“It was so loud. I never experienced that loudness in my life… It was so loud that the sound hurt my body.” — Makoto Kubota   Les Rallizes Dénudés in 1976, by Shigeo Matsumoto Dig into any fandom community and you’ll find lists of favorite musicians of fan’s favorite musicians. The more obscure and difficult the influences, the more credible a musician’s artistry. One band that appears on such lists, Les Rallizes Dénudés wins top honors for obscurity and difficulty. The band is not French, but Japanese, and the name is largely meaningless. (What are nude rallizes? No one knows.) And they never actually recorded any music. Well, not in a studio, anyway. Rallizes came out of a radical time and place, Kyoto in 1967 or ’68 (the exact year of formation is a matter of dispute, like most of the band’s history). Their first members were aspiring revolutionaries. And yet, according to former bassist Makoto Kubota, the band was no more political than they were commercial. Instead, they were a physical experience. “Rallizes was a live band, not a recording band,” he says. “They were too loud, and uncontrollable.”   Les Rallizes Dénudés in 1976, by Aquilha Mochiduki Kubota replaced former member Moriaki Wakabayashi, who left when he started “getting more serious about the Red Army Stuff,” Kubota explains. The musician hijacked a plane with samurai sword and some comrades, intent on flying to Cuba. They ended up in North Korea, where they remain (not by choice, it seems). Lead singer and guitarist Takashi Mizutani, however, the only mainstay in ever-shifting lineups, avoided political commentary of any kind, cultivating the most opaque of rock mystiques.  Mizutani became paranoid and reclusive after the hijacking, convinced his audiences were full of spies. He may have been right. (When asked about spies in the audience by Far Out’s Tom Taylor, Kubota says, “I mean, probably.”) Hidden behind proto-Joey Ramone-like fringe and sunglasses, Rallizes frontman seemed intent on one thing only: the shrieking “atonal, hypnotic cacophony” of his sound, as Daniel Hess describes it: a feedback-saturated mashup of the Velvet Underground, Haight-Ashbury psych, and British blues.      Despite performing with various lineups for 26 years, Mizutani seemed allergic to success. “After an aborted, reportedly disastrous studio session” Hess writes, he “swore off ever working in a studio environment again.” The absence of official recordings left bootleggers to catalogue the band’s legacy with a slew of unofficial releases of extremely varying quality, even as his legend grew. Talks with Richard Branson and Virgin Records went nowhere. “When he wasn’t performing,” Grayson Haver Currin explains, “Mizutani remained incredibly elusive.” His own bandmates had no idea where he went during the day, or what he did for money.” Kubota ascribes his appearances onstage outfitted in leather, sunglasses, guitars, and amplifiers to “magic,” saying, “he always had the loudest music with the loudest equipment all the time.” He also credits Mizutani with starting the Japanese underground psych rock scene, even if that role has been forgotten, spinning records from America that no one else had during his DJ sets in Kyoto’s clubs.  Over the decades, Rallizes “fandom swelled to international levels, and a roster of musicians waited for mystic calls from Mizutani on high,” Taylor writes. They mostly waited in vain, as did Kubota, who moved on to other international musical projects, but wanted to polish the live recordings for official release, something he finally began doing in 2019 after Mizutani’s death. In tracks like “Carnival” from Jittoku ’76, you’ll hear what one fan describes as their “beefy and noisy sound ahead of its time…. the epiphany of psychedelic noise-rock at its finest.”      As Kubota explains, the band’s mercurial nature derived in part from Mizutani’s desire to keep it fresh, the most honest motivation in rock and roll: “He loves the feeling of the first time. I mean, the meaning of a fresh session. So he didn’t want to repeat anything. It’s more like music theatre. When the band starts repeating, he changed the band.” But most of his shows consisted of the same set, played differently each time, with extended jams and freakouts, and levels of noise that would only be equalled years later by Swans in New York’s downtown No Wave scene.  Attending his first Les Rallizes Dénudés as a fan, Kubota remembered, “It was so fucking loud. I never seen this. I never experienced that loudness in my life…. It was so loud that the sound hurt my body.” The physical effects of such volume cannot be put on record, but Mizutani’s near-Hendrix-level mastery of feedback and distortion are fully evident on the releases Kubota remastered and uploaded to Bandcamp, a project he undertook with Mizutani’s blessing before the frontman’s death in 2019. He describes the process of recovering and remastering live recordings as a labor of love, telling Sunset Sounds, “I’m very grateful that [Mizutani] and his family kept very good care of all the old cassettes, videotapes, and reel-to-reel…but some are a copy of a copy of a copy, so it’s a bit of a mess. It takes [a lot of work] to find which are good.” Mizutani himself “just stopped calling” during their initial conversations about a reunion tour and reissues. “Then, a few months later,” says “Kubota, “his wife contacted me, and said he had passed away.”   A classic Les Ralllizes Dénudés bootleg The advent of streaming means nothing stays hidden for long anymore. While physical copies of Rallizes bootleg releases are rare, you can find them now uploaded to Spotify and Apple Music. This kind of availability was impossible to imagine when Western admirers first began discovering the band. As with all cult phenomena pre-internet, the only way to learn anything about them was to ask around or rely on whoever took the trouble to do so and publish. And yet, Rallizes remained hard to fathom even after Google gave us access to every artist’s personal history.  Julian Cope’s groundbreaking 2007 survey Japrocksampler covered the Japanese postwar rock scene with the obsessive devotion of a true fan. The book contains 14 pages on Les Rallizes Dénudés, and most of them are garbled or incorrect. Writer Grayson Currin tried the story direct from the sources: the musicians and the band’s audiences and critics. His search proved less than fruitful. “Ghosts all around,” was the summation of one contact, John Whitson (now deceased) founder of Portland, Oregon’s Holy Mountain records. Despite Kubota’s willingness to open up about his time with the band and his process of recovering their live recordings, he knows little about the man he calls a musical “brother,” and little about what happened with the band after his departure.  Whitson compared Rallizes discography to “an archeogist’s broken plate” to explain why there’ll never be a perfect record from the band. The metaphor also works in understanding their history. All we have are tantalizing fragments. Just enough for a legend to emerge from the void. As Whitson puts it, “If you just go, ‘ Well the bass player hijacked a plane to North Korea and these guys really rock,’ your mind can fill in the blanks in really interesting ways.” With Mizutani, blanks are almost all we have to work with. “Black and night is his life; it’s his style,” says former bandmate Doronco. No one in Japan’s underground rock scene wore it better. Hear over a dozen recently remastered live Les Rallizes Dénudés records on Bandcamp. Kubota promises more are on the way.      Les Rallizes Dénudés – Night of The Assassins (3rd Sunset Festival, August 3, 1976)     The post Why Les Rallizes Dénudés Are the Coolest Band You’ve Probably Never Heard appeared first on Flashbak.

Zebra Three, come in Zebra Three. Bay City’s got a case for you! We’re looking for a couple of actors, last seen fleeing the set of Starsky and Hutch. Alright, readers have got eyes on them, and we’re bringing them in for a cast rewind. Today, we’ll be undercover checking in on the cast of, the best onscreen duo of the 1970s. Although the Bay City PD was loosely based on the real LAPD, the actual inspiration for these closely bonded, guerrilla-style detectives were based on two Brooklyn boys who began using “decoy work” to fight crime. So, whenever undercover operations commence, they come from some grounded source material — with some changes. But David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser certainly made these characters their own. With exciting drama and slapstick comedy all rolled into a one-hour show, the Starsky and Hutch cast took us on a ride each week, figuratively and literally in that sparkling striped tomato Gran Torino. Is David Soul still alive? David Soul as Starsky and celebrating the new Starsky and Hutch / Everett Collection / ImageCollect Calm, cool, collected, and a health food nut, Detective Ken Hutchinson rolled with the punches after moving from quaint, cold Minnesota to balmy California. There, he was forced to work with a fiery hothead. At least he had his old reliable car, the Ford Galaxie 500…oh, wait, it’s broken again. David Soul now / ImageCollect No one could play a fish-out-of-water better than David Soul, who changed life trajectories faster than flipping a light switch. He might have gone the history and politics route, but the sweet thrum of a guitar was irresistible and so began his music career. He was the masked musician, or, the Covered Man, on the Merv Griffith Show to make sure people just appreciated the music, nothing else. He then made his acting debut with an episode of Flipper in 1967, before landing a series lead alongside teen heartthrob Bobby Sherman in the classic TV Western, Here Come the Brides. In 1973, Soul portrayed a corrupt cop in the Clint Eastwood thriller Magnum Force, and TV execs saw the potential. Soul even directed three episodes of Starsky and Hutch: highlighted by season two’s  “Survival.” He’d direct other hit shows, with the last being an episode of In the Heat of the Night, season four, in 1990. Directly following his Hutch, he wonderfully brought Stephen King’s masterpiece, Salem’s Lot to life, for a two-part miniseries. He also returned to his first love and released number one hit singles, including “Silver Lady” and “Don’t Give Up on Us Baby.” He’d go on tour for years as well. Soul also uses his name for good, funding documentaries about water quality and Native American land rights, honoring his Lutheran minister dad with civic duties. The last time we saw him onscreen, was in 2013 in the James McAvoy-led film, Filth, where David steals the show with a car karaoke performance of his own song, “Silver Lady”. It’s fantastic. Tragically, on January 4, 2024, David died at the age of 80 from the impact of COPD, marking one of several deaths from the main cast of Starsky and Hutch. Is Bernie Hamilton still alive? Bernie Hamilton played a gruff police chief who, underneath it all, cared about Starsky and Hutch very much / Everett Collection / Discogs A good detective force needs a strong leader at the top. Thankfully, Bay City had the no-nonsense and often angered Captain Dobey, a true professional, who knew how to pack a great lunch. But his true nature as a family man always found a way to shine through and extended to his two goofball detectives. Hamilton pursuing a different passion / Wall of Celebrities Being from California himself, Bernie became an unsung powerhouse by never falling into stereotypical roles for African Americans. His film debut was as Ernie in 1950’s The Jackie Robinson Story, which starred Jackie himself, then he broke new ground in One Potato, Two Potato. Filmed in black and white, the harrowing story about racial injustice had Bernie cast with a white wife and preceded the more famous Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. The part of Captain Dobey was originally going to be a white actor, but producers Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg remembered Bernie from a previous police role and, as a result, Bernie didn’t even need a screen test and secured the part. Bernie’s final acting role came from an episode of The Love Boat in 1985 right as he began to switch concentrations. Bernie’s brother was prominent jazz drummer Chico Hamilton, and music appealed to Bernie, too. So, the actor-turned-musician founded the record label Chocolate Snowman and proceeded to produce and sing on the album Capt. Dobey Sings the Blues. He’d continue to produce R&B as well as Gospel albums for decades. After a groundbreaking career, Bernie Hamilton died in 2008 at the age of 80 from cardiac arrest. Is Paul Michael Glaser still alive? Paul Michael Glaser was the first and original Starsky to David Soul’s Hutch / Everett Collection / ImageCollect You cross a line in Bay City, you’d be wise to avoid Detective David Starsky. Combine the training of a U.S. army vet with invaluable street smarts, a Brooklynite upbringing, and absolutely no fuse, and you have one lean, mean, crime-fighting machine. And definitely don’t mess with his Gran Torino or his partner — not necessarily in that order. Glaser today / ImageCollect Paul Michael Glaser is an east-coaster himself, and followed his gut to get into acting from day one. His film debut created some news in 1971 as the student Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof. He then went from show to show as a guest star, including some real classics like Kojak, and The Waltons  (take a trip back to Walton’s Mountain right here!). Starsky and Hutch really let Glaser shine as both a star and a director. It ran for just four seasons, but he’ll be back. Okay, wrong movie, but not far off. Glaser’s second directed film was the 1987 Schwarzenegger action flick The Running Man. He was finally fulfilling his dream and continued directing, even writing the story for 1996’s Kazaam starring the Big Aristotle himself, Shaquille O’Neal. The last time he directed was in 2008 with five episodes of the show Las Vegas. After not acting for more than 15 years, in 2003, he went back to the big-screen, with an all-star cast including Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson in Something’s Gotta Give. Everything ran smoothly for Glaser’s career, but his personal life contained a lot of tragedy. Glaser married activist Elizabeth Meyer and in 1981, during the birth of their first child, she needed a life-saving blood transfusion. Tragically, the blood was contaminated with HIV and they were unaware of this fatal error until four years later. Ariel Glaser died at seven years of age in 1988 and Elizabeth followed in 1994. Glaser keeps up a strong front, picking up his wife’s work where she left off and served as the chairman for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation until 2002, although he still holds the honorary position. He also cautions fans against letting their fantasies run wild about their idols, and hopes people understand he’s not actually Starsky. But he and Soul did suit up once again for cameos in the 2004 Starsky and Hutch film with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. One of his most recent acting appearances was in 2019 as Leo in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. An all-around Renaissance man, he also hosted an art exhibit called The Third Act, a reference to this third big stage in his working life. In March 2026, Glaser turned 83 and is one of the only two surviving stars from the main cast of Starsky and Hutch. Antonio Fargas (Huggy Bear) Antonio Fargas, aka Huggy Bear / Everett Collection / ImageCollect Hey, Huggy Bear. What tips have you got for us? This ought to be good… The fabulously dressed, morally dubious Huggy Bear was a lot of things, but reliable definitely tops the list. Huggy Bear always had the best clothes and the best lines of the whole show. Antonio Fargas today / ImageCollect Antonio Fargas had early experience making sure he stood out, as one of 11 siblings in his New York City household. He broke into the movie scene with 1969’s Robert Downey Sr. written and directed film, Putney Swope. Then he portrayed Foxy Brown’s brother in that 1974 blaxploitation cult classic. After that, he became Huggy Bear because Barry Shear, who was directing the pilot episode, had previously directed Fargas in the 1972 film, Across 110th Street. Huggy wasn’t supposed to be a recurring character, but Fargas brought the magic that made him a mainstay. He was a milestone in television history, giving audiences a crucial secondary character who was of Puerto Rican descent. Fargas almost got his own show as Huggy, ditching the bar in favor of becoming a private eye. But the premise they introduced, “Huggy Bear and the Turkey,” didn’t quite resonate with viewers, and as a result, it never got off the ground. EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS, Antonio Fargis, ‘Everybody Hates Gambling’, (Season 2, episode 19, aired April 23, 2007), 2005-09, photo: Scott Humbert / © 3 Arts Entertainment / Courtesy Everett Collection Fargas kept himself busy out of necessity since, as he puts it, “Your acting muscles atrophy when you don’t use them.” His next most memorable work came with 27 episodes of Everybody Hates Chris as the character Doc, about the early life of Chris Rock. The title was a play on Everybody Loves Raymond. Fargas, who will turn 80 in August 2026,  is determined to live life to its fullest because the 1994 earthquake in California left he and his wife both thinking the other had actually died. Neither could see or get to the other until after the disaster ended. Thankfully, that was not the case and he shares frequent updates on Instagram cataloging his latest project, in this case, Mister Mayfair (2021), filmed in Portugal; as well as Until We Meet Again (2022) and One Year Off (2023). He is currently filming Deep. Keep it up, Huggy! Turkey buzzard, this is chicken little, come in. That was a pretty great ride in the Striped Tomato. Now, before we call it a day, we need a tip that even Huggy can’t provide. What was the best moment or episode from Starsky and Hutch? The shock from Hutch’s car exploding was definitely a highlight.  What are your thoughts on the 2004 film remake? Let us know. STARSKY AND HUTCH / Everett Collection Next up: There Is Only One Surviving Member Of The Monkees Left The post The Only ‘Starsky And Hutch’ Major Cast Members Still Alive Today appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Dana Daly

Nearly six decades after helping launch one of television’s most beloved musical sitcoms, Micky Dolenz is looking back on the experience that started it all. The musician and actor recently shared memories and behind-the-scenes photos from the earliest days of The Monkees, giving fans a nostalgic glimpse into a television phenomenon that would leave a lasting mark on pop culture. According to Yahoo Entertainment, the reflection comes as the series approaches an important milestone. What began as an experimental television project eventually became a cultural sensation, producing hit songs, memorable characters, and a devoted fan base that continues to celebrate the show decades after its original run. ‘The Monkees’ Cast Jumped Into a Fast-Paced Adventure From The First Episode             View this post on Instagram                         A post shared by Micky Dolenz (@micky_dolenz)   Dolenz recently posted photos and script pages from “Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth,” the first episode filmed for the series in June 1966. Looking back, he admitted that the pace of production was so intense that many details have become a blur over time. According to Dolenz, the cast often moved from one scene, song, or costume change to another so quickly that there was barely time to process everything happening around them. He recalled joining Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, and Peter Tork on what he described as a wonderful and chaotic adventure. Guided by producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, the four performers quickly developed the chemistry that would become one of the show’s defining strengths. Although nobody could fully predict the series’ future success, the group embraced the opportunity and gave viewers something unique. A Television Milestone That Didn’t Air First THE MONKEES: Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith, 1966-68/Everett Collection One interesting fact about The Monkees’ first episode is that it was not actually the first one audiences saw on television. Although “Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth” was the first episode filmed after the pilot, viewers first saw “Royal Flush” when The Monkees debuted in September 1966. The Monkees’ first episode remains a fascinating piece of television history because it captures the beginning of a project that would become far bigger than anyone expected. Although the sitcom only lasted two seasons, it produced multiple chart-topping songs and transformed its cast members into international stars. As Dolenz reflects on those early days nearly 60 years later, fans remember the creativity, spontaneity, and energy that helped make the series an enduring favorite. THE MONKEES, (from left): Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, 1966-68/Everett Collection Next up: How The Pet Rock Became One Of The Most Unlikely Toy Sensations In History The post Micky Dolenz Reflects On Filming The First Episode Of ‘The Monkees’ 60 Years Ago appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Ruth A

Some of the most successful products ever created began as serious inventions designed to solve real-world problems. Others started as simple jokes. Few examples illustrate that better than the Pet Rock, a novelty item that captured the imagination of millions of people during the mid-1970s and became one of the most memorable fads of its era. INFORUM, Fifty years after its debut, the quirky gift continues to fascinate people who wonder how a plain rock became a cultural phenomenon. The answer lies in a combination of clever marketing, perfect timing, and one entrepreneur’s ability to turn a humorous idea into a million-dollar business. A Joke Between Friends Sparked The Idea X The concept originated with advertising executive Gary Ross Dahl, a North Dakota native who later built his career in California. According to the story, Dahl was spending time with friends who were complaining about the responsibilities that came with owning pets. During the conversation, he jokingly suggested that the perfect pet would be a rock because it required no feeding, grooming, training, or cleanup. Instead of letting the joke fade away, Dahl realized it had potential. He created a product that transformed an ordinary stone into a novelty companion. Each rock was packaged in a small cardboard box complete with breathing holes and a bed of packing material. Buyers also received a humorous instruction booklet explaining how to care for and train their new “pet,” including lessons on commands such as sit, stay, and roll over. A Simple Idea Turned Into A Million-Dollar Craze X When the Pet Rock debuted in 1975, consumers immediately embraced the joke. The inexpensive novelty item became a popular gift, especially during the holiday season. Stores struggled to keep up with demand as shoppers rushed to purchase the unusual stocking stuffer for friends and family. Within just a few months, sales reached extraordinary levels. More than a million rocks were reportedly sold nationwide, making Dahl a millionaire in less than a year. While the craze eventually faded, its legacy remains intact as one of the most successful novelty products ever marketed. Even decades later, people remember the Pet Rock as proof that a clever idea, paired with brilliant packaging and humor, can outperform even the most sophisticated inventions. Next up: Peter Frampton Makes Rare Red Carpet Appearance With Family By His Side The post How The Pet Rock Became One Of The Most Unlikely Toy Sensations In History appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Ruth A

Television has lost one of its most recognizable entertainment personalities. Gene Shalit, the longtime film critic and arts reporter whose distinctive appearance and playful reviews made him a fixture on morning television for decades, has died at the age of 100. His family announced that he passed away peacefully after what they described as an extraordinary life. For millions of viewers, he was instantly recognizable thanks to his trademark bushy hair, oversized handlebar mustache, and endless collection of puns. More importantly, he helped bring movie criticism into American living rooms during a period when newspaper reviews largely dominated the conversation. A Pioneer Who Helped Change Entertainment Journalism Gene Shalit has passed / Wikipedia Shalit joined NBC’s Today show as a contributor in 1970 before becoming the program’s arts editor three years later. He eventually became best known for his “Critic’s Corner” segments, where he reviewed films and interviewed some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. By the time he retired in 2010, he was one of the last major network television critics still delivering regular movie reviews. According to APNews, his influence extended beyond his own broadcasts. Media observers have credited him with helping popularize television-based film criticism at a time when most audiences relied on newspapers and magazines for reviews. As his popularity grew, other networks and programs began introducing their own movie critics, helping transform the way audiences discovered and discussed films. His Humor Made Him Impossible To Forget He was known for his colorful personality / Wikimedia Commons While many critics focused on serious analysis, Shalit became famous for combining reviews with humor. His love of puns became legendary, whether he was praising a movie or delivering a clever critique. Viewers often tuned in as much for his wordplay as for his opinions, making him one of the most entertaining critics on television. The Gene Shalit legacy also includes countless memorable interviews and pop culture appearances. He was parodied on Saturday Night Live, appeared on shows such as Sesame Street, Family Guy, and SpongeBob SquarePants, and remained a familiar face to generations of television viewers. Although his distinctive style was sometimes imitated, it was never duplicated. With his passing, the entertainment world says goodbye to a critic whose wit, personality, and unique approach helped shape television journalism for more than four decades. Gene Shalit with Today anchors / Wikipedia Next up: Pat Sajak Shares A Hilarious Life Update After Months Away From Social Media The post Gene Shalit, Beloved Today Show Film Critic Known For His Wit And Wordplay, Dies At 100 appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Ruth A