Tonio K.

The Raik's Progress

Below are the liner notes I contributed to the Sundazed Records release of The Raik's Progress CD in 1999           


THE RAIK’S PROGRESS 

 

YIKES!

CHECK OUT THAT COVER PHOTO:
TO PARAPHRASE SALVADOR DALI : WE WERE THE SIXTIES. WE WERE YOUNG (SIXTEEN TO EIGHTEEN),
BUT THAT’S WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT, WHERE IT WAS AT, ETC: YOUTH.
IT WAS A YOUTH-CULTURE; A "YOUTHQUAKE"; A YOUTHFUL REVOLUTION. HA!
WHICH BRINGS US TO AN IMPORTANT AND WIDELY APPLICABLE MAXIM: NEVER (NEVER!) GIVE MUCH CREDENCE, OR EVEN PAY MUCH ATTENTION,TO THE SOCIAL OR POLITICAL (MUCH LESS ETHICAL/THEOLOGICAL) MUSINGS OF TEENAGE BOYS -- OF ANY ERA. JUST LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF OUR SINGLE, "SEWER RAT LOVE CHANT." OR, BETTER STILL, READ THE WORDS. (contemporary commentary in parenthesis):


                              I LIVE IN A TREE  (NO YOU DON’T)

                              NO MAN’S WORLD BOTHERS ME (PROBABLY NOT)

                              I’VE SPENT ALL MY PAST (ALL 16 YEARS)

                              IN THE FOREST ...EATING GRASS (OH, YOU HAVE NOT) ...

 

                             POSSESED I ONCE HAD A WIFE (NO YOU DIDN’T)

                              SOUGHT MY GOLD MORE THAN LIFE  (WHAT?! WHAT GOLD?)

                              NOW I HEAR POETRY WISE (I DOUBT IT)

                              AND THE BIRD, MY FRIEND, NEVER LIES...

                              (SEE “THE TRASHMEN” SUNDAZED RECORDS #SC11011)

 

GET THE PICTURE?

UPON LISTENING TO THE RECORD , YOU’LL NOTICE THAT  “DON’T NEED YOU”  -- WRITTEN BY JOHN CATES, AN OLDER, WISER, MORE SEASONED WRITER
(AGE 20) --  AND  “SEWER RAT LOVE CHANT” ARE ACTUALLY THE SAME SONG - MUSICALLY. THE FORMER IS AN EARNEST SONG OF HEARTBREAK AND BREAKUP AND BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. THE OTHER IS....WELL, SEE THE ABOVE LYRIC. THIS WAS WRITTEN IN THE CAR -- SOMEWHERE BETWEEN GORMAN AND MAGIC MOUNTAIN (WHICH WASN’T THERE AT THE TIME) --  ON OUR WAY TO RECORD IT IN LOS ANGELES. WHAT JOHN CATES THOUGHT OF THE PSYCHEDELIC PSYCHOBABBLE ATTRIBUTED TO HIM ON THE LABLE COPY, I NEVER DID HEAR. THE OTHER SIGNIFICANT QUESTION ABOUT THIS VERSION OF THE SONG IS THIS: WHY DID DUANE SCOTT -- OF ENGLISH/SCOTTISH DESCENT -- SING THIS VOCAL IN A FAUX AMERICAN INDIAN DIALECT? EVEN THOSE OF US IN THE BAND NEVER KNEW, OR BOTHERED TO ASK.

GRANTED, EVEN AT SIXTEEN, WE ALL HAD A FAIRLY WELL-TUNED SENSE OF THE ABSURD, AND INTENDED THE SONG TO BE NONSENSE (AS WAS“INCENSE AND PEPPERMINTS;” I HAVE IT ON THE WORD OF THE SONG’S WRITER, MY FRIEND, JOHN CARTER). STILL, DEEP IN OUR HORMONALLY-TROUBLED SOULS, WE THOUGHT WE WERE BEING COOL - MAYBE EVEN HEAVY. THE LITTLE GIRLS, WE WERE SURE, WOULD UNDERSTAND.

THIS SORT OF MISGUIDED ARROGANCE, COUPLED WITH OUR PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL ANTICS (LEGAL AND OTHERWISE) COULD/SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN US SOUNDLY BEATEN BY OUR ELDERS AND/OR THE AUTHORITIES AND NEARLY DID ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS.

IT WASN’T ALWAYS A BLANK PISTOL; ONCE, THE TRAIN WE HAD FIRED UPON STOPPED AND SENT AN ARMED GUARD INTO THE VINYARDS LOOKING FOR US. ON ANOTHER OCCASION -- OUR FAVORITE LIVE GIG OF THE SUMMER OF ‘66 -- THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE OF THE MECCA, A HOLD-OVER FOLK CLUB THAT WE SOMEHOW GOT BOOKED INTO, ROSE AS ONE MAN, WALKED OUT, AND WAITED IN THE PARKING LOT UNTIL WE WERE FINISHED AND THE NEXT ACT CAME ON. WE WERE VERY PROUD,  AS WOULD OUR PARENTS HAVE BEEN.

JUST THINK:  MY FATHER FOUGHT THE NAZI BEAST (THIRTY-PLUS BOMBING MISSIONS OVER GERMANY IN 1943 & 1944) AND PREVAILED - ONLY TO HAVE HIS PUNK SON (AND HIS PUNK SON’S PUNK FRIENDS) WEAR HIS BOMBER JACKETS AND POSE FOR PICTURES LIKE THE ONES INCLUDED IN THIS PACKAGE.

ON THE OTHER HAND, THE MUSIC WAS PRETTY GOOD. WHEN WE GOT TO L.A. IN JUNE OF 1966 (THE DAY AFTER SCHOOL LET OUT) WE SIGNED WITH BOTH LIBERTY RECORDS AND THE WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY. WE WERE TOLD WE’D BE THE NEXT ROLLING STONES, AND WERE NAIVE AND COCKSURE ENOUGH TO BELIEVE IT - FOR ABOUT FOUR MONTHS. THE ENDLESS SUMMER ENDED, SCHOOL STARTED, AND, WE HEARD, THERE WAS A WAR GOING ON SOMEWHERE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. EVERYTHING WAS A MESS. BY THE SPRING OF ‘67 THE BAND HAD BROKEN UP. SOME OF US STAYED IN “THE BUSINESS”, SOME OF US RACED CARS, SOME OF US EVENTUALLY STARTED LEGITIMATE BUSINESSES.

ALL OF US REMEMBER THE DAYS - AND ALWAYS WILL; IT WAS A GROOVE, MAN!

 

 

 

 

                                                                      TONIO K.

                                                           (A.K.A. STEVE KRIKORIAN)

                                                              HOLLYWOOD, CALIF.

                                                       JUNE,1999 (33 YEARS LATER)