Kingdoms of the Radio:
A Novel
From the outside, Lucious Cole looked like he had it made. After a wildly successful run as the leader of ’60s British rock band, National Loaf, Cole was well known on two continents to take advantage of the adulation and excess that came with it all. When he disappears off of San Francisco’s notorious Ocean Beach, he was added to the list of talented musicians who died too young. Is that what really happened?
The young filmmaker known only as, The Kid, is a survivor of the crash landing of the utopian dream of the early ’70s. When he starts investigating his own origins at an infamous Mendocino commune, he begins to uncover a conspiracy that may or may not include the Mob, the CIA, and a supposedly dead rock star turned messianic cult leader.
Kingdoms of the Radio revisits a time of monumental societal change when often the only thing offering true connection was the music coming through the night air—as if by magic. Even that small comfort, however, was always subject to manipulation.
Don’t touch that dial!
A-Side: Forty-Five RPM
Kingdoms of the Radio: Spiral Architect (1953)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Serafina’s Gift
Kingdoms of the Radio: Charlie Perigo 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ronda Schermerhorn 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Kumalo 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Karoline Rosenda 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Meets The Stick (Pt. 1)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Meets The Stick (Pt. 2)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ride a Painted Pony
Kingdoms of the Radio: Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On (1957)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Tibetan Bells & a Bird from Hell
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Khumalo 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Karoline Rosenda 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ronda Schermerhorn 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Salt Peanuts, Salt Peanuts (Pt. 1)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Salt Peanuts, Salt Peanuts (Pt. 2)
Kingdoms of the Radio: On the Lash (1964)
Kingdoms of the Radio: The Stick Meets The Kid
Kingdoms of the Radio: Charlie Perigo 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Khumalo 3
Kingdoms of the Radio: Charlie Perigo 3
Kingdoms of the Radio: Chae Burton 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 3
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ronda Schermerhorn 3
Kingdoms of the Radio: Don’t Poke the Bear (Pt. 1)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Don’t Poke the Bear (Pt. 2)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Great Big Face (1967)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Knight in Shining Brass
Kingdoms of the Radio: Police Chief Warren Burton 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 4
Kingdoms of the Radio: Charlie Perigo 4
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ronda Schermerhorn 4
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Khumalo 4
Kingdoms of the Radio: Chae Burton 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: A Prisoner at the Palace (Pt. 1)
Kingdoms of the Radio: A Prisoner at the Palace (Pt. 2)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Oh, We’re Waiting
Kingdoms of the Radio: Black Eyes & Cowboy Bollocks (Rock Hound, 1969)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Teacake & Lady Marmalade
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Khumalo 5
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 5
Kingdoms of the Radio: Charlie Perigo 5
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ikaia Keala 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ronda Schermerhorn 5
Kingdoms of the Radio: Down on the Mission
B-Side: Too Much Revolution
Kingdoms of the Radio: Death & the Back Catalog
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Khumalo 6
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ronda Schermerhorn 6
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 6
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ikaia Keala 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Fadeout (Rock Hound, 1970)
Kingdoms of the Radio: A Second Chance
Kingdoms of the Radio: Blank Check Face
Kingdoms of the Radio: A Last Meal, Perhaps
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] Some of the other braddahs were holo holo with just crashing at the Big House. I know Bravo was more interested in growing pakalolo than clapping some shanty together. It was getting a little crowded for my taste, though, especially since Rhonda and I were starting to really…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] Most of the heads that showed up to the Girassol scene had come from straight from the streets of one city or another. They had never lived out of the shadow of a grocery store, if you get my drift. I was the only guy with any real……
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] I knew that taping up Ikaia’s broken toe was just going to be the opening act as far as the different ways the boys could find to fuck themselves up on the ranch. The army has certain ways to do things for a reason, but in spite of…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] You know, we gained a bit of notoriety for the funky huts that we all built on the property—eventually drawing heat from the county’s building and planning jerks—but nobody ever asks me about the house, Mansión Madre, as I began to call her. I felt that she deserved…
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UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, CALIFORNIA | 1971 The first thing Lucious Cole became aware of was a ring of soft light behind his eyelids. Was this heaven? he wondered, slowly piecing together the chaotic events of his final night on Earth. The last thing he remembered was standing on the edge of the Pacific Ocean and taking…
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA | 1971 After dropping Rosenda off at the studio in West Hollywood, Shane continued south on the San Diego Freeway to Orange County where a community of Vietnamese immigrants had begun to coalesce. He hated driving anything other than his Lincoln and the Catalina handled like a boat. The car’s one saving…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] Whenever I think back to those years, I just remember that without all that craziness, I probably never would have met my partner of almost 25 years. Don’t listen to him if he tries to tell you it was a case of Nightingale Syndrome that brought us together.…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] You know, when I talked Charlie into helping me demo the hot springs resort, I wasn’t planning on hanging around his scene at all. I had plenty of… let’s say, other opportunities, spread throughout the county. It was on the last day of the big push to move…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] I’m not one to toot my own horn, but it was a good, damned thing that the boys had a legitimate nurse involved, or half of them would have died of tetanus just moving all the recycled crap they got from Ikaia. The first thing I did when…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] I imagine that you’ve talked to the boys already and heard all their cute, mystical, bullshit. I’ll admit that sort of thinking was in the air back then—the feeling of everything clicking into place. One thing about living in a completely chaotic society is that when something goes…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] I’m sure that everyone has their “I met Zongo when” story. I don’t think that people should become celebrities for being stupid enough to get duped by the CIA, but that’s just me. It’s not his fault, I mean Zongo’s never been the brightest star in the firmament.…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] It’s ScherMERhorn, just like it sounds. Dutch, actually. My father always claimed that we could trace our family roots back to the people that settled New Amsterdam. I don’t know about that, though. All I can tell you is that sweet, sweet tulip money was all spent by…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO [1995] Music was always a big part of life at Girassol. I was… still am, a huge fan of Ray Barreto, Mongo Santamaria, all those congueros who were bringing a Puerto Rican flavor to all kinds of music in those days. Just about the only thing I went back…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 Whatever Zongo had picked up at the airport, once he made his connection back down in the City, he was flush for a bit. I had a more-or-less steady paycheck from the Forestry Department, as long as I kept the state from burning down, but the rest…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 Not having power out at Girassol wasn’t a problem for me. I was used to working the back forty with all the low-profile grows up-county. I preferred it, actually. The one concession I made to modernity, was my radio. As long as I didn’t run out of…
