Song #11: I Radiate (1984)

The great Ira Ingber and I constructed this rough demo at his home studio, "Colonel Muscletone Studios" in 1984. If anything, listen to this song for Ira's ripping guitar solo at around the 2:20 mark.

Our recent correspondence (redacted for Area 51 security purposes) fills in some blanks:

In the late fifties/early sixties, we were surrounded by the ever present threat of nuclear annihilation. The "Duck and Cover Civil Defense" film was shown in class, and we practiced the technique once a month.

Air raid sirens were tested every week, and I remember having a sick feeling in my stomach when they sounded.

Perhaps my "gut" reaction was due to Operation Plumbbob, which took place while I was gestating in my Mom's womb, 400 miles away in the San Fernando Valley.

From Wikipedia: During the 1950s, the mushroom clouds from these tests could be seen for almost 100 mi (160 km) in either direction, including the city of Las Vegas, where the tests became tourist attractions. Americans headed for Las Vegas to witness the distant mushroom clouds that could be seen from the downtown hotels.

In Southern California, there is a phenomenon known as the "Santa Ana winds", whichever blow hard and hot from the Great Basin located (mostly) in Nevada. The valley also has the dubious distinction of being the place where the worst nuclear accident in America  occurred.

My Mom died last year (6/20/12) after an epic struggle with breast cancer. I like to think that she protected and inoculated me while I was in her belly, to make me invincible against the toxins of our world...

And once again, I'm amazed I'm still alive and well, and living in, and loving the San Fernando Valley.

I Radiate

I'm making personal history every day

Dear Diary...

Do tell me
If I think too much

Do tell me
If there's static in my touch

They told me
In 1956

Winds blowed me
An atomic bag of tricks

and this is why in the dark you can see me glow

Oh I radiate

Ooo I radiate

I don't have to shout to be noticed

My love is on fire

Please tell me
How long we'll survive
Please tell me
If it's U235

Would you tell me
Were we meant to be
Could you tell me
What's our half-life expectancy

And this is why in the dark you can see me glow

Oh I radiate
Ooo my time won't wait
I don't have to shout to be noticed
My love is on fire

And this is why I write in the dark...
you can see me glow

Britt Bacon: vocals, keyboard

Ira Ingber: guitars, drum programming, bgs

Written by Britt Bacon and Ira Ingber

©1984

Source: 1/4" stereo analogue tape 15ips