax (VAT). You gotta love those silly global corporations! Funny enough, I think this episode had more potato facts than my episode named Potato. Check out that episode's playlist here.

As for the other foods I talked about, I spoke about a few candies such as the gum drop, which has a convoluted and mysterious history and the discontinued Altoids Sour Tangerine. I used to love Sour Tangerine Altoids and, like a lot of other people, I had assumed the candy would be around forever. Old expired cans can fetch a pretty penny on the used market but there is a company in Tallahassee, FL named Lofty Pursuits which has reversed engineered the candy and developed a small-scale approach to recreating the treat. If that's the sort of thing you are into, then you can follow along as the company documents their manufacturing process on their YouTube channel. It's really neat watching the process evolve over time as the product becomes commercially available.

Anywho, thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm or through KUCR.org! If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

The Gum Drops - Gum Drop
Sixth Day Creation - Cherry Pie
Shadow Casters - Cinnamon Snowflake
Johnny Cymbal - Marshmellow

The backing tracks used in this episode were:

  Intruders - Fried Eggs
Dick Dale and His Del-tones - Taco Wagon
The Ventures - Green Onions
Beachcombers - Purple Peanuts

Alice Cooper, Dalí, Mushrooms, and Garage Rock Tunes - The Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Clementine"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM I was having one of those nights where my brain was bouncing all over the place. Perhaps my mind is twisted from this unusual weather with temperatures still in the mid to high 80s or maybe I'm still trying to cope with the fact that another Halloween season has come and gone and all I got was a bag full of rocks. Either way, let's take those rocks and roll into the topics I covered on this episode (please don't hate me).

The first thing I blabbed on about were two of my favorite mushrooms, which I call my favorite purely for their unusual beauty. The conversation about mushrooms came up because the first song of the night was Hugh Barrett's cover of Terry Noland's song There Was a Fungus Among Us. While I think Noland's version is worth checking out too, I prefer Barrett's cover because it has a grittier edge which I think suits the topic of the song a little better.

Photo by Darvin DeShazer from Mushroom Observer

Anywho, the first mushroom is known by many names with Bleeding Tooth being the most descriptive. When the fungus is immature it has the appearance of used chewing gum with indentations that hold onto a red liquid that is reminiscent of jelly or blood. Despite the spooky name and unappetizing nature, the mushroom is non-toxic and actually contains Atromentin which is known for it's antibacterial and blood thinning properties. I won't pretend that I know how the Atromentin is extracted from the fungus but I doubt you should go around eating them for any sort of medicinal reasons, especially since the mushroom is known for having an extremely bitter taste. 

Basket Stinkhorn

Secondly, I mentioned the foul-smelling Basket Stinkhorn which has an egg-like appearance until it matures into a strange geometric shape that reminds me of chicken feet from heck. Unlike the Bleeding Tooth, a mature Basket Stinkhorn isn't considered harmless although flies certainly love it, which most definitely means that even if you can get past the awful smell, eating a mature Stinkhorn is probably a big no-no.

 

Portrait of Alice Cooper's Brain as seen in this video

As the show continued, I played a song by a Phoenix, Arizona garage rock band named Spiders who were previously known as The Earwigs but more famously transformed into Alice Cooper. There's plenty of things to say about Alice Cooper, both the band and the man (they both share the same name), but what I chose to focus on in this episode was the time Salvador Dalí teamed up with Alice Cooper (the man) for an unusual portrait. In 1971 Dalí was contacted by an artist/businessman named Selwyn Lissack about the possibility of Dalí exploring the field of holography. Dalí eventually collaborated with Lissack and his crew by creating a series of holograms including a holographic cylinder which featured a portrait of Alice Cooper sitting down while holding a modified statuette of Venus de Milo, complete with his signature makeup and an assortment of expensive jewelry. Although the audio is a little spotty, you can hear Cooper recall the portrait during a Q&A session at The Dalí Museum back in 2013. 

Finally, to round out this post I'll quickly go over some other random things I touched upon throughout the show. You heard The Palace Guard's song Oh Blue (The Way I Feel Tonight) and I mentioned that they were from the L.A. suburb Hawthorne, which was also the hometown of both The Beach Boys and Tyler The Creator. Another song I played was The Scots of St. James' Tic Toc which led me to recommend a short story by Harlan Ellison named "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman. You heard a fun tune by The Rats, who were a garage rock group from Akron, Ohio which some call the home of the hamburger due to claims by Frank and Charles Menches that they originated the staple American classic at Akron's 1892 Summit County Fair. However, Akron is probably most famous for their vast rubber production and their minor league baseball team, the RubberDucks. Lastly, you heard a song by The Nashville Teens who were surprisingly from a town in Surrey, England named Weybridge. Weybridge has a lovely bus museum nearby (The London Bus Museum) which features a wide variety of buses over the span of 150 years. From everything I've seen online, it sort of reminds me of the Southern California Railway Museum in Perris, CA, which I highly recommend if you are in the Riverside area.

Thanks for tuning in! Remember, you can listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM or through KUCR.org every Saturday at 9pm. If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

You can hear this episode's playlist below:

 

Hugh Barrett - There Was A Fungus Among Us
The Palace Guard - Oh Blue (The Way I Feel Tonight)
The Systems - Su un'altra terra
The Roosters - She Sends Me 
The Mummies - Your Love
Thee Headcoatees - Davey Crockett

Halloween Radio Special - 50s-70s Rock and Roll, Garage, and Novelty Songs

This Sunday at midnight on KUCR 88.3 FM is the Hippie Love Turbo Halloween Special! Be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM or through KUCR.org. If you'd like, you can also listen to KUCR through Radio Garden or Tune-In.

Just like last year's Halloween Special, I kept the talking to a minimum so we can all just enjoy the creepy tunes, however, that's not to say I didn't speak just a little. 

The first song on this episode is Gary Paxton's Spooky Movies and I mentioned that country guitar shredder, Roy Clark, performed his own version of Spooky Movies in 1963. Fans of Stranger Things might recognize Paxton's version from the first episode of the second season of Stranger Things. 

Later in the episode there's a rare song by The Daringers called The Morgus Creep and, Although the band was around for a few years, The Daringers only recorded one single which happened to be with a television horror host, Morgus the Magnificent. The band remained fairly unknown throughout the years until another blogger and radio host named Hunter King spoke with The Daringers' drummer. A couple years after the single's release Morgus starred in a somewhat obscure full length movie named The Wacky World of Dr Morgus.

And finally, towards the halfway point of the show I spoke about the Winchester Mystery House which is located in San Jose, California. The house is known for its unusual architecture which includes a door to nowhere, staircases that lead to dead ends, and various other peculiarities. The myth goes that the house was built to confuse ghosts and spirits that haunted the estate's owner, Sarah Winchester. Mrs.Winchester's husband, William Winchester, was the man behind some of the most popular rifles ever produced and Sarah was supposedly convinced that the spirits of those that were killed by Winchester's rifles would haunt her if she didn't expand and renovate her mansion. Much of the house's history has been embellished over the years so sometimes it's hard to separate the facts from the fiction. Regardless, many have claimed that they've seen apparitions at the mansion and such stories, along with various works of fiction, have added to the home's mystique.

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

 

The Bells Of Rhymny - The Wicked Old Witch 

 And below are the songs used as backing tracks during the speaking bits:

The Skeltons - Terror
Henry Mancini - Experiment in Terror
Pat and the Wildcats - The Giggler
The Ventures - Fear