Friday, June 26, 2009

Sinking Radio: The Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine"


This is my weekly reminder to tune in to LittleRadio.com this Friday from Noon to 2:00 PM for the Sinking Radio program. Each week the hosts spin an official You Set the Scene pick. They're not always winners (in the ears of the hosts) but that doesn't stop me. There's something amusing about hearing three music lovers complain about being forced to listen to Link Wray.

My pick for tomorrow's program is The Seeds' "Can't Seem to Make You Mine." I picked a Seeds' track for the obvious reason, Thursday's passing of lead singer Sky Sunlight Saxon. I picked this particular song, because it's always been a favorite. There's a reason Alex Chilton, Yo La Tengo, The Ramones and Johnny Thunders covered it.

For the uninitiated, The Seeds were a popular Los Angeles-based garage rock band from the mid-1960s. This track and "Pushin' Too Hard" achieved minor chart success. We're currently living in a scene with some pretty laughable/suspect "hippies", but there was no questioning Saxon. He was the real deal. Saxon was a dedicated follower of YaHoWha, and recorded with the YaHoWha 13 in the 1970s.

My first exposure to the Seeds happened in the late 1990s; you discover Nuggets and a whole world of music opens up for you. I was excited when the Seeds started playing shows again in 2002/2003. Not really knowing what to expect, I drove to the Bigfoot Lodge for one of the comeback shows in February 2003. $5 to see a legend in a tiny room? What did I have to lose? Well, Saxon's brain seemed a little (read: a lot) scrambled. One thing that really sticks out from the evening was a long digression about dogs.

On Thursday Jacko and Farrah got all the headlines, but hopefully some of you are discovering Sky for the first time....

1 comment:

jbleu said...

ROCKNROLL LEGEND SKY SAXON'S L.A. MEMORIAL WITH THE SEEDS' DARYL HOOPER & JAN SAVAGE, THE ELECTRIC PRUNES, STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK, BILLY CORGAN, NELS CLINE 07/24/09 ECHOPLEX OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

-- For Immediate Release --

- Los Angeles, California -


Richard Marsh, otherwise known to the rocknroll world as SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON, will find tribute & love visualized at a memorial in his honour to be held Friday, July 24th 2009 at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, California. At 8pm the service gathering will commence with performances by friends THE SEEDS' DARYL HOOPER & JAN SAVAGE with other members of SEEDS line-ups with Sky, THE ELECTRIC PRUNES, STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK's GEORGE BUNNEL - RANDY SEOL - MARK WEITZ - GENE GUNNELS, BILLY CORGAN of THE SMASHING PUMPKINS & MARK TULIN of THE ELECTRIC PRUNES one-night-only as SPIRITS IN THE SKY, NELS CLINE of WILCO, solo set by Djin Aquarian of YaHoWha 13, solo set by MIKE RANDLE of BABY LEMONADE (ARTHUR LEE'S LOVE back-up band), the Simon Stokes Band, Sofizel, & very special guests. Attendees are encouraged to dress in flower children ware & bring flowers for the stage.

The Echoplex is located at:
1154 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 413-8200
http://www.attheecho.com/
The venue is 18 yrs & over
Advanced tickets available at Ticket Web

SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON of the psychedelic garage rock legends THE SEEDS passed away at 9:10am Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at St David's South Austin Hospital in Austin, Texas. Sky died of heart & kidney failure, due to an undiagnosed infection of his internal organs. He passed peacefully with his wife Sabrina Smith Saxon & his spiritual brother in YaHoWha Joshua Aquarian by his side. He died, in his words, at the age of "eternal".

SKY SUNLIGHT SAXON, fell ill as early as Thursday, June 18th in his new home in Austin. Despite feeling under the weather Saturday, he performed a short set of SEEDS classics at the local night club Antone's with his local collective WORLD SPIRITS, his favourite local Austin band SHAPES HAVE FANGS. After continuing illness, he was rushed to St David's South Austin Hospital Monday morning & was immediately placed in ICU. He remained in critical condition in ICU until his passing several days later. Sky & his wife Sabrina recently moved to Austin, following his exciting headlining performance at the Austin Psych Fest #2 in March. Several tours were scheduled, including the East Coast/Mid-West tour in August with the California Revue, with members of LOVE & THE ELECTRIC PRUNES. The tour will still continue despite his absence.

Sky had many projects in the works that will undoubtedly still be completed & released in the coming months if not years due to his wealth of creative material left behind. One of which is a documentary about his legendary band THE SEEDS to be released next year in 2010. The documentary chronicles the band's activities with exclusive interviews with all original members, & rare never-before-seen footage of the band live & in session. The project is spear-headed by Alec Palao of Ace Records U.K. (The Zombies' box set "Zombie Heaven").

Jennifer Marchand
Publicist :: Sky Sunlight Saxon
"Pushin' Too Hard" by THE SEEDS - Top 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Bleu French Laundry Rocknroll Promotions
Austin, Texas