Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
As some of you know, this Fall my teenage daughter moved back east for college. Teen Zoe is at the outset of her adult life—and wow, what an exciting journey! Of course as a parent “observing” your first-born leap into the world of 2013 is nothing short of mind-blowing. Fittingly, Zoe’s “leaving the nest” has made its impact of the Idelic Hour.
Zo’s departure occasionally finds me day dreaming of the start of my “journey.” It was the Fall of 1980, I landed at LAX with a duffel bag and a surf board…
One of the things that struck me about California back then was how hard LA radio rocked. At a time when we jaded New Yorkers thought punk had died with Sid Vicious (for fuck sake, The Clash gone reggae!) I felt my best option was to head west and try my luck with surfing and blonde chicks.
I arrived in LA lost, a street kid from NYC who couldn’t drive. I reached for the radio dial and not only did LA have KROQ playing punk, the city had two rock stations, KLOS and the mighty KMET. Those three stations were my compass through the new world of California. The mix of these three stations—with a sprinkle of NY’s DJ Vince Scelsa—they are the genesis, the reason, why I do The Idelic Hour.
OK, so long story short “Rocktober”—it was an 80’s tradition on KLOS. The month of rock is California at its most ridiculous. Oh my god, I love my Octobers in California! Beautiful indian summer sunsets, blondes and boogie boards. We rock harder and do it longer than anyone. We’re a laid back bunch, behind, but still new. We think we are hip and we are. And yes, we’ll still be at the beach this weekend.
So, dig on this playlist of new sounds of Rocktober 2013.
The Idelic Hit of the Week:
Monster Truck – Sweet Mountain River
