Author Archives: Jon Sidel

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Your toy balloon has sailed in the sky, love / But now it must fall to the ground / Now your sad eyes reveal just how badly you feel / ‘Cause there is no easy way down

The view from the cliffs must have been exciting / And up to the peaks you were bound / Now you’re stranded alone and the past is unknown / And there is no easy way down

The wind is down and there’s clear sunny skies in our canyon. I’ve been told our prayers for rain might be answered this weekend.

My second installment of the Idelic Hour for ’25 starts with a fair amount of dreamy favorites from a playlist I often listen to while riding my beloved bicycle.

I’m still thanking my lucky stars and beaming from Laurel Canon. Bless you and this groovy city of angles.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

You were the moon and I was a windy child / You left too soon but my mind kept growing wild / You were always bigger, you were always wiser than me / You were the sun and I was the morning dew / You had your fun and I know I had mine too / You were always bigger, you were always brighter than me

Welcome to the first Idelic Hour of ’25. Last week was crazier than last year. Like most canyon dwellers, we were evacuated.

All I can say is that I’m thanking my lucky stars in all directions to present this episode of the The Idelic Hour from our groovy canyon pad.

When times are rough, sad or happy, I turn to song. I hope this set of music brings you comfort and inspiration.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Hot stuff, can’t get enough / Hot stuff, play it rough, yeah / I gave you love / Because music is want I want / To keep my body always moving / Yeah, shake it up, hot stuff / Every day, I get another dose / I can’t stand it when the music stops / Hot stuff / Everybody out on the dance floor / You know what I’m talking about / Music make you forget all your trouble / Make you sing and make you tell the whole wide world / So what? Hot stuff

Hot, hot, hot. This planet, town, and our canyon is getting too hot. It’s a bit scary and a drag. So why not find some other “hot stuff” to get excited about? Like a hot record or two or three?

And mom got a hot new red car…ok let this music do the talking and jump in a lake.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Ba ba-blah / Blah blah / Blah blah / Blah blah / Something about books / Did you see see the petrol prices, I am totally shook / We don’t care about that / We don’t care about that / Stop talking / Shhhhh-shut up

And yes, the final Idelic Hour episode of 2024. What a year, what a life, what a rock ‘n’ roll journey! A good amount of new wax and song. I’m thanking my lucky stars in all directions.

Thanks to Jon Meyers. I believe 2025 might be year 15? Fuck me! But thanks Jon for allowing me to share music. My years on this planet have taught me music connects me to my “soul,” and a lonely soul is… lonely.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

After a millennia of good times / God said “Hey now, let’s have a dream” / Where we raise the stakes a little / Come on let’s make things interesting / Parachute into the Anthropocene / An amnesiac, a himbo Ken doll / I guess time just makes fools of us all

This is the day! Well, my day anyway. The 13th yep, and once in a blue moon it comes on a Friday. So I will continue to indulge my magical taste in music discovery and share my favorite 25 Idelic Hits of 2024.

Thanks again to all of these great artists for making and performing cool shit in 2024.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

It’s a losing battle, tryin’ to be sane / It leaves me tired and listless / If I’m gonna jump in front of a train / I’ll wait till after christmas / don’t wanna overstay my welcome / don’t wanna overstay my welcome 

It’s a brilliant day in LA today. Hope you all had a warm and safe turkey weekend.

As tradition dictates, bloggers hand out their year end “Best of” lists. Yes, I know this is pretty much the same rap I’ve spewed year after year on the same Friday. Yes, and pretty much everyone reading this has their Spotify Wrapped. Yep, I’m fascinated by my own magical taste in music discovery.

Does anything going into 2025 matter? As a matter of fact, some shit really does and hopefully these songwriters will help me figure it out. So for the next couple weeks I’ll be celebrating the songs of those musicians I felt inspired to listen to.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Oh, when you’re smilin’ / When you’re smilin’ / The whole world smiles with you, baby / Yes, when you’re laughin’ / Oh, when you’re laughin’ / The sun comes shinin’ through

But when you’re cryin’ / You bring on the rain / So stop your sighin’, baby / And be happy again

Yes, and keep on smilin’ / Keep on smilin’, baby / And the whole world smiles with you

I love how a song can absolutely transport me to a moment in time. I was driving the other day and The Dream Syndicate came on the radio. Hearing Steve Wynn’s voice went straight to my veins. It’s wasn’t long before I was digging through crates for my copy of The Days Of Wine and Roses.

I hadn’t heard “When You Smile” in many, many moons. It was a like the chords opened up a little cubby in my mind. Out popped a girl. A crush from when the album came out in 1982.

She was a rich girl from the upper east side. Her dad’s sprawling Park Avenue apartment. I could see her smile as she gave me a light kiss and pushed me away.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Woke up this morning with an ache in my head / Splashed on my clothes as I spilled out of bed / Opened the window to listen to the news / But all I heard was the Establishment’s Blues.

Gun sales are soaring, housewives find life boring / Divorce the only answer smoking causes cancer / This system’s gonna fall soon, to an angry young tune / And that’s a concrete cold fact.

The pope digs population, freedom from taxation / Teeny Bops are up tight, drinking at a stoplight / Miniskirt is flirting I can’t stop so I’m hurting / Spinster sells her hopeless chest.

Adultery plays the kitchen, bigot cops non-fiction / The little man gets shafted, sons and monies drafted / Living by a time piece, new war in the far east. / Can you pass the Rorschach test?

It’s a hassle is an educated guess. / Well, frankly I couldn’t care less.

I think I can officially say summer has left the canyon. I’m grateful for these past couple of Indian summer months: the warm mornings spent meditating by the pool, Mr. Ha’s apples, George Yemetz almond butter, and, of course, family and their milestones.

Mom’s turning 89, Zoe’s courage, Jonah’s fastball, and Susan’s tenacity and laugh.

This week feels cold and dim. I stayed busy and tried to shake it. My first remedy is always “song.” The friends and artists. You guys have helped.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I met a girl who sang the blues / And I asked her for some happy news / But she just smiled and turned away / I went down to the sacred store / Where I’d heard the music years before / But the man there said the music wouldn’t play

And in the streets, the children screamed / The lovers cried and the poets dreamed / But not a word was spoken / The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most / The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost / They caught the last train for the coast / The day the music died

I guess one could say, “Any day is a good day to release a new song.”

Honestly, I’m a bit stumped on what to report this week. I did give a nod and a wink at this week’s stack of new vinyl. This Idelic Hour set shows that even in dark times, music thrives.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

You always act so stupid / You always talk so dumb / But this is partytime / And you’ve got to say its better than a war / This is partytime / And its better than a cold bath with someone you dislike / This is partytime / And its good to drink for free when you haven’t any money / This is partytime / Oh, she might just possibly take me home

Right on cue, fall seems to finally have come to Southern California. This said, it’s mostly just the angles of the sun and moon. After a gloomy Friday we’re back to sensational weather. We still have watermelon in the fridge.

Call it baseball weather with old friends, new artists, songs, and fall baseball.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I was a city child with a dead-end smile / And a worm’s-eye point of view / Oh I knew my way, I was a back-street stray / And I had my eyes on you

Now I got this friend and he’s a screwdriver-jiver / You know, some kinda automobeat on the street / And he has converted me to rock ‘n’ roll

I just want to dance to / Honaloochie boogie yeah / Get in time, don’t worry ’bout the shirt shine / Honaloochie boogie yeah / You sure started somethin’

Now my hair gets longer as the beat gets stronger / want to tell Chuck Berry my news / I get my kicks outta guitar licks / And I’ve sold my steel-toed shoes

“My hair gets longer as the beat gets stronger.” I would have thought it was obvious that I used to tag band names and lyrics on the desks at Trinity School in NYC. It’s truly incredible that was a half century ago.

I’m almost in shock looking at my last sentence. I’m back in LA sitting at my desk in my cozy canyon garage office. Monday and Tuesday found me walking the streets of the Big Apple. The weather and combo of old and new friends was perfect. I took it all in like a rocker.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Everybody’s talkin’ at me / I don’t hear a word they’re sayin’ / Only the echoes of my mind / People stoppin’, starin’ / I can’t see their faces / Only the shadows of their eyes / I’m goin’ where the sun keeps shinin’ / Through the pourin’ rain / Goin’ where the weather suits my clothes / Bankin’ off of the northeast winds / Sailin’ on summer breeze / And skippin’ over the ocean like a stone

Greetings from Wilton, CT. Jumped a red eye east to celebrate my cousin’s wedding and mom’s 89th!

In the past I’ve often enjoyed cutting the Idelic Hour from the road. For inspiration, I pulled out an old IH from a NYC stay some years back. I dug it so much I decided to splice a chunk of the songs into this week’s episode.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I woke up this mornin’ with the sundown shinin’ in / I found my mind in a brown paper bag within / I tripped on a cloud and fell an eight miles high / I tore my mind on a jagged sky / I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

Yeah, yeah, oh, yeah / What condition my condition was in

I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole, and then I followed it in / I watched myself crawlin’ out as I was crawlin’ in, yeah, yeah / I got up so tight, I couldn’t unwind, I saw so much, I broke my mind / I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

There are many moments when I feel I am slowly falling apart. I’ll put my iPhone on a shelf, table, or counter—and can’t find it. So I’m walking in circles thinking—WTF am I doing?

Then again, when I actually look back at the last couple of weeks, I am truly amazed that I live a life filled with cool people and great songs. In fact I’ve been so busy it’s been hard to get The Idelic Hour out my door.

This week is 95% all new releases. Thank you and my lucky stars.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Daddy’s telling lies / Baby’s eating flies / Mommy’s on pills / Baby’s got the chills

I’m friends with the President / I’m friends with the Pope / We’re all making a fortune / Selling Daddy’s dope

Sitting here in Queens / Eating re-fried beans / We’re in all the magazines / Gulpin’ down Thorazines

Do you guys use Flipboard? Fewer and fewer magazines are on it. It seems like publications worth reading want $9.99. I do like the feel of Flippin through a series of interests upon awaking, but one thing is for sure, my clipboard certainly does lead down a variety of paths.

College basketball, transfer portal, soccer news, Trump crimes, and Russia. I mean WTF are Russians thinking? Ugh, god help us.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

You’re just too good to be true / Can’t take my eyes off of you / You’d be like Heaven to touch / I wanna hold you so much / At long last, love has arrived / And I thank God I’m alive / You’re just too good to be true / Can’t take my eyes off of you

Grateful the heatwave in LA broke. As the seasons roll by I’ve learned to appreciate shit. My rock ‘n’ roll journey, the people I’ve met, my groovy pad in the canyon, and most of all my cool chick.

I love ya baby, let’s keep rolling.

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