Author Archives: Jon Sidel

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I’ll make you a deal, like any other candidate / We’ll pretend we’re walking home ’cause your future’s at stake / My set is amazing, it even smells like a street

There’s a bar at the end where I can meet you and your friend / Someone scrawled on the wall “I smell the blood of les tricoteuses” / Who wrote up scandals in other bars / I’m having so much fun with the poisonous people / Spreading rumours and lies and stories they made up

Some make you sing and some make you scream / One makes you wish that you’d never been seen / But there’s a shop on the corner that’s selling papier mache / Making bullet-proof faces, Charlie Manson, Cassius Clay / If you want it, boys, get it here, thing

This year’s summer heatwave finally made it to LA this week—it’s too hot to do much more than work and watch the World Cup. Tip of the hat to my poor Brit pals. I was pulling for them and knew that so many old friends were holding fast.

Luckily for me, I’m a UCLA grad and fan. Unlike most big universities, at least in my day, Bruin fans always took sports in stride. If we made it to a match, we enjoyed the sunshine more than the beer. A loss would be easily forgotten with a ride, pretty friends, and the top down on the way to the beach.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Glow worms show the path we have to tread / Dreamers, we should be asleep in bed / Moving slowly through the springtime air / Holding moments in the depth of care / Holding moments in the depth of care

Whisper fairy stories ’til they’re real, / Wonder how the night can make us feel / Loving living more with love to stay / Long past sadness that was in our way / Long past sadness that was in our way

This week’s Idelic Hour starts with an acid folk whimper. I saw an old photo a friend posted. A bunch of us as young kids, doing what kids do on summer afternoons. With our Jonah flying the coop to college, I’ve been getting way sentimental. I gotta say, I get the vibe. Am I the only one?

All in all, my listening over “The 250” was as red, white, and blue as I could muster. For me, that meant Chuck Berry. Fuck, for me, Chuck is like Apple Pie.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Oh, the dirty of it ripped the label / You were chosen, man holy / Party people, they all wanna start at me / All I want’s an office in the country

Wanted to see me, what you gonna do? / Now that you see me / Ticktock / Wanted to see me, what you gonna do? / Now that you see me / Ticktock

Oh, the dirty of it ripped the label / I believe him, holy / All I want’s an office in the country / All I want’s an office in the country

Tick tock, tick tock, the clock has begun on summer days. For a second week in a row, here’s an attempt to communicate the passage of time through an “Idelic Hour playlist” of songs.

Where did these years run off to? Where did it all run off to? Yep, it’s a strange brew.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

And I lost a fight with the future / I want the moment, the moment is here / With rattled bones and a lighter can / I will shake with glass and dirty plans

But you gotta, yeah you gotta / Gotta grow up sometime / Yeah, now everybody’s sayin’ / Ya gotta get there sometime / But I go outta my mind / I try and I try / I try and I try / I try / But girl, you know I’m just a full growin’ man

Still rocking and reeling with the growing pains of our teenage Jonah’s ascension to manhood, I attempted to communicate through this hour’s “playlist” of songs. Where did these last ten years run off to?

I thought I would create an Idelic Hour of songs I was listening to a decade ago. It’s fair to say these last 10 years have been much more complicated than anticipated. Throw the pandemic into the mix, and what comes up is a strange brew.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

If ever you think about the happiest days of your life / Cast back your mind for a while / And remember the time when you were a child / Don’t think of things that make you sad / Just remember all the good times that you had

Do you remember only happy days / Full of flaming Junes and summer holidays? / Or do you remember those stormy Novembers / As we walked in the wind and the rain? / Schooldays were such happy days / Now they seem so far away / I remember and I’ll always treasure / Schooldays were the happiest days of your life / But we never appreciate the good times we have / Until it’s too late

Sarcastically, I’ve titled my life’s journey, “A funny thing happened on the way to the Great Western Forum!” And while the Idelic Hour was on a pause for an extended Memorial Day week, something big happened. Our guy Jonah graduated from High School!

I’ve often compared raising Jonah as rolling a boulder over a mountain top. Well, we made it, and looking back at the kid’s high school years it’s been a crazy, surreal ride. Not sure where time flies too, but for the last 50+ years, every June I’ve dropped “School’s Out” on my turntable and felt free as a bird.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Blue / Songs are like tattoos / You know I’ve been to sea before / Crown and anchor me / Or let me sail away

Hey, blue / There is a song for you / Ink on a pin / Underneath the skin / An empty space to fill in

Well, there’s so many sinking now / You gotta keep thinking / You can make it through these waves / Acid, booze, and ass / Needles, guns, and grass / Lots of laughs / Lots of laughs

Everybody’s saying that / Hell’s the hippest way to go / Well, I don’t think so / But I’m gonna take a look around it, though / Blue, I love you

I guess I’m on a roll with Idelic muses. This week, it’s my enchanting daughter, Zoe Blue. Her mother always told her (and Joni) she was named after the title track from the Mitchell classic. I claim to be the first punk rocker obsessed with Joni, and honestly, the words could not be more fitting.

This said, Zoe was named after Blue, a tough, skinny kid from the schoolyards of New York City. Dude was kinda like a mini George Girvin on the asphalt playgrounds of 1970s NYC hoop lore.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

The water’s wide / And I cannot cross over / Nor do I / Have wings to fly / Build me a boat / That could carry two / And both shall row / My love & I

There is a ship / And she sails the sea / She’s burdened deep / As deep can be / But not as deep / As the love I’m in / And I know not if / I sink or swim

But love is gentle / And love is kind / As to a jewel / When first it’s new / But love grows old / And it fades with time / And it fades away / Like morning dew

Build me a boat / That could carry two / And both shall row / My love & I

“The Water is Wide” is my kind of soulful lyric. The song points to the challenges of love. At first glance, it’s a simple metaphor, but the longer you sing the tune, the deeper the meaning can go.

I gather that the song has been around for well over 100 years. It’s even older than my dear mom, who is visiting us this week for Jonah’s high school graduation.

Mom turned 90 last year. Elly, like all our family, seemed to get older this year. She likely doesn’t remember taking me to see a legendary Cat Stevens concert at Philharmonic Hall or the Sly & The Family Stone concert at Forrest Hills Tennis Stadium when I fell asleep in the bleachers and Sly pulled a no-show.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I see walls / But these walls aren’t in my way / And I read words / But they don’t have much to say / I don’t listen to the cops / I wish they all were dead / Listen to the planes flying over head / Listen to the sound of the loss and gain / I just listen to the sounds of the rain

Growing up on the East Coast, I assume April will have its rainy moments—rain, hail, thunder, lightning, and being caught in a storm, dripping wet.

Now, living in Southern California, I reexperience those springtime memories of wind and rain through song. I don’t think there’s much debate, like most things in the Trump era, that many things like the weather—or even a passport—are creepy.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Circus is coming through / And everybody knows / That when you purchase a ticket / You expect to get a show

Last week, I wrote a super-long Idelic Hour column and forgot to post it on my socials. Typical of life in 2026. To keep it short, I guess the big question today is—where am I on April 24th? IE today.

I guess I’m working away, hard as I can, listening to cool tunes and spending time in my office garage with our groovy cat Nori.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Most of my Idelic column posts start with a few lines from a favorite song from my record collection. This week, I only played one old song from my collection (well, with lyrics). The song “Return To Love” is from Swedish singer-songwriter Nicolai Dunger’s album Soul Rush.

As a favor to Mercury Rev’s A&R, Kate Hyman, I had lunch with Nicolai and his manager, Per. We ate at a Hugo’s on Santa Monica Blvd. I was new to V2 Records, but from my years at Interscope, I was used to what I called a “mercy meeting.” You know, someone wants to meet the VP of A&R—Nicolai was on tour supporting Mercury Rev, and they were cool, and Kate was a friend.

A remember drinking lots of ice tea. Asking lots of simple questions. The usual A&R kind of shit. What bands you do dig? Who do you compare you music too? These two Swedes seemed happy enough. They smiled and said “Yeah, ya,” like a Swedish musician would. At the end of our meal they handed me a CD or two. I remember looking at the cover and complimenting on the artwork. I flipped the CD over and a song title caught my eye.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

There’s been some misunderstanding / And I’d like to make it right

Both of us need inspiration / And the timing must be right / We all have soul, yet nobody knows / Just how much it takes to fly / But I see my life before me / And I’d like to make a try / Maybe someone knows what fate is / Maybe someone knows just why / All I know is it’s all related / Maybe someone can explain time

I’m writing this on Friday morning. I woke up our blind kitty, Nori, trying to shake a lingering headache with coffee and Miles Davis.

April and the beginnings of Spring have “towered” over these past couple of weeks—Easter, Passover, my dad, and niece’s birthdays. I’ve broken bread with family and friends, caught opening weekend at Dodger Stadium, and got to see our Jonah toss a handful of smooth innings as well.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

And all of my friends were there / And no one cared

Say what they may, all of my friends were there / Not just my friends but their best friends too / All of my friends were there

The fools of April continue to do their thing. All in all, my vibe has been to thank my lucky stars to have a healthy family and cool friends.

I think I’ll take a Sunday bike ride and listen to this week’s Idelic set.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Good morning / This is your warning / This is your warning / You’re gonna appear before a stranger / I don’t know if you’ll be in any danger / For some are not pulled into moving cars / Some are not dragged down Fifth Avenue by the hairs in their ears / Some get away with it, some get away with it for many years / And are not punished, but some are

I’m not gonna think too much about what I’m writing this morning. After all, baseball season started yesterday, and it’s still March Madness. You might not be a sports fan, but baseball can be magical because watching it has a way of transporting a man back to the emotional state of his childhood.

Despite all the the “madness” of this March, I’ll leave this morning at that.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Life is movin’ faster, I can feel it everyday / I’ve got trouble keepin’ up with what other people say / Big problems in the world, my life’s just a social swirl

But I’ll do it tomorrow / That seems like a pretty good idea to me / What’s wrong with tomorrow? / I’m watchin’ him, but who’s watchin’ me?

If you’re wondering if Mercury is out of retrograde, the answer is YES. Whether you follow the stars or not, I believe most of us would like to cease this erratic planetary behavior. I, for one, feel a sense of optimism—maybe it’s a combo of fear and optimism—but I’m doing well this warm winter morning.

I thought I’d bring a crate of old random records along for this mix. Much of this “wax” feels like old family friends.

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Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I stand outside of the McDonald’s / I’m, uh, flexing my muscles ’til I explode / I hope they see me in the drive-thru lane / I, I hope they see me in the drive-thru lane

I stand outside of the LL Bean / I’m trying to get some free woman sweaters / You know what I mean? / I hope they see me in the drive-thru lane / I hope, I hope they, I hope they, I hope they

I don’t wanna pay for anything / Clothes and food and drugs for free / If it was 1970 / I’d have a job at a factory

I am a man that’s made of meat / You’re on the internet looking at feet / I hate almost everything that I see / And I just wanna disappear

I’m subscribed to your mom’s OnlyFans / I spent five bucks a month to get pictures of her flappy giblets / And I spent another ten dollars a month to chat with her on the AI chat program / It feels great

Welcome to the second Friday the 13th in a row of 2026. Let’s avoid incoming drones, and let’s make this week great.

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