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