We Want to Rock!

A Personal Appeal by a Frustrated Music Fan

By BENNETT KOGON | Special to the Palisadian-Post

I didn’t want to play baseball as a kid. I wanted to listen to music.

Growing up in the Alphabet Streets, I found refuge with those close friends that shared the same excitement and passion for music as I did. We discovered artists together, went to shows and played in bands. Today, many of us work in the music industry.

In my adolescence, I knew one thing was for certain: I needed to get out of Pacific Palisades. The action is in Hollywood and East LA.

We have some amazing musical history. Besides our million-dollar area code, breathtaking coastline and celebrity neighbors, “Surfin’ USA” is the Palisades’ biggest claim to fame.

A cover song of Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen,” the song was adapted by The Beach Boys in 1963 and peaked in the Billboard charts at number three. Upbeat in tempo and reminiscent of the California lifestyle, Brian Wilson’s cheerful lyrics namedrop popular SoCal surf spots in the 1963 hit—the Palisades being one of them.

The Beach Boys, originally from inland Hawthorne, weren’t just surfing in the Palisades, however, they were living here, too.

It was at Dennis Wilson’s home in Rustic Canyon that the late cult leader Charles Manson gathered his followers. It was here where Manson co-wrote “Cease to Exist” with Wilson, later becoming The Beach Boys’ ominous B-side “Never Learn Not to Love.”

It was also during his residency that Manson met Terry Melcher, son of Doris Day and producer of The Byrds. Melcher was the previous tenant of the Sharon Tate residence on Cielo Drive, and it is believed by many that he was the target of the brutal murders on Aug. 8, 1969.

(I’m just going to pause here for a moment to reflect on the fact that Charles Manson spent a good amount of time in the Palisades.)

After the Wilson brothers dismissed their father-manager Murry Wilson in 1964, Papa Wilson sought a new band to represent.

From there, Murry discovered the Sunrays, a Beach Boys rip-off group from the Palisades. Their single “I Live for the Sun” might sound vaguely familiar as it became somewhat of a “deep cut” one-hit wonder.

The Sunrays performed their first gig as The Renegades at something called the “Seaside Session” at Palisades Park in the late 1950s. There isn’t much else to say about the band except that none of its members went to Palisades High School—the school was founded in 1961.

I reached the conclusion that our charming neighborhood had a forgotten rock history a few years back when I interviewed Russell Mael on my KXLU 88.9fm radio show.

If you recall from the excellent Pali Life piece from Sept. 21, 2017, “When Sparks Fly,” Russell is one-half of the innovative pop duo Sparks, along with his brother Ron Mael.

The interview was originally intended to focus on a show that I was helping promote at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in Downtown LA.

In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the brothers performed their seminal LP “Kimono My House” alongside a 38-piece orchestra in the newly refurbished Spanish Gothic-style, old Hollywood movie palace.

Upon learning that Sparks originated from around the corner from my childhood home in the Palisades, my discussion with Russell took a different direction.

Raised on Galloway Street, the brothers Mael frequently traversed the Sunset Boulevard corridor to participant in the budding rock and roll haven of West Hollywood, often to watch rising local groups such as The Doors and Love.

Russell and Ron formed their first band Urban Renewal Project in 1967 and often rehearsed at the Pali High gym.

Today, Sparks have released 23 albums spanning multiple genres, collaborated with the likes of alt-rock group Franz Ferdinand and Italo-disco pioneer Giorgio Moroder, all while inspiring a cult following of several generations.

Their latest record, “Hippopotamus,” was released to great fanfare last September on BMI.

My alma mater Pali High has bred more musicians than the Maels.

Susanna Hoffs, vocalist and guitarist of pop-rock, all-female group The Bangles attended Pali in the mid-’70s. The Bangles formed amid the momentous Hollywood punk movement, later to peak in 1986 with the million-selling single “Walk Like an Egyptian.”

In high school, Hoffs was in a band called The Unconscious with guitarist and songwriter David Roback, a notable rock figure himself. After high school, Roback found himself greatly involved in the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene with his band, The Rain Parade.

In 1989, Roback teamed up with vocalist Hope Sandoval to form Mazzy Star, who became a very influential indi rock group of the ’90s.

There was even another duo of rock and roll brothers that attended Pali—Gunnar and Matthew Nelson, who made up the glam metal group Nelson. Sons of music idol Ricky Nelson, their album “After the Rain’ has gone double-platinum.

Pali High might not have the musical repertoire of the nearby University High, but its contribution to rock history is undoubtedly impressive.

The picturesque qualities of the Palisades have attracted rock notoriety from all over. Previous and current residents include the late Johnny Hallyday, John Mayer, Randy Newman, Stevie Nicks and country star Brad Paisley. The music video for “Slip It In,” the lewd 1984 single by hardcore punks Black Flag was filmed on location at Pali High.

More recently, rock legend Tom Petty’s funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine, after he died last October.

He was not alone at being remembered in the peaceful spot: George Harrison and Lux Interior, lead singer of rockabilly punk group The Cramps, both had memorial services there.

Even Elvis, the king of rock, was known to frequent its tranquil gardens.

It may seem like our neighborhood’s music culture has slowed down a little, but there has been some activity in recent years. In 2008, popular outsider band Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti (aka one-man band Ariel Marcus Rosenberg, born 1978) released a bootleg CD of a performance titled “Live in Pacific Palisades.” He was the only outsider signed to Animal Collective’s Paw Tracks label.

Members of growing independent local groups BOYO, Worn-Tin and Starcotics were all raised right here in the neighborhood. And let’s not forget about Amazing Music, our vital local music supplier and its equally amazing ukulele cover band, The Ooks of Hazzard.

And those Palisadians who strive “below the line,” making stuff look and sound great like Village resident Dave Meyers who has just won his second Grammy for best music award. This time it was for Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble.” In 2005 it was for Missy Elliott’s “Lose Control.”

And if we want to know which way the wind is blowing, why not ask Sir Lucien Grainge, The Huntington resident who worked with Abba, Amy Winehouse and Andrea Bocelli (and that’s just the A’s)? And, through embracing, rather than fighting, new distribution paradigms, has turned around Universal Music—one of the “Big Three” labels left in the business.

When I was at Pali High, there used to be a battle of the bands. The event was held yearly during lunch period on consecutive weekdays until a band was declared the winner.

I often refer to the previous tradition as legendary, because not only was it unbelievable to see your fellow classmates express themselves creatively (often a rare occasion at that age), but this was also most students’ first exposure to live rock music.

We were at school, and this was a lesson in rock and roll. For some reason, the battle of the bands was discontinued, maybe because of “moshing” (where dancers slam into each other).

Palisades Rocks the Fourth has the right idea: a free neighborhood concert with fireworks to celebrate the birth of our nation.

The curation is lacking much enthusiasm, however, and unlike its audience, most performers are not from the neighborhood.

The Palisades is a town of curious rock and roll ancestry, and many of us have neglected to preserve that cultural aspect of its local history.

There is a stadium at Pali High, an amphitheater and 400-seat auditorium at the Getty Villa, and a stage at Pierson Playhouse. There are plenty of little schools teaching all kinds of musical skills. We are fortunate to have so many open green spaces in our town and the incoming development will hopefully provide many more opportunities.

It would be great to emphasize and cater to our town’s musical legacy.

When pitching this article to the Palisadian-Post, Editor-in-Chief John Harlow said something that really stuck with me: “There is probably a gang of kids playing in a garage right now, maybe in The Highlands or Marquez Knolls, remixing a tape or banging out some terrible chords: Loud girls with attitude. I won’t get them, but they are our only hope.”

Rock and roll will never die.