Punk Rock Colleague and Professional Consultant
Hudley Flipside
I was becoming one with my punkalullaby. I coined the word punkalullaby. It means that the whole time I was in the punk rock scene, from beginning to end, it was all about a song. One song to the next pulled me throughout the scene. Once that loud music got into my blood there was nothing like it. I was socially awkward, wild, and morally uncultivated. I was a perfect product for the Los Angeles punk rock scene because I was someone that the normal culture had completely abandoned. Yet, here I was, welcomed into an underground counterculture.
Excerpt from My Punkalullaby by Hudley Flipside
currently AT 65
A SONG SPANS OVER 6 GENERATIONS BEFORE AND UNBOUND…
JUST HOW IT GOES FOR ME NOW.
Like the star above me
I know
Because when the sky is bright
Everything’s all right
1967 We were 9.
“Brown Eyed Girl” is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang label, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song spent a total of sixteen weeks on the chart. It featured the Sweet Inspirations singing back-up vocals and is considered to be Van Morrison’s signature song.[3]
1975 We were 17.
“Daisy Jane” is a song written by Gerry Beckley of the group America included on the 1975 America album Hearts. Issued as that album’s second single — following up the #1 hit “Sister Golden Hair” — “Daisy Jane” reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the final Top 20 hit by the original three-member incarnation of America. On the Easy Listening chart, the track reached #4.[1] In Canada the chart peak of “Daisy Jane” was #16 on the Pop singles chart and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Our parents met at the Canoga drive-in theater in Southern California. Lynn and I were crying like babies usually do. We were both born in 1958. Her in August and I in May.
Lynn lived down the hill. We became best friends and often confronted each other as girls do. Boys, drugs and growing up were usually our issues. She was my nemesis so to say. She had brown eyes, lite brown skin and long dark hair. I was just the opposite with green eyes, white, pink skin and long white, blond hair.
From The Ouija board to underground scary films we were as wild as the wind together. Like the madly climbing scented eucalyptus and uncontrollable pepper trees that embraced us or sliding down green grass hills on cardboard or riding our bikes to school we were always doing something together. I went shopping today and two songs came up for reflection.
Both are songs that we loved. It was two generations of growing, playing, and learning about life. I was driving to Ralph’s supermarket and remembered Lynn because it was a day like this in August that I found out about her demise.
Her x-husband was there and was holding tightly the shopping cart. He was holding a cart full of Lynn and his babies. Three through artificial insemination and a girl to follow later the natural way. Funny how that works sometimes. I asked how Lynn was. Did he know how she was?
“Didn’t you know?”
“Know what?”
“She died from a drug overdose.”
The whole of Ralph’s supermarket went black, and I caught myself falling.
“Are you OK. He spoke?
“No, I did not know she passed.”
“I guess the kids and I weren’t enough for her?”
I walked away at that point because the kids were a big handful. I know the story about how it did not work out for them, but I did not know Lynn went back to taking drugs.
It was August 2008. She was so wild and had a challenging time growing up. She was an unusually beautiful woman and as her beauty faded it was hard on her.
She just lost off from turning 50.
Romance and babies are not an easy thing to manage for any woman. It really does suck sometimes. I can understand her need to break loose a little, but she went too far. She always kind of did.
Hey, where did we go?
Days when the rains came
Down in the hollow
Playin’ a new game
Laughin’ and a-runnin’,
hey, hey Skippin’ and a-jumpin’
In the misty morning fog with Our,
our hearts a-thumping and you
My brown-eyed girl
And you, my brown-eyed girl.