Professor Mikey in the Old School, thanks for attending class today.Were you ever a hippie? Did you ever get called a hippie?I did. On the streets of Los Angeles back in the early 70s. By an old guy on a bicycle. I was minding my own business, letting my hair blow in the breeze, wearing a tie dye tshirt and bell bottom jeans that had a lot of patches. And Jesus boots, or sandals as they would eventually be known.I was so impressed. LA of all places. I was into it. I loved psychedelic music, I couldn’t wait for the next concert. Unlike a lot of hippies I had a job. And unlike a lot of people who had jobs, I worked on the air at a radio station that was so square and strait laced I had to wear a short hair wig. It was like a swimming cap with a fraternity haircut.But enough about my minor dishonesty in the name of staying employed and paying the rent. I could go to work and play Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Spirit, Country Joe and the Fish. You know. Hippy bands in there with the Archies and Bill Withers.Today’s internet often refers to hippie songs, but people who weren’t there have a tendency to get off track. They go for drug songs and anything that might mention peace or love. WHich is okay, but most of those miss the lifestyle and the actual ethos of Hippiedom. The point about changing the world through love, becoming a vegetarian, and smoking pot that you grew yourself. In these next few songs, we are going to try to get back to the garden. This is not only where it’s at, it is were it was. Incense, love beads, tuning in, turning on, and dropping out. Within reason.Welcome to Old School #71. Sit anywhere. We are going to change the world, one doobie at a time. Its a unique time in/and space, that begins on Broadway and eventually hitches a ride to San Francisco.Pull back to reveal the Summer of Love, 1967. The atmosphere in the city where Tony Bennett misplaced his ticket is electric, thick with the scent of patchouli and the strumming of a thousand guitars. It may be California, but it’s a different state of mind altogether. It’s groovy, it’s laid back, it’s casual Friday for the cosmic universe.The streets of Haight-Ashbury are alive with Peter Max color, a swirling kaleidoscope of tie-dye, beads, and flowing fabrics that catch the sunlight as mostly young people wander with an almost dreamlike sense of purpose. We see bell-bottoms, fringed vests, and crystal spectacles paired with peace signs, love beads, and flowers tucked into long, Beatles 2.0 hair. The fashion here craves statement over style in a rebellion against the buttoned-up norms of the previous decade.Everywhere you look art sprouts and erupts on the walls, on the clothing, even on the super high faces of the people all beautiful. Psychedelic posters tout Fillmore music happenings, where bands like Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead are exploring night trips to the centers of the minds. Tangible good vibrations, a sense of unity and shared experiences draw crowds and converts at all hours. Strangers greet each other with “Peace” and “Love,” and it feels genuine, as if they’ve tapped into something deeper than just freaky holiday.The air is thick with the sweet middle earthy scent of cannibas, mingling with the sexy spice of Nag Champa. Conversations drift from spiritual awakening to civil rights, to Lewis Carroll and chamomile. Many question the merits of meditation alongside the damnation of war. There’s a feeling that this generation is on the brink of something that could change the world (personal computers?) or at least their own reality. It’s easy to lose yourself here, to be swept up in bedrock optimism, the sense that anything is possible. All you need is love.A new music spills out from every corner—birthed in raw inspiration and reverb, echoing the plugged-in heartbeat of this loosey-goosey movement, a soundtrack to revolution that will place flowers in rifle barrels. It’s a renaissance fair in Itchycoo Park that asks if you are going to be at the Love-In.HIPPIE PLAYLISTRENAISSANCE FAIR * The ByrdsITCHYCOO PARK * Small FacesARE YOU GOING TO BE THERE (AT THE LOVE-IN) * Chocolate WatchbandAQUARIUS * Original Broadway Cast of HAIRLOVE STREET * The DoorsGENTLE PEOPLE * Biff RoseSAN FRANCISCO (WEAR SOME FLOWERS IN YOUR HAIR) * Scott MackenzieHIPPIE FROM OLEMA * The YoungbloodsDON’T BOGART THAT JOINT * Fraternity of ManWHAT ABOUT ME? * Quicksilver Messenger ServiceCLOUD NINE * The TemptationsTHE HIPPIE ELEVATOR OPERATOR * The W. C. Fields Memorial Electric String BandEPISTLE TO DIPPY * DonovanCOME TO THE SUNSHINE * Van Dyke ParksWON’T YOU TRY/SATURDAY AFTERNOON * Jefferson AirplaneSAN FRANCISCAN NIGHTS * Eric Burdon and the Animals YOUNGER GENERATION * The Lovin’ SpoonfulLETS GET TOGETHER * Dino ValentiSECTION 43 * Country Joe and The Fish “The past is a blast.”Thanks for reading Professor Mikey's OLD SCHOOL! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. ...
