General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPhil Austin, dies at 74; voice of Firesign Theatre's Nick Danger
In dorm rooms across the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s, sometimes through a haze of pot smoke, a recording could be heard that sounded like an old-time radio detective show mixed with Eastern mysticism.
He's ready for excitement,
He's ready for anything,
He's Nick Danger, Third Eye!
As many boomers know, Nick Danger was a character created by the highly satirical Firesign Theatre, a comedy group whose albums became a touchstone of the countercultural era.
Phil Austin, 74, the founding member of the group who created and voiced the wacky detective with the mystical "third eye" power, died Friday in Fox Island, Wash.
http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-phil-austin-20150620-story.html
Gregorian
(23,867 posts)Mine was four or five of us guys taking huge bong hits in a dorm at UC Santa Cruz in the early 70's. The best of times. One of the guys was a relative of Ben Franklin, and looked exactly like him.
Waves goodbye...
shenmue
(38,506 posts)yuiyoshida
(41,832 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)Have not listened to that in decades. Still remember many bits.
Genius at work there.
Just wow.
RIP!
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)nt
longship
(40,416 posts)Regretfully the only result was the monotonous staccato of rain drops on my desk top.
But I still have that two bit ring from the Cracker Back Jox. Will treasure it forever, along with the bag with the pickle.
All right. Everybody into the time machine.
Put down that pickle!!!
Peter Bergman's obit from 2012: http://t.co/QsdPeSSa
On edit: still wondering where Ruth is.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,350 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)I thought of you when I read the thread title.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,350 posts)and I've copied them from vinyl, to CD, to mp3.
The classics.
Martin Eden
(12,870 posts)If not, maybe it's because You can't get there from here.
Back in the mid 1970's our favorite spot to hang out and party in the wee hours was a half mile hike into the woods, on top of a hill where we could have a fire and drink/smoke/joke without being bothered. We named that spot the Old Same Place after hearing Nick Danger Third Eye by Firesign Theatre.
I still go hiking in those woods (though not to party in the wee hours) and some of us still refer to it as the Old Same Place.
longship
(40,416 posts)Fozzledick
(3,860 posts)We had to share it with the sound man.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Fort Stinkin' Desert and Cobalt Testing Range
I think I'll tune the climate-control to Tropical Paradise
Pass gently Phil
longship
(40,416 posts)That's Steve Reeves.
Naw! It's Agnes Moorhead.
What's happened to your nose?
I just got back from Rome.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Duluth, bucko, you can get Tierra del Fuego!
longship
(40,416 posts)Antelope freeway, two miles.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Shadow Valley Condoms! If you lived here, you'd be home by now!
(Love the license-plate protector! )
longship
(40,416 posts)According to my careful prosthesis, this man has the plague.
However, I must bow to your Shadow Valley Condoms quote. You win the Firesign Theater quote off.
Regards. And such a thing is the best way to celebrate a life dedicated to satirical humor.
And don't get me started about life sized models of the Taj Mahal made entirely of oleomargarine. But let's knock on the door anyway and see if the tiny Doctor Tim is in... schlup! schlup! schlup!
The sun rises. He's done it again. Oh no! It's paisley!
My best to you.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)and the Small Animals Administration?
Not only did I used to have all of that stuff memorized, but my circle of weirdo-intellectual friends even did Nick Danger as a Talent Show entry once. The crowd loved it! I got to play the announcer.
"Where's the fire, Danger?"
"In your eyes, Lt. Bradshaw."
Om.
Om.
Range.
Quoting FT is always fun, and your knowledge is way up there, too
longship
(40,416 posts)My best to you.
I hate liars
(165 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Man, Firesign Theater. That brings back some great memories.
Go with the goddess, Phil.
edhopper
(33,587 posts)[img][/img]
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Hasta, siempre, Hermano.
A stele box?
longship
(40,416 posts)eridani
(51,907 posts)More Science High-- it's...disappeared!
calimary
(81,322 posts)And we all wondered where Ruth is.
I hate liars
(165 posts)calimary
(81,322 posts)Glad you're here! Dayum - when I was working, I had a chance to interview the four of them. They all sat around the kitchen table at one of their houses and started riffing. I held the mic as best I could, but I didn't do the best job. It wound up not being usable. There were lots of clonks and other noises on the tape throughout - because I was laughing and trying to stifle it, and I didn't have a mic stand. Not that it would have helped. If I'd put it on a mic stand, it would only have picked up whoever's voice was closest to it. I wish that would have worked better, audio-wise. I had no way of knowing but I probably should have expected it. My VERY bad! I should have known that if all four of them were together, that's exactly what they'd do.
I found myself thinking back to those college radio days and thinking - "MAN, if they could see me NOW!"
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Public Radio also introduced me to "The Fourth Tower of Inverness." Remember that?
chapdrum
(930 posts)"He's upstairs helping Porcelain make the bed, he's so good with the servants."
Hoo boy - real sorry to learn of this, but thank you Phil, David, Peter and Philip for your brilliant work.
Living in L.A. then, had the great luck to attend one of the "...Bozos..." sessions.
So much time spent in glorious laughter.
Bergman's show on KPFA was called "Radio Free Oz." Can recall one show with a couple of
guests: Charles Keating from "Citizens for Decent Literature" (yes, the same one behind the S&L default; pretty darn decent) and one David Crosby who, of course, was having none of Chuck's malarkey.
chapdrum
(930 posts)Show was on KPFK, not KPFA.
Fritz Walter
(4,291 posts)There were Firesign Theatre and other artists who forced you to use your imagination (chemically enhanced, if need be).
I mourn his passing, as do I mourn the passing of an era that forced us to use our minds to use words and sounds to paint pictures in a classic and exquisite form of good storytelling.
So long, and thanks!
progressoid
(49,991 posts)I was about to sell my FST albums on eBay. Might have to listen to them again before I do.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)I loved Firesign Theatre.
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)Listening to the monotonous staccato of rain on his desk-top, his nostrils flaring at the smell of Pyramid patchouli...
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Fritz Walter
(4,291 posts)It's tons o' fun!
My brother gave me this LP went I went away to college.
Opened my mind in ways most people can't imagine!
Thanks for sharing!
kwassa
(23,340 posts)ND~ That tarnished piece of tin is worthless!
RR~ Worthless ha ha (cough cough) Not to Melanie Haber!
ND~ Melanie Haber?
RR~ You may remember her as Audrey Farber
ND~ Audrey Farber?
RR~ Susan Underhill?
ND~ Susan Underhill?
RR~ How about Betty Joe Bealoski? (Organ)
ND~ (thinking) Betty Joe Bealoski, I hadnt heard that name since college everyone knew her as Nancy then It all came rushing back to me like a hot kiss on the end of a wet fist. It was Pig Night at Om Made Pagme Sigma House. We had escaped from the crowd and stood trembling under the dwarf maples.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)At 4th and Drucker he turned right.
At Drucker and 4th he turned left, into a great sandstone building.
"Ow, my nose!"
Thanks for the memories, Phil.
Fairgo
(1,571 posts)Phil Proctor, Phil Austin...Back to the shadows again.