Discoteca Imaginaria: Selling the Summer of Love
02.03.26
Discoteca Imaginaria is an audio docu-series covering the people, places and sounds that have shaped popular music. Each episode transports listeners through history to the greatest club on earth – the disco of our imagination.
Broadcasting from the psychic center of San Francisco, the Summer of Love transformed flower power into sound, symbolism and global spectacle.
From the lo-fi garage rock of The Beau Brummels to the understated, pastoral shimmer of Moby Grape, the Bay Area music scene between 1965 and 1969 evolved into a cultural high point before being copied, commodified, and exported—often by artists far removed from the Haight-Ashbury itself. This tension between genuine experimentation and commercial machinery reshaped the hippie scene into lasting myth, whose underlying social and political struggles feel all the more resonant in modern America.
Tracklist:
LO-FI BEGINNINGS: 1965-1966 The United States of America – Cloud Song “Whicker’s World: The Love Generation” (BBC2, 1967) The Charlatans – Alabama Bound The Great Society – Somebody To Love The Beau Brummels – Don’t Talk to Strangers “Revolution” (Omicron Films, 1968) The Oxford Circle – Foolish Woman The Baytovens – My House Syndicate of Sound – You “Revolution” (Omicron Films, 1968) Big Brother & the Holding Factory – Coo Coo Sopwith Camel – Treadin’ Country Joe & The Fish – Section 43 “San Francisco: The Way It Was” (KQED-TV, 1999)LEAD UP TO THE LOVE-IN: 1967 Immediate Family – You’re Taking Over Me Count Five – Psychotic Reaction Moby Grape – Omaha “Whicker’s World: The Love Generation” (BBC2, 1967) The Chocolate Watchband – Baby Blue The Mojo Men – Sit Down, I think I Love You The Mystery Trend – Carl Street Moby Grape – He “Revolution” (Omicron Films, 1968)
PSYCHEDELIC PEAK: 1968-1969 Blue Cheer – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction Salvation – Think Twice Quicksilver Messenger Service – Fresh Air “Revolution” (Omicron Films, 1968) The Grateful Dead – Dark Star The Savage Resurrection – Tahitian Melody Count Five – Revelation Slow Motion (1968) “Whicker’s World: The Love Generation” (BBC2, 1967) The Beau Brummels – Deep Water Seatrain – Portrait of the Lady as a Young Artist Quicksilver Messenger Service – Cobra “San Francisco: The Way It Was” (KQED-TV, 1999) Lamb – Traveler’s Observation It’s A Beautiful Day – White Bird Country Weather – Fly to New York “Revolution” (Omicron Films, 1968) Jefferson Airplane – Mexico
