Link → West Coast
- by John
“So all these people come here, and then there’s all this publicity, and… “Northern Exposure” and “Twin Peaks” and all this stuff, and everyone wants to come here and live the good yuppie lifestyle, but all this time there’s all these people that are underneath that were here first and they’re just starving and they’re all crazy. ” - Art Chantry
“Mannequins in stores with long johns and shorts for like $300. We got them all fooled. We wear long johns up here because it’s fucking cold.” - Ledge Morrissette, the Mono Men
This is a story about the West Coast. It’s not my coast. I don’t imagine it becoming my coast. As I built this mix, I realized all my favorite bands are from my coast, the East Coast. California? I could only think of coke rock, hair metal and the odd punk band. Oregon? Beat Happening, Kathleen Hanna, the hipster mecca of Portland, with a number of uninteresting bands I can’t begin to remember. Washington? The grunge I loved as a teenager. I began to think more, and there were more things that came up, but never a focus I could weave to a full theme.
So this is a tongue-in-cheek cautionary tale about going west, seeing the elephant and turning back. Sort of. It’s loosely disillusioned. Some of the bands aren’t even from the West Coast. It’s, in short, “Welcome to the Jungle” through the lense of someone who always preferred “Damaged” to “Appetite for Destruction.”
Ask me some time and I’ll assail the East Coast as well.
“California” Low
My initial theme was sort of “Grapes of Wrath” type of travails. This song sort of captures that initial sense of hope, going to California where it’s warm.
“Pipeline” Chantay’s
If this were a movie, this is the driving song. It’s pulling up to the beaches and the surf, ready to take on California, in the 60s or now. It’s also just a fucking great surf song.
“Is This Real?” The Wipers
This is the real “Welcome to the jungle.” You’ve just stepped into one of those progressive hamlets, now with 10% more token minorities! It’s that place that’s just too clean, with too many trees and people doing yoga on the lawn. You’re perplexed with a bunch of “What the fuck?”-ish notions.
“New Age (Full Length Version)” The Velvet Underground
Let’s say you’re one of those young idealists who come to Los Angeles and live in the garage of some creep just so you can land an acting gig in a commercial. But you’re young and waiting to be discovered.
Then you find Gloria Swanson gone Elvis. It’s “Sunset Blvd.” It’s a burned out, forgotten star, still lurking in the shadows. She’s waiting for her spotlight, still.
“Never Learn Not To Love” The Beach Boys
So we’ve entered the peace and love. Never learn not to love. Submission is a gift, go on give it to your lover.
Oh yeah, those sweet Beach Boys harmonies. Who wrote this nice little diddy?
Charles Manson. Welcome to California’s wonderful hippie culture, circa 1967.
“TV Star” Butthole Surfers
I figured, Hollywood’s the trend so far, why not some more?
This song isn’t very deep. I just think it’s funny.
“California Über Alles” Dead Kennedys
Remember those little liberal hamlets? They’re here in a lynch mob of Birkenstocks ready to bind you with hemp rope.
“When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch” X
It’s just a good junkie song. It was this or “We’re desperate.” Both seemed apt.
“Money Will Roll Right In” RTX
RTX (former members of Royal Trux, who were former members of Pussy Galore) haven’t got the biggest West Coast credentials. However, this song, originally by Cali-hardcore-sludgernauts Fang moved up the coast to the Pacific Northwest, and took root in the minds of the grunge inclined. Mudhoney and Nirvana both recorded versions of this song.
“California Girls” The Magnetic Fields
It was this or “Come Back from San Francisco.” It’s all the tiring of the culture. “Come Back …” awaits the return of a wayward lover. This is that sort of exhaustion at the epic standards of the bleach blonde crowd.
“History Lesson - Part II” Minutemen
Just a great song. “Punk rock changed our lives” is true of so many people. It’s that music and that moment where the world is accessible, and ready to be demolished for something new. “Mr. Narrator! This is Bob Dylan to me.” It’s pretty universal, but the lyrics themselves are location-specific. They’d drive up from San Pedro to get drunk and pogo. Oh to be D. Boon or Mike Watt.
“Our Secret” Beat Happening
Amid the sea of pretense, you’ve found someone to cling to. Part of you is ready to disappear into the world, but then you’ve still got these things to work through, but this person is by your side. The song is stark and simple beauty.
“Hit ‘Em Up” Tupac Shakur
I had someone tell me I couldn’t do this without “California Love.” To prove them wrong, I chose another great Tupac song. No rhyme or reason.
