This interview is taken from pre-edited reels taped for the Direct News radio broadcast. As such (and considering who is being interviewed), there is an extremely loose feel to it. The conversation starts out with Mickey Hart, who explains how he scored the Apocalypse Now film, why he takes his pulse before playing, and how things are going with The Grateful Dead.

Jerry Garcia then joins in to talk about the newest addition to the band (Brent Mydland) and the song writing process. This section provides an amazing example of how the band feeds off each other: the two often talk at the same time, to the point where you can’t understand what either of them are saying, and then they are done and a point has somehow been made. Finally, the interview focuses on Jerry himself, including his guitar playing and his “subject disease.”

This recording as a whole captures the two band members at an extremely optimistic time for The Grateful Dead. They were having fun on tour and looking forward to getting into the studio for what eventually became Go To Heaven. The interview is also full of those psychedelic metaphors and archetypes that provide the groovy-ness one would expect.

Mickey Hart 00:29 – Approaching trance-inducing drumming 01:31 – Approaching the Apocalypse Now score 02:17 – A student of drumming history 03:14 – Mother Melody, Father Rhythm / musical archetypes 04:32 – Rhythm starting from one’s pulse 05:35 – Mickey’s favorite drummers 06:05 – The Grateful Dead / Brent Mydland 06:41 – The current tour 07:16 – What’s special about The Grateful Dead 07:51 – The Winterland shows, 10/78 08:46 – The unique Grateful Dead chemistry / flawed perfection / job security 10:51 – New songs, new album, writing with The Dead 11:40 – Plans for The Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart 12:28 – Not much to talk about 13:03 – The new leg for The Grateful Dead / consistent improvement 14:59 – Flying into the 1980’s / learning, maturing 17:20 – “The faith factor” / getting sparks off of each other 18:28 – Brent Mydland 19:34 – New songs, new album (from Jerry’s perspective) 20:43 – Mickey introducing compositional ideas during shows 21:35 – Working with Robert Hunter / not drying up the well 23:36 – Earliest memories (Jerry) 24:20 – The infinite well of music

Jerry Garcia 24:51 – Jerry’s first guitar, current guitar, playing banjo 25:47 – Trying to be a better guitarist 26:46 – Jerry’s favorite guitarists 27:57 – Jorma Kaukonen 28:39 – Being absorbed during leisure time / “subject disease” 30:22 – “The Crack in the Cosmic Egg” trilogy 31:55 – Plans for the near future

Jerry Garcia; Mickey Hart

How does a man who has worked with Jean-Luc Ponty, Frank Zappa, Cannonball Adderly, Stanley Clarke, and Billy Cobham keep his career’s momentum going? By creating a Dukey Stick, of course!

As a virtuosic keyboard player, George Duke had recorded and toured with all of the above names by the time this interview was recorded in 1978. Covering jazz, rock, and everything on the spectrum in between, Duke then headed in a more straightforward funk direction with 1977’s Reach For It and its 1978 follow-up Don’t Let Go. Complete with a plexi-glass, fire-shooting, electric-rainbow-light magic wand, he was seemingly fully immersed in the funk. However, he was already working on more diverse projects and openly admits in this interview o trying to avoid being pigeonholed in any specific genre.

With such rich and varied experiences, Duke has a lot to say about music, which, along with the laid-back nature of this chat, makes for a great interview. An additional highlight is his description of a young new singer in his band, Sheila E.

00:00 – A strange, evolved, mixed audience 01:33 – 70 albums / fear of overexposure 02:56 – Reach For It / something more important than album sales 03:53 – Time: the only way to put on a good show 04:55 – Starting over as an opening act 06:07 – Getting one’s style cramped; just part of the business 07:59 – Becoming more of a visual act / the Dukey Stick 09:52 – Laser music / enhancing the music 11:52 – Letting go, going with the flow (music, love, life) 13:47 – The mistakes of critics 15:00 – The fusion argument / multi-stylistic 17:02 – Transcending the fusion argument 17:36 – The funk argument / touching someone instead of impressing musicians 19:20 – Adding simplicity to the music 20:13 – Connections to punk and politics 22:14 – “Music is a found treasure” 22:47 – 1978: a good year for music / the economy’s effect on live shows 24:19 – Don’t Let Go 25:38 – Feeling better about his singing 26:26 – New challenges 27:32 – Being oneself while wearing different hats 28:53 – Increased sophistication in Brazilian music 30:24 – The integration of music into American society 31:13 – Current tours 31:39 – Where is Shuggie Otis? 32:18 – Producing, working with Raul de Souza 33:12 – Sheila E. / youth in the group 34:39 – The next direction, with timeline 35:44 – The George Duke image / fighting the pigeonholing 37:11 – Last words / touring

As a social and political activist in the 1960’s and, with Jerry Rubin, co-founder of the Yippie movement, Abbie Hoffman was front and center within the anti-government scene during some of the nation’s most turbulent times. After his conviction for inciting riots during the infamous Chicago Seven trial was overturned, the law finally caught up with him in 1973 when he was arrested for intent to sell and distribute cocaine. In order to avoid a lifetime prison sentence, Hoffman decided to skip bail and became a fugitive from the law, living under the name Barry Freed in Thousand Island Park, a small community on an island in the St. Lawrence River on the US/Canada border. When this interview was recorded in 1979, he had been in hiding for 5 years.

Part 1 of this interview focuses on his current life in hiding, talking about the small town where he lived and his local (and national) involvement with the anti-nuclear movement. Part 2 focuses on the crime for which he entered into hiding, including Abbie’s opinion of why the bust was set up and what his chances were for getting out of the situation. Parts 3 and 4 detail the current state of the nation and look at whether the events and activism of the 1960’s have had a lasting impact. Part 5 centers around his personal life, including the difficulty of living a new life as a different person and his limited contact with his family. Lastly, the outtakes from the interview contain much information about Abbie’s take on the media, but also capture him at his most unguarded, featuring a series of digressions and tangents.

This interview provides a shocking glimpse into the mind of one of the nation’s most controversial figures, and the opinions he expresses still resonate as strongly today as they did when this recording was originally aired.

**Please note that Parts 1-5 begin with a montage created for the radio broadcast.

Part 1: Current Times, Current Causes 03:00 – Culture shock / where he lives / differences between country and city life 03:34 – Becoming an activist while in hiding 04:11 – Anti-nuclear activities while in hiding / the May 6th Coalition 05:42 – Local vs. national activists 06:20 – Being moved by the May 6th Coalition march / “on the side of the angels” 06:57 – Similarities between pro-nuke and pro-Vietnam individuals 07:19 – Getting Jerry Rubin involved 08:01 – Fear of a black out conspiracy 08:40 – The war of publicity / undemocratic responses to the democratic demonstrations 10:07 – Statistics for nuclear energy support / growing awareness 11:00 – The most valuable contribution made in the 1960’s 12:00 – Coming attractions for Part 2

Part 2: The Drug Bust 02:22 – The drug bust that left him a fugitive 03:08 – Police treatment of Abbie after he became famous 03:53 – If Abbie was president… 04:10 – “Jolly Coppers on Parade” 04:55 – Reasons for going underground 05:33 – Feelings towards cocaine at the time of arrest 06:36 – Planning for trial in spite of his reputation 06:58 – His experience in prison / why he decided to go into hiding 08:35 – The search for Abbie lessens in intensity since Carter’s election 09:18 – Plans for getting the charges dropped 10:33 – Persecuted for being a dissident / not saying sorry 11:39 – Planning on being caught in order to stay safe 12:19 – Coming attractions for Part 3

Part 3: The 1960s’ Legacy 03:24 – Not sending troops into Iran 03:44 – The cultural schism created 04:13 – America’s reaction to the ’68 Democratic National Convention, Chicago 05:04 – Thoughts on Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter 05:42 – What mass media wants you to believe, The Big Fix 06:47 – Madison Avenue taking over the counter culture, “house freaks” 07:53 – Revolution as evolution / marijuana and rock music helping to stop the war 09:52 – Corporate America’s solidification / the TV generation 10:46 – Corporate America under the profit motive / the ruling class 11:58 – Disco / lessons learned around the world from Vietnam 12:35 – Coming attractions for Part 4

Part 4: State of the Union 03:18 – Everyone will be broke (not famous) for 15 minutes 03:57 – The typical American 04:40 – Chances of ending up in prison or mental hospital vs. college 05:01 – Possibility of having a revolution in the present day / Yippie demands 06:20 – The faith to believe in change / the future is up in the air 06:55 – Rejecting the good life / enjoying activism 08:55 – The rate of progress / sending troops out around the world 10:11 – How the 60’s live on / Abbie’s old predators 10:58 – Richard Nixon as a victim 11:41 – Investigative reporting / being on the offensive 12:25 – Coming attractions for Part 5

Part 5: (Auto)Biography 03:10 – Coming and going to New York City 03:45 – Getting rid of the New York buzz 04:16 – Living as an outlaw = controlled schizophrenia 05:12 – Working as a cook 06:07 – Americans not being counted 06:52 – Writing his (auto)biography 07:28 – Relating to the Abbie Hoffman character / evolving consciousness 08:23 – Being a nobody / being “Fred” 09:05 – Losing his touch with women 10:07 – Abbie’s family: Anita, america, his grandmother 12:06 – Developing a relationship with america 12:39 – Outro

Outtakes 00:00 – George Metesky, the Mad Bomber 02:33 – [Interlude: mellowing out, confessions, magazine articles, crime] 04:02 – Corned beef sandwiches 04:35 – Paul McCartney, prediction for The Beatles 05:25 – Thomas King Forcade, one of marijuana’s martyrs 06:35 – Review of Richard Nixon’s book / preview of Abbie’s next book 07:52 – Idealism to realism with age 08:48 – “Woodstock 2” / M.U.S.E. / increased sophistication 10:32 – The biggest myth of the 60’s 11:46 – The cultural renaissance from the streets 13:08 – The new Charles Kuralt / “Super Schmuck” 15:00 – Watching “The Fugitive” 15:49 – Original expectations of going underground 16:41 – Writing as working 17:20 – Abbie’s utopia / what’s wrong with American society 19:47 – The Chicago Seven trial 23:35 – Selling pictures to the media 24:46 – The media spin (lies) 25:44 – An interview in the Austin Sun / communism 28:13 – Jonestown’s connection to the US media / paranoia inducement 30:06 – Television: special interest stories 31:02 – People in media don’t know what news is / “Network” 32:38 – The implications of revolution 33:49 – Nixon’s plans for a coup 35:20 – Taking the politics out of Woodstock / broadcast vs. propaganda 37:27 – The myth of America 39:28 – Last words / don’t say hello if you see him

It is well documented that Roger Waters started to take more of a commanding role in Pink Floyd for Animals, The Wall, and, to an even larger extent, The Final Cut. After this last album, released in 1983, David Gilmour decided to release About Face, a response to his lessening responsibility as part of Pink Floyd.

This interview, recorded with Lisa Robinson, took place in New York City during his supporting tour for About Face. The new album and the solo tour provide the framework within which Robinson asks about the clashes and competition with Roger Waters, as well as the possibility of Pink Floyd getting back together. Although Gilmour’s answers are extremely diplomatic, they also provide wonderful insight into what was happening behind the scenes.

00:00 – About Face vs. David Gilmour 00:50 – Unsure about the future of Pink Floyd 01:37 – Differences with Roger Waters causing the desire for an extra-curricular career 02:34 – Options for new careers 03:13 – Testing: touring solo vs. touring with Pink Floyd 03:58 – The Final Cut = The Last Straw 05:12 – Ground rules for possible future Pink Floyd albums 05:58 – Cheerful fatalism 06:29 – Who deserves credit for what in Pink Floyd / looking for proof in About Face 07:51 – The new audience demographic 08:19 – Grasping for an explanation of the success of Dark Side of the Moon 09:55 – More speculation about another Pink Floyd project 10:29 – Fighting with Roger Waters (not the inspiration for “Near the End”) 11:38 – The inevitable comparisons / the competitive element 12:41 – Singing Pete Townshend lyrics 13:37 – Still “carousing” on tour / the ARMS tour / rock and roll growing up

In 1977, Kiss was one of the most popular bands in the world, thanks in large part to their electrifying performances. In 1978, they tried to build on this popularity through the simultaneous release of 4 solo albums and the release of a made-for-TV movie. These moves did not turn out as well as expected.

In 1979, the band was ready to get back on the road in support of their new album, Dynasty. Kiss wanted to get back to doing what they did best: creating an impressive concert experience. History tells us that this tour did not meet the band’s expectations as attendance dropped and Peter Criss left the band after the tour’s completion.

The interview recorded here for the Direct News radio show features Gene Simmons (the deeper voice) and Ace Frehley. It captures the band in the commercially oriented state of mind they were in at this point, focusing on the theatrics fans could expect at their upcoming tour. There are also hints of the band’s growing frustration as they discuss rumors of breaking up and recent criticisms from the press.

00:00 – Hi to mom / the stage set-up for the new tour 01:24 – Playing to an audience in 360 degrees 02:23 – A special guest at one of the shows 02:51 – An estimate of the tour’s cost / sparing no expense 03:25 – Breaking even / making money on tour 03:47 – Not being The Ramones / an audiovisual spectacle 04:38 – Not getting bored / playing for new audiences 05:17 – The most amazing rock n’ roll show 06:05 – Saving some tricks for the next tours 06:44 – The Kiss movie: on hold 07:54 – Making solo albums / keeping the band together 09:35 – Rumors of the band breaking up 10:07 – Gene’s favorite works of “speculative fiction” 12:12 – Invasion of the Body Snatchers 12:37 – Getting airplay on FM radio / not pleasing everybody 13:35 – Relationship with the press 14:19 – How one becomes a rock n’ roll critic 15:24 – No such thing as bad press 16:06 – Kiss as superheroes (but not characters) 17:17 – Change the outfits but not the make up

In August of 1988 Santana released an album celebrating his first 20 years as a recording artist containing greatest hits, live material, and other oddities. Before hitting the road with the original Santana band in support of this release, he sat down with Scott Muni to co-host a World of Rock radio show. Their casual chat covers the entirety of Santana’s illustrious career including his earliest musical influences, his recollections of Woodstock, and his plans to become a musical ambassador of good will.

As part of his duties as DJ, Santana also introduces some of the tracks from Viva Santana, mentioning that Bill Graham was responsible for some of his biggest hits. Check the time stamps below if you’d like to hear a particular song introduction, or celebrate the past 20 years of Santana by immersing yourself in his positive attitutde for a whole half hour.

00:00 – Intro by Scott Muni 00:18 – New album (Viva Santana, 20 years celebration) 00:58 – Doesn’t seem like it’s been 20 years 01:55 – Line-up for new tour – same as the original band 02:28 – How the original band ended up getting back together / still having the chemistry 03:58 – Happy to have the group back together / Jacques Cousteau 05:14 – First interest in music / moving to Tijuana / first instrument / rock influences 06:59 – “Johnny B. Goode” 08:19 – “Brotherhood” / Miles Davis 10:04 – A good will ambassador tour with Miles Davis 11:52 – Covering an old big band song 13:27 – Viva Santana – capturing the music when it’s more than music 14:25 – “Aqua Marine” 15:00 – “Everybody’s Everything” / “Karate” by The Emperors 16:11 – Tour supporting the new album 16:37 – Performing in Mexico 18:25 – American tour / a typical show to expect 19:30 – “She’s Not There” / Bill Graham 20:56 – Working with other musicians / doing different styles / learning from water

Woodstock 22:31 – What it meant / means to Santana 23:19 – Disaster area / accidentally playing while on psychedelic drugs 24:17 – The sound of Woodstock 24:51 – Changing America forever 25:20 – Lack of violence 26:35 – Finally getting tickets 27:02 – The merging of the music / bringing it all back home

28:38 – “Oye Come Va” / Tito Puente 31:18 – “Evil Ways” / Willie Bobo, Bill Graham 32:08 – Outro