Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
How many of us have at one time or another made a “playlist” for a journey of some sort? I would never suggest “road-trip mixtapes” are a lost art, but with i-phones, “cloud tech” and assorted “gizmos,” it’s never been easier to access a record collection at a finger’s touch.
Every now and then I’ll stumble upon a beat up CD or even a cassette, often loosely marked. It’s these road trip mixtapes that are the muse for this week’s Idelic Hour.
Earlier in the week I was in NYC so I posed a simple rock and roll question—what do I want to listen to on my plane ride back to LA? I set out to create a playlist of songs that are really set in the “clouds.”
Jets, planes, and flying have have always been rock and roll themes. While The Rotary Connection is teaching you how to, Peter, Paul and Mary are taking off, The Horrors are “skying,” Eno is feeling warm ones coming, Be Bop Bill Nelson is waking to them. The Flaming Groovies are high flying babies while Judy Henske is unquestionably the stoned queen of the Beats.
At this end of this Fall day, Idelic “Jetplane” is a simple mixtape to be enjoyed in transit—preferably on a flight. The handful of new records come courtesy of a new breed of female vocalists. Irish singer Lisa Hannigan, Julia Stone and female fronted groups Friends and Dum Dum Girls are all high flying birds.
Relax, buckle up, recline, and dig.
The Idelic Hit of the Week: Friends – My Boo
