1968: may 17
On this date in May 17, nine Catholics, including the Berrigan brothers (Daniel and Philip), entered the draft board in Catonsville, Maryland. They took several hundred draft files and burned them:
Saturday, May 17, 2008
why not for 400
And, of course, I forgot that Hulu doesn't work outside of the U.S., and I was posting for one person in particular who is in Hong Kong. So here's another, low-fi, example:
Friday, May 16, 2008
1968: may 16
From the "Occupation Committee of the People's Free Sorbonne University":
Slogans To Be Spread Now by Every Means
(leaflets, announcements over microphones, comic strips, songs, graffiti, balloons on paintings in the Sorbonne, announcements in theaters during films or while disrupting them, balloons on subway billboards, before making love, after making love, in elevators, each time you raise your glass in a bar):
OCCUPY THE FACTORIES
POWER TO THE WORKERS COUNCILS
ABOLISH CLASS SOCIETY
DOWN WITH SPECTACLE-COMMODITY SOCIETY
ABOLISH ALIENATION
TERMINATE THE UNIVERSITY
HUMANITY WON’T BE HAPPY TILL THE LAST BUREAUCRAT IS HUNG WITH THE GUTS OF THE LAST CAPITALIST
DEATH TO THE COPS
FREE ALSO THE 4 GUYS CONVICTED FOR LOOTING DURING THE MAY 6TH RIOT
friday random ten, 1976 edition
1. Patti Smith, "Ask the Angels." Lots of New York Punk on this list, each track different. Patti was the poet laureate, a great live performer, and a bit crazy. Her band was learning how to play, and in their case, the move was useful.
2. Ramones, "Judy Is a Punk." Speaking of learning how to play, the video link here is astounding.
3. Joan Armatrading, "Love and Affection." The Ramones pretended to never grow up. Joan Armatrading never sounded like anything BUT a grownup.
4. David Bowie, "Stay." This is arguably my favorite Bowie track, and with due respect to the man and his many fans, he has pretty much nothing to do with why I like it ... in fact, the mannered vocals are my least-favorite part of the song. Terrific funk, great guitar ... for that, I can live with the part in the middle that constitutes the actual song. This isn't meant as a rip on Bowie ... I like a lot of his work, and usually he's the reason. But here, it's all about the insistent danceable background.
5. Thin Lizzy, "The Boys Are Back in Town." Punk hadn't completely taken over rock and roll. It was hard to find anyone who didn't like this anthemic song with the twin guitars.
6. Graham Parker and the Rumour, "Don't Ask Me Questions." The most amazingly bitter anti-God rant this side of Randy Newman's "God's Song." Parker sees a world where people leave behind crimson autographs as they leap over the cliffs like lemmings. And he sees a God who seems to approve. But he's not done ... in the chorus, he gets in God's face: hey lord, don't ask me questions. It's easy for atheists to diss God ... they don't believe in him to begin with. It's the Graham Parkers of the world who do the real dirty work: God is real, and Parker is pissed about it.
7. Blue Öyster Cult, "Don't Fear the Reaper." Was there ever any doubt which video I'd include for this one? Or which one would get the featured spot atop the list?
8. Blondie, "X Offender." I liked the Blondie of Parallel Lines as much as the next guy, but there's a charm to their debut album that was mostly gone by the time they hit it big. I only wish shuffle play had coughed up "The Attack of the Giant Ants."
9. Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, "Cherchez La Femme/Se Si Bon." Delightful rhythms that were un-disco enough to catch your attention, a fine singer in Cory Daye, and an interestingly retro stage presence ... seems at least as likeable to me as Thin Lizzy. But they never really made it. Christgau got at the odd melange: "I hated this the first time I played it, which turned out to mean that I had encountered a clear, uncompromising and dangerously seductive expression of a vision of life that was foreign to me." He gave the album a grade of "A".
10. The Modern Lovers, "Roadrunner." This version was recorded some years earlier, released in 1976. Jonathan Richman based the music on "Sister Ray," but it's "Sister Ray" as sung by someone who finds joy in Route 128 with the radio on, rather than someone who couldn't hit their mainline, sideways. The seemingly universal appeal of the song is captured in a terrific essay from last summer by English writer Laura Barton, "The car, the radio, the night - and rock's most thrilling song," in which Barton travels to New England and drives Route 128, looking for landmarks from "Roadrunner." Remember: one two three four five six!
And a bonus. The only time I saw Randy Newman live was at the end of May in 1976. Here's a track from a show he did a few weeks before that:
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
1968: may 14
Rather than sticking to one topic, I'll choose four, as an example of how much was happening by this point in 1968.
May 14 marked the first day of Resurrection City. Martin Luther King had helped organize the Poor People's Campaign to bring America's attention to poverty issues. The intent was to put together a huge group of poor people across all racial lines, and to march to Washington. King was killed before he could see the completion, but by May 11, people began arriving in the capitol, and on May 14, Resurrection City, a shantytown/camp near the Lincoln Memorial, was born. Each day, the residents would demonstrate, in particular demanding an "Economic Bill of Rights." They lasted until late June.
Also on that date, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover issued the following memo:
TO: SAC (Special Agent in Charge-Albany)
Counter Intelligence Program: Internal Security: Disruption of the New Left
The purpose of this program is to expose, disrupt, and otherwise neutralize the activities of the various new left organizations, their leadership, and their adherents. It is imperative that activities of those groups be followed on a continuous basis so that we may take advantage of all opportunities for counter intelligence and also inspire action where circumstance warrant. The devious maneuver, the duplicity of these activists must be exposed to public scrutiny through cooperation of reliable news media sources, both locally and at the seat of government. We must frustrate every effort of these groups and individuals to consolidate their forces or to recruit new or youthful adherents. In every instance, consideration should be given to disrupting organized activity of these groups and no opportunity should be missed to capitalize on organizational or personal conflicts of their leadership.
Offices which have investigative responsibility for KEY ACTIVISTS should specifically comment in the initial letter to the bureau regarding these individuals. These offices are aware these individuals have been identified as the moving forces behind the new left.
No counter-intelligence action may be initiated by the field without specific bureau authorization.
The bureau has been closely following the activities of the new left and the Key Activists and is highly concerned that the anarchistic activities of a few could paralyze institutions of learning, induction centers, cripple traffic, and tie the arms of law enforcement officials. All to the detriment of our society. The organizations and activists who spout revolution and unlawfully challenge society to obtain their demands must not only be contained, but must be neutralized. Law and order is mandatory for any civilized society to survive. Therefore, you must approach this endeavor with a forward look, enthusiasm, and interest in order to accomplish our responsibilities. The importance of this new endeavor, cannot and will not be overlooked.
Meanwhile, John Lennon and Paul McCartney showed up on the Tonight Show. The guest host was ex-ballplayer Joe Garagiola, and Tallulah Bankhead inserts herself into the proceedings as well. Those old Tonight Shows were destroyed, but in this case, someone filmed it off the screen:
And let's not forget France and mai 68. Students and police battled almost daily. The riot police were well-named, for they were quite good at rioting. Public opinion turned in favor of the protestors. A general strike was called for May 13; more than a million people marched in Paris. The Prime Minister reopened the Sorbonne ... students returned, occupied it, took it over, and called for the spread of the actions to the factories. On May 14, workers staged a sit-down strike at an aircraft plant near Nantes. Things were moving fast: "By 16 May, workers had occupied roughly fifty factories, and by 17 May, 200,000 were on strike. That figure snowballed to two million workers on strike the following day and then ten million, or roughly two-thirds of the French workforce, on strike the following week."
diego armando maradona
Say what you want about the man, who is now 47 years old, but whether he's leaving a defender in the dust, inventing the "Ass Trap," or diving for a penalty, #10 still has it (saw this on The Offside):
Recent Comments