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From KQED. From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal. The year is 1987. The city is Oakland. Sleepy Floyd is the best player on the Warriors. Sweet Jimmy's is the hottest spot in town. Two
Too Short is rising to stardom and punks are building Gilman, the famous all-volunteer punk club. This is the setting for the new movie Freaky Tales, starring Pedro Pascal with cameos from a whole bunch of East Bay legends. We'll talk with the director, some of the people who inspired the movie's plot lines, and Too Short himself. That's all coming up next, right after this news.
Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. Freaky Tales is a love letter to 1980s Oakland and an homage perhaps to Quentin Tarantino and the martial arts films that inspired him.
Packed with Easter eggs and cameos and a sprinkle of psychotropic magic, the film revolves around fighting Nazis and Sleepy Floyd's magical game against the Lakers in the 1987 playoffs. We're joined by Ryan Fleck, co-writer and co-director of the movie with Anna Bounce. Fleck and Bounce have also helmed Captain Marvel, Half Nelson, and it's kind of a funny story among other films. Thanks for joining us, Ryan. Hi, thanks for having me.
We're also joined by Tamara Goins, who performed in the rap duo Danger Zone as in Tice. Today's a talent agent in Los Angeles. Welcome, Tamara. I think she's there. We're also joined by Gabe Moline, senior editor here at KQED Arts and Culture. Welcome, Gabe. Hey, Alexis. Hey, Gabe.
Ryan, let's start with you. I mean, this feels like a movie that when you were a young filmmaker, you're like, one day I will make a movie set in 1987 Oakland. Is that what it is? That is 100% accurate. Yeah. Yeah.
I grew up in the Bay Area, East Bay, Oakland, San Leandro. I was born in Berkeley. And yeah, I mean, the first movie that Anna and I made was called Half Nelson with Ryan Gosling. And it was originally set in Oakland. It was written to take place in Oakland. But the reality was we were living in New York and the indie film community, the sort of infrastructure for making movies was better suited for New York. So we made it New York. But yeah, always wanted to come back and make this movie in Oakland. So how old were you in 87? Were you a kid?
Yeah, well, I think I was 10. I was born in 76, but in May, the time of the movie, I think I was 10 years old. So that was Sleepy Floyd and Warriors. Were that like something that was permanently imprinted on your memory?
It was because I was a fan. You know, I was young, but in the Warriors were always just kind of an OK team. Right. And they got past the first round against Utah with Carl Malone. And they made it to the second round of the playoffs against the Lakers, the Showtime Lakers with Magic and Kareem. And basically they had no chance of winning any games. And they were they were down three games to nothing. And.
Sleepy Floyd went off in the fourth quarter of game four and scored 29 points in the quarter. And I remember listening to the game on the radio in the car and hearing Greg Papa call Sleepy Floyd Superman with just like losing his voice, just completely like losing his mind on the radio call. And it just always stuck with me over the years. And I was like, you know, an NBA player as a superhero, like how cool could that be? Yeah.
I mean, also the greatest fourth quarter performance of all time. Still standing, right? In terms of number of points scored. True. Exactly. Four chapters in this movie. Punks and rappers and the Warriors and then this sort of conclusion. What did those groups mean to you? Like, what was your relationship to these different things? Yeah. I mean, the other thing about being 10 years old in Oakland in 87 is hearing two shorts music for the first time.
And Ten is a little young to be hearing Freaky Tales, I think. But I grew up with parents with a big record collection. And it was like The Beatles and Hendrix and Joplin. And to hear two shorts, raunchy lyrics at that age was just kind of mind-blowing. And so that song, Freaky Tales, the epic...
epic song, filthy song, if you will, was great. It just like stuck with me and I became a Too Short fan for life. And so I knew that that Too Short was going to be part of the music and I knew Gilman Punk scene was going to have to be part of part of the movie as well. Even though I didn't go there, I was a little intimidated by that in that era.
I learned more about it as I got older and I became such a fan of the music and an admirer of that movement, especially in the OG Gilman regulars in 87. Let's bring in our OG punk, Gabe Milleen. Were you a Gilman guy? Were you a Gilman guy? I was a Gilman guy, yeah. Boy, I played at, worked at, volunteered at, went to meetings, recorded at...
I slept on the floor from '89 to '94 was kind of my era there. So a little behind the events of this movie, but yeah.
Definitely spent a lot of time there. And like, was this battle with Nazis between the punks and these neo-Nazis come around beating people up at the club? Was that a thing that happened that people knew about in Gilman? Like, talk to me about that. This specific one, actually, I didn't really learn about until later. But like, Nazis were a menace. Like, it was scary in punk in the late 80s. Like, even up in near Santa Rosa where I lived, there were just Nazi skinheads would show up and cause trouble and beat people up. Yeah.
It was just part and parcel of the punk scene at the time. Gilman was very different. I mean, I've been to clubs all around the world. Gilman is an all-volunteer, all-ages, membership-based club with rules posted at the front door. No racism, no sexism, no homophobia, no fighting, no alcohol, no drugs. Yeah.
It's kind of like an only in the Bay Area type place, like La Pena, which is mentioned in Freaky Tales, or Ashkenaz down the street. But against all odds, it's produced these bands like Green Day and Rancid and Neurosis and Operation Ivy.
So a scene like that is very hard to get right in a Hollywood movie. When you're talking about punk in a Hollywood movie, you can go to Hot Topic immediately.
But to the filmmaker's credit and to Ryan's credit, for sure, like they visited Gilman. They worked with Gilman regulars past and present. They worked with Corbett Redford, the director of this documentary, Turn It Around. And in this documentary, the Nazi brawl outside of Gilman is in detail and a pretty good roadmap for this film. All right.
We're talking about the new movie Freaky Tales Love Letter to 1980s Oakland comes out today. Joined by Ryan Fleck, co-writer, co-director of the movie with Anna Bounds. Also, Gabe Milleen, senior editor, KQED Arts and Culture, as well as Tamara Goins, who's managing partner at Innovative Artists. Her performance as Entice in the rap duo Danger Zone is fictionalized and featured in the movie Freaky Tales. What's going on?
We want to hear from you. What's a scene? What's a place? What's a memory from 1980s Oakland that takes you back to that time? You can give us a call. The number is 866-733-6786. I bet somebody in this audience was at that Sleepy Floyd game. God, somebody. 866-733-6786. Email your comments online.
or your memories or the places that bring you back to forum at kqed.org or find us on social media, Instagram, Blue Sky, et cetera. Tamara, we got to hear your story because in 1987 in Oakland, you're out there rapping as Danger Zone. Yes, 16 years old. Oh my God.
What was it like? Like, how did you, when you were going to a gig, like, what was it like to be a 16-year-old rapper in 1987 Oakland? I mean, there weren't camera phones. So, I mean, somebody might have a big video camera or something. But, and especially there was, you know, no radio play for a song that had so much vulgarity.
So a lot of like the people who knew even very much like with this movie coming out, the people that knew they are so excited. And, you know, even as I've evolved as, you know, a woman has lived in multiple states
when people find out that I'm the one on that song, they really just fan out. It's kind of crazy. But that was a time where there was a lot of drugs in the area. There were a lot of kids and our friends in that drug game.
And we would, I mean, I think back and Bailey and I would catch the bus. So that's funny that Ryan would have us on the bus, but we would catch the bus to the skating rink in San Leandro. And we would get a ride back from whichever dope dealer had room in their car.
And then we'd go to Eastmont Mall and there would be the side show where they'd burn the rubber out on the tires. And then when the shooting started, then we'd go home. Right? But that was fun for you. Or was it scary? Oh, we did it every weekend. We did that every weekend. Doing the same old thing every Saturday night. That's what it was. So crazy. Yeah.
So you've seen the movie, obviously. In the movie, the way that this goes down is there's this live rap battle that's happening with Too Short. But in the actual real life scenario, you recorded this song with Too Short up in Richmond, yeah? Yes, yeah.
How did that go? Tell us about that. We were already a part of the Dangerous Crew, which was Spice One and J.J. Hart and Fulte and then Danger Zone. So we were the girls of the crew. And so we already had a prior song. And we had gone up to, you know, a
We went skiing, two of us at 15 years old with about 20 dudes. And we actually had to stay in a room with short to be protected. And so Randy Austin, who was the manager at the time and probably in his early 20s, we talked about the concept of the song. And he's like, talk about an older guy trying to get at you.
And so then we went back to our- - You were like, "I have some experience with this." - We did. The first time we did was "Jailbait." We had a whole bunch of experience with that. So we went into our respective bedrooms over a short period of time, met up in Richmond at Al Eaton's studio, One Little Indian Productions.
And Short had already laid his stuff down. And we came in and we tried to lay our stuff down, but I'm telling you, it was like pandemonium in there. People were cracking up, just running out the door, screaming. And Short, he went back.
He changed, he added a verse, changed a verse. And, you know, so, and the rest is history. We're going to hear from Too Short in our next segment. We're talking about the new movie, Freaky Tales.
Love Letter to 1980s Oakland. It comes out today officially, although it had a premiere at the Grand Lake Theater, of course, last week, I think it was, Gabe? You were there, yeah? Yeah. Two weeks ago. We're joined by Ryan Fleck, co-writer, co-director of the movie with...
Anna Bounds. We're joined by Tamara Goins, managing partner at Innovative Artists. She's been telling us about the story in her life that inspired the story in the movie. And we've got Gabe Moline, of course, senior editor here with the KQED Arts and Culture team. And we want to hear from you. A scene, a place, a landmark from 1980s Oakland that takes you back. 866-733-6786. Forum at kqed.org.
We got Don't Fight the Feeling right now playing. Of course, this is Tamra Goins and Barbie, a rap duo, Danger Zone, on the Too Short album. I'm Alexis Magical. Stay tuned for more right after the break. You refuse to break no sweetheart. You can keep that kiss. You're a freak with no tail. You have no ass at past. You're simply trash. You're a typical. Don't take home. This isn't tight. And Barbie.
Like a short dog that carries fleas. You make my ass itch. Twitch, don't you wish you could scratch it? Support for KQED Podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport. Did you know that SFO has a world-class museum? Get ready to be wowed by art, history, science, and cultural exhibitions throughout the terminals. Learn more at flysfo.com slash museum.
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Welcome back to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. We're talking about the new movie Freaky Tales, Love Letter to 1980s Oakland. Ryan Fleck, co-writer, co-director of the movie here with us. Tamara Goins, story in her life, inspired story in the movie. And we've got Gabe Milleen, senior editor with KQED Arts and Culture.
You know Ryan Fleck, I wanted to ask you how you decided that this particular kind of rap battle would be one of the chapters in the movie. Yeah, well it was, you know, I love the song and I think what I love about it is unique that Too Short put it on his album where he allowed these young women to tear him apart basically and he had the confidence to
to go ahead and put that out there in the world. And I really, I think Anna, especially my partner, because Anna didn't grow up listening to Too Short, right? So this is music that I introduced her to as an adult woman. So she was like, oh, okay. She didn't have the same relationship to the Bay and to the music. But I think when she heard that song, she was like, oh, okay, I see how we can enter into this story through the point of view of the women on the song. Yeah. Yeah.
I actually think we have Too Short on the line here. Of course, rap artist, producer, Bay Area legend, also narrates the film Freaky Tales. Welcome to Forum Too Short. What's up, y'all? What's up? What's happening? Thank you so much for joining us. This is Forum First. I think this is the first time you're on the show and everyone here is very excited. Thank you for joining us.
Talk to me about this era in your life, 1987. You're already kind of a star locally, but you're starting to break out even bigger. Yeah, well, Freaky Tales was the first song that we released on an independent label that we had just launched in 1987 called Dangerous Music, and it changed my life. Before Freaky Tales, I was just a regular guy hanging out in the streets, and then all of a sudden I'm
doing big shows and on my way to multiple platinum albums. That was the beginning of it. Yeah. What's like a spot in 1987 Oakland that, like for you, kind of defines that era in your life? Well, you know, that was in the days where we would just, like every Sunday, people would go to Lake Merritt and just like circle around the lake park and kind of be seen and just show off your car and, you know,
the ladies and the guys just kind of congregating, hanging out together, food, whatever. But that was what I really remember was days like that. Just Sunday. It was, it was beautiful. Do you remember what car you had? I actually used to drive the Cadillac that's on my album cover, uh,
Titled Born to Mack. That would be my daytime flashy car, top-down, loud music. And then, you know, when I'm riding low-key, I think back then I had like a 73 Camaro for my low-key image. I mean, you also kind of famously were selling albums out of the back of your car, right? Like, when did that just keep going, even when, you know, your star was rising?
So the truth is, when I was in high school, I had a rap partner named Freddie B. And we literally used to go to like Radio Shack and buy a bunch of blank cassettes. And then we'd go by the house and record some stuff. And then we'd duplicate the cassettes and go out and sell them in the street. And we didn't have a car. That's what the truth is. We were literally riding AC Transit and jumping off and going from neighborhood to neighborhood selling tapes. And then later...
Probably like around 87, that's when the car was implemented. And we were doing it a little more sophisticated, actually like dropping off boxes of cassettes and albums waxed to distributors and mostly like City Hall distribution over in San Rafael. And then we take some to some individual stores that like to do business online.
you know, one-on-one. But then if you ever, I think probably about the, all through the 80s, if you ever saw me, I would sell you a two-shirt tape. Right out of my pocket. Yeah, like right there, like open up your coat and you just got all the cassettes in there. Yeah.
This movie, you know, kind of one of the core themes, right, is being an underdog. At that time in your life, did you see yourself as an underdog in the rap game? Just because you were from Oakland, you weren't in L.A., you weren't in New York. Well, to me, man, Oakland always represented, like, the small town that did really big things. It's probably...
And to this day, it probably was the smallest city that ever was home to a Major League Baseball team, NFL team, and an NBA team for several years. And, you know, population 400,000 next door to San Francisco, a world-renowned city, and we're still doing big things right next door. So Oakland was always the little guy that could fight the big fight. And, you know, I loved it because it was always so diverse and no person was...
you know, more dominant than anybody else just because you're a tough black guy or, you know, whatever it may be. Like the city was tough period. So you had to like really respect the city and kind of get your way in, get in where you fit in is what I say. But the story, like, you know, like the story of the first chapter of the movie is really about a real Oakland experience. And that to me, even though,
It involves punk rockers and skinheads. It still just is the essence of the city that I always knew. Like, stand up for yourself and be careful just who you mess with. Yeah. What do you remember of Danger Zone and recording with them and putting out that record? Well, that's an amazing story that Anna and Ryan told.
The real story is not as dramatic, but it was the same sentiment. Every time I see the movie, I get a little emotional in that part when we're on stage rapping because I think back to how it really happened. In real life, I came to the studio and was trying to make a flirtatious song where the guy's flirting with the girls and it just goes back and forth. And when they came in, they really just...
said these two verses that were just, I mean, it was just disrespectful to me. And I was mad that day at the studio. I was pissed. I was pissed at them. I was pissed at whoever brought them over. And I was just really, really upset about the whole process. And I went home
Because the first recording was me being kind of nice to them, and they just trashed, just dumped all on me. And I went home mad, and I listened to it a bunch of times. I was like, this is kind of genius. If I go back and I go really hard on them like they went on me, keep their verses the same and make mine a little more, you know. Nasty. Yeah. And the song came out great. So like Ryan was just telling me a minute ago that
for me to allow them to do that on my album. It was just, I slept on it and it was just the thing to do. And actually, it is to this day. I sing it, I do that show, that song in every show I do. And it is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, underground single I've ever had. I couldn't even call it a single. It was never released as a single. But it is a lot of people's favorite. Just as is Freaky Tales. Yeah.
Tamara, did you know that he was pissed the first day when you laid down your tracks? I could tell he was disappointed. And, you know, we didn't know. We were so we were babies. You were like six. Right. But we were so afraid of what he was going to say. And we all know what his favorite word is. So we were you know, we were like, oh, my God, we just have to come hard. And the thing that I remember, you know, him saying is now I know how you guys feel about me.
And I don't know that we understood even then that he was going to take it like that because we were just trying in our minds, trying to survive whatever this was about to happen because we were going to be on wax with short. So yeah, it was, but I mean, it turned out really good and we didn't even get to hear the final until after it came out. And I remember us being at a concert.
And then some of the, you know, the dudes from the town, they started singing parts of the song. And we were like, what is that? Because they had heard it before us. You know, musically, Too Short, I was wondering, you know, how did you relate to the kind of earlier eras of music? Like the funk that I think a lot of people associated with the Bay in the 1970s. Like, did that appeal to you? Or is that more kind of like what the old guys were listening to?
No, definitely when you listen to a lot of West Coast hip hop from the Bay Area as well as L.A., it is 100 percent influenced by George Clinton, Parliament, Funkadelic, Boosie Collins and all those funky bands of the 70s. We were we were listening to a lot of New York hip hop that was sampling everything James Brown ever did. And if you know the history of the funk, James Brown gave birth to it.
And everybody else ran with it. Bootsy went back and Bootsy Collins told George Clinton about it. And they just started doing the James Brown funk their own way. And then the funk just spread all over the world. And that was like a major, had a major impact on my childhood. I saw George Clinton land the spaceship, the mothership at the Coliseum when I was in sixth grade. And I was like,
To this day, it's one of the greatest moments of my life because of what the music meant to the fans. It was real. You know what I mean? Everything George Clinton is like, I can never give...
anybody else the credit of just making me want to be funky. So that's what we were doing in the early 80s. We were trying to keep that Parliament tempo, Parliament bass lines, and just, you know, if George Clinton could tell me, oh, I like your songs, I would just, I would have to never make another song after that. I played One Nation under a groove so many times that my sister broke my CD.
Just absolutely shattered it. Because I had played it every single day for like six months. It was just like too much, too much. We're talking about the new movie Freaky Tales, a love letter to 1980s Oakland. Comes out today. We're joined by two short rap artist, producer, Bay Area legend. Also narrates the film Freaky Tales, which includes some stories from his own life. Joined by Gabe Moline, senior editor with KQED Arts and Culture. Tamara Goins, managing partner at Innovative Artists.
artists. She performed as Entice in the rap duo Danger Zone, which is featured in the movie Freaky Tales. And we've got Ryan Fleck, co-writer and co-director of the movie with Anna Bowden. Fleck and Bowden have also made Captain Marvel, Half Nelson, among other films.
We'd love to hear from you. What's a song for you that represents 1980s Oakland or scene, place, landmark from that time that takes you back? You can give us a call. Number is 866-733-6786. That's
866-733-6786. You can email your comments and questions to forum at kqed.org. You can find us on all the social media things, Blue Sky, Instagram, Discord. We're KQED Forum. Too short. People today still talk a lot about Oakland. Oakland's obviously changed a lot since 1987. How do you think about it? Like,
Can you even compare the Oakland of 2025 with the Oakland of 1987? Image-wise, I think it's a completely different look. Oakland used to be for a long time up until, you know, the early 2000s, mid-2000s, Oakland was a Bay Area destination, not Florida.
people coming from around the world. Like I got to go to Oakland, but people from all over the Bay wanted to come to Oakland just to have a good time. And it was a place where you're guaranteed if you touch down on Oakland, any random day of the week, there was like four or five places you can go to that were at, had, you know, an environment of like fun and stuff. So, you know, bars and clubs and, and things like that, restaurants and all kinds of stuff. So I just think, I think it's a different image because,
The club scene is not there anymore. A lot of bars, a lot of the, you know, a lot of things, a lot of establishments that cater into the new gentrification look of Oakland, which is cute, but, you know, it loses a lot of character. The same thing happened over in San Francisco. It's cute, but you lose a lot of character that the city had with its citizens. You know, you like certain people can't get into the gentrified circle. So,
Like I said, it looks good, but the soul of the city has changed a little bit. But you got to just know where to go. It's still there. People are still there. I think that I used to roam the city of Oakland a lot, just whether I'm by myself or with some friends. And it didn't matter if you were riding on the bus or had your little car or you just happened to be walking around the city. It was a place that really inspired me to make a lot of music.
and walking the streets of Oakland, being around different places always would motivate me to get back home and write a song about what I experienced. A lot of my music is because of Oakland and not just me being a songwriter, but me interpreting the city in a rap format.
Even when I didn't live in Oakland, I would think about Oakland and I would write an amazing song. So that's the city that I remember. And now it's home. Love it, love it. I love the love that I get from Oakland. And I just hope that we find a good medium between the original citizens...
and the new people who are coming to be close to the water and who are gonna afford the gentrified side of Oakland. So we've gotta find a good medium, that's all. - Yeah. Hey, thanks so much. Let's bring in Hank. Welcome, Hank. - Hey, how's it going? - Hey, good, good. Go ahead. - I'm just responding to your album. And honestly, Mr. Shaw, how are you doing, sir?
Long time fan. I remember your album, Raw Uncut X-Rated, which I copped at Rainbow Records in San Jose, was one of my albums that just got constant rotation. That and Fatboy's Crushing.
you know so yes uh good to talk to you mr sean hey it was it was great to hear you talk about lake merit the first thing you said about uh lake merit on the sunday man brought me almost to tears seriously hey thank you hank really really appreciate that um
We will, anyone else who wants to shout out a song or album that kind of represents 1980s Oakland for you, you can do that. You can email us, forum at kqed.org. Give us a call, 866-733-6786. You know, Tushar, I know our time with you is running short. So what was your relationship to the 1987 Warriors? Did you, was that something that was a big part of your life or was that more a bigger part of the movie?
No, yeah, we always loved the Warriors. You can look back at pictures that I've taken over the years. I'm always rocking a Warriors t-shirt, Warriors hat. You know, even when the Warriors weren't winning, we still supported the team. The seasons that were terrible, we still went to a lot of games. And, you know, we always had some good players on the team. So I was not...
I was a real street guy hanging out in the streets a lot. So I definitely didn't go to the gang that the movie's referencing to. But I do remember Sleepy was our guy, best guy on the team.
And I remember every era of the Warriors that good or bad. I remember when it was so bad, we used to just go to just watch Michael Jordan beat up on the Warriors or, you know, Kobe and Shaq era or whatever. But we never rooted for the other team. We always rooted for our team. And it got good with different eras. Run TMC was a good era a little later than the movie.
The We Believe era was great, and then we get to Steph Curry. Oh, yeah. You know, Klay Thompson, that era with the actual championships. Yeah.
And I knew when I first moved to Oakland, I knew that they were fresh off a championship, like not many years before. I got there in 1980, so they would have won a championship, what, three, maybe four years earlier? And people love the Warriors. I learned to love the Warriors. I grew up as a Showtime Laker fan, but once Showtime was over, you know, the next phase the Lakers went into, I never joined up again to the Laker mob. I've never returned back.
to that ever again even during Kobe and Shaq I was Warriors all the way Raiders all the way Oakland A's all the way and the A's were winning back then too that's true that's true also really nice win by the Warriors yesterday over the Lakers just to make this show even better we're talking about that new movie Freaky Tales too short thank you so much for joining us this morning alright man you guys take care yeah appreciate that
We are also joined by Ryan Fleck, co-writer and co-director of the movie with Anna Boden. They've also made a whole bunch of other movies, including Captain Marvel and Half Nelson, which you heard earlier should have been set in Oakland. Also joined by Tamara Goins,
who's managing partner of innovative artists, performed as Entice in the rap duo Danger Zone, featured in the movie Freaky Tales. And we've got Gabe Moline, senior editor with KQED Arts and Culture. People are shouting out some of the things that they remember. Mozajo on Discord writes, waxing nostalgic. I was only 11 in 1987, but I remember the Bay from the early 90s when I started taking BART, hanging around Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco. Definitely missed the simplicity and grit of this era. Pre-tech and camera phone culture.
Excited to see this film. I'm Alexis Madrigal. Stay tuned for more right after the break.
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The scene with this song is nice. We're talking about the new movie, Freaky Tales Love Letter to 1980s Oakland. We've got co-writer and co-director, East Bay native Ryan Fleck with us. We've got Tamara Goins.
who performed as Entice in the rap duo Danger Zone, featured in the movie Freaky Tales. And we got Gabe Moline, our guide to all things KQED arts and culture, senior editor here at the station. Izzy up in Napa wants to talk about a show at the Gilman. Welcome. Hello.
Hi. Yeah. One time in late 90s, we went to see a band at the Gilman called Babyland, an industrial punk band. And they were we had seen them there several times. And so it's a good show. They have.
an old first generation Macintosh computer as playing their tracks as well as playing grinders and anyway on this particular show the lead singer there were two guys the lead singer brought out a bag of manure and started spreading it across the crowd into the crowd which dispersed the crowd outside of the club but slowly started coming back in and
And, but soon after he did that, he started spraying Lysol. And so it was the most horrible smell, but the music was great. And yeah, Babyland. Where does one even get a bag of manure? Like there's not a manure store. I don't, you know, man. Izzy, thank you so much for that. Ryan Fleck, I feel like Freaky Tales 2, perhaps.
With the manure? With the manure, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to make, I'm going to write that down. Um, we've also got another listener, uh,
with a routine. I have good memories of my 1980s Oakland routine. We'd start at Ashkenaz, La Pena, Eli's, Mile High, my favorite, Blues and Grits, topped with an all-night diner whose name escapes me. In the morning, around 11-ish, we'd hit Mama's Cafe Royale, then co-ed adult soccer. Some amazing years changed my life. Love, Oakland.
That's a bold athlete. The all-nighter to the adult soccer league. Ryan, why don't you tell us a little bit about the Sleepy Floyd storyline in this movie? Right. Well, so the movie, there's four chapters in this movie, and they all have one foot in reality, in the reality we all know based on true events, and then they have another foot out the door in some alternate dimension. Yeah.
And the Sleepy Floyd game is real, right? We talked about that already. That's a real game that inspired it. But what we invented, I think we invented,
I don't think he's allowed to talk about it for legal reasons if it is real. But his home is robbed during the game by this sort of syndicate of corrupt folks. I don't want to give too much away. But something tragic happens when they're robbing his home and he goes out on a revenge spree at the end of the movie. And it's very satisfying. Yeah.
What do you think, you know, you said this movie each has one foot planted in reality, one foot planted in something else. Is it like, do you think it's nostalgia that's essentially like the underlying, you know, magical core of this thing? Yeah.
I don't know. I don't know if it's nostalgia. I feel like, I mean, if you're alluding to like the green glow. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I feel like that's just like this unnamed cosmic energy that exists like at its most powerful in the Bay Area in 87. And all these underdogs found a way to tap into it in order to overcome their obstacles, you know, their bullies, the Nazis, the...
that whatever whatever obstacles they had in life and so that's sort of what what that is for us but it also just kind of reminds me growing up there were always these weird commercials on tv for like some spiritual center that was like selling you like higher enlightenment you know and i just thought those were all kind of funny some of them were very earnest right they were like really just wanted to help people and others were scams of course but really uh that's kind of what we're playing with with side topics in the movie yeah
Gabe, what did you think of, you know, that kind of the green glow, this kind of underlying pulsing energy of the East Bay? I think it is a real thing here. It's not fictional. No, I was talking to Dominique Thorne on the red carpet. She plays Barbie from Danger Zone in the movie. And she said one of the most surprising things she learned was about the punk scene and how similar it was to the rap scene in the Bay Area. You know, it's like...
Disaffected, overlooked youth finding their own way through the world outside of the rules of society. She said it's like this churning hum that connects everything in the Bay Area. And, you know, hearing Too Short talk about how the punks versus Nazis really captured the essence of the town. Or like when you're talking with Tamara about things being fun and scary. And you have to overcome that, you know, on your own terms. That's a very Bay Area thing.
Tamara, how did you read the green glow? What do you think would be that underlying kind of pulsing energy?
I use it now. I'm an agent in Hollywood, and when I'm getting beat up, I have my clients, everybody wants something. I literally, when I go home and my foot touches the concrete, California concrete of Oakland, California, when I tell you I'm so renewed, I'm such a beast, I
I'm fierce. Again, it's like we were two little black girls from Oakland, first generation college educated now, and this song has opened every opportunity for us
to where I feed my family now. But I still, when I go back home for my 95-year-old grandmother to give me a hug, for my mom to give me a hug, and there's something about the grit that creates not only survivors, but thrivers. So that's the green glow for me. Yeah, fill in the rest of your story for us. Like, you know, after you record this track, did you think you were going to, you know, become a famous musician? Did you decide that wasn't for you? What happened?
You know, I think, you know, we were, we had wrapped with short for some years. What I think would happen is we both went to San Jose state one, he was pissed. So he wasn't really fooling with us. And, you know, we both went to school and, um,
And for me at the time, I think, you know, Hammer was like huge, but I had no, I had no, I did not want to be a 40 year old rapper. So for me, and now you have 50 and 60 year old rappers, but for me, I was like, if I don't make it, air quotes, by the time I'm 21, then I'm going to pivot.
And, you know, I went, I did a little bit more and, you know, did some solo stuff and Bailey went on to travel with MC Hammer as a dancer around the world. And so I was like, okay, I'm old. I'm too old. I'm 21 now. Let me go ahead and...
do something else. And I ended up going the promoter route under the helm of Jeff Clannigan, who's at heartbeat. I ended up on the road with the IZ brothers as a promoter rep at 23, once I graduated. So I went behind the scenes and that's where I am now. Oh, that's cool. Um, listener writes in to say, I am of the run TMC era. Of course, you know, Tim Hardaway, uh,
When the Warriors were not great and you could sit courtside for $35. Once Pizza Hut had a special deal. If the Warriors made something like five free throws or scored 75 points, I can't remember. But when the team did it, the whole stadium got a free pan pizza and the crowd went mad. A little different, a little different in the more recent era of the Warriors. While we're on food, let's bring in Lupe in Oakland. Welcome.
Hi. Hi, you guys are generating all this nostalgia. I just wanted to give a shout out to the Taco de Town Taqueria in East Oakland. That was the first restaurant to serve the street style taco. And it just kind of shot, got crazy after that. And then the other late night restaurant was Chichen, Mexican restaurant.
That would, you know, you'd go there after the club and it would just be lively at two o'clock in the morning serving great Mexican food. Sorry if that wasn't appropriate at this segment. No, no, that's perfect. No, we totally we totally want these these kind of memories. What about musically? What were you doing in Oakland during that time?
Musically, you know, not I wasn't doing much. So I was just yeah, I was going to clubs in San Francisco. So, yeah. Cool. Hey, thank you. Yeah. No, thank you so much, Lupe. Appreciate that. We got a few other folks who want to shout out some different things here.
Noel on the Discord writes,
Downtown Oakland was rather empty, a little shady. Last month at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, I learned that Freaky Tales was going to play. I didn't know anything about it, but the audience was big and enthusiastic. I was glad I stayed. It was very interesting to see a part of my younger life reinterpreted in film by a younger generation. East Bay people, past and present, should all see this movie.
Um, Ryan, talk to me a little bit about how the movie has played, um, in, in Oakland and outside of it. Do you feel like people, you know, if you, I think it premiered at Sundance, is that right? Or you showed it at Sundance? Um, do you think people got what you were trying to do with Oakland?
Yeah, it's interesting. It plays different in different places for different audiences. Like we did it. We had this premiere at the Grand Lake and the roof blew off the place a few weeks ago. It was I heard it was, you know, those are those are Oakland people who are who get the movie because it's Oakland. And maybe they like that kind of movie as well. Well, we also played we just got back from Kansas City at this film festival called Panic Fest, which is a genre film festival that is this movie is basically made for. I didn't even know this festival existed until recently.
and these people don't know anything about oakland and we blew the roof off that place too because they got the tone of the movie they got the fun of the movie they got all the references that we're having fun with maybe not the oakland references but there's a ton of movie references in there as well and so it's just fun to see how like different audiences respond to the movie and like maybe some people don't feel like they're in on the joke and that's okay too i think the movie's still a lot of fun and um
You don't have to be from the Bay to appreciate the movie, I don't think. Yeah. Let's bring in Sean in Fremont with a little story. Welcome, Sean.
How you doing? Good, good. Thanks for having me. Yes. Oh God. I got so many stories of about too short. I mean, my first rap album I ever bought. But one story that stands out to me is when I was in Cloverleaf bowl in Fremont in 1987, it was like a random Tuesday night with my, my, my cousins and my brother and my friend and my aunt and my mom and we're bowling. And sure enough, I,
this bunch of dudes walk in at the other end of the bowling alley. And I see him like, that's too short. And I'm like, hey, guys, that's too short. And they're like, no, that's not too short. I'm like, yeah, it is. I walk over to him. As I'm walking over, his big bouncer comes out. I'm like, hey, is that too short? Here I am, a little surfer kid, right, in surfer dress and all that. And he comes out, is that too short? He goes, no, man. I'm like, okay, I turn around.
And then I'm like, nope. So I turn back. And as I'm turning back, two shorts walking out. And he greets me, signs an autograph for me, signs over for my brother and my cousins. And just such a nice guy. So I had a really great memory of meeting him back in the day. That's nice. Hey, thank you so much, Sean. Appreciate that.
Tamra, let's go back to your Oakland. I mean, one listener writes in to say, you know, for all the people who are down on Gen X, this movie just proves that our generation was the best. Tamra Goins is proof positive that we had just the right amount of freedom to be creative. Go Danger Zone. I mean...
You were just running around doing whatever you wanted to do, it sounds like. Is that how you parented? Have you been like, you know what, that was good for me. I'll let my kids do that. No. No.
I mean, I guess, I mean, I think that I shielded from my kids from everything that made me dope. You know what I mean? And so now I'm like, now I'm trying to like circle back and create some adversity for them. Now you're like, man, my kids are soft. Yeah, they are. I'm like, adversity creates character. I wouldn't change a thing. I think that, you know, I was talking to a soror of mine and she was like, I love everything but the trauma. I'm like, no, you have to keep the trauma. Like, I still...
I certainly believe that, you know, you can't unbake the cake. Everything that I am has to do with all pieces of it. And, you know, Upward Bound probably saved my and Barbie's life because we were hanging out with, you know, just...
We were in the streets. We were in the streets and it was fun and we were having a good time. And Upward Bound, shout out to, you know, a program that's looking at at-risk youth, which we were. We went to San Jose. I mean, we went to Cal State, which is now East Bay, but Cal State Hayward stayed there for, you know, six weeks. And Co-Ed Dorms, where they also, you know, would do alternatives for kids going to jail to go to.
And it would be run by a 22 year old, you know. So when I look back at all of all of those things that happened as it should have, but it's created something in me that, you know, is beautiful. I don't think I gave it enough respect as I was coming up, but I know that that without it, I wouldn't be where I am for sure.
Matthew writes in to say, loving the show. Let's make sure we get it straight. 924 is in Berkeley, not Oakland. We know. Can't wait for the movie. You know, the greater Oakland, the greater East Bay. Lisa writes, shout out to Tower Power in Oakland in the 70s and 80s. This little band nerd in high school in Colorado got her eyes open to funk and Oakland with We Came to Play. I begged my parents to take us to a live show at a club in Denver when we were too young to go. So here's my final question for the three of you. And Gabe, I think I'll start with you here.
What's the single song you're going to put on the East Bay mixtape, perhaps even the one that's in the movie? Oh, my goodness. One song. From 1987? Yeah, I mean, you know.
Whatever. Cuss words by Too Short. Cuss words by Too Short. Shout out to the FCC. Oh, yeah. And also, I just want to note, Gay Malin came with like 14 Too Short cassettes here in the studio. Tamara, how about you? What would be your one song on the East Bay mixtape? And you can't pick your own song. What? What is my one song? Let me...
And I can't pick my own? I don't know. Okay, I'll come back to you. Ryan Fleck, how about you? How about you? One song. It's too hard, but because we already have Too Short covered by Gabe, I'm going to go Tony, Tony, Tony, Feels Good. Oh, man. Yeah, that is such a good song. Such a good song. All right, Tamara, you've got it now? Mercedes Boy Pebbles. Mercedes Boy Pebbles is in this, man.
Pebbles, Raphael Sadiq from Tony, Tony, Tony picked some songs for this movie and he put in Pebbles and Stevie, that whole Latin freestyle stuff that's represented. And Gabe, you guys put together an enormous listing of
All little Easter eggs for East Bay and Oakland people on KQED Arts. We did. I mean, you know, it's incomplete, but like all of the locations, all the cameos, all of the little references that Bay Area people will get, you can find that online at kqed.org. Or if you're a newcomer and you wouldn't get it, this is your little cheat sheet. You confront. We haven't talked about the new movie, Freaky Tales, Love Letter to 1980s Oakland. Gabe Milleen, Senior Editor, KQED Arts and Culture. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks, Alexis.
Tamara Goins. Oh, man. Thank you so much. Managing partner and innovative artist now. Performed as Entice in the rap duo Danger Zone. Featured in the movie Freaky Tales. Thank you so much for joining us, Tamara. Town business. Thank you for having me. Thank you. And we've had Ryan Fleck, co-writer and co-director of the movie with Anna Boden. They, of course, have made other movies like Captain Marvel, Half Nelson. It's kind of a funny story. But the new one is Freaky Tales. You should go see it. Thank you so much for joining us, Ryan.
Thanks, guys. It was fun. The 9 o'clock hour of Forum is produced by Grace Wan, Blanca Torres, and Tessa Paoli. Our interns are Brian Vo and Jesse Fisher. Jennifer Ng is our engagement producer. Francesca Fenzi is our digital community producer. Judy Campbell is lead producer. Danny Bringer is our engineer. Katie Springer is the operations manager of KQED Podcasts.
Our vice president of news is Ethan Toven-Lindsey and our chief content officer is Holly Kernan. We finally got too short on Forum after just a mere 30 years. I'm Alexis Madrigal. Stay tuned for another hour ahead with guest host Leslie McClure. Funds for the production of Forum are provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Generosity Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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