Psychedelic Lunch

Welcome to our “Psychedelic Lunch” series, where we find out how deep the rabbit hole really goes and explore psychedelic tunes from the 60’s to today. Weekdays At Noon EST. Enjoy the trip!

Paul Revere And The Raiders, Kicks. Album: Midnight Ride (1966)

This is believed to be the first anti-drug song. After the Animals had a hit with “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place,” Terry Melcher, who produced the album, asked the song’s writers Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for something similar for Paul Revere & the Raiders. They sent him this song which they had originally written hoping it would help get a friend off drugs.

Terry Melcher started working with the group after doing production work on The Byrds’ first two albums. In 1968, he rented his house to director Roman Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate. Melcher knew Charles Manson and worked with him on some projects before abandoning them. In 1969, Manson’s “family” killed Tate and four of her friends in Melcher’s house. Melcher became much more secluded after the murders, but did help write The Beach Boys 1987 hit “Kokomo.” He died of cancer in 2004.

The band are famous for performing while dressed in American Revolutionary War soldier uniforms.