While graffiti is seen by some as blight, and by others as art, the act of hiding in the shadows and stealthily scrawling your name on a wall is ultimately about being seen, rather than doing damage. This was definitely the case for a boy who went by the tag, “Zebra” in Philadelphia back in 1975.
Zebra Credits
Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe.
Nocturne is distributed by KCRW, and receives support from KCRW’s Independent Producer Project, which provides resources to creative storytellers around the world. Thank you to Nick White.
Music
Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling
Additional music:
Kent Sparling \\ Jeffrey Foster
Episode Artwork: Robin Galante
To hear the song, “Three White Boys (painting the town)”, by Ira Marlowe, go here.
Find the 2010 documentary about the history of graffiti in Philadelphia, Sly Artistic City, here. Greg, aka “T-Bone”, is interviewed in the film.
We have some exciting news to share – as of the release of this episode, you can now download and listen to “Possum Music”, an album of music from the first 30 episodes of Nocturne. It’s available as a digital download now, with a cd to come later, and right now if you donate at least $10 to KCRW, and add a note at the end of the process that you’re a Nocturne listener, we’ll send you a download code for the whole album as a thank you. You can go do that at kcrw.com/give. Find more information about “Possum Music” here.
Special thanks to Aaron Michalski, Marina Petrillo, Michael Fincham, Sean McMahon, Tanya Novoa, Dean Klemick, Bruce Guenzler, Peter Smith, Alex Espinoza, Jeremy Cherfas, Herrin Hopper, Mary Jo Eyler, Marta Pelrine-Bacon, Tara, Chris Glover, Ashley Cummings, Benjamin Yeamans, Maria Samuelsen, Misty Lytle, Tara, Tim Harincar