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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Nov 11, 2007 9:33:29 GMT -5
This turns out to be a pretty big spread in today's paper. The editor's note steals a line from Scooter: Editor's note: The Replacements were Minnesota's most fabled and star-crossed band. Leaders of the 1980s indie-rock revolution, they captured lightning in a bottle, then drained it to the dregs before calling it a night in '91. The excerpts from the book revolve around I Will Dare and Let It Be.
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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Nov 13, 2007 9:26:16 GMT -5
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randolph500
Star Scout
round the corner give it some gas
Posts: 758
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Post by randolph500 on Nov 14, 2007 12:51:53 GMT -5
articles.citypages.com/2007-11-14/music/replacements/An oral history of the Replacements captures the '80s music scene but can't get a handle on the band The Shouting's Over, Too By Sarah Askari Pretty young things: The 'Mats, back in the day Image by Bonnie Schiffman THE REPLACEMENTS: ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTING: AN ORAL HISTORY Jim Walsh Voyageur Press No one likes to piss off a rock god. But oral histories thrill most when they're packed with gossipy first-person accounts. The author of The Replacements: All Over but the Shouting, Jim Walsh, wrote about the Minneapolis scene in these very pages for years (in case this review is the first piece of Minnesota music journalism you've ever read), and has such depth of feeling for band leader Paul Westerberg that he may as well be attempting an oral history of his own family. Similar works, like Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk and Edie: An American Girl had a crucial advantage. At the time those projects began, principal characters had already moved on to the afterlife—circumstances that no doubt loosened the tongues of the living. If god had called Paul Westerberg home, this would be a very different book; as it is, its most complete character is the late Bob Stinson. Westerberg, whose originality and vision formed the band's spirit, remains an enigma. He speaks through clips culled from interviews over the years, but neither he, nor drummer Chris Mars, nor bassist Tommy Stinson lent their voices to this story. Those who did cooperate openly admire Westerberg's talent, but no one besides Walsh himself seems to feel too warmly toward him. Both manager Peter Jesperson and guitarist Slim Dunlap (Bob Stinson's replacement) make it clear that they were witnesses to ugly behavior, even if they won't be testifying about it publicly. Worshippers of the standoffish songwriter won't find any new revelations here—he's a distantly cool figure, mocking, sloppy, drunk, and prone to taking control by refusing to play along with anyone else's agenda. (Those in search of Westerberg's humanity might want to turn to Petal Pusher, the recently published memoir by his second wife, Laurie Lindeen. True, she captures an older, sober version—but in more personal detail.) Yet just as Please Kill Me brought the Stooges' Detroit to life and Edie resurrected Warhol's Factory, Shouting takes you back in time to a moment when the whole universe revolved around south Minneapolis, where a street separated Oarfolkjokeopus from the CC Club and every musician on the scene lived within a few miles of one another. The memories of the Oarfolk folk, the Twin/Tone staff, and fellow rockers from Craig Finn to Bob Mould to Lori Barbero give the book its insider's perspective. From their mouths, the scene evolves from Catholic girls' school dances to the mainstream success of Soul Asylum. The narratives try to reveal the source of the band's magic. It's elusive. But you don't have to squint to see the source of the myth. One testimonial after another tells the same story: The Replacements got wasted before the show. Then they played a bullshit set of cover songs. You've been a teenager, so you know why this is cool: It made them look like they didn't care. If they really had no talent, no one else would have cared, either. But if you have the proven ability to write genius rock songs, and you have an adoring crowd of fans in front of you, and you choose to risk alienating them by laughing your way through five renditions of "Hello, Dolly," you relay a very powerful message. In Reagan's America, with its yuppie consumer worship, jock-filled high schools, and submoronic hair-metal gods, you have just said "No" to success, popularity, and rock star-ism. Do you remember the vileness of the culture in the '80s? The Replacements were reacting against it, and maybe they were immature drunks, but maybe they were also...sorta...philosophically rigorous? In the end, of course, the band followed their aesthetic of not giving a fuck to its logical conclusion: They broke up. But the passion they inspired will be preserved in Shouting for every kid who cares to trace the alternative scene back to its roots.
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who?
Star Scout
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Post by who? on Nov 14, 2007 20:53:06 GMT -5
That review linked to above contained a pretty blunt assesment about the band's "myth" which could be translated to mean "cult popularity" (which could be translated to mean "not very..."). I haven't read the book yet, it is sitting on the arm of the chair nearest my cd rack, waiting for me to finish the one I'm almost done with, but that sort of comment reminds me of something PW said that I read in RS years ago. He said something to the effect of "I would never want to meet Dylan because I would be dissapointed and his music would not mean the same thing to me any longer (It was a solo Paul article, I think, and he was speaking to meeting with fans ,and is my recollection of the statement even correct? He basically didn't really approve of the notion of the fan/rock artist barrier being crossed). I stood in line at an in-store to meet those guys on the DTAS tour in '89 and after I read that I didn't agree with him. What I could say about it truthfully is that I felt like an a-hole standing there trying to think of something to say as they signed their names on the flyer I grabbed. But it is something I'll never forget, good or bad, and do not regret. But knowing how he has embraced his fans and has interacted with them so graciously over the recent years goes to show that he has a different perspective that is more welcoming (I say at risk of hearing No Shit Sherlock). Anyway, I look forward to the book and I do miss that band. I can't believe it's been almost 19 yrs since I last saw them. Gotta get that flyer in Kathy's Show yer stuff thread.
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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Nov 15, 2007 12:13:52 GMT -5
The Twin Cities edition of the Onion AV Club has a Q&A with Jim Walsh. I don't think they put the local stuff online, so close your eyes and here we go ...
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Post by Placemat on Nov 18, 2007 12:20:15 GMT -5
Second time I've seen Walsh mention that Glamour article.
I have this magazine somewhere. Couldn't say for sure if it's Glamour, but it's definitely a chic mag. It sticks out in my mind because the interviewer is crushing on Paul pretty hard at one point & asks to touch his hair. Paul obliges.
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Post by kgp on Nov 18, 2007 12:23:51 GMT -5
Second time I've seen Walsh mention that Glamour article. I have this magazine somewhere. Couldn't say for sure if it's Glamour, but it's definitely a chic mag. It sticks out in my mind because the interviewer is crushing on Paul pretty hard at one point & asks to touch his hair. Paul obliges. I want to say it was Mademoiselle, because I used to have it, but I don't think it survived the move.
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Post by Placemat on Nov 18, 2007 13:29:31 GMT -5
Second time I've seen Walsh mention that Glamour article. I have this magazine somewhere. Couldn't say for sure if it's Glamour, but it's definitely a chic mag. It sticks out in my mind because the interviewer is crushing on Paul pretty hard at one point & asks to touch his hair. Paul obliges. I want to say it was Mademoiselle, because I used to have it, but I don't think it survived the move. Yeah, Mademoiselle sounds more right than Glamour. Whichever, it's defiantly the same article since I remember the being paid in pills bit.
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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Nov 18, 2007 13:36:50 GMT -5
better than being paid in pit bulls
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Post by FirstAveFiend on Nov 18, 2007 18:14:52 GMT -5
The Current is currently playing 90 minutes of the Replacements for their local show. With Walsh interview.
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Lee
Star Scout
"don't praise the machine."
Posts: 654
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Post by Lee on Nov 18, 2007 20:09:28 GMT -5
this sounds depressingly familiar:
westerberg really set a tone for the rest of them, and carried it even further to his audience: if you like me, yr a fool. but if you don't like me, yr equally a fool. there was incredible self-regard and very low self-esteem issues going on at the same time. -michael hill speaking in jim walsh's the replacements: all over but the shouting, an oral history
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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Nov 19, 2007 6:18:06 GMT -5
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Post by Veets on Nov 19, 2007 16:35:20 GMT -5
Funny that Walsh uses the word "ponderous." First, it's not the kind of word you hear every day, at least around here (maybe in Minneapolis?), but second I seem to recall PW using it a couple of times in the last concert the Replacements played, at Grant Park in Chicago. Once right at the beginning, like maybe someone else said it in introducing them, and again later, something like "here's a ponderous little number."
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Post by TomT on Nov 20, 2007 6:56:12 GMT -5
I've started the book and was surprised to learn that it was Chris with the great yell at the end of Buck Hill. Props to Chris. I always thought it was Paul.
I'm really into all the little behind the scenes stuff in the book. Thumbs up so far.
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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Nov 21, 2007 16:10:07 GMT -5
vita.mn, the MPLS Strib's alt-weekly-style offshoot publication, has a cover piece on the Walsh book. The cover photo is that same picture of Tommy jumping that City Pages used for the cover of its First Avenue 25th (30th?) Anniversary issue. Inside is a full-page version of the sofa-RR tracks band photo, suitable for framing. Worth picking up for anyone in the Twin Cities. The same issue of vita.mn also has a funny Mats/Huskers, Beatles/Stones comparison that you can see at this poll thread.
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cford
Star Scout
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Post by cford on Nov 25, 2007 13:21:13 GMT -5
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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Nov 25, 2007 14:13:29 GMT -5
Do not miss the "Click-2-Listen" option at that Austin Statesman review web page. It's like they got the recorded operator's voice from the end of Answering Machine to read the review "ow tloud."
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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Nov 26, 2007 9:41:43 GMT -5
The Downtown Journal, a MPLS free weekly, has a write-up about the Walsh book and a book signing at the former Oarfolk record store (now Treehouse Records). One of the people quoted is Mark Anderson, who's also quoted in the book but not ID'd at the back, so now you can pencil it in the margins: Mark Anderson of St. Paul, whose band Oren Goby scored a “total fluke-ish kind of gig” opening for the Replacements in 1985
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Post by A Regular on Nov 26, 2007 17:39:57 GMT -5
“I consider it to be the world’s greatest tragedy that I never got to see [the Replacements],” lamented Erica Krumm, 25.
Slow down there Erica.
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Post by nowwesayitoutloud on Nov 29, 2007 0:38:51 GMT -5
November 28, 2007 MPLS City PagesLetters to the Editor The Replacements' Thriller I can remember it as if it were yesterday. Static Taxi was driving down 26th Street after band practice and stopped at the light on Chicago Avenue. KQ was on the car radio and suddenly the new Replacements single, "I'll Be You," came on. Being good bandmates and proud of playing with Bob, we all ripped on the song. Bob's response was classic Stinson. He said, "Give 'em a break, you guys...you can't blame 'em for trying!" which set the car rocking with laughter. Right, they were totally lost without him! Such colossal, yet completely sweet and innocent ego...somehow there was not an ounce of resentment in there at all. He felt bad for them. In all the years that I knew Bob, he never once said an unkind thing about either Paul Westerberg or Slim Dunlap, and in fact often praised them both. Yep, that's right, folks: Bob Stinson was a class act. Sarah Askari's excellent review of Jim Walsh's The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting ("The Shouting's Over, Too," 11/14/2007) points up a central problem with the book: that Walsh "can't get a handle on the band." I have to agree, and for me at least, the reason is obvious: Bob Stinson was the Replacements. Who could ever get a handle on him? No one can touch Westerberg's genius songs, in particular those about lovable losers with hearts of gold. To me at least, Bob was that "character" personified. But the Replacements' music was more than Westerberg's songs, and the band was always much more than just their music. That's where the Bob factor tips the scales—for me, at least. Still, it's hard to imagine Bob being anything but kind to Jim Walsh, about whom he would doubtlessly say, "You can't blame him for trying," before proceeding to goose him and then steal his drink. This much I do know for certain: You can't put your arms around a memory, and you can't replace a Replacement. Thanks for giving Bob the last word, Jim. PS: Sorry, Sarah, but the shouting about the Replacements will never be over. Chris Corbett, bassist, Static Taxi Minneapolis
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