Author Archives: Jon Sidel

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I beg your pardon / I never promised you a rose garden / Along with the sunshine / There’s gotta be a little rain sometime / When you take you gotta give so live and let live or let go / Oh-whoa-whoa-whoa / I beg your pardon / I never promised you a rose garden

I beg your pardon. I believe it’s spring! It’s sunny out, but this morning was cold as fuck. Speaking for southern Californians, “we’ve had enough.” Spare us the fools and bring back our sunshine. After all it’s April fools—a little spare change and sunshine…be nice.

Last night I dragged Susan out on a frigid evening to attend the LA opening of King Pleasure, an art show/ experience of the work and life of the late Jean-Michel Basquiat. I’m grateful to have known Jean. Over the years, I’ve always had mixed feelings about “poor Jean,” and often used the “saga of Jean-Michel” as a reference to give artists advice.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Fake tales of San Francisco / Echo through the air / And there’s a few bored faces at the back, all / Wishing they weren’t there / And as the microphone squeaks / A young girl’s telephone beeps / Yeah, she’s dashing for the exit / Oh, she’s running to the streets outside / “Oh, you’ve saved me”, she screams down the line / “The band were fucking wank and I’m not having a nice time”

I’ve always loved a Brit singing about a destination he/she’s never been to. That crop of turn of the millennium UK dreamers (Alex Turner, Gomez, Badly Drawn Boy, Turin Brakes, Malcolm Middleton etc.) are an easy go-to on a cold, rainy afternoon.

This week will be remembered for an unmistakably “British” rain. Dark, moody, with a chill that you can feel through the floorboards.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Well, I never paid the rent / And I never paid no telephone bill / And I ain’t never had a job / And I’m glad and I hope I never will / But my mom yesterday / She asked me how I was doin’ / I said I’m pretty good / But I don’t know if I’m gonna eat today / I don’t know if I’m gonna eat today / But I’m gonna try… / I’m gonna try, try, try… / I swear to God, I’m gonna try…

My perception of time is warped, or the world is spinning at a vicious rate. Likely both. Many of us seem to be hanging onto the rails for our lives. The view from this “ferris wheel” we’ll call “023,” is beautiful but treacherous. Personally, I try to be heathy but as the day gets long I look for treats.

I do often start the day with oatmeal. It warms my soul on cold winter mornings. So does a voice, or a line from a song.

This week’s Idelic Hour started with a crate of records I compiled a few weeks ago. Funny, most of those discs remain unchecked as I’ve opted to play an assortment of new releases mixed with an odd, a sod, and a nod to Dixi D, and fond memories of playing in bands.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Hold on, when the train is moving / through the sound of change / And tell those boys back in town / that there will be a call / Oooo train is comin’ on / Oooo train is comin’ on / A train is comin’ your way / and it sounds like, / just like a chase straight through the season / or why not through your heart / It makes us see the strength that / surrounds us in all / our failures / Just like the train in the film Doctor Zhivago

Years ago I took a job doing A&R for Richard Branson’s label V2 Records. Often people ask me about signing the White Stripes to the label. I often fondly tell them the story of meeting Swedish singer Nicoali Dunger and his manager Per.

I was asked by Mercury Rev to meet Nicolai while he was in LA and arranged to meet him at Hugo’s on Santa Monica Blvd. I drank coffee and talked fast. They smiled, nodded, and said “Ya, ya, ya.” At some point they gave me a CD. I remember liking the cover and flipped it over to view the track listing.

“You have a song called “Doctor Zhivago’s Train.”

They smiled. “Ya, ya, ya.”

“No, that’s a really cool name for a song.”

“Ya, ya, ya.”

“I’m actually going to listen to this.”

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Life is a wheel that drives me mad / Trying to find my way / Life is a wheel don’t know where I’m bound / Sometimes I’ve had to say

Where can I hide / Where can I hide / Where can I hide / When so many times I’ve failed

Growing up Jewish, an offspring of the “old country,” and a touch privileged in New York City, I have eaten at the The Russian Tea Room many times. It was often said often said that the Tea Room’s Chicken Kiev was better than the best in Kiev. The Tea Room was simply one my favorite fancy restaurants growing up. After my high school graduation, the Sidels dined there for lunch. I have never been to Russia or Kiev. From the look of things, I likely never will?

On occasion I do pop by Grandma’s Russian Deli in Studio City for the most authentic and excellent borscht and chicken. Borscht is a winter routine I developed at Teresa’s in New York’s lower east side. The day I stumbled into Grandma’s, the woman who runs the spot was very flirty and intrigued. She took no time in talking to me in her tongue, curious about my heritage and delighted by my request for black bread and a greasy patio pastry to go with my soup.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Pretty little something crawling out of a bed it barely can climb / We could stick to something safe and low but no, the thing has set its mind / We’ve been waiting in our prime / So superior, do we mind? / You wear the leather in the streets / Another leather in the sheets

Don’t hide your kids, the walls won’t go / It’s not Berlin or Jericho / Don’t hide your kids, the walls won’t go / It’s not Berlin or Jericho

Baby, your shoulder’s better than knives / Your shoulder’s better than knives / Your shoulder’s better than knives / Baby your shoulder’s better than knives / Your shoulder’s better than knives…

Never have I seen it snow in LA. Yesterday, Mulholland Drive hit 39 degrees and hail balls were a-flying! The result was a “slushy snow day.” Yet another freakish reminder about this crazy planet.

For god sake, keep those toes, fingers, and ass warm and…

If you’re curious to hear what’s new in 2023, check this week’s Idelic set of mostly new releases.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I want a Sunday kind of love / A love to last past Saturday night / And I’d like to know it’s more than love at first sight / And I want a Sunday kind of love / Oh, yeah, yeah

I want a, a, a love that’s on the square / Can’t seem to find somebody / Someone to care / And I’m on a lonely road that leads to nowhere / I need a Sunday kind of love

I do my Sunday dreaming, oh, yeah / And all my Sunday scheming / Every minute, every hour, every day

Oh, I’m hoping to discover / A certain kind of lover / Who will show me the way

Solomon Burke proclaimed it, “everybody needs somebody to love.” It likely came out of of the psyche of co-writer Burt Berns. The morning before Valentines Day, I had such thoughts, so I dipped by Sweet Lily, a local french bakery snuggled at the base of the canyon, and bought a raspberry tart for both Susan and Jonah.

Love songs are so great because they are often so simple but so deep. As I get older, I tend to think more about love songs the days after Valentines than the days before.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

When she said, “Don’t waste your words, they’re just lies, ” I cried she was deaf / And she worked on my face until breaking my eyes, and said, “What else you got left?” / It was then that I got up to leave, but she said, “Don’t forget / Everybody must give something back for something they get”

I stood there and hummed, I tapped on her drum, I asked her how come / And she buttoned her boot, and straightened her suit, and she said, “Don’t get cute” / So I forced my hands in my pockets and felt with my thumbs / And gallantly handed her my very last piece of gum

As the first month 2023 spins us around and around into February, I’m asking myself, “I am just just fucking with myself”? At times I’m like Bob Dylan fucking playing games with his audience, save my audience is just in between my ears.

It’s likely best not to think too much and enjoy a few songs, and dig on another beautiful day here in our canyon. Mid 70s sunny and clear?

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

It’s automatic when I talk with old friends / The conversation turns to girls / We knew when their hair was soft and long / And the beach was the place to go

Suntanned bodies and waves of sunshine / The California girls and a beautiful coastline / Warmed up weather let’s get together / And do it again

With a girl the lonely sea looks good / Makes your nighttimes warm and out of sight

It’s Grammy week and I’m running like OJ in an airport. No stress, unless anyone cares? Loving that my canyon hit ’70 degrees and this new crop of music echoing off my garage walls.

And the winner is…

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Dare to squeeze the dead-ringer / Red dinger / On the wall for all times / Predicted to the icing on the cake

And the worms collect the ground / For the seeds to grow / But you never can know the speed / Is it 33 or 45? / Your fastidious clad broker / Stacks the black wax suits / Of the decked out man / But the plan is still in shrink / For the boys and off you go / Does it take the price to know? / That she is sold to the dream / To be the only one?

Thank God for a sunny day in the canyon. I started the week inspired by Tim Warren from Crypt Records. He DJ’d at my nightclub in NYC in the ’80s. Tim also put out a fair share of compilation albums and often DJ’d at Cramps shows. I would easily say Tim and Lux were record collector buddies.

So my goal was to do a set of nutty, trashy, and lyrically ironic ’50s and ’60s records and mix them with some of newer “ironic” records.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

To dream the impossible dream / To fight the unbeatable foe / To bear with unbearable sorrow / And to run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong / And to love pure and chaste from afar / To try when your arms are too weary / To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest / To follow that star / No matter how hopeless / No matter how far

As this cold California January sets in, I’ve found my priority has been staying warm in my cool, old canyon, mid-century pad. It’s honestly kept me off turntables on my iPad.

Looking for random inspiration, I’ve been listening to an old playlist of songs made by a friend of a band I used to work with. It’s a fascinating blend of hippie obscurities. The other morning a song called “Did You Dream Of Unicorns” popped up.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I’ve been from Tuscon to Tucumcari / Tehachapi to Tonapah / Driven every kind of rig that’s ever been made / Now driven the back roads so I wouldn’t get weighed / And if you give me weed, whites and wine / And you show me a sign and I’ll be willin’, to be movin’

Now smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico / Baked by the sun, almost every time I go to Mexico, and I’m willin’ / And I’ve been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet / Had my head stoved in, but I’m still on my feet / And I’m willin’, oh I’m willin’

Today, I’m optimistic. Why the fuck not? Our cool crib and neighborhood didn’t slide down the canyon Tuesday. Could happen tomorrow. In 2023 anything, really anything, could happen. So why not enjoy dreaming big. Well, at least that’s what the guy at the liquor store and I were chatting about when I bought my lottery ticket this morning.

I’m just gonna hold onto that “ticket” like it’s a winner. No matter what the outcome. This life, this rock ‘n’ roll journey, my kids, wife, kitty, house, family, and all those groovy tunes buzzing thru my silly brain…

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

We’ve come a long, long way together / Through the hard times and the good / I have to celebrate you, baby / I have to praise you like I should

We’ve come a long, long way together / Through the hard times and the good / I have to celebrate you, baby / I have to praise you like I should

I’m having deja vu writing about the first days of the new year being like a blank canvas. Call this week’s “Idelic column” a rerun, but I have say that when it comes to my music consumption, I find myself a total creature of habit. I’ve spent the weeks from Thanksgiving to the new year listening to my favorite songs.

I’m a listener—looking, searching, seeking inspiration. Someone mentioned Mercury is in retrograde so I’m taking cues from this week’s playlist. I’m “taking my time,” but ready to move on to new pastures.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Continuing my month long “Best of 2022 Idelic Hits,” episode three is ordered differently than our top two episodes. For one thing, I spaced and only spun 19 instead of 20 songs (ha!), the top of which have a an extremely mellow vibe. Some of the songs from the top of 22 feel like oldies and some feel unfamiliar.

Whatever you make of it, I’m pretty sure the gods of rock ‘n’ roll are smiling upon this stack of records

Here’s the third installment of The Idelic Hour’s golden shower of Idelic Hits for 2022.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Continuing my month long “Best of 2022 Idelic Hits,” episode 2 came to together by “flippin thru” my recently assembled “crate” of new albums and singles—all released over the last year. For this episode I abandoned “counting down” records 21-41, and opted instead for piecing these recent gems in an elegant fashion to create a luscious hour of music.

Hey, that’s what Idelic Hours are all about.

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