Post by upfromsumdirt on Jan 29, 2007 15:44:30 GMT -5
back in highschool, i wrote a poem based on the eddie murphy/SNL skit 'kill my landlord'... mine was called 'killed my chem teacher' (i heard it had a cult following that lasted far beyond my graduation!)... so when i ran across this on myspace i had to repost it here.
The real meaning behind the phrase, "Kill My Landlord."
...... During the Eddie Murphy days of "Saturday Night Live," Norman Mailer made a short film about death row authors and poets. In the piece convict Tyrone Green (played by Murphy) reads his award-winning poem. It was one of the funniest things "SNL" has ever done. But it is not the inspiration for the title of this column. That is a popular misconception.
...... In fact, the history of "Kill My Landlord" is long and tumultuous, spanning three decades. It's a story rarely told and barely known.
...... The things that came to be known as "Kill My Landlord" were started in 1967 as a group called the "Kill My Landlord Society." It was a coalition of closet media junkies who would meet once a week at a beatnik bookstore/head shop/coffee shop/opium den called the "Purple Haze." Because it was composed of members of the "Black Panther Party," AIM (American Indian Movement), radical feminists, anarchists, communists, draft dodgers and "American Bandstand" dancers, as well as visiting dignitaries from Jamaica, the Mexican highlands and Cuba and Abbie Hoffmann who was known to drop by, the society had to keep its meetings secret. Every so often Fidel Castro would sneak into the country with a box full of Havana Red cigars for the society, just to say "hello."
...... The "Kill My Landlord" society was a place where all could meet and talk. Everyone left their politics at the door and would spend all-night sessions gabbing about history, philosophy, books, cartoons, comics and Al Green records. It was a place of peace, but it was also a think tank for media junkies. These people were full-time revolutionaries and trouble makers, they didn't normally have the free time to spend debating the cosmic significance of the ape sequence from the film "2001 A Space Odyssey." The society was a way for them to indulge their love for trivia without compromising their revolutionary integrity. In 1970, the society got so large that the Feds tried to move in. An aged J. Edgar Hoover lead an entire SWAT team (all clad in tastefully restrained evening gowns, spiked-heeled boots, garters and red, white and blue chokers) on a raid of the "Purple Haze". There were no arrests and nobody was killed (although Hoover did break a nail), but the Society had lost its anonymity. It's glory days were gone.
...... The "Kill My Landlord" society officially disbanded in 1971.
...... But it's spirit wouldn't die.
...... In 1972, a former society secretary, a Hare Krishna and professional LSD tester, named Bob Danner received a large sum of money in the mail. Along with the money was a note saying "Keep the name alive" (popular rumor has it that the mysterious benefactor was either Castro, or political crackpot Jerry Brown (we like to think it was Maynard G. Krebbs of "Dobie Gillis" fame).
...... So Danner started a newsletter. The first issue of "Kill My Landlord" came out on Feb. 4, 1973. It was only 16 pages in length and copied on a mimeograph machine, but it was a stunning underground success. Response was widespread and very positive. It never broke through to the mainstream, but it never intended to. "Kill My Landlord" remained true to the original spirit, a sharing of ideas between media-obsessed liberals. It prospered all through the 1970s.
...... In 1975, Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington can be clearly seen in the 'Talent Show' episode of "Welcome Back, Kotter," reading an issue of the newsletter. In the episode where they have to go undercover as cruise directors, "Huggy Bear" tells "Starsky and Hutch" that he is, "Working on a piece for Kill My Landlord, sorry I can't help you out." In the Dr. Seuss Book, "Oh the Thinks You Can Think," one of the Beft (creatures who can only go to the left) can be seen sitting under a tree reading an issue of the newsletter. And in the film "Apocalypse Now," Lawrence Fishburne can be seen reading "Kill My Landlord" while sitting on the bow of a gunboat (leafing through the famous issue where Jim Brown and Pam Grier got to a Klan rally and burned a picture of Jefferson Davis).
...... So you can see that "Kill My Landlord" has been around as a cultural force for years. You just have to know where to look.
The real meaning behind the phrase, "Kill My Landlord."
...... During the Eddie Murphy days of "Saturday Night Live," Norman Mailer made a short film about death row authors and poets. In the piece convict Tyrone Green (played by Murphy) reads his award-winning poem. It was one of the funniest things "SNL" has ever done. But it is not the inspiration for the title of this column. That is a popular misconception.
...... In fact, the history of "Kill My Landlord" is long and tumultuous, spanning three decades. It's a story rarely told and barely known.
...... The things that came to be known as "Kill My Landlord" were started in 1967 as a group called the "Kill My Landlord Society." It was a coalition of closet media junkies who would meet once a week at a beatnik bookstore/head shop/coffee shop/opium den called the "Purple Haze." Because it was composed of members of the "Black Panther Party," AIM (American Indian Movement), radical feminists, anarchists, communists, draft dodgers and "American Bandstand" dancers, as well as visiting dignitaries from Jamaica, the Mexican highlands and Cuba and Abbie Hoffmann who was known to drop by, the society had to keep its meetings secret. Every so often Fidel Castro would sneak into the country with a box full of Havana Red cigars for the society, just to say "hello."
...... The "Kill My Landlord" society was a place where all could meet and talk. Everyone left their politics at the door and would spend all-night sessions gabbing about history, philosophy, books, cartoons, comics and Al Green records. It was a place of peace, but it was also a think tank for media junkies. These people were full-time revolutionaries and trouble makers, they didn't normally have the free time to spend debating the cosmic significance of the ape sequence from the film "2001 A Space Odyssey." The society was a way for them to indulge their love for trivia without compromising their revolutionary integrity. In 1970, the society got so large that the Feds tried to move in. An aged J. Edgar Hoover lead an entire SWAT team (all clad in tastefully restrained evening gowns, spiked-heeled boots, garters and red, white and blue chokers) on a raid of the "Purple Haze". There were no arrests and nobody was killed (although Hoover did break a nail), but the Society had lost its anonymity. It's glory days were gone.
...... The "Kill My Landlord" society officially disbanded in 1971.
...... But it's spirit wouldn't die.
...... In 1972, a former society secretary, a Hare Krishna and professional LSD tester, named Bob Danner received a large sum of money in the mail. Along with the money was a note saying "Keep the name alive" (popular rumor has it that the mysterious benefactor was either Castro, or political crackpot Jerry Brown (we like to think it was Maynard G. Krebbs of "Dobie Gillis" fame).
...... So Danner started a newsletter. The first issue of "Kill My Landlord" came out on Feb. 4, 1973. It was only 16 pages in length and copied on a mimeograph machine, but it was a stunning underground success. Response was widespread and very positive. It never broke through to the mainstream, but it never intended to. "Kill My Landlord" remained true to the original spirit, a sharing of ideas between media-obsessed liberals. It prospered all through the 1970s.
...... In 1975, Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington can be clearly seen in the 'Talent Show' episode of "Welcome Back, Kotter," reading an issue of the newsletter. In the episode where they have to go undercover as cruise directors, "Huggy Bear" tells "Starsky and Hutch" that he is, "Working on a piece for Kill My Landlord, sorry I can't help you out." In the Dr. Seuss Book, "Oh the Thinks You Can Think," one of the Beft (creatures who can only go to the left) can be seen sitting under a tree reading an issue of the newsletter. And in the film "Apocalypse Now," Lawrence Fishburne can be seen reading "Kill My Landlord" while sitting on the bow of a gunboat (leafing through the famous issue where Jim Brown and Pam Grier got to a Klan rally and burned a picture of Jefferson Davis).
...... So you can see that "Kill My Landlord" has been around as a cultural force for years. You just have to know where to look.
