Sunday, May 26, 2024

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:

  

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Tuesday, May 21, 2024

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:

  

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Saturday, May 18, 2024

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:

  

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