Charlie Booth, Larry Williams, and A New Way To Listen To The Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Golden Lotus Banana"

Before we dive into this episode's summary, I'd like to tell y'all about a new feature on KUCR's website where you can listen to certain programs on demand. If you aren't able to tune into Hippie Love Turbo live then checking out the online archive is pretty much the only legal way to listen to the show. It's really simple and convenient! Just click the "All shows" drop-down menu and find "Hippie Love Turbo" or use the search function and you'll find some of the latest episodes that were played on air. Unfortunately, due to copyright issues, the episodes can only stay online for a limited time so be sure to listen while you can! 

Anyway, for this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM, we bounced around genres a bit more than usual with songs ranging from rockabilly to psych. It was a ton of fun finding music for this episode and sometimes it feels good to mix things up!

The first song you heard on this episode was a single by Charlie Booth and The Blue Velvets named Gonna Find Some Lovin'. The flipside of the record, Fishin' Fits, is definitely the weaker track of the two but it still has some charm. Gonna Find Some Lovin' is one of the few Charlie Booth tracks that's easy to find due to its availability on compilations. For the most part, Booth's music is somewhat difficult to find and while Booth didn't release a lot of tracks using his own name, he did run a label named Golden Eagle which put out some rock, blues, and soul records from '62 to '68. Collectables, a reissue label from Pennsylvania, released a compilation featuring Golden Eagle artists, however, it focuses on the label's blue releases and skips some of Golden Eagle's rock releases such as Vance Charles and The Sonics, Thomas Hammond, Reed Williams, and The El Campo Jades. Hopefully, one day someone will get the rights to release Golden Eagle's complete discography.

Next up you heard Larry Williams perform Short Fat Fannie and I mentioned how Williams was an influence on many beat bands including The Beatles who recorded covers of Williams' tracks Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Slow Down, and Bad Boy. Williams is often compared to Little Richard due to their close friendship and how Williams saw a boost in promotion after Little Richard stepped away from music in the late 50s to begin preaching. Around this time Specialty Records began to polish Williams' image in hopes of generating the same success they had with Little Richard and in some ways, they achieved their goal. All Music has a general biography on Williams which dives into some of his problems with addiction and his struggles to stay relevant over the years. Towards the end of his life, Williams released a funk/disco album titled That Larry Williams that didn't quite live up to the hype of his earlier releases and featured a reworked version of his song Bony Maronie. 

Speaking of reworked songs, I also mentioned that the final artist on this episode, Big Maybelle, released a cover of Question Mark and the Mysterians' 96 Tears that successfully transitions the song into a soul banger. I'll definitely be adding it to a future episode, so keep a look out for that!

And that's about it for this episode's rundown! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

You can check out this week's playlist below:

 

Louie and The Fat Men - Fat Man
Research 1-6-12 - I Don't Walk There No More
The Spirits - So Sad
The Solid State - Wait and See

Orgin of The Googly Eye - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "King Coconut"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM I played The Nashville Teens' cover of the John D. Loudermilk song Google Eye which made me wonder about the term Googly Eye and where it came from. Before we get into that though, I'd like to point out that the song is actually referring to a fish, which I think is maybe a Rock Bass but to be honest I'm not too sure.

Anywho, when I first read the song's title, I thought of those little plastic pill shaped eyes that rattle around when you shake them. The kind of thing that you'd glue to puff balls or cardboard tubes as a child. If you are anything like me you've seen them throughout your life but you've never really thought about their origin and, disappointingly, as while researching Googly Eyes I found that their history is mostly lost to time.

From everything that I've read, the term Googly Eye comes from an American comic strip by Billy DeBeck named Barney Google and Snuffy Smith or rather a 1923 song named Barney Google (with the Goo-Goo-Googly Eyes) that was preformed by Ernest Hare and Billy Jones and found inspiration from the comic strip. Over the years Barney and Snuffy have been seen in comics, live action films, as well as a few cartoon series. I also found that there is a type of doll that predates DeBeck's strip that are known as googly-eyed dolls. I don't know if the googly-eyed name was used during the initial production of the dolls or if the name became popular after DeBeck's comic strip because there appears to be conflicting accounts. 

However, as I continued my research, I found an even older example of "googly eyes" in the Los Angeles Herald from November 1906. The article reads:

Googly eyes, made by Henry Dusso at a young woman escorted by A. Ayllllo, 1409 South Main street, at Ord and New High streets, were the direct cause of a pair of black eyes which Pusso will wear when he appears in Police court this morning.

From everything that I've read, googly-eyed dolls came out around 1910 and even Kewpie dolls which could be considered a version of a googly-eyed doll, weren't conceived until 1909. The way the newspaper article uses the term "googly eyes" makes it appear as if the term was already used in normal conversation, so although it's the earliest use of the phrase that I could find it's most likely not the first time the words were used. If anyone can find an earlier usage of the term "googly eyes" I'd love to see it.

Besides talking about google eyes, I also mentioned how jeans from the 19th century are occasionally found in abandoned mines and how they can be sold at auction for some hefty prices. Of course, the reason I brought up blues jeans is because you heard a British band that's best known for their version of Hippy Hippy Shake, The Swinging Blue Jeans, play their song Make Me Know You're Mine.

And that's it for this episode! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Sundays at midnight, or on Mondays at 10pm PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In.

You can listen to this episode's playlist below:

 

The Aardvarks - I'm Higher Than I'm Down
Steve Carpenter - Am I Lost
The Pastels - Cause I Love You
Yvonne Přenosilová - When My Baby Cries

Liberty Bells and London Fashion - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Yard-Long Beans"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM we kicked the show off with a group from London known as The Carnaby. As I mentioned during the show, the band had ties to the street fashion scene in Carnaby Street and at one time were promoted by Gordon Mills who is known as the former manager of Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Gilbert O'Sullivan. 

At first the group was known for playing American influenced R&B before Mills convinced them to lean more towards the Mod sound which was popular in Carnaby Street. If you aren't aware, Carnaby Street served as a cultural hub for mods and hippies and it wasn't uncommon to see pop singers or members of various bands leisurely strolling around its fashionable shops. If you want to get a feel for how influential Carnaby Street was on 1960s fashion, I suggest checking out this short video about the time Barry Gibb was given a fashion award at John Stephen's (aka The King Of Carnaby Street) shop. Additionally, you can read more about the band, The Carnaby, on their official website.

As the show continued you heard another group known as State of Mind, from New Castle, Delaware. The best summary of the band's history is on the website Garage Hangover with my favorite part being the story behind the band's final performance. According to former member Paul Murtagh, following the departure of the singer and bassist, the remaining members chose to go forward with another gig even as their newest members weren't able to properly learn the material beforehand. Due to the new member's lack of practice, the band chose to lip-sync to their record rather than play live. It seems that the gig was a disaster because the group decided to stop performing soon afterwards. The situation sounds so silly yet relatable, especially when you consider how old the band members were at the time.

Liberty Bell Replica in Hemet, CA

 

Towards the latter half of the episode, you heard The Liberty Bells play their song Recognition which reminded me of something from my youth. I may have mentioned this before on another episode, but when I was a kid, I used to occasionally pass a Liberty Bell replica that sits in front of a Realtor's office in Hemet, California. It always seemed somewhat out of place but the story goes that the bell was commissioned during America's bicentennial. The replica was made in France and was featured in many local parades as it was pulled by miniature ponies on a custom-made cart. If you are ever in East Hemet you should try to find it. Currently it sits inside a plexiglass case. 

Interestingly enough, the actual Liberty Bell did reach the Inland Empire at one point in 1915 but it didn't quite make it to Hemet. Instead, the bell stopped in Colton during a Southern Pacific tour used to promote the rail line. Thousands of children from local schools stopped by to see the bell with the sounds of cannons, muskets, and whistles filling the air.

Well folks, that's about it for this episode's rundown! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

You can check out this week's playlist below:

 

State of Mind - Move
Dee and Tee - Something's Comin'
The Flares - Forever
Flat Earth Society - Feelin' Much Better
Emy Jackson and The Blue Comets - Namida No Go Go

Raking the Moon? That's Cool - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Golden Berry"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM  started with a series of garage rock tunes that you could shake your hips to before we slowed things down with some moody psych tracks. It's those hills and valleys, highs and lows, that keep this show rocking.

While we were on one of those "hills" you heard The Street Cleaners perform one of my favorite garage rock classics, That's Cool, That's Trash. If you are like me, you are probably more familiar with the Kingsmen version of the song, however, The Street Cleaners are actually the originators of the song. Of course, like a lot of other "bands" The Street Cleaners were just one of many pseudonyms used by the writing duo P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. In fact, you might recognize another track by one of their "bands" The Fantastic Baggys titled Tell 'Em I'm Surfin' which was covered by Jan and Dean. 

The two songwriters started recording at a fairly young age with Sloan's first recording being sold while he was only 13. Though the two were both prolific, Sloan is more renowned due to his matured songwriting in the mid '60s with songs such as Eve of Destruction. If you are interested in reading more about Sloan and Barri check out this retrospective from NPR's Fresh Air and this LA Times article on Sloan's passing in 2015.

As the show continued you heard The Moon Rakers perform their Beatles-esque song You'll Come Back. Originally, the band was known as The Surfin' Classics, then The Classics, until they added another member that played a Wurlitzer piano, which was highly unusual for garage rock bands. The band's name comes from the 1955 Ian Flemming book Moonraker, however, nowadays people are more familiar with the 1979 film which came out during the resurgence of space themed science fiction caused by the popularity of Star Wars. Funny enough, the movie led to a novelization by Christopher Wood, titled: James Bond and Moonraker. So, if you are keeping track, there's 3 different works of fiction using the Moonraker name. The original novel, a movie based on the novel, and a novel based on the movie which is based on another novel. Funny stuff.

And quickly I'll mention that you heard Nancy Holloway perform Tu N'es Pas Venu which is a cover of a Wanda Jackson's Whirlpool. Although I said I'll play Jackson's version of the song in a future episode I thought it'd be a good idea to link to it now for those that don't feel like waiting around to hear it.

Well folks, that's about it for this episode's rundown! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

You can check out this week's playlist below:

 

The Street Cleaners - That's Cool, That's Trash
The Implicits - Give Me Justice
The Valli Boys - Night Hawk
Sharks and Me - Busses
The Moon Rakers - You'll Come Back
The Baroques - Mary Jane
The Snap Shots - You Made A Big Mistake
Nancy Holloway - Tu N'es Pas Venu
Wayne Dailey - Pain And Sorrow

Japanese Garage Sounds, David Bowie and The Shadows Four! - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Salsify"

On this episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM  we drifted around the world of rock and roll in a vibrantly colored balloon. You heard freakbeat from Japan, garage from Canada and some psych from the UK. It was fun and I'm sure you loved it.

There were two Japanese songs on this episode with the first by The Dynamites, a group from a residential area in Tokyo named Asagaya. Originally the band performed at local clubs and US military bases as The Monsters before they changed their name sometime around 1967. According to various online sources, The Dynamites was one of several names presented to the group once they signed were signed to Victor Japan. The band was fairly short lived and ultimately only had one hit song, Tunnel Tengoku or Tunnel to Heaven, however, lead guitarist Fujio Yamaguchi continued his musical career for decades after The Dynamites' breakup. One of his more successful ventures was with a band named Teardrops which mostly played hard rock or southern blues influenced rock but also had a few tracks that flirted with reggae. There's a bunch of videos floating around with Yamaguchi playing guitar and singing at various clubs in Japan but this televised performance perfectly highlights his American influences and energetic playing style. If you can get a hold of it, there's a documentary about Yamaguchi's final performances named "皆殺しのバラード."

Additionally, lead singer Hiroshi Segawa, briefly sang in a band he helped form, named The New Dynamites, which doesn't appear to have released any recordings or at least any that I could find. However, I did manage to track down Segawa's solo album titled Pierrot which features an unusual mix between psych, country, and southern rock. The whole album feels like it could be on the soundtrack of some old American International Pictures film. The cover is also fairly bizarre with a blurry closeup of what appears to be Segawa in clown makeup. Strange stuff.

The other Japanese track you heard was Asamade Matani by The Mops with lyrics written by Yu Aku. During the show I mentioned the song was covered by Carmen Maki and how, much like Yamaguchi, Maki branched out to hard rock later in her career. If you want to check out how much Maki's work changed over the years, compare her sleepy pop songs like Town of Orphans to her late 70s work on the album Night Stalker which features Carmine Appice on drums and Earl Slick on guitar. More recently her song Tokiniwa Hahano Naikono Yoni appeared in Brad Pitt's Bullet Train (2022).

As the show continued you heard an obscure song by The Shadows Four named: I'm Begging You. There's hardly any information about the group online and what little I was able to find came from the liner notes of The New England Teen Scene, a garage rock compilation from 1983. According to the compilation, The Shadows Four were a house band for a venue named Shoreside 17 in Braintree, Massachusetts. I did find one tiny reference to Shoreside 17 in an old Melrose High School yearbook where a student mentions she'll never forget the venue before she explains how she likes to spend her free time going to dances and "Friendly's". As the liner notes continue it explains how the members of The Shadow Four also won the 1966 American Federation Award for musicians. Not sure what that means but it sure sounds fantastic. Good job guys!

Finally, towards the end of the show you heard You've Got a Habit Of Leaving by Davy Jones and The Lower Third. The original single omits the band's name but it reappears on various reissues. This Davy Jones, not to be confused with Davy Jones of The Monkees, eventually became known by a more famous name: David Bowie. In the year 2000, Bowie re-recorded You've Got a Habit Of Leaving with guitar work by a guitarist we mentioned earlier in this post, Earl Slick. For two decades the re-recording only existed in bootleg form until it saw an official release in 2021 on Bowie's posthumously released album Toy. I guess you could view the song as a bookend to Bowie's musical beginnings and his final works.

Anywho, that's about it for this episode's rundown! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

You can check out this week's playlist below:

 

The Shifters - Well Alright
Tony and The Bandits - It's A Bit of Alright
Peppermint Circus - Keeping My Head Above Water
The Move - Cherry Blossom Clinic (Peel Session Version)

Carol Fran, Hound Dog Taylor, The Purple Barrier and Hippie Love Truck? Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Lotus Root"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM kicked off with a set of rhythm and blues and blues inspired rock. I don't dip my toes into the blues too much because I'm not much of an expert in that field but since rhythm and blues is the foundation of early rock and roll, I can always find a way to squeeze some into the show.

The first song of the night was a soul blues banger by Carol Fran titled I'm Gonna Try. Perhaps you know Carol Fran from her cover of Darrell Glenn's Crying In The Chapel, then again, you probably don't know Fran's version, as it was unfortunately overshadowed by Elvis' cover that was released soon after. Humorously, Fran eventually confronted Elvis over his use of Crying In The Chapel which lead to Elvis cutting her a hefty check right then and there. If you liked I'm Gonna Try, I'd suggest checking out more of Fran's early singles as they are some of her best works. Some of her greats include: Emmett Lee, Knock Knock, and One More Chance.

As the show continued, I dropped a few tidbits of info about various subjects but I didn't really get too in depth with anything. For example, I mentioned Hound Dog Taylor's extra fingers and how he may have removed one during a night of heavy drinking but upon reflection, I realize that shouldn't steal the spotlight from Taylor's interesting approaches to music and love of cheap guitars. There's a great article on Premier Guitar which explores Taylor's history and gets into some of the ways he achieved his signature sound.

After you heard The Turtles' Buzzsaw I talked about the differences between turtles and tortoises and how last year there was some hubbub about videos which depicted turtles and tortoises being "rescued" from various hazards which, when watched with a critical eye, appear to be total fabrications. You can read a little about the situation here and watch some video analysis by DanTheTurtleMan. In his videos, Dan explores some examples of these bizarre turtle abuse videos and how they often receive praise from uninformed viewers.

And finally, I spoke about The Purple Barrier, a group from Fulham, London, that eventually dropped the Purple from their name and unknowingly had a single recorded by session musicians while they were away on tour. According to the blog Cosmic Minds At Play, the phony tracks are on the Phillips singles for The Tide is Turning and A Place In Your Heart which have been hard to track down. Probably for a good reason.

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

You can check out this week's playlist below:

 

The Sound Track - Face the New Day
Mechanical Switch - Spongeman
The Beaux Jens - She Was Mine

San Bernardino's The Good Feelins and The Pattens - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Cassava"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM had some more obscure stuff as I've been finding myself getting lost in some out-of-print compilations and oddball bootlegs. As a result, a lot of tracks that you heard on this episode aren't on Spotify but that's just how it goes.

Speaking of obscure, one of the first bands you heard on this episode was The Good Feelins from San Bernardino. The group only released a couple singles, one under the name The Genteels, before their career was cut short due to members being drafted into the Vietnam war. In fact, they began playing with bigger acts such as The Animals and Rolling Stones as they secured a recording contract through Liberty Records and were even predicted to reach the Hot Top 100 by Billboard. 

On various compilations the group's name has been slightly altered, which adds to the band's mystery. For example, the track you heard on this episode, I'm Captured, was found on the compilation Who Needs Tomorrow? American 60s Garage Bands, which lists the group as "Good Feeling". While that may not seem like a big deal, when you are dealing with garage rock bands, sometimes even a misplaced apostrophe can mark the difference between two bands. 

Additionally, I think it's important to point out that The Good Feelins official website mentions the band's San Bernardino roots. I've seen a few websites refer to The Good Feelins as a Riverside band and to some people that distinction, although minor, would probably be appreciated. Most of the members knew each other from San Bernardino Valley College with the exception being their drummer, Mike Kravitz, who was only 17 at the time and still attending Pacific High School. You can read some contemporaneous articles about the band on their website which was difficult to find due to some dead links. 

As the show continued you heard The Pattens song You Should Know and I mentioned that there are some arguments to be made over who actually wrote the song with a Chicago based band, The Escavels claiming to be the song's originators. The Escavels' version was recorded a year prior to The Pattens version but was never released to the public until 2012. As noted by the blog A Bit Like You and Me, The Pattens B-side Jump is a cover of The Toggery Five's I'm Gonna Jump with the song's credits listed as Ren Shawel instead of the actual name of the songwriter Frank Renshaw. Whether or not there was plagiarism involved or simply mishandled credits is hard to say and we'll probably never know the whole story. However, it's fairly obvious that The Pattens versions are produced fairly well and I'm sure they would have gotten into some legal trouble if their single was more successful.

Anywho, there wasn't a ton of talking on this episode so I'll wrap it up here. Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

You can check out this week's playlist below:

 

The First Garrison - Mama Say Blue
The Leather Boy - Soulin'
The American Four - Soul Food
The MidKnights - Pain
The Muffets - Lost
The Pattens - You Should Know
Glory Rhodes - Stay Out Of My Way

The Dirt Merchants, Bradley's Barn and Other Obscure Garage Rock! - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Seakale"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM featured a bunch of bands that aren't on Spotify so I had to dig a little deeper than usual to provide a playlist but luckily there are plenty of fine people on YouTube that are willing to share some of their collections.

Towards the beginning of the show, you heard The Dirt Merchants perform their song Do What You Wanta Do which appears as a B-side on their only release from 1966. The A-side is a song named I Found Another Girl which shares a lot of similarities to The Nightcrawlers' song The Little Black Egg. And by saying it shares a lot of similarities I mean, it's practically the same song, even down to the basslines with the differences coming from the lyrics and the chords used in the refrain. Perhaps someone was banking on the popularity of The Little Black Egg to rub off on The Dirt Merchants single, however, I would argue that the B-side is the stronger song of the two and would have made a better A-side. Unfortunately, both of the songs suffer from fairly generic lyrics along the lines of the typical "you did me wrong" song. If you are having a little déjà vu it might be because I recently wrote about The Little Black Egg on the episode Mizuna.

There were at least two different bands with The Dirt Merchants name and because there's little information on either band, it's easy to get them mixed up. The Dirt Merchants from this post appear to have been from Yazoo City, MS and featured Jack Phillips, Ricky Pettigrew (mislabeled R. Pettigraw on the single), John Brister, Kenny Waldop, and Charles Jackson. Jack Phillips, the singer of The Dirt Merchants (MS), continued to play music in various groups over the years with his most recent band being The Remnants until his passing on May 3, 2021. 

More information can be gleamed from the comment section of a Garage Hangover blog post about the Florida based Dirt Merchants. A commenter that identifies himself as Ricky Pettigrew's son states that The Dirt Merchants (MS) won a Battle of the Bands in New Orleans which awarded them a recording session at what he believes to have been Bradley's Barn. This is mostly likely how the band recorded their only single since it appears that they never had a record contract. Besides that, I haven't been able to find any other information on the group.

The name Bradley's Barn may be familiar to you because it's also the title of The Beau Brummels' fifth album which takes its name from the studio. It's a bit different from the band's earlier releases but it's worth listening to if you want to hear early releases in the country rock genre. There were a ton of great albums recorded at Bradley's Barn before it burned down in 1982 due to a florescent light's faulty electrical connection. Unfortunately many irreplaceable masters were completely destroyed in the fire. Eventually, I'd like the dive deeper into the history of Bradley's Barn, however, until then you can check out the Barn's official Facebook page.

Now I'll quickly go over some of the other topics I covered on this episode!

Following The Dirt Merchants, you heard a track by The Satans named Makin' Deals. There's a post on a blog named On The Flip-Side that makes a pretty solid argument that the group was probably just another studio project and that The Satans probably never existed in the true sense of a band. On The Flip-Side also makes a connection to biker exploitation soundtracks and points out how the B-side, Lines And Squares, swipes lyrics from an A.A. Milne poem with the same name. The poem features "satanic" lines such as: 

The sillies who tread on the lines of the street
Go back to their lairs,
And I say to them, "Bears,
Just look how I'm walking in all the squares!"

Later in the show you heard The Interns track I've Got Something To Say and I spoke a little about how the single suffered from mistakes during its production. Additionally, I touched on a little history of the band's hometown Uniontown, OH that's just outside of Akron, OH and is known for its proximity to a Superfund site.

That's about it for this episode! Be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

You can check out this episode's playlist below:

 

The Catsanovas - I Want To Be Loved
The Dirt Merchants - Do What You Wanta Do
Half Pint And The Fifths - Orphan Boy
The Interns - I've Got Something To Say
The Madd, Inc. - I'll Be The One
Freedom Five - To Save My Soul
The Troyes - Rainbow Chaser
The Casuals Incorporated - I Realize
The Nite Watchmen - I'm Gonna Lose My Mind

Christmas Radio Special! - 50s-70s Rock and Roll, Rockabilly, and Novelty Songs

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM was a Christmas special! There were lots of songs about Santa and staying festive. In fact, this episode has one of my highest track counts with almost 30 songs in an hour! I kept the talking to a minimum so you can put it on in the background for that last minute gift wrapping session. If you are feeling crafty, check out this folding box pattern I made back in 2020. It features one of my favorite bizarre Christmas decorations.

Be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

Have a happy holidays and if you missed the show you can check out the playlist below!

 

Ron Holden and The Thunderbirds - Who Say There Ain't No Santa Claus
Rumbles Ltd - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
The Ping Pongs - I Don't Wanna Wait Till Christmas

The Everly Brothers Flirt With Psych and The Cars Cover The Nightcrawlers - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Mizuna"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM was light with the dialogue but heavy in the tunes. Most of the songs were moodier than usual or featured more pop orientated psych flavorings, which I find nice as the wind rages and the temperatures cool.

At some point during the show, you heard The Everly Brothers cover of The Spencer Davis Group's Somebody Help Me, which was first released on their album Two Yanks in England. Between the two versions I prefer The Everly Brothers' version as it's one of the few moments the Brothers got close to making something that resembled a psychedelic song. Other songs of theirs that flirted with psychedelia include: the sunshine pop sounding Talking To The Flowers, baroque pop influenced June Is As Cold As December, A Voice Within, Mary Jane, and the bluesier You Got The Power Of Love and The Price of Love. Out of all their albums, The Everly Brothers Sing has their most psyched out songs before they began their country rock phase. During this time, it seemed that rock artists from the '50s were struggling to find new sounds to fit in with the changing musical landscapes. We've looked at a couple examples before with Del Shannon and Chuck Berry's Bound To Lose from his album San Francisco Dues, as heard on the episode Sapote.

Two Yanks in England heavily featured The Hollies as the album's backing band, which obviously influenced the albums direction towards a beat sound, which the Everly Brothers appeared to be fond of when you look at their previous album Beat 'N' Soul. Of course, The Hollies are best known for their song Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress), however, at time that they recorded Two Yanks in England the band was mostly known for their beat covers of popular songs such as: The Coasters' Searchin', Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' Stay, and Doris Troy's Just One Look. Supposedly, Two Yanks also featured an uncredited Jimmy Page but it seems like every album recorded in England in the late '60s is claimed to have been graced by Page's presence. You can read more about this album's inception here.

As the show continued you heard The Nightcrawlers' The Little Black Egg which I mentioned was covered by The Cars for their 1981 album Shake It Up. The cover was dropped from the original release but appeared, with new lead vocals, on Bebe Buell's ep Covers Girl and later on The Car's 2018 re-releases. It's interesting comparing the two versions because, although the music is identical, Ocasek's voice brings the right amount of rocking weirdness to match the stripped-down new wave sound as opposed to Buell's more theatrical wailing.

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 PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

You can also check out this week's playlist below:

 

The House Of Commons - Why I Worry About You
The Princetons - You're My Love
The Bristols - She's Gone Away

Mini Skirts, Mocking Hippies, and Yūzō Kayama - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Sunchoke"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM started with a cover of The Kinks' All Day and All of The Night as performed by The Knickerbockers. You've heard The Knickerbockers cover another song, The Kingsmen's Jolly Green Giant, on the episode Apricot and if you take a look at their catalogue, most of their songs are covers, with the one major exception being their hit single Lies which could easily be mistaken for a Beatles B-side. 

The group formed in Bergenfield, New Jersey which has consistently been rated as one of the safest cities in the U.S. If that's not exciting enough for you, Bergenfield is also known for being the town where George Gately spent his youth. Gately was a cartoonist that's best known for his comic strip Heathcliff aka the other orange cat that's not Garfield. Around the time The Knickerbockers formed, Gately was kicking off his comic career with a strip known as Hapless Harry.

Following the wordless Harry, Gately started a strip named Hippy, which was a single panel strip that followed the life of a flower child named...well, Hippy. The main jokes in Hippy revolved around how hippies were smelly, or lazy, or stupid, etc. etc. For the most part the comic uses the same formula: a dirty beatnik or hippie says or does something stupid and Hippy reacts in a confused or oblivious manner. 

 

The comic was fairly unfunny and was only published in a small market leading it to become a mere footnote in history. Stripper's Guide, an amazing blog featuring information on various obscure comic strips, has a small article about Hippy and you can find some panels on a Twitter thread by Pop Arena. 

As the show went on, I played a strange novelty song by Minnie and The Kneebones titled: Me and My Mini Skirt. There is some confusion about the origins of the song because there is another version which appears to be slightly sped up with different background vocals. This version of the song is credited to Karen Young and The Knee Caps. Both versions are silly and reflect the taboos of the era and I can't say which one I prefer. If you want to hear Karen Young's version, I suggest checking out her interesting performance of the song on an unnamed French television show. After watching Young flail and shimmy, if you still find yourself in the miniskirt mood, there's a contemporaneous documentary about the history of the miniskirt uploaded onto YouTube by PeriscopeFilm.

Towards the latter half of the show, you heard a surf instrumental by Yūzō Kayama and The Ranchers named Black Sand Beach. Besides playing guitar, Yūzō Kayama is known for acting in popular films that are collectively known as the Wakadaishō series. The films follow Kayama's athletic endeavors with each film focusing on a different sport. The movies appear to be romantic comedies and there are about 17 including one named Campus A Go Go which follows the protagonist as he not only masters American Football but also horseback riding while simultaneously being a guitar master. I believe this is where Black Sand Beach comes from. The movies have been pretty much impossible for me to find without buying and importing them from Japan or using some hackery to stream from Japan only streaming services. Perhaps one day I'll be able to track them down and if I do, I'll be sure to write some reviews.

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 PST. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

You can check out this week's playlist below:

 

Thursday's Children - Dominoes
The Coastliners - Alright
The Chapparrals - I Tried So Hard