Hair (Soundtrack)

MacDermot, Galt (1979). Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical (Cast recording).  United States: RCA Victor Broadway. 

Summary:  After Claude receives his draft card, he arrives in New York City to report for military service but ends up meeting a tribe of long-haired hippies living in Central Park and gets swept away by their pacifist, bohemian, counter-culture lifestyle of LSD, marijuana, and free love. Hair was originally an off-Broadway rock musical in 1967 before being adapted into a movie in 1979 with such stars as Beverly D'Angelo and Treat Williams.

Additional Comments:  Hair addresses all the controversial issues that were dividing society at the time and remain relevant to the present:  anti-war, skepticism of the government and "Big Brother", racism, sexual liberation, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, a budding sense of spirituality and incorporation of eastern philosophies, and non-conformity with societal expectations. Many songs have become anthems for the peace movement and the era, including "The Age of Aquarius", "Good Morning Starshine", and "Let the Sunshine In".  Other simply paint a picture of values and lifestyles of the counter-culture, like the pride of long hair as described in "Hair":  "Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair / Shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen. . .I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy / Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty /Oily, greasy, fleecy, shining / Gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen /Knotted, polka-dotted / Twisted, beaded, braided /Powdered, flowered, and confettied /Bangled, tangled, spangled and spaghettied!"  Hair's rebelliousness and anti-establishment attitude is bound to touch today's teens as much as it did over thirty years ago.

Go ask Alice

Anonymous (1971).  Go ask Alice. New York: Simon Pulse. 

Summary: Based on the diary of a 15-year-old girl who becomes increasingly dependent on marijuana and LSD, runs away from home, tries to break her addiction, suffers a nervous breakdown, and eventually dies from an overdose.  Originally published in 1971 and briefly set in San Francisco, Go Ask Alice provides insight into the 1960's counter-culture movement as well as showing one person's emotional struggle with drug addiction.

Additional comments:  Go Ask Alice is written in a diary format form the point of view of a melodramatic and depressed teen-aged girl. The reader is taken on a psychological journey through the girl's internal conflicts between what she wants to do versus what she ultimately can't resist doing. Though seemingly realistic in the beginning, the book takes on a didantic tone midway through as lack of self-control brings on ill consequences and eventually her self-destruction.   

Babylon Boyz by Jess Mowry

Mowry, Jess (1997, 1999). Babylon Boyz. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks. 

Summary:  The Babylon Boyz are three best friends in Oakland, California, who are outcasts at high school:  Pook for being gay, Dante for a weak heart in need of an operation, and Wyatt for his obesity.  The boys, who mostly get back without adults, befriend Radji, a homeless kid, and Jinx, who is in rehab for crack.  When they stumble upon a suitcase full of cocaine near the docks, they are divided about what to do.  On one hand, if they sell it, the large sum of money would provide them with choices and opportunities, such as Dante's greatly needed and expensive heart surgery, medical school for Pook, and ultimately a way out of "Babylon" where they feel trapped.  On the other hand, they could flush the coke down the toilet and spare the community from the drug that is destroying them.

Additional comments: A vivid and emotionally gripping portrayal of life for young, intelligent men of color who are marginalized and limited by poverty and racism.  Without parents, they lean on each other for support and love.  The male characters are at times hard-edged and others vulnerable and sensitive and despite arguments, always loyal to each other in the end.