Neil Merryweather

In the early seventies, Hollywood was a Mecca for teenage runaways. Pimps and pushers swooped in like vultures, to pick the bones clean, of mid western kids, who had dreams around their heads, fire in their eyes, and hatred for their parents. The star studded sidewalks were lined with ripe teens begging for change, looking to score, and willing to get it on with just about anyone, if the price or the temperature, was right.

Rock star Neil Merryweather used to have a recording studio, situated at the corner of Ivar and Hollywood Blvd, the heart of runaway land. Neil was fascinated by the subculture. In between recording sessions he would wander out on to the boulevard and have smoke, and talk, and listen to the stories of these wayward kids. It wasn’t long before Neil decided to invite some up to his studio to record them, telling there own stories, in there own words.


Taking a cue from Brion Gysin, Neil cut up the audiotape of these stories, and thematically pieced it back together. He brought in a group of studio musicians and laid down tracks behind it. He directed the band to play in the style of music that related to what the runaway generation was listening to. It was glam rock!

The resulting document is “Space Rangers”.

So let’s meet up at the crash pad over on Cherokee and all lie down together on a dirty mattress, eat a cheap hot dog, shoot some speed, take a sip of jug wine, pop a red and listen to what street life is like on Hollywood Blvd, nineteen hundred and seventy four.

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