Lost anti-war songs

[Brian]

During the past several vigils in Eagle Rock, Norm's been streaming the same antique anti-war songs through the high quality speaker that's plugged into his smartphone.  While talking with Ross this Saturday, "Eve of Destruction" came up again.  There's another song I've been hearing for 50 years that I'd be happy to avoid for the rest of my life.  As I told Ross, many better anti-war songs from that era are now forgotten. Like Donovan's "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting," released as a single in January 1969:



It's not as great as I remember.  Back then, I was almost 11 years old.  After the hellish year that was 1968, Nixon was being inaugurated and none of us could imagine that the Vietnam War would continue for another four years.  Commercially, "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" was a disappointment after Donovan's big hits in the previous three years.  One Saturday afternoon, my brother, sister and me started a campaign on the KHJ request line -- we even enlisted our babysitter to call -- but I had to buy the 45 to hear it again.  Later, DJ's flipped over the record to play the B-side, "Atlantis," which charted much higher.  That song got a revival in Martin Scorsese's movie "Goodfellas" in 1990.  As one commenter on You Tube says, "This is my favourite song to listen to when i'm being pistol whipped to death in a bar."

[Oss Rae]

Thank you for the link and the memories and history! I find the tune catchy. Did you listen to the Real Don Steel on KHJ? I remember his TV show on KHJ TV channel 9 circa the early '70s. (My memories of it are in black-and-white since that's the kind of TV we still had.) Some episodes of it are on YouTube.

This is another protest song from a few years later than "Susan" (1971), but I only came upon it seven years ago. It's called Moratorium from the album She Used to Wanna be a Ballerina.

I think it was Donovan who popularized Universal Soldier, but this is my favorite version of it (recorded and posted in 2007):



(I heard this song in the early '70s but had no idea what it was about.)

[Oss Rae]

There was a pretty interesting interview with Donovan on KPFK, Thursday morning at 2:15 am. I was planning on posting a link to it from the archives, but it hasn't been archived.

Had I known I wouldn't get to hear it again,. I would've given it more of my undivided attention. He mentioned various songs he was known for in the '60s and his hopes for the world then versus how things are today. He and others were (and remain) advocates of including meditation in public schools. He says some inroads haver been made since the '60s, but there's more to be done. David Lynch, of all people, has been involved in this endeavor.

It sounds like Donovan is going to be performing in the L.A. area soon.

[Sharon W]

He's playing the Saban Theater Oct.8th, sabanconcerts.com/