La Doña at Mucho Gusto Fest 2024!

On September 21st, downtown Riverside's North Park was alive with music, food, and good vibes as people from the I.E. and beyond gathered for the second annual Mucho Gusto Fest, a music festival that embraces civic engagement and music without borders. One of the headlining musical artists for the night was La Doña, a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter from San Fransisco that effortlessly floats within the genres of cumbia, reggaeton, hip-hop, and even mariachi. To hear my favorite songs by her, check out Cuando Se Van, Quién Me La Paga, Mal De Amor, and Dembow y Sexo.

Below you'll find La Doña's entire Mucho Gusto performance in a video that I produced for our good friends at KUCR!

Keep your eyes peeled for another upcoming video from Mucho Gusto featuring Frente Cumbiero, a band from Columbia that got the whole park dancing with their blend of electronic music, psych, and cumbia. 

I'm hoping to document more local events in the Inland Empire, so if that's something you're interested in, be sure to leave comments, share posts, and all that. It helps a lot! 

Additionally, let's also show our support for the folks that put together Mucho Gusto by following them on Instagram and by letting them know you are interested in attending, participating, or becoming a sponsor for next year's event.

College Radio Day, The Troggs, and The Hangmen! - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Yuzu"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM rocked the house with tunes from around the world, ranging from fuzzy to moody and a little bit of everything in-between. Speaking of a little bit of everything, did you happen to catch KUCR's College Radio Day programming? It was pretty sweet and featured some experimental music, punk, funky stuff, and other delights. If you want to listen to the archived College Radio Day programming it's a little bit more complicated than usual. What you'll want to do is head to the KUCR Archive and look for the "Blues with Jeff Friday, October 4, 2024 12:00 pm" to find the start of the lineup and then you'll find the rest of the programing before "Democracy Now! Friday, October 4, 2024 5:00 pm." That's it! Be sure to listen while you can because the archive is only up for a couple of weeks. And now for this episode's summary below.

Here's how you can find the CRD programming

Near the beginning of the show, you heard The Troggs most aggressive song 66-5-4-3-2-1 which is the B-side to their Any Way That You Want Me single. The two songs are polar opposites with Any Way That You Want Me featuring a slow droning strings and minimal acoustic guitar work compared to the harsh aggressive electric guitar in 66-5-4-3-2-1 with its heavy and primal drum beat. Some of you may also recognize Any Way That You Want Me from the Spiritualized cover released in 1990. 

During the show I mentioned that The Troggs had a few sound-alikes of their own songs, which was fairly common during this time, and Any Way That You Want Me features a similar chord structure to their hit song Wild Thing. A more egregious example, also based on Wild Thing, is their song I Want You which was released around the same time. Although The Troggs made the song popular, Wild Thing was originally recorded and released by an American band named The Wild Ones, however, their version failed to chart. According to the songwriter, Chip Taylor, The Troggs version was closer to his demo version and captured the song's feeling and original intent despite The Troggs version featuring an electric guitar rather than acoustic. If you are interested in the history of the song, I suggest checking out this short documentary created by the Dutch television show Top 2000 a gogo.

Later in the show, you heard The Hangmen's song Faces and I spoke a little about their history, including some funny incidents where the band called up the British Embassy looking for a singer and how the band's rhythm guitarist, George Daly, was almost evicted over fans writing love notes on his front door in lipstick. Check out these two articles on Garagehangover for more information including a firsthand account written by George Daly himself. 

After The Hangmen disbanded, members formed another group, The Collection, which had a smoother more pop orientated sound. As for Daly, he became a music executive and is known for being the man that signed The Cars to Elektra/Asylum.

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 Saturdays at 9pm PST or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In.

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

The Hornets - Jelingan Mu
The Savages - Roses Are Red My Love
The Todds - I Want Her Back
The Satyrs - Yesterday's Hero
The Intruders - I'll Go On
The Young Men - A Thought Of You
The Accents - Why

Watch Out For The Hardy Boys! - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Kai-lan"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM had some snarly fuzz and snappy beats before we settled into some lovely psych treats. Lately I've been listening to a lot more fast and short garage rock. Is it because the heat has been melting my brain? Who knows. Judging from the appearance of Halloween decorations in every store, it seems we're heading into fall but the 100+ weather makes me think we're rocketing towards a permanent summer. If things stay like this, everyone's gonna have to wear spacesuits when they walk their dogs!

Anywho, if you missed the show, be sure to check out the KUCR Archive and peep the drop-down menu where you can find episodes you might have missed.

I didn't talk much during this episode, so this blog post will mostly just be a playlist, but I did mention a couple stories about The Smoke (New Zealand band), who you heard play No More Now, a heavy track with some wild exotic sounding leads. Everything I read about The Smoke came from a website named Audio Culture, so check out their article on the band if you want to read about scummy promoters, a nude model leading to member changes, and other interesting tidbits.

Later in the show, you heard The Delights with their song Just Out of Reach. The band only released a couple singles before becoming The Hudson Bay Company which was more of a sunshine pop type band. Interestingly, Norb Soltysiak, who played saxophone and sang with both groups, went on to record with The Hardy Boys, a band that performed on a forgotten Filmation cartoon with the same name. Like most cartoons by Filmation, everything was a little rough and obviously produced with fast turnarounds and a tight budget in mind. In particular, the voice acting is probably more grating than other cartoons from the same era. 

After their success with another cartoon band, The Archies (Sugar, Sugar), Filmation must have seen The Hardy Boys as a similar avenue for entering the Bubblegum Pop market because they released two full-length albums which sound like continuations of their work with The Archies. The rights to the show seem to be in some sort of limbo, so if you want to check it out, it's fairly easy to find episodes online, just don't expect the best quality. Also, I found a Facebook group based on The Hardy Boys which has some more in-depth information on the group including old newspaper articles, promotions, and photographs of the band performing live in front of real audiences.

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 Saturdays at 9pm PST or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In.

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

The Caravelles - Lovin' Just My Style
Los 4 Jets - Shake Baby Shake
The Breakers - Don't Send Me No Flowers
Tommy Burk and The Counts - Stormy Weather
The Sect - Just Can't Win

The Mojo Men, Bum Trips and Hoedowns - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Fernbrake"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM had a ton of hard-hitting garage rock, both obscure and well known. There were some slower psych vibes towards the end of the show, but for the most part we kept the energy high. If you missed out on hearing the episode during its initial airing, you can still listen through the KUCR Archive. You'll have to hurry though, because episodes are only on the archive for a few weeks before they're gone! As always, you can also find this episode's playlist below but first, let's go over some of the topics I covered.

Towards the beginning of the show, you heard The Mojo Men's song She's My Baby and I mentioned that, early in the group's career, they had ties to Sly Stone as both a producer and songwriter. According to Ben Fong-Torres' book Not Fade Away: A Backstage Pass to 20 Years of Rock & Roll, Stone recorded tracks with The Mojo Men during his time with Autumn Records and planned on using the name: "Sly and The Mojo Men." However, Stone was unsatisfied with the results and decided against releasing the tracks. 

In the liner notes for The Mojo Men: Whys Ain't Supposed To Be - The Autumn Sessions, Paul Curcio is quoted as saying: "Jim and I co-wrote a lot of songs with Sly. We'd hang around with him at his house, and he'd always tell us that he would never put his own group together until he could have the number one band in the world." It appears that The Mojo Men didn't live up to Stone's standards and there is no evidence that he ever performed live with the band, especially since he had taken a break from gigging during this time in order to focus on his work with Autumn. Despite this, Stone is described as a former member of band on several articles floating around the web.

Besides Stone parting ways with The Mojo Men, the group's original drummer, Dennis DeCarr, was booted over creative differences and was replaced by Jan Errico, who had just left another Autumn Records band, The Vejtables. According to Curcio, The Mojo Men had the chance to incorporate Grace Slick into the band, due to her being friends with several members, but Errico was deemed to have a wider range of talent, as well as, a nicer personality. As a testament to her talent, Errico sang and drummed simultaneously during her time with both The Mojo Men and The Vejtables, a feat which many musicians find difficult. If Jan's last name sounds familiar, it's because she is the cousin of Greg Errico, who was the first drummer for Sly and the Family Stone, adding another connection to Sly Stone.

Bit-A-Sweet (?) performs Out of Sight, Out of Mind in Blonde on a Bum Trip

 

As the show continued you heard The Bit-A-Sweet perform their song Out of Sight, Out of Mind which was featured in a strange low-budget film from 1968 named Blonde on a Bum Trip. The film is very rough around the edges, and features unusual narration, wobbly acting, and iffy audio. At its core Blonde on a Bum Trip has the occasional glimmer of charm but you really have to slog through some weird stuff to find it.

"He looked at what I was making and told me I had the color all wrong and to be more careful."

The movie focuses on the misadventures of Susan, a chemistry major that is convinced by her roommates to produce LSD for their enjoyment and profit, and how their reckless behavior led to the death of another young woman named Vanessa, as well as, the investigation that followed.

The villains of the story lounge during an impromptu investigation

If you want to understand the vibe of the movie without watching it, imagine sitting in a room with an acquaintance as they begin showing you home videos. Eventually the videos start having odd sexual encounters, drug use, and moral finger wagging. Bum Trip feels like a watered-down version of that scenario. Yikes!  

 Trying not to look at the camera while eating a sugar cube

 

Even trash film connoisseurs may struggle with the stilted audio, frequently missing dialogue, and long drawn-out scenes of half-naked people rolling around, but there is definitely some ironic humor to be found. If you can find a decent copy for cheap or free I'd say it's worth a casual viewing but, in my opinion, it's not something that's really worth seeking out.

And finally, we ended the show with The Mighty Hannibal's fuzzy and funky song Good Time. The Mighty Hannibal really hit his stride towards the end of the 60s and early 70s and it's a little surprising to me that he isn't recognized more. I mentioned another song by Hannibal named Hoedown that came out in 1983 that melds bluegrass, disco, and funk. It's super bizarre and according to the man himself, the song was a "big hit in the Netherlands." If you are interested in The Mighty Hannibal, I suggest you check out this archived article by Chad Radford for Creative Loafing. The article paints a vivid picture of Hannibal and features a funny anecdote about Hannibal interacting with Neil Diamond which I won't spoil here.

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

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

The Painted Ship - Little White Lies
The Bit-A-Sweet - Out of Sight, Out of Mind
The Morticians - I Don't Understand
Los Monjes - No Te Burles Mas
The Cedars - I Don't Know Why
The Nickel Bag - The Woods

Henry Laurens and Jefferson Handkerchief - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Barbados Cherry"

This week's episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM focused more on psych and featured music that ranged from moody to abrasive. Without releasing it, I assembled a playlist that had a bunch of southern bands. It's always strange when coincidences like that pop up. Anywho, check out this episode's summary below!

Henry Laurens as seen during his appearance on Laugh-In

During the first set you heard a mystery band, The Checkmates play a track from their sole single Talk To Me. There's not a lot known about the band besides they were from Laurens, South Carolina which is a small town that's named after a controversial founding father named Henry Laurens. Laurens was one of the largest slave owners and served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the South Carolina Militia during war campaigns against the Cherokee. In private correspondences Laurens wrote about his wishes to free his slaves but he never ended up doing so, besides his personal servant George. Strangely, Laurens had a great fear of being buried alive, which lead him to become one of the first non-indigenous persons in the continent to be cremated. His son, John Laurens, who was more outspoken about his moral outlook on slavery, had a similarly interesting life but, mainly due to his early demise, has faded somewhat into obscurity.

After The Checkmates, you heard Jefferson Handkerchief, a parody "band" that released a silly song about a hippie that has trouble getting close to girlfriend due to her being a "flower child" and him having strong allergies. Although the concept is funny, the song reminded me of early Beatles parodies that felt like a square poking fun at something they didn't quite understand or felt was unworthy of praise. The flip side is a rebranded version of The Champs' The Little Matador, which sounds identical to the original. This is because Dave Burgess, the primary songwriter/guitarist for The Champs was the creative force behind Jefferson Handkerchief. I'm Allergic To Flowers is the sort of record you'd put on with some friends and have a giggle.

And finally, we concluded this episode with two tracks from a cool compilation named Ghost Riders which was released in 2022 and features some strangely haunting album art. Each track on the compilation left me feeling nostalgic and homesick even though I was sitting in my own room! The Tresa Leigh track that I played, Until Then, was one of two versions of the song that Leigh recorded with the other version being made available for the first time in 2023. Afterwards, you heard The Mod 4 perform A Puppet and I mentioned a great article on Downstate Sound which goes over the band's history including their performance on Happening in 1969. The compilation features a bunch of coming-of-age tunes that have a home recorded feel, so if that's the sort of thing that you're into, give it a listen.

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 Saturdays at 9pm PST or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In.

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

The Ban - Bye Bye
The Twelfth Night - Grim Reaper
The Now - I Want
The Other Half - I Know
Yesterday's Obsession - The Phycle
The Evil I - Love Conquers All

The Tigermen and Black Tight Killers - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Salak"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM leaned heavier on the garage side than the past few episodes. If you've been listening the last few weeks, I was on more of a rockabilly/earlier rock n roll kick, so this episode was a return to the show's original form.

Towards the beginning of the show, you heard The Love Dimension's Out Of My Mind which nails the '60s garage rock sound so well that it fooled people online into thinking they found a long lost gem. But, AH HA! The song came out in 2010 rather than the '60s (which was a long time ago in its own right). Unfortunately, it seems that the song has been removed from any official channels and only exits through random YouTube uploads, although, it's entirely possible I didn't look hard enough. Either way, check out their official Bandcamp page to listen to more of their stuff. A lot of their music floats around the psych and garage genres with just a dash of modern sensibility.

Various newspaper clippings about The Tigermen

As the show continued, you heard The Tigermen's organ heavy Tiger Girl, which is group's second and last single. Each of The Tigermen's songs focus on the organ and bass with the guitar sitting low in the mix, except for the occasional guitar solo, which makes the songs feel like you're listening to the band live on stage. The group was known for their weekly performances at the Cuba Lake Pavilion which served as an amusement park and dance hall from 1914 until its destruction in May of 1974. Although the band often performed in Cuba Lake and northwestern Pennsylvania, they were actually from an area about 70 miles south of Buffalo, NY named Olean. 

During the show I briefly mentioned that Olean is also the birthplace of actor Jeff Fahey, who appeared in the 1992 cult classic Lawnmower Man. I've watched the film several times over the years but I can hardly remember anything but the beautiful CGI.

Taking a dance break from ninjutsu

While on the topic of movies, at the halfway point of the show, I talked about the 1966 Japanese crime film Black Tight Killers, a highly stylized film that reminds me of the Female Prisoner Scorpion films mixed with Danger: Diabolik. The movie follows Daisuke Honda, a war photographer that begins courting a flight attendant named Yuriko Sawanouchi. During their first date, the couple finds themselves mixed up with a plot to recover stolen gold that involves mafioso style gangsters, Go-Go dancing ninjas, rear projection driving scenes, as well as, tons of fire and explosions. What I liked most about the movie is its short but sweet runtime and a hilarious reoccurring trope of people dying in Honda's arm, providing him moments to reflect on their character. I couldn't help but wonder if these scenes inspired Danger 5's "Perfect Cocktails." It's definitely worth a watch!

That just about sums up this episode! Thanks for reading the blog and be sure to listen over the air on KUCR 88.3FM on Saturdays at 9pm PST or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In.

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

The Mike Jones Group - Funny Feeling
John Harrison and The Hustlers - Don't Ask Why
Love Dimension - Out Of My Mind
The Herd - Things Won’t Change
Rick Lane and The People - Love Me Baby
Lost Ones - Trouble In The Streets
Knightsmen - Daddy Was A Rollin' Stone
The Reasonable Facsimile - He Was A Friend Of Mine
Prophets - You Wonder Why

Hey Joe, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Manzano Banana"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM kept it international and trippy with some gritty garage towards the beginning and way-out psych towards the end. If you missed the show while it aired, be sure to listen catch it on the KUCR archive ASAP, because it won't be up for long!

We began this episode with The Leaves' Too Many People, which has an unusual mix of ultra warbled guitar and bluesy harmonica. The doubled vocals occasionally slip from timing, adding another strange effect which makes the song feels ahead of its time while also staying grounded in the garage rock tradition. The Leaves were from San Fernando Valley and are known as the first band to release a version of Hey Joe, a song that was famously recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience that same year in 1966. Hey Joe has a muddled history with a few people claiming writing credits while others believe the song is public domain. According to various sources, the song existed well before The Leaves recorded their version but, at least in a commercial sense, The Leaves appear to be the first band to release the song rather than just perform it live or record it for personal use. For a more in-depth article about Hey Joe, check out this article by Mayer Nissim for Gold Radio UK.

As the show continued, you heard Butch Engle and The Styx perform Going Home, which, like all of their songs, was written or co-written by The Beau Brummels' Ron Elliott. According to Engle, Sly Stone, who produced The Beau Brummels, and Ron Elliott allowed The Styx to record an array of songs that were essentially leftovers of The Beau Brummels. Although The Styx only released two singles during their time as a band, they had recorded a few other tracks which were eventually compiled on No Matter What You Say: The Best of Butch Engle & the Styx. 

Towards the halfway point of the show, I played The Tempos' One Way Ticket and I spoke a little about how they were from LaSalle County, Illinois. Well, mostly I talked about how LaSalle County (Earlville to be particular) is also the birthplace of Gary K. Wolf, a writer whose most popular novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? was adapted into the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The two works are fairly different from each other and out of the two I believe the film is the better, mostly due to the ending of the novel feeling tacked on or rushed. There also exists a novelization of the film by Martin Noble (most likely a pen name) titled Who Framed Roger Rabbit: A Novel. On the episode named Golden Berry I wrote about a similar situation with the movie Moonraker which also was based on a book and later had a novel adaptation of the film. There's something fascinating to me about the way adaptations of adaptations exist. It almost feels like a commercial long-form version of a campfire story which is told again and again by different people, changing slightly each time. 

And finally, towards the end of the show you heard Sugluk's Fall Away which I found
on the compilation Native North America, Vol. 1 which features songs from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation archives. Supposedly there's going to be a second volume featuring indigenous bands from the U.S. and Mexico but I haven't seen any updates since volume 1 was released in 2014. Hopefully it comes to fruition!

Alright folks, 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 or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

The Coachmen - My Generation
Leaves Of Autumn - A Love Lost
The Tempos - One Way Ticket
Maximus - A Better Mind
Plagues - (Clouds Send Down) Tears From My Eyes
Crystal Sect - Days and Weeks
Piggy Bank - Thoughts Of You
The Reasonable Facsimile - He Was A Friend Of Mine
Prophets - You Wonder Why

150th Episode Special! - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM, we looked back at some of my favorite songs from the last 150 episodes. Over the course of the show, I've played more than 3,000 unique songs and if you were to listen to every episode back to back it'd take over 6 days straight to finish them all. It's been a ton of fun listening and curating songs from the obscure and recently rediscovered to well-known hits and everything in between. Cheers to another 150 episodes and, as always, the playlist is at the bottom!

 

An old flyer from when I first started my show Deliberate Discord

Way back in 2010, when I was first getting settled as a transfer student at UCR, I contacted the station by hounding the staff during concerts at The Barn and by visiting their booth during "nooner" events at the Bell Tower. Eventually, I wore them down and became part of the staff which kick started my journey in radio. My show at the time was named Deliberate Dischord (because misspelling stuff is cool) and featured noisier music in the vein of punk, indie, and experimental artists. I continued my show for a few years before taking a break while figuring out life. Eventually the pandemic hit and I floated the idea of starting another show which is what became Hippie Love Turbo.

 

Left: My first day of training Right: Hanging out during my old nighttime slot

If I go even further back, I discovered my love for radio as a kid, after visiting a local country music station to pick up tickets my mother had won through a contest. I was amazed by the simplicity of the building. In my head I imagined a huge skyscraper lined with walls of TVs and a bustling staff of fashionable 20-somethings zooming around with CDs and tapes, listening booths, and high-tech computers. Instead, the station sat inside an unassuming strip mall office with a lobby that looked like my pediatrician's. After the veil was lifted, I began calling into radio stations, hamming up my little kid voice, knowing that some DJs would air recordings of my requests. Somewhere I still have tapes of me and my friends speaking in phony southern accents, asking the DJ to play Dwight Yoakam. 

 

An old schedule showing my 2 hour block. Found in The Highlander.

Flash forward to my high school days when I started consuming music through the internet as opposed to whatever I found in the discount bin at The Warehouse or Sam Goody. I mainly listened to web streams that I found through Real Player and Winamp. In particular I remember listening to a lot of KUCI, specifically a "goth" show that had a very patient DJ that tolerated my calls and AIM messages.

Towards the end of my senior year in high school, I started streaming my own internet radio show using Shoutcast and Winamp. My audience hardly ever reached more than 4 or 5 listeners at a given time. It was fun but took a lot of effort for little reward. I remember my most popular stream was a Smiths special that was inspired by one of my favorite teachers and I was psyched that 14 or 15 people were listening.

 

Nowadays, my main goal with Hippie Love Turbo is to provide the same feeling of discovery I had during my youth. Nothing beats finding a DJ or radio station that has its own story that has existed long before you became aware of it. 

Eventually, I would like to expand my blog to cover more of the local history of garage and psych music in Riverside so if you happen to have been around the rock scene in the IE during the '60s, feel free to contact me! A lot of our local music history isn't well documented online so I suggest you go out and bug your family for those old photos, recordings, and newspaper clippings.

Anywho, 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 or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

Sixth Day Creation - Cherry Pie
The Sandals - Why Should I Cry
The Twilights - Comin' On Down

Exploring White Sands and Soviet Surf - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Chinese Artichoke"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM, started with a solid block of surf tunes to get us out of our rainy weather funk. A lot of the songs you heard on this episode are rare and therefore not on Spotify but don't fret, you can hear them by following the links at the bottom of this post. Of course, you can listen to this week's episode again on the KUCR Archive, but beware, each archived show is only online for a few weeks before they're taken down. If you haven't had your KUCR fix after that, be sure to check out KUCR's YouTube page which recently added some videos of their trip to NAMM. Anywho, let's dive into some of the topics I covered during this week's episode!

First, I want to talk about White Sands' Vampire Drug Party which was one of the few modern songs I've ever played and, get this, the band is from New Mexico. I didn't know you could hang ten in Albuquerque! The song features some lovely spring reverb drip and follows the band's previous release Live Dirt & Reverb which contains covers of songs originally performed by Satans' Pilgrims, Link Wray, and The Astronauts. I was turned onto the band by DJ tina bold from Audio Hijinx and she tells me that their guitarist and producer Chris V. is a long-time listener of KUCR, which is always appreciated. 

Afterwards, you heard a couple songs from a compilation of Soviet surf rock with the complex name SurfBeat Behind The Iron Curtain Part 2 - Planetary Pebbles Vol.3. The other volumes of Surfbeat feature tunes that I'm sure will find their way into future episodes because they are fascinating glimpses into a world of surf that I was totally unaware of. If you want more information on the groups featured on the compilations you'll have to dive into the Russian web because, if you thought a lot of American garage bands were obscure, try learning about rock groups from Soviet satellite states! 

An excerpt from one of Olympic's long form music videos

 

While I didn't really find any information about the group Singing Guitars, who you heard after White Sands, I was able to gather some history on Olympic, who played the track Mary, Mary. It turns out the band was (and still is?) fairly popular and continues to perform to this day, although it appears that there are no longer any founding members in the group besides Petr Janda, who may not have been an original member. According to various, and confusing Google translated sources, the band was from Prague, Czechoslovakia and formed from the ashes of another band named Karkulka. The group really switched things up in the '70s and made a few prog-rock albums before dabbling in some heavy metal-ish tunes during the late '80s. A few of their releases were in English and remind me of Alice Cooper during his "Blackout Era", some select Pink Floyd songs such as Comfortably Numb, with a sprinkling of Blue Oyster Cult. Try listening to Kraj, odkud odletěli ptáci and tell me it doesn't sound like a lost demo from Fire of Unknown Origin. It's unusual stuff but I find myself listening to more and more of it. Help.

When I was talking about Olympic, I mentioned another band that was at one time named Olympic Hopefuls before they were legally forced to change their name due to the word Olympic being trademarked by the United States Olympic Committee. I hadn't really thought of the band in a while, but I remember having a few tracks floating around on CD-Rs that I'm sure I got from the now (and very sadly) defunct website Epitonic. If you are feeling nostalgic for that early 2000s indie sound, I suggest listening to their debut album The Fuses Refuse to Burn which reminds me of The Shins or Grandaddy although it might sound a little saccharine to modern audiences. Who knows, maybe I'll make a playlist of songs I found during that era of music where I'd scrap music from MP3.com, MySpace, Epitonic, and various blogs. 

And finally, I closed the episode with Carole King's version of Crying in The Rain which she co-wrote with Howard Greenfield for The Everly Brothers. I think King's version highlights how The Everly Brothers' vocal performances enhance the song and build upon its solid pop structure. During the show I talked about how the song has been covered by many different artists but the versions by Danzig and a-Ha stand out for their unique twists on the song. Whether or not that's a good thing is up to you!

Well folks, 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 or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

White Sands - Vampire Drug Party
Singing Guitars - Torpedo
Noble "Thin Man" Watts - Florida Shake
Los Hitters - El Ovni
Tropa Loca Con Jose Francisco - El Fanatico
Eddy and The Upsets - I Got News
The Dovers - What Am I Going to Do
The Olympics - Mary, Mary
Majic Ship - Life's Lonely Road
The Distortions - Smokestack Lightning
The Yorkshire Puddin' - Keep Me In Mind
The Sidekicks (Kaleidoscope) - Please Stay, Don't Go

Seeking Pleasure With The Vandals - Hippie Love Turbo Radio Show - Code Word "Mashua"

This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM, featured a lot of songs that weren't on Spotify making the playlist links (found down below) more comprehensive than they normally are. I've noticed a few compilations have been pulled from Spotify but there's always been a sort of, ebb and flow, with artist's appearing and then disappearing from the service. Anywho, that's just how streaming services go, especially when you have albums made up of music with dubious copyright claims or flat-out unknown composers. Let's not get into that long-winded subject, however, and instead focus on some of the things I talked about during the episode!

First off, you heard The Vandals perform their song The Joker. The group is from Hollywood, FL and is best known for their song I Saw Her In A Mustang which features lyrics that can make even modern audiences blush or at least tilt their heads. According to the liner notes of their 2021 compilation (written by The Vandals keyboardist Augie Bucci) the band's record label pushed the group to rewrite the lyrics to I Saw Her In A Mustang insisting that the risqué lyrics would kill any prospects of radio play. The band stuck to their guns and refused to rewrite the lyrics and unfortunately the label was correct and the single received no airplay and abysmal sales figures. However, the controversial song added to the band's mystique and helped fuel their popularity among their frat party peers, ensuring them frequent shows to decently sized crowds in South Florida. We can only speculate how popular the group could have been without the controversy surrounding I Saw Her In A Mustang but I'll let you be the judge by asking you to listen to what Bucci considers the band's best song, Mystery. 

The Pleasure Seekers as seen on an Oregon Television program in 1968

After The Vandals, you heard a cult classic by The Pleasure Seekers named What A Way To Die, which stands out from the rest of their musical output due to its hard edge and subject matter. Surprisingly, the band's co-founders, sisters Suzi Quatro and Patti Quatro, were only 15 and 17 when they recorded their first single which was written by Dave Leone, who was the founder of a popular Detroit nightclub known as The Hideout who was also the manager of Bob Seger and Ted Nugent. Plenty of articles have been written about the group but the best articles I found were written by Margaret Moser for The Austin Chronicle and a short bio on the Quatro sister's official website. After The Pleasure Seekers dissolved, the Quatro sisters formed a heavier rock band named Cradle, who produced songs more along the lines of Deep Purple and have often been compared to the American band Fanny. Suzi continues to play music to this day, has had a very successful solo career in the UK, and at one time had a reoccurring role on Happy Days as Leather Tuscadero. Another Quatro sister, Pleasure Seekers' keyboardist Arlene Quatro, is also known for being the mother of Sherilyn Fenn.

And finally, I'll quickly wrap up with a quick list of the three other artists I talked about on the show:

You heard The Briks' song Keep Down and I mentioned that the group was from Denton, TX but originally formed as The Embers in Lubbock, TX, which, as you may know, is famously the birth place of Buddy Holly. You can read more about the band on Garage Hangover.

Next up, I played The Parking Meter by Leo and The Prophets. What stood out to me about the band was their original name JC and The Boys, where the JC stood for Jesus Christ and The Boys referred to his disciples. Supposedly the band considered the name somewhat risky but no one ever questioned it. You can read an interview with The Prophets' rhythm guitarist Dan Hickman on the blog 1966: Texas Music in the Sixties.

We ended the show with Connie Converse's song Father Neptune and I briefly mentioned that Converse recorded her songs for a small audience of peers although she aspired to a career in the music business. Partially because of her lack of success Converse vanished into obscurity after leaving her family letters that explained how she was going to start a new life in New York. A fraction of Converse's recordings was compiled in 2009 and they have a folksy and somber quality when paired with her unusual story makes for an unusual listening experience. For some more in depth reading check out these articles by both NPR and The New York Times.

That's all 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 or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

The Vandals - The Joker
The Flys - Be What You Is
The Horde - I Can't Keep From Crying
Chain Gang - Little Black Book
The Stolen Children - I Need You
The Esquires - Down The Track
The Briks - Keep Down
Leo and The Prophets - The Parking Meter
The Group - 5/4 Bathtub
The Novells - Go Now
The Spectres - Psychodelic Situation
Fringe - Plastic People
The Thingies - Mass Confusion
Darkseid - Land of The Darker Sun
Bent Wind - Castles Made of Man

Christmas Radio Special #2 - 50s-70s Rock n Roll Novelty Songs

Hello holiday heads! This episode of Hippie Love Turbo, on KUCR 88.3 FM, featured a bunch of rockin' Christmas tunes from around the world. While I might not be jolly old Saint Nick, I can still deliver some good tunes for your last-minute wrapping. As always, the show will stay up on the KUCR archives for a few weeks, so if you missed the show and want to listen on your own time, make sure to listen while you can. If you just want to hear the music, check out the playlist down below, but if you want a summary of what I talked about during the show... keep reading. Be sure to also check out last year's Christmas playlist, and if you are feeling crafty, feel free to print out a foldable box I created that's based off of an unusual robotic Santa toy from days gone by.

The Boys Next Door as seen in Teen Tempo

Towards the beginning of the show, you heard The Boys Next Door, a group from Indianapolis, perform their song The Wildest Christmas. The group was fairly popular in their local scene and also appeared as The Four Wheels on two singles, Central High Playmate, and Sneaky Little Sleeper. According to a blog named 60's Indiana Band Szene, the group's name change was without the groups knowledge and eventually it was changed back to The Boys Next Door. The label Sundazed Music compiled the band's complete discography back in 1999 in a self-titled release which appears to be out of print and proves to be difficult to find online. While researching the band I found an article that appeared in a magazine named Teen Tempo which covers a concert that the band put on from the rooftop of a newly opened department store named Dorothy's Woman's Apparel Shop. It's wild seeing a photo of band members standing on a pallet that's being hoisted up towards the roof via forklift. 

Rankin/Bass TV special inspired flyer paired with one of the show's misfit toys

Next up you heard The Galaxies cover of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and I mentioned that the character Rudolph was created by Robert L. May for a book that was sold at Montgomery Ward. However, the character was popularized by the song which came about a decade later and was penned by May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks. If you are interested in the history of the song, there is a great piece that aired on NPR's Here and Now where they interviewed May's daughter Barbara May Lewis and discussed how Montgomery Ward gave May the rights to the story without realizing how big it would eventually become. For a first-hand account, you can also check out this interview with Marks that was conducted by Ian Whitcomb in 1972.

As the show continued, you heard Mae West's Merry Christmas Baby from the album Wild Christmas which followed in the footsteps of her previous surprise hit album Way Out West. During this time, West was around 72 and, although they were fairly outdated at the time, the album features Christmas themed alterations of West's famous catchphrases. Unlike Way Out West, Wild Christmas was released through the small record label Dagonet Records rather than the major label Tower Records. As a throwback to her previous album, Wild Christmas includes a cover of The Beatles track From Me To You with some holiday lines added to the song's intro. 

Of course, we ended the show with a novelty country song by Charlie Stewart named Santa Claus Ain't a Hippie. Stewart was a very opinionated individual and his songs reflected his visions of what he felt was taboo at the time. Of course, nowadays it all comes off very hokey with songs about Stewart's disapproval of unions, Johnny Cash, and Fidel Castro but the songs are strange snapshots of their time.

And a ho ho ho 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 or listen to an archived version of the show here. You can also listen through KUCR.org, Radio Garden, or Tune-In. 

Check out this week's playlist below:

  

The Quiet Jungle - Here Comes Santa Claus
Mae West - Merry Christmas Baby
Toni Wine - My Boyfriend's Coming Home For Christmas
Grace Hong - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
He 5 - Silent Night
Takeshi Terauchi and Blue Jeans - Blue Christmas