May 05, 2005
We're going to rip 'em out now!
I am very happy to have a copy on CD of The Replacements' "Let It Be". And I must give props to the most suggestive (provocative?) jukebox in San Francisco, at Zeitgeist: a few years ago hearing "This Ain't No Picnic" reminded me to dust off my copy of Double Nickels on The Dime -- what an evocative title! -- and a few nights ago I caught the strains of "I Will Dare." -- which has one of the best, bounciest riffs of any punk rock song. Now I have a chubby stack of 5 1/4" albums next to me, at long last the replacements for the records I never listen to any more.
Uh, no pun intended.
The Replacements landed a spot on Saturday Night Live, but they were roaring drunk throughout their performances and Westerberg said "f*ck" on the air. Their concerts had became notorious for such drunken, sloppy behavior. Frequently, the band was barely able to stand up, let alone play, and when they did play, they often didn't finish their songs. The Replacements also refused to make accessible videos -- the video for "Bastards of Young" featured nothing but a stereo system, playing the song -- thereby cutting themselves off from the mass exposure MTV could have granted them.
... this is something very similar to when some people in 1987 walked into a record shop and found The Beatles' records finally on CD. Or when "Pet Sounds" finally came out on CD.
