It's a three-fer this week!

First, in the summer of 1970, you couldn't pass through the un-airconditioned parts of Los Angeles without hearing radios blaring "Viva Tirado," the groundbreaking hit from El Chicano ... an East LA band who were the first Latino group to play The Apollo. We get the story from band member Bobby Espinoza. 

Then, as KPCC's Adolfo Guzman Lopez works on his new podcast, The Forgotten Revolutionary - the new season of Imperfect Paradise from LAist Studios - we listen back to an early instance of Adolfo talking about his background on KPCC ... the occasion being the time he was name-checked on "The Simpsons." 

And finally, we listen to the trailer for The Forgotten Revolutionary, which is about Oscar Gomez, a tragic star of the Chicano rights movement, whose radio show used "Viva Tirado" as its theme song. It's also about Adolfo's history as an activist, which he is revealing for the first time as he explores what happened to Gomez.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

(Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)

With Governor Newsom contemplating mandatory water restrictions - because we are actually using MORE water this year, despite his warnings - it seems like a good time to bring back the time Sanden Totten, now the host of Brains On, took a timed Navy shower back in 2015 ... on the radio.

The Navy shower is a strategy for getting clean when you're on a boat with limited freshwater, and lots of sweaty seafarers in line behind you. (People in the Navy apparently call landlubber showers "Hollywood showers.")

In this episode, Sanden also chats with an astronaut about how they use and reuse water in space. And drink what used to be pee. You have been warned.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

(Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)

Chicano Batman ... CyberFrequencies ... ghosts of the past as Peruvians vote in LA ... downtown LA's power list ... downtown LA treasure: San Antonio Winery ... a stickfighting dojo ... Pato's response to the Friday haters ...

Noir film festival returns to The Egyptian ... The Angles on the Angels and the Dish on the Dodgers ... Peru Elections ... EatLA ... Dinner Party Download ... Play with Fire and Submit a Story for Burn This! ... Sam Slovick's gay teenage life, and new Slake short story: "Tommy Crow"

Slake's John Albert remembers when Van Halen was groundbreaking and good ... Riding the Blue Line ... Poison or Pleasant - what is the plant in Kevin's backyard ... Bike Advocate ... Seth MacFarlane ticket winners singing with spoons ... Simon Cowell previews The X Factor ...

Disaster preparedness in SoCal ... Dinner Party Download ... Apollo, the Getty Villa's handsome but dangerous god ... Poppies return ... Running the LA Marathon ... Owsley Stanley remembered ... Seth MacFarlane SINGS ... Lomita's "Black Widow"

Filmmaker and author R.H. Greene presents "Vampira and Me," a special documentary for Off-Ramp that tells the story of Maila Nurmi, creator of the cultural icon Vampira.

This week: Columbo co-creator William Link, hard times for Marshelle Mills, underemployed mother of three and more!

LA's Blue Line the most dangerous rail line in the US ... EatLA on the best sausage in LA ... the lonely wolverine ... home renovation advice from Kevin, Norm, and Richard of This Old House ... Dinner Party Download ...

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's doc on 1930's all-black basketball champions ... See Richard Run - but for/from what? ... CyberFrequencies on The Social Network ... Death warmed over is good ... butterflies in your backyard and flowers at Customs ... Meet Mr. Lincoln ...