Listen: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised / Gil Scott-Heron
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised / Gil Scott-Heron

Junkies make the best records sometimes, especially when they’re all pissed off and pouty and never have a good day. Enter ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’.

I must say, I liked this at the time, and still appreciate it’s terminally dated sound. Like The Last Poets from the same era, the attitude and assumption everyone’s brain thought like a redneck’s was as pathetic as actually thinking that way. Lighten up guy.

No recollection if this one was played on the urban, which I believe were still called black, radio stations at the time but it certainly was heard on the underground FM ones. Probably more middle class university students were exposed to this than the crew it was meant to provoke. Not exactly what poor Gil Scott-Heron had predicted I’m sure, although he seemed to clearly believe all he wrote, except maybe the bit about “the revolution will not go better with coke”.

A nice one to have on a 7″ though.

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Dilapidated Hollywood motels like the long gone Sunset-Orange, where the vacancy sign’s on/off flicker kept you from sleeping all night (I tried it once), hookers doubling as strippers clothed only in pasties and G strings (check out the sleeve of his SMALL CHANGE album), the hangover after taste of a night in the French Quarter, that grizzly homicide in the Mohave desert near Las Vegas, the freeform delivery of The Last Poets, the acquired taste for Louis Armstrong’s voice, the romantically inviting booze, pills and dope cocktail. Just some of the images he conjures up in my pea sized brain. It must sound like I’ve just taken a continuing education class in creative writing. No, I’m just putting into words they way I hear Tom Waits, most of them are his. A more cinematic songwriter/performer I can’t really think of. Can you believe this recipe could make it onto several 7″ singles……what a great world we live in.