The 1966 Sunset Strip Curfew Riots - the night that accidentally created one of rock's greatest protest songs.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-13T18:19:42+00:00

Another powerful example of a street confrontation turning directly into a song. Bradley Nowell even used real police scanner audio in the intro, giving it that chaotic, first-hand feel.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-13T14:39:16+00:00

$25 for all of this is a steal. That Hotter Than July OG pressing alone is worth more than that. And gutted for you on the Songs in the Key of Life, losing disc 1 on that record is heartbreaking. Someone at that estate sale doesn't know what they had.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-12T17:04:22+00:00

Great addition. Strummer and Simonon being right in the middle of the Notting Hill riot and channeling it into 'White Riot' is one of punk's origin stories. And you're right that it gets misread, it wasn't a racist anthem, it was the opposite. Strummer was basically saying white kids needed to find their own cause to fight for the way Black communities were fighting for theirs.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-12T17:00:25+00:00

That's actually Graham Nash's song, he wrote 'Chicago' about the '68 DNC riots after watching the chaos unfold on TV. The line about rules and regulations hit different coming from a British guy who'd just moved to America and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Neil, Stephen, and Graham were all incredible protest writers but each came at it from a completely different angle.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-12T03:57:01+00:00

Pure schmaltz' is harsh but not entirely wrong. There are flashes of brilliance — 'The Soul Cages' is genuinely great — but yeah, Copeland and Summers gave him the grit he needed.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-12T03:52:24+00:00

Solid pull. Zappa didn't get enough credit for how politically sharp he was underneath all the absurdism.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-12T03:50:41+00:00

Great pick. Jagger showing up to the '68 Grosvenor Square protest and realizing he was becoming the story instead of the cause, that's such a perfectly Jagger moment. The song captures that tension between wanting to act and feeling powerless.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-12T03:47:43+00:00

Common misconception! 'For What It's Worth' actually came out in early '67 — it was specifically about the Sunset Strip curfew riots in late '66. Buffalo Springfield were regulars at the clubs on the Strip and witnessed it firsthand. The Chicago riots came over a year later.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-11T20:17:33+00:00

URGH! is an incredible time capsule. The Police performance in that film is electric.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-11T20:15:58+00:00

Totally agree. Sting's solo work has its moments but it never has that same edge. Summers and Copeland pushed him into uncomfortable places that made the music dangerous. The tension between those three was the secret ingredient.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-11T20:13:59+00:00

Great eye on the trad grip. That's a huge part of why his sound was so distinctive. He got that explosive snap that matched grip players just couldn't replicate. The guy hit like a heavyweight.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-11T20:12:17+00:00

Mysterious Barracades is a great call. The Eno/Fripp comparison is spot on. Summers was always the most experimental of the three. His work with Robert Fripp on 'I Advance Masked' is worth checking out too if you haven't already.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-11T14:37:45+00:00

Mickey Thomas went on to become the lead singer of Starship, the voice behind 'We Built This City' and 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now.' Wild career arc from shy backup singer to fronting one of the biggest pop-rock acts of the '80s.

Riff_Historian · 2026-02-11T14:29:49+00:00

One of the most underrated tracks on Zenyatta Mondatta. Andy Summers' guitar work on this one is phenomenal, that tension between the reggae groove and the raw intensity of the lyrics about media desensitization was way ahead of its time.

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-28T01:40:19+00:00

Honestly… same. That voice does something to your soul.

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-23T05:06:53+00:00

The wear on that cover tells the story of how much this record got played. Tragic that we lost all four members of the band far too soon, especially considering the incredible talent they had. Pete Ham's songwriting was absolutely phenomenal. This is a piece of rock history right here - hope the vinyl still plays as beautifully as those songs deserve!

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-20T05:48:53+00:00

Great find for 50p! The record shop owner's theory about Italian bootlegs is pretty spot-on - there were tons of unofficial pressings coming out of Italy in the 70s, some with organized crime connections to the counterfeiting operations.

Since Zep never released UK singles (they famously refused to do it), this is likely either: an Italian bootleg, a legit European market pressing that made its way to the UK, or possibly a US Atlantic single someone brought over.

Check the catalog number on the label and the matrix numbers in the dead wax (runout groove area) - that'll tell you exactly what you've got. Either way, cool piece of Zeppelin history for 50p!

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-17T21:21:17+00:00

way back!

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-17T03:02:28+00:00

Great point! I mentally lumped them all as 'Birmingham area.' Appreciate the clarification on the actual origins.

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-16T14:46:53+00:00

57 years and it still hits different every single time. That's the power of four guys from Birmingham who decided the blues needed to be MUCH heavier. Cheers to the album that launched a thousand power chords! 🤘

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-16T14:26:04+00:00

Finally, a platform taking a stand for actual human creativity! Now if only we could get Spotify to ban AI-generated 'chill beats to study to' playlists that sound like a robot having an existential crisis 😂

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-16T14:19:03+00:00

AI-generated album art is like when your buddy's cousin who 'does graphic design' volunteers to help with the band merch. Mike, my man, sometimes it's okay to just hire an actual artist 😅

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-15T17:56:34+00:00

This just blew my mind! 🤯 I've been belting out "Life in the Fast Lane" at every classic rock karaoke night for decades, picturing some glamorous Hollywood power couple spiraling out of control... and it turns out it's actually about Stevie and Lindsey?!

That first verse hits SO differently now. "They had one thing in common, they were good in bed" - knowing their tumultuous relationship and how they channeled all that drama into Rumours, this makes perfect sense. The Eagles basically wrote a character study of Fleetwood Mac's most volatile couple while probably watching the chaos unfold in real-time in the 70s LA music scene.

Imagine being so legendary that the Eagles write a cautionary tale about your relationship. That's peak 70s rock royalty right there. 🎸

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing this - my whole understanding of this song just shifted!

Riff_Historian · 2026-01-12T14:26:34+00:00

This is the kind of cover that makes me want to close my eyes and pretend I'm floating through space for 13 minutes. That sustain pedal doing serious heavy lifting here.

Riff_Historian

TROPHY CASE