Clif The Scientology stuff was real and L.A. during that period was facing a real right-wing backlash. Democrats have state elections on lockdown, but Reagan was the governor in the early 1970s and the Dems adopted a lot of his economic policies. There was a tax revolt in 1978 (Prop 13). A lot of the schools are charter schools -- including the elementary school I attended. Mike Davis is the author who really captured the zeitgeist of the city. My dad's extended family worked at GM -- Van Nuys Assembly. Closed around NAFTA.
Uni was 3/4 of a mile from my house. Brentwood was on Bundy. I used to pass by the house OJ murdered his ex-wife at on my way to school. Being from there and getting to know a lot of the people involved in the OG punk scene changed my life. I can't say for the better or worse...I've skated my whole life, so we'd go skate Taft High in Woodland Hills which is where Jane Wiedlin went to school. It was all around.
I'd continue talking with Philomena. Meltzer is really intelligent. Slash was always Steve Samioff, Melanie Nissen, Claude and Philly. Biggs came later and added to the legacy via the label. Philly was there through the whole thing.
