Freak scene

The freak scene was a term used by a slightly post-hippie and pre-punk style of bohemian subculture. It referred to overlaps between politicised pacifist post-hippies, generally non-political progressive rock fans, and non-political Psychedelic music and Psychedelia fans. The individuals moved between rock festivals, free festivals, happenings and alternative society gatherings of various kinds. The name comes, at least partly, from a tongue-in-cheek reference to the "beat scene".

Hair and clothes

The hairstyles were mostly long and unkempt but people were experimenting with other possibilities. Rock stars of the era such as David Bowie and Roxy Music were trying shorter styles and hair dye. Roy Wood of the pop group Wizzard had hair down to his knees with odd colours dyed in. These musical icons were influential. Shaven heads were seen occasionally but were not yet as common as they would become when punk began. There was a reluctance to make hair too short, for fear of looking like skinheads, who were considered by many to be violent hooligans. The clothing of the freaks used elements of roleplay such as headbands, cloaks, frock coats, kaftans etc. which suggest either a romantic historical era or a distant place travelled to. These were combined with cheap, hardwearing clothes such as jeans and army surplus coats. The effect was to make a group of freaks look like a gathering of characters from a fantasy or science fiction novel, like time-warped refugees out of Middle-earth. All of these appearances were intentional and enjoyed by the participants of the freak scene.

Music and culture

Freak scene music was an eclectic mixture based around progressive rock and experimentalism. There were crossover bands bridging rock and jazz, rock and folk, rock and sci-fi (space rock). BBC radio presenter John Peel, presented a nightly show that featured music that freaks were mainly interested in. Love's 1967 album "Forever Changes" is a notable example of freak scene music.

The term "freak" appeared throughout the liner notes of the 1966 Mothers of Invention album, "Freak Out!". In 1967, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band's album parodied the expression in the sleeve notes for the song "Cool Britannia", which said "Someone letta Freak-Out? What do you think Reader?" Another musical reference is in Joni Mitchell's 1971 song "Carey": "A round for these freaks and these soldiers / A round for these friends of mine..." Ian Gillian of Deep Purple often referred to himself as a freak, such as in the song "Space Truckin'" (with the lyric "The Freaks said 'Man those cats could really swing'") and the song "No No No" (with the line "Looking at them all it feels good to be a freak"). Following the success of the 1978 smash hit "Le Freak" by Chic, the term enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence on the funk scene by the early 1980s, thanks to artists like Rick James, Whodini and Midnight Star. In 1981, Was (Not Was) released "Out Come the Freaks". The 1988 album "Bug" by Dinosaur Jr includes the song "Freak Scene".

The freak scene made inroads into the underground comic scene with the introduction of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers by Gilbert Shelton in 1968.

Notable freak scene musicians

* Hawkwind
* Pink Fairies
* The Edgar Broughton Band
* Stomu Yamashta
* Joni Mitchell
* David Bowie
* Joan Armatrading
* Pink Floyd
* Steeleye Span
* Love
* Weather Report
* Miles Davis
* Alice Cooper
* AC/DC
* Janis Joplin
* Frank Zappa
* Gong
* T. Rex
* Plastic Ono Band
* Third Ear Band
* Quintessence

ee also

* Protopunk
* Toronto goth scene
* Underground culture
* United Kingdom Underground
* New age travellers
* Super Freak
* Alternative society

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/freakzone/ The "Freak Zone" programme on BBC 6Music]
* [http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=freakout%20AND%20mediatype%3Aaudio Internet Archive Audio files featuring the descriptive term "freakout"]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/mal/MO/philm/philmfreax.html Philmphreax Digital Archive]
* [http://www.mooncowhq.ch/Links/index.htm More Phreak scene links]
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0929587065 Facsimile and excerpt from "We are the people our parents warned us against" by Nicholas Von Hoffman (historically interesting particularly for its demonstration of homophobia within a hippy social context preceding the freak scene's more enlightened attitude]
* [http://www.richardneville.com/Books/PLAYPOWER.htm An excerpt from Richard Neville's book "Playpower" on the author's website] - Richard Neville was one of the founders of "Oz" magazine.