Harmonia
Harmonia model sheet by unknown artist at Kling Klang Studios
A three point turn around of Harmonia, a hippie woman with red lipstick and orange hair held back with a red headband and styled into two horn-like points on top of her head. She wears a red crop top, blue bellbottom jeans with daisy patches on the knees and white heeled boots. She has large round glasses and earrings, and white flowers in her hair. In one drawing she carries an acoustic guitar.
Dylan Rose and other members of The Harmonias
Another obscure character today! We will be looking at the character Harmonia from the real world band of the same name. One of the last holdouts of the hippie era, the band Harmonia was created in 1971 by lead singer and vocalist Dylan Rose, a drifter from California, and his friends from undergrad. The band originally consisting of five members would, adopting the hippie aesthetic and identity, quickly gain popularity despite the dwindling culture. In fact their popularity would briefly cause a spike in Hippie culture although this sudden resurgence would quickly die down following the band's end in 1980.
Although the band would do moderately well for two years following their formation, attention would really start to pick up following their 1974 hit song “The Past is More Than Whatever Before,” A song that would quickly define the band with Dylan opening and closing future shows with the infectious tune. Dylan would receive promotional and album offers which he quickly accepted helping the band to rocket in notoriety throughout America. The band, with Dylan at the helm, would go on to commission several animated music videos from Kling Klang studios, a lesser known studio of the time that would also be dragged into notoriety on the coattails of Rose’s fame.
In these music videos, notable for their psychedelic colorful qualities, there were many characters that would appear from polka dotted hippos to flying tongues with harps to distasteful depictions of ethnic groups (more on that later.) However amongst this sea of fractal flowers, button doll eyes and cultural appropriation, one character would consistently make an appearance in these music videos. Her name was Harmonia, named so after the titular band. Quickly scribbled on a napkin at a diner by Rose himself, Harmonia was a visual jab at the idea of hippies being devil culture and when passed off to the animation studio she quickly won over the hearts of fans and outsiders alike.
Harmonia was described as a free spirit, a girl who was looking in on the world and let it wash over her, she did not conform to modern trends and liked to “think about the flowers in her hair,” according to the band members. Harmonia floated through space and yearned for simpler times without war and politics which mirrored the political messaging behind the songs themselves. The character would soon be found all around America on billboards promoting the band and on merchandise that was quickly and cheaply made following the bands popularity. In fact I would say that most of what survives of this band today is old deteriorating non musical merchandise, albums that are very hard to find and lyrics that are somehow even more difficult to find, and photos of performances? Much like our Hecate problem it’s almost like the moment their popularity died out the band was wiped off the map. Similar to the Hippie movement the band didn’t really amount to much.
Harmonia’s Get Along poster
A faded and creased poster featuring Harmonia. She’s dancing through a field with her arms outstretched, surrounded by flowers, rainbows, hearts, stars and sunbeams. The text above her reads “Let’s all get along”.
Getting back to Harmonia however, she would often dance along to the music in these animated music videos without much of a plot besides interacting briefly with other characters. In “I wanna see the face of the policeman,” She would notably lift up the hat of an officer and offer him a red flower which became one of the most iconic images of her. This was probably in reference to the famous photograph in which Hippies, protesting the 1966 American occupation of Korea, offered flowers to the riot police sent to clear out the protest. Harmonia was described as a mediator by Rose, someone who wanted everyone to get along and make peace with others. “I think if we all put aside our differences and listen to each other's perspective we could finally have world peace,” Rose said in an interview. Band mate Larry “Lucky Heel” Huxley would also claim that Harmonia was the voice of the generation, saying, “People who are tired of seeing war on tv and being told what to do by their parents who don’t understand it all, we all just wanna have fun and get along.”
In terms of counter culture the band was very passive but they would often preach non conformity against fashion trends, sticking to the past and not giving in to the new, being kind to each other even when you disagreed, peaceful protest, lawfulness, and individualism.
Despite their constant expressions of peace and love, behind the scenes the Harmonias reportedly where not as sunshine and rainbows as they liked to appear and there was much infighting between members. While the band generally consisted of at least five musicians, those members changed often from performance to performance and album to album - the only constant being Dylan Rose as he was reportedly “insufferable” to work with.
As mentioned earlier, albums of this band’s music are very difficult to find. However we were lucky to be gifted one album by the mother of teammate RWG! (Thank you RWG’s mom!!) Her mom is a music historian and, although not a fan of the band, she did have the album on hand. Although we will not be looking through all of these songs, we have picked out a few to examine portions of the lyrics of and discuss how they tie in to the underlying politics of the band themselves.
Harmonias Music Video Still Frame
Harmonia lays on top of the word “Harmonia” spelled out in big rainbow letters, with a peace sign in place of the letter “O”. Around her are her six commune members, each one representing a different color of the rainbow. Everyone is waving to the camera.
Harmonias Music Video Still Frame
Harmonia stands face to face with a frowning policeman in a blue uniform, offering him a red rose.
Harmonia’s commune poster
Harmonia waves the viewer in to a luscious forest with rolling green hills in the background. With her are the six members of her commune - three hippie men, one hippie woman, a policeman and a fuzzy orange creature. Around them are hearts, stars, rainbows and music notes.
Face of the policeman
“I wanna see the face of the policeman, the hero that wears blue and white
I wanna see the face of the policeman, the good man that’s hidden inside
I wanna see the heart of the hero, who stops bad guys in their tracks,
Why can’t we see eye to eye, and get rid of all this bad
I know the true aim of the policeman, is to prevent others falling to harm,
If you show me your face policeman, I’m sure we’d all be charmed
I wanna see the face of the policeman, the hero that wears blue and white
I wanna see the face of the policeman, the good man that’s hidden inside
We don’t have to fight, we don’t have to clash,
We can dance in the flower field,
Just remove your hat
Let me place a flower in
Your golden curly hair
I see the man beneath the policeman
A heart that really cares”
Harmonia vinyl record sleeve front
The vinyl album "The Past Is More Than Whatever Before" sits atop other vinyls, its record pulled out slightly. The title is encased in a flower, as is the band name "Harmonia." Hearts burst outward from between the petals in a swooping motion. The background art features bold stripes of red, pink, and cream, each given an equally bold border. These stripes move outward in thick waves.
The Past is More
“Now everyone tells me son, the world is moving on
Wars and death and politics, nations raising arms
Why can’t we go back to simpler times, when the world was at peace
Back to the 1930s when, we lived in harmony
So whatever they tell you, the parents, the priests, the fools
They will never understand what we know is true
Whatever before, we’ll always, be sure
The past, will always, be more
Now take my hand and run along, through the fields and flower songs, we are meant to live forever, and the past goes on forever
A million years of history, and throughout it all we lived in peace, so why not take this trip with me through the past, it’s on it’s way it’s coming back!
Whatever before will always be more (x3)
Harmonia vinyl record sleeve back
The back of the vinyl album, featuring the same bright, bold art. Where the band name was now reads the band members, wrapping around the border of the flower. In the center reads the track list: Side A. The Past Is More; 2. Lets All Get Along; 3. My Room; 4. Girl Of The Past. Side B. Face Of The Policeman; 2. 'Round and Round (The Globe); 3. Free Spirit; 4. Hand In Hand. The publisher information is seen below this in the bottom-left, having been published by Marooned Records.
Peace throughout the land, baby take my hand!
Whatever before will always be more (x3)
Take this step with me, I was afraid once too you see
But the past can save us, let's turn back the clock
Parents they don’t know what's up
If you hold hands you will see
The past it lives inside of me!
Whatever before will always be more (x3)”
Lets all get along
“Let’s all get along,
here where we belong
Clouds up in the sky
Always rolling by
But when i’m with you
And when you’re with me
Harmonia vinyl record inner sleeve art
Harmonia sits on a red rose in the center of the frame. Behind her is a field with flowers and trees. Above her the text reads “Harmonia”
I feel ok,
And I know the world’s ok
With you,
With you
I know
I know”
My room
“My room is where I belong
My parents don’t understand
My friend’s don’t get it at all
My room’s where I belong
Posters on the wall,
Harmonias Music Video Still Frame
Harmonia emerges from a yellow tent with eyes. The opening of the tent is a mouth with pink lipstick and teeth that resemble piano keys.
Of the many greats before,
My past is on the wall,
Who could want more
My room is where I belong”
Girl of the past
“Girl of the past future moving fast, but we both know this won’t last
We know what belongs, flowers in the sun, we will be living last!
We are gonna live forever flowers in our hair
Harmonia sketches
Various exploratory sketches of Harmonia in different poses. In the bottom left corner she helps a fighting man and woman become friends.
Parents they just don’t understand
But we don’t really care
Watch us pretty up
Watch us settle down
Watch us snuggle in the grass on the blessed ground
We’re gonna live forever! History is ours,
We’re gonna live forever! We are the stars
We are the past, the future won’t last
We will see it through, a future that is only you, the past
The past, the last
Oh the future won’t last
Only you, the past
The past”
By looking at these lyrics we can read well into the personal philosophy and ideology of Dylan Rose and his band. To be blunt they took a very naive form of counter cultural protest and came from a very privileged perspective. The first song is infamous for its reductive nature towards the role police officers have in society and many of the lyrics, while using flowery peaceful language, insist upon a time that never truly existed. At this point America had successfully launched multiple wars of conquest since its initial inception, and globally facism and death was on the rise. To insist that there was a before or more peaceful past that the country had strayed from ignored the key issues behind modern and future problems. When interviewed Dylan Rose would claim that he was a non-political individual and did not believe his songs had any politics besides “everyone getting along.” He would proudly claim that his political ideology was the rejection of politics entirely. When asked for their position on Hippie culture they stated that, “The role of the hippie is to remain apolitical and let the world wash over them. They should not be violent or get involved in others’ fights except to show the two aggressors that they are both flawed in their own ideas. A Hippie should always value their individuality and ask what they can do for themselves.”
Doodles of Dylan Rose by various bandmates and friends
Various cartoon drawings of Dylan Rose on a lined notebook page, each one in a unique style with the name of who drew it beside it. Writing near the top of the page reads “Dylan you forgot your journal!”
With this in mind it should be noted that Dylan Rose and his revolving band members were extremely political and involved in the world of politics. Primarily they were involved in the subversion and fight against the onset birth of punk culture which encouraged a more active political stance than the band was comfortable with. The band would preach the importance of following the law while refusing to conform and that violence was never the solution. They discouraged protesting and their views often proved to be very regressive compared to punks, especially in relation to the areas of race and gender identity/sexuality. The band also would often play at events whose profits went back to the war effort and to colonial apartheid states; this was inexcusable and done shamelessly despite protesters frequently surrounding these venues handing out fliers. All in all, as will be discussed more in other articles, the band stood for conformity overall, but beneath a layer of psychedelic colors and pretty music.
It is perhaps this lack of substance that would see them quickly overshadowed by new bands and cultures that emerged in the unrest of the 1970’s. The band would struggle on through the late 70s, and through it all Dylan Rose was reported as blaming the onset of punk culture and specifically the band known as the Inkdwellers for their decline in popularity. The band would continue to struggle until Dylan’s death in 1980.
In modern times the band is largely unknown with their impact mainly being delegated to talk shows about true crime and murder aficionados, their music hard to find and their impact even harder. There was a brief trend of Dylan Rose impersonators in the late 2000’s as promotion for a yogurt brand, but that really is about it in terms of their cultural relevance.