From "The Overlooked Influence of Creem Magazine/A new documentary makes the case for America’s only rock ’n’ roll magazine'" (The New Yorker).
ADDED: I tried to find an image for that item called the "grass mask." First, I turned up a lot of random junk that mostly gave me additional ideas about what it could be. I just wanted an old 70s ad. Then I put "grass mask" and "shit, what a hit" in quotes and that narrowed the hell out of the results to the point where I got to this PDF of a 1974 issue of an alternative newspaper called The Living Daylights....
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjik2zH1iG3MNbGsVUQe2K5h3msCf9VqKjT8h3Au_jgO45FVg49DJo2Xq0vFiMXXc_td2dihrCHS63BGN5LL-0xpkhsidqe_48Fgo-PghvT3-q-CcSDUTh3gfkx5qBBO7mLseDA/s400/Screen+Shot+2020-08-18+at+1.55.26+PM.png)
There are no ads, so it's just somewhere in all that writing. If you readers would divide up the work, it's 28 pages, and maybe 28 of you could each read a page. If you find "grass mask"/"shit, what a hit," please write out the whole sentence and tell us the page number. Thanks! Lately, I've been nostalgic for the 1970s. Something about New York City going to hell has got me thinking about how the hell that was NYC in the 70s (when I lived there) was so much better than the fresh hell that is New York City today. But in any case, The Living Daylights seems to be from Australia. I've got no nostalgia about Australia. What does "the living daylights" refer to anyway?
The living daylights is an archaic idiom in English believed to be early 18th century slang for somebody's eyes that subsequently figuratively referred to all vital senses. The earliest recorded reference to this term comes from the 1752 novel Amelia by Henry Fielding, in which a character states his readiness to physically assault a particular woman: "If the lady says another such words to me ... I will darken her daylights." The idiom is now generally used only as part of a wider expression to express intensity in a negative manner, most commonly in the form "to scare the living daylights out of someone" or "to beat the living daylights out of someone."IN THE COMMENTS: Good Cartoon Man said...
Page 24: Then from the kitsch folk at Interplanetary in California comes the super smoking electric pipe which, according to Interplanetary is “ the ultimate in smoking simplicity” , brought to you by none other than the notorious “ Modern Technology” . The electric pipe operates on two batteries — a small electric pump produces a steady flow of dope smoke when the button is held down. What to do if you’re stuck with a bundle of army surplus gas masks? Simple, put Free Enterprise to work and market them as grass masks — “ Shit, what a hit” .
85 comments:
"... James Taylor; Crosby, Stills & Nash; and the Eagles; Creem respectfully ceded coverage of those artists to Rolling Stone. It championed, instead, proto-punk bands such as the Stooges, the MC5, ? and the Mysterians, and Count Five; mavericks such as Lou Reed, Dr. John, Marc Bolan, and George Clinton; and nascent heavy-metal acts, including Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Alice Cooper."
Except for the Stooges and Lou Reed, that's a whole lot of rubbish. The early/mid '70's were a rock wasteland. Joe Strummer should be knighted.
Never even heard of it. Never paid much attention to RS either, even before they faked the rape charges at Duke.
Back then, "urban teenagers" didn't have a lot of money to spend
Page 24, bottom left-hand corner.
Page 24: Then from the kitsch folk at Interplanetary in California comes the super smoking electric pipe which, according to Interplanetary is “ the ultimate in smoking simplicity” , brought to you by none other than the notorious “ Modern Technology” . The electric pipe operates on two batteries — a small electric pump produces a steady flow of dope smoke when the button is held down. What to do if you’re stuck with a bundle o f army surplus gas masks? Simple, put Free Enterprise to work and market them as grass masks — “ Shit, what a hit” .
Oh my god, thank you for posting this pdf. I’m really enjoying it. What an artifact, so cool.
Hey! I liked "Horse with no name"
Ctrl+f works on the PDF. "grass masks" is at page 24 of the magazine (page 26 of the PDF) at the lower right corner. "Simple, put Free Enterprise to work and market them as grass masks -"Shit, what a hit."
Page 24 bottom of column A
Eagles. No such band as The Eagles. Fact.
Narr
Not a fan, just a pedant
Shit, what a hit is on page 24 of the publication (p. 26 of the pdf). Left column, near bottom.
It's an ad on page 24. Illustrated...
I was born before Creem came into existence. Of the covered groups mentioned, I've only even HEARD of George Clinton, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper. I don't think I've ever willing listened to any of them.
Clearly I wasn't a member of the "urban teen-age culture." It doesn't appear I missed anything
what to do if you're stuck with a bundle of Army surplus gas masks? Simple, put Free Enterprise to work and market them as grass masks - "Shit, what a hit".
I'm a little younger than you Althouse, but I grew up near a big city known for its counter-culture movement. I remember those days. But looking back on it, those types of magazines were just so much pretentious bullshit.
The only reason that the guys were there (my uncle was a summer of love, SF hippie and he told me) was for the terrible weed and the pussy. Full stop. You'll have to fill me in on the female side of the equation.
The best part of the '60s and '70s was that the music was actually diverse. You got 'Sugar Sugar' one minute, 'White Room' the next, 'Superfly' after that, and 'Little Deuce Coupe' thrown in for good measure.
The bands mostly wrote their own music and actually played it. No computers, no Autotune. Now you can take a beautiful woman and make her a star on looks and Twitter alone. No artistry...nothing is real.
OK, I sound like the 'get off my lawn' guy. But just as clothing styles sucked in the '60s and (especially) the '70s, the music was phenomenal.
End of old man rant...
Immediate Delivery from Milwaukee...
The pdf is searchable. Page 24: “What to do if you’re stuck with a bundle of army surplus gas masks? Simple, put Free Enterprise to work and market them as grass masks — ‘Shit, what a hit.’”
Courtesy of Adobe OCR: see the lower left corner of page 24, next to the "DOPE QUOTE OF THE WEEK"
Face it. Middle class, largely white kids bought into the seventies California Dream. I know I did. Like the Eagles, Rolling Stone circa 1972 was transgressive in a safe, middle class way. Our parents hated it (which was a goood thang), but most of us saw the attempt to be outrageous (glam rock, New York Dolls, Kiss anyone?) as promotional bullshit by marginally talented musicians, pushed by cynical, middle aged business types. I picked through the debris to find the likes of Jackson Brown, Joni Mitchell, CSNY, Fleetwood Mac, Steeley Dan, all on the cover of the Rolling Stone. Now, That's seventies nostalgia!
Thanks to all who searched!
I really didn’t think that looked searchable!
I knew some PDFs could be searched.
buwaya said...
Hey! I liked "Horse with no name"
So did I! (Even as we mocked the line: rocks and plants and things
So is the horse's name A Horse with No Name? Is a horse with someone/thing named No Name?
This is what you ponder when you're earning your music credit in middle school. It didn't help that there was a restaurant called No Name in Boston...
Back in the 70's we used to smoke through a pipe attached to a face mask that covered your nose and mouth. Very wrong in 2020.
We also used something that would be very helpful to pot smokers wanting to avoid transmitting viruses. It was called the "Power Hitter" - a plastic pint-size squeeze bottle that you put a lit joint inside. When you squeezed it, the smoke poured out the nozzle. Really a great idea then and now. You could toss it lit across the room, it wouldn't spill any ashes, all the smoke was conserved inside, and your lips never touch anything. One of mankind's premier inventions. I don't know why it never took off.
I guess "cloying" is a good thing to my taste.
Even as we mocked the line: rocks and plants and things
Sadly, the humans will give no love.
Here, I reworked some of the lyrics in honor of Sleepy Joe Biden's Dem Dysconvention:
After four nights I let my mind run free
'Cause the 'vention had turned to crap
There were bernies and kammies and commies and things
there was old steven stills who sings
Milwaukee is a place in that state... well, you know the one
And a perfect disguise for my face
Under the city lies a heart made of beer
But the humans will give me no cheese
You see I'm back in my basement with a mask on my face
It feels good to be out of my brain
In my basement, I can't remember my name
At least there ain't no Trump for to give me no pain
La, la
A google search for ‘milwaukee “grass mask”’ returns even more relevant pages, including one for sale on ebay.
"Joe Strummer should be knighted."
Two enthusiastic thumbs up from me. Though, does being dead make that moot? And The Clash were mid to late 70's.
I liked "Horse with no name" too. Hated "Sister Golden Hair" until I learned to play it on guitar in drinking establishments. Fun to play and the crowd always sings along.
Being a Boston guy I was able to avoid the crap music of the early 70's by listening to WBCN and hearing a steady run of Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, the Allman Brothers, the Outlaws, and J. Geils, among others. Boston, the band, was a little later.
70's music had a little something for everyone.
Another thread winner for "Weird La" Meade!
Rolling Stone and Creem? lol. Only magazines worth stealing were Hot Rod, Car Craft and Rod and Custom.
I suggest "7 and 7 is" by Love.
It's interesting to see the age stratification in music.
My generation was about Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" but I did not like rock.
I got interested in classical in college, then later in country. Opera and Willie Nelson.
Lately, I've gotten fascinated with these guys who go into American music in the 70s Soviet Union.
Leon, who organized the band, is 60 and his son is manager. He looks 25 to me. Amazing guys.
Something about New York City going to hell has got me thinking about how the hell that was NYC in the 70s (when I lived there) was so much better than the fresh hell that is New York City today.
Woke, political correctness ruins everything, even "fresh hell".
image search for Milwaukee “grass mask”
In high school one of my friends bought one of these. I think it was used twice. The poly mask didn't seal well so intense smoke would get in your eyes. The damn thing had so much surface area covered in resin that you could smell it, and you, from a half a block away, so he had to hide it in the woods. Good times.
Not a rock mag, but if you want to remember 70's counter-culture, you can't leave out "The Berkeley Barb"
I can remember, in the early seventies, some experimenting with aquarium air pumps...
Grew up in the Detroit 'burbs. Lived there from 1977-1989. We read Creem, Mad, and Cracked. Someone within our circle, or their older brother, always had new ones. Good times.
I heard the Horse With No Name song today coming to work. Meade's re-working made me laugh out loud, filling in my otherwise empty office with laughs for to give me no pain.
FullMoon said...
Rolling Stone and Creem? lol. Only magazines worth stealing were Hot Rod, Car Craft and Rod and Custom.
Disagree. Playboys were worth stealing in 6th and 7th grade. Unlike Althouse, they weren't just lying around our house. We had to work to steal them. I do feel bad about that now.
I wonder if the feds knew that those gas masks could be re-purposed into 'grass masks'?
Worked in a gift store/head shop for perhaps three months and remember paging through Rolling Stone and Creem; Rolling Stone certainly filled more down time than Creem did although I'm not, at this point, sure why that was so.
The pianist Igor Levit is performing all of Beethoven's sonatas at the Salzburg Festival this season, with the seventh concert (nos 27, 28, and 29 'Hammerklavier') now available at Arte; final recital on Friday. Twitter people say Levit was fantastic; I've only listened to the first of the series. He is certainly passionately committed to the work.
bagoh20... It was the Oat Willie Power Hitter IIRC.
The Heat was Hot... Shakespearian!
Here is the Google patents link to the device marketed in 1972: link
"...electric pipe..." Vaping
It was called the "Power Hitter" - a plastic pint-size squeeze bottle
I had a bottle-shaped one and a football-shaped one. I still have the football one. That thing has to be over 40 years old and the plastic is still flexible.
The best part of the '60s and '70s was that the music was actually diverse. You got 'Sugar Sugar' one minute, 'White Room' the next, 'Superfly' after that, and 'Little Deuce Coupe' thrown in for good measure.
The bands mostly wrote their own music and actually played it. No computers, no Autotune. Now you can take a beautiful woman and make her a star on looks and Twitter alone. No artistry...nothing is real.
Let me say a few good words about Bubblegum: The mainstreaming of genius producer techniques pioneered by Spector & Wilson to studios everywhere. Then when great song came along, a team of professionals could record it and get it on the air in a few days. No band egos, no touring. Still real singing and playing though. No autotune divas.
When I was a boy I thought about the times I'd be a man
I'd sit inside a bottle and pretend that I was in a can
In my lonely room I'd sit my mind in an ice cream cone
You can throw me if you want to 'cause I'm a bone and I go
Oop-ip-ip oop-ip-ip yeah!
Power Hitter. Very nice.
The Living Daylights was published in the 70's by Australian Richard Neville and others.
Neville et al. We're responsible for the ground-breaking counterculture Oz Magazine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oz_(magazine) which was initially published in Australia in the early 60's and then in the UK until the mid 70'S. The magazine was a launching pad for many stars of the UK/Australian arts and literary scenes including Barry Humphreys and Germaine Greer. It was a must-read in my early years, always amusing, usually obscene and often shining a light on the uptight or corrupt establishment.
Neville and his co-publishers were convicted on obscenity charges in both Australia and the UK with, in both cases, the convictions ultimately being overturned
Great to see a remnant of those fun times
Eh, "cloying" doesn't work at all as a criticism of America's Horse With No Name. Cloying in what way? I can understand not liking the song, but that's not a valid criticism of it.
One of my cousins on Facebook recently wished a happy birthday to a couple of friends from her Texas home town of Cisco: Dot Crofts [Married Last Name] and Dash Crofts. Twins, you see. And yes, that is the same Dash Crofts from the 1970's band Seals and Crofts, of "Diamond Girl" and "Summer Breeze" fame. Wikipedia said that his birth name is actually Darrell George Crofts. They both turned 80 on August 14th. Knowing that he had a twin sister named Dot and that was the source of their Morse Code-sounding names made me smile. Learn something new every day!
The early/mid '70's were a rock wasteland.
Yeah, those Led Zeppelin guys sucked. And Pink Floyd. And Queen. And The Who. And Lynyrd Skynyrd. And The Guess Who. And The Kinks. And the Stones. And ...
I'm listening to the extended version of Atomic Dog as I read here. I didn't know why until I started reading this comment thread and apparently 70's music is the subject here. Is that synchronicity or serendipity?
Could we use some Serendippity-do?
Bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay.
Ann can tell you... she "Heard It On The X".
So did I! (Even as we mocked the line: rocks and plants and things.
What about:
"Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain."
Come on.
One of the worst lyrics ever written (and sung).
Jim at said...
The early/mid '70's were a rock wasteland.
Yeah, those Led Zeppelin guys sucked. And Pink Floyd. And Queen. And The Who. And Lynyrd Skynyrd. And The Guess Who. And The Kinks. And the Stones. And ...
It was definitely the mid/late 70's that was a wasteland. Everybody listed above was either dead, broken up, burnt out, or dealing with substance abuse issues. The whole thing finally gave way when Keith Moon died in '78. Thank God for the likes of Elvis Costello, Mark Knopfler and Nick Lowe!
As Megan McCardle tweeted recently, nostalgia for New York before it was fixed is really nostalgia for being aged 25.
Try as he might, [publisher Barry] Kramer never succeeded in turning Creem into the sort of cash-cow life-style magazine that Rolling Stone became.
Of course, his readership couldn't afford to buy the damn thing every month!
mezzrow said...
I'm listening to the extended version of Atomic Dog as I read here. I didn't know why until I started reading this comment thread and apparently 70's music is the subject here. Is that synchronicity or serendipity?
It's senility, Atomic Dog didn't come out until 1982!
"Yeah, those Led Zeppelin guys sucked. And Pink Floyd. And Queen. And The Who. And Lynyrd Skynyrd. And The Guess Who. And The Kinks. And the Stones. And ..."
'73 and before, I'll give you Zeppelin and the Who. And however good their live shows may have been, the rest were pretty much a spent force creatively or were never really rock to begin with. Skynyrd may be the exception but I never really cared for them. Though I've never been to a grange wedding reception without someone playing Sweet Home Alabama...
It is sort of like reading liberal and conservative newspapers (except the latter no longer exist). You develop new ideas and try them out to see which ones work for you.
I was unaware of Creem at the time, but I saw George Clinton in concert (when he was with Funkadelic and Parliament) in 1972. It was a terrific concert. I would never expect to hear of it from RS. However, RS was a big Van Morrison fan when I was indifferent. I gave him more of a try and now he is one of my Top5 favorites.
I liked the horse with no name, interesting harmony.
Creem was awesome, as were the Dolls as was Marc Bolan. Don’t know how anybody could think otherwise.
I liked the horse with no name, interesting harmony.
So did I. Haunting.
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la, la la la la la, la la law law law
"No Autotune divas"
That would make a great name for a band.
Progs killed by murder the foulest ever Hendrix, Lennon, and Cobain and anyone who celebrates their lives without acknowledging they were killed by progs is deficient.
F8686 progs.
*Let's turn F8686 into code for f u c k or with an "ing" or "ed" or etc.
As a high-schooler in the 70s, we smoked out of an old gas mask. Apparently we were too stoned to come up with, "Grass," mask. We also weren't clever enough to remember to close our eyes before breathing in!
BTW, I agree that it looks like a return to the 70s would be a blessing compared to where we're heading.
Anybody don't like Marshal Tucker Band ain't no friend o' mine.
Like Ken Bee, they no doubt shampoo with parabens, buy brand name mouthwash the same as SOLD UNDER A GENERIC LABEL, and don't use an exclamation point nor capital letters when referencing MCCLINTOCK! the John Wayne vehicle.
Scummy dregs.
Michael K at 3:27 - thanks for the amazing link.
Chicago (the band). They were big with some of my friends. Pink Floyd preferred by others . . . How could I have forgotten the long hours with Steely Dan?
Of the score or so bands named so far I have heard so much as a song from maybe half of them.
The last rock album I bought was Bachman Turner Overdrive. I think we listened once and never spun another LP.
I recall teh Power Hitter! I also recall shotgunning, which was just nasty and stupid.
Long hair, rock'n'roll, and pot--I was the first on my block to give up the first two.
Narr
I tolerate Zappa better than a lot of people
" is the horse's name A Horse with No Name? Is a horse with someone/thing named No Name?"
Cabaio sin nombre, that is the correct interpretation.
In college we got a nitrous oxide tank and filled balloons. Trippy enough and safe, if you let them go they went away.
"It was definitely the mid/late 70's that was a wasteland"
Bowie.
Talking Heads.
Pere Ubu.
The Clash.
Public Image Limited.
Van Halen.
The Jam.
Television.
Peter Gabriel.
The Cars.
Big Star.
Iggy Pop.
ELO.
Cheap Trick.
Not too bad a list.
Yes, Jethro Tull, Eagles, Ozark Mountain Daredevil, New Riders OTPS, Lincoln park pirates. These are my songs
Be it Edsel or Chevy there's no car to heavy.
Later Outlaw, Willie, and always John Hartford.
An acquaintance had some sort of flight mask that he’d converted for smoking, tried it once and got sick as a dog.
Good ol’ Lester Bangs and Creem. Two thumbs up to whomever it was upthread that commented about the diverse music back then. Crazy good stuff, music made by people with talent.
i'M AMAZED AND i CAN'T BREATH.
i'M AMAZED AND i CAN'T BREATH.
Fuck The Carpenters, am I right?*
*I'm totally kidding, I'm a HUGE Carpenters fan, and can barely stand to watch clips of poor, poor Karen (!) lost in her anorexic haze. It's gotta stop.
Another upvote for the Carpenters.
Journalists writing about journalism is always iffy. Too much love and admiration for the rock critic as sage and knower of all things, for one. I dislike the entire concept of “critics” as a thing, so consider the source on that.
Re: Lou Reed, just yesterday I listened to a good podcast from the Sound Opinions guys doing a deep dive into the first Velvets album “Velvet Underground and Nico”, see https://www.wbez.org/stories/the-velvet-underground-and-nico/6777d43e-45f9-48f4-8a79-50709dfedcf8
It was pretty good but I have limited interest in songs like “Heroin” despite the power of it as a piece of music, for reasons that should be obvious ...
Then, finally, in 1980 Jim Carroll released Catholic Boy.
I bought ROLLING STONE magazine occasionally during my teen youth (1970s), depending on whether any given issue had one or more articles of interest to me, but I bought CREEM magazine faithfully, every month. CREEM'S attitude and writing made every issue a must read. It was punk before punk rock, as such existed, (though they used the term "punk" for snotty garage bands before NYC "punk rock" was born). CREEM was an EXEMPLAR of what a rock music magazine should be.
"...most of us saw the attempt to be outrageous (glam rock, New York Dolls, Kiss anyone?) as promotional bullshit by marginally talented musicians, pushed by cynical, middle aged business types."
KISS were promotional bullshit by guys who really believed in their shit. The New York Dolls were a FANTASTIC rock and roll band made up of guys who really believed in their music. Tey put out two of the greatest albums of the 70s. They were great songwriters (and had great taste in pop tunes by others). Their musicianship was workmanlike, but just what it needed to be for the music they played.
"'It was definitely the mid/late 70's that was a wasteland'
"Bowie.
Talking Heads.
Pere Ubu.
The Clash.
Public Image Limited.
Van Halen.
The Jam.
Television.
Peter Gabriel.
The Cars.
Big Star.
Iggy Pop.
ELO.
Cheap Trick.
"Not too bad a list."
Of that list, who would have thought in 1978 or 1980 that Pere Ubu, of any of them, would still be around putting out valid new music in 2020?
I think they're my favorite overall band of that era. I still like many of the musicians I liked then, and this list includes many I liked, but I don't have much yearning to listen to most of them today. (The Stooges, of course, as opposed to Iggy solo, are evergreens.)
I was listening to Pere Ubu just this weekend, their first album (THE MODERN DANCE, 1978) and one more recent (CARNIVAL OF SOULS) FROM 2014. Fantastic!
Oh, and while I scorned the Carpenters then, I must admit today to their excellence.
Big Star . . . I was oblivious to their fame and influence. As I was of a lot of musicians from here, come to think of it.
Narr
How are things in your neck of NYC, Robert?
"Horse with no name" cloying?
No, it was weird, discordant, and disturbing.
If you want to make fun of America, the song to start with is “Ventura Highway”.
Because that chorus .... lyrics just don’t get any stupider.
https://jbrokaw.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/all-time-stupid-lyrics-ventura-highway/
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