Into Cherry Blossom Clinic, that is. Glib songs of mental institutions were an interesting sub-genre in the mid sixties. Perhaps the strangest was this novelty hit. The B-side of it was the same song backwards. Yes, I owned a copy, as did many of my fellow devotees of MAD and CRACKED. I was in 4th grade, OK?
A darker take on such facilities came from Porter Wagoner. But even it sounded funny to anyone under thirty at the time, and to pretty much everybody now.
No insitutions in these, but I have to add these twofaves. I’m wondering if our resident Pacific Northwesterner knew anyone lucky enough to have seen the Sonics in their glorious prime.
Old Grey Whistle Test host Annie Nightingale recalls her favorite acts from the punk and new wave years on a BBC special not hosted on the BBC YouTube channel. So punk!
The late, great fIREHOSE. Man, I wore this cassette out (fROMOHIO) back in 1989 …
Firehose was formed in the spring of 1986 shortly after the accidental death of D. Boon brought an end to Watt and Hurley’s previous band, Minutemen. Crawford, a then 21-year-old Ohio State student and Minutemen fan, was invited up on the roof of Camper Van Beethoven’s van in Columbus, Ohio. The members of Camper Van Beethoven told Crawford a false rumor that Watt and Hurley were auditioning guitarists for the band. Crawford, having found Watt’s phone number in the phone book, called him up and expressed his desire to come out to California and play with them. Still mourning the loss of his best friend Boon, Watt initially was not interested and had lost much of his desire to play music; however, Crawford’s persistence eventually paid off when he showed up unannounced in San Pedro and asked Watt for the chance to come over and play for him. Watt eventually agreed and the two met with Crawford “auditioning” for Watt by playing him The Who’s “I’m One,” as well as a few Minutemen songs. Impressed with Crawford’s passion and enthusiasm, Watt and Hurley agreed to give the inexperienced “kid” from Ohio a shot and the band was formed. Crawford quickly relocated to San Pedro where he became known as ed fROMOHIO and spent nine months sleeping under a desk in Watt’s one-bedroom apartment. The name of the band was taken from a short film of Bob Dylan doing “Subterranean Homesick Blues” as Watt thought it was funny when Dylan held up a cue card for the lyric that said “firehose.” The name is stylized as “fIREHOSE” with a lowercase f as a subtle tribute to the Minutemen whose logo was an all caps MINUTEMEN.
Apparently, ed fROMOHIO (real name Ed Crawford) is struggling – or was back in 2020, anyway – as there’s a GFM campaign to get him back on his feet. Still open, if anybody wants to contribute.
