Replacements – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Bash & Pop – Friday Night Is Killing Me …album review

This band is a natural for me. I’ve read about them a lot, and now I’m listening to them much more. They fit into why I love rock and roll. The band is fronted by Tommy Stinson of The Replacements. Stinson started playing bass at age 11 and at 13 years old, played with the Replacements. After they broke up, he played bass for Guns N’ Roses for 16 years. He also played with Soul Asylum off and on. Before he joined Guns N’ Roses, he formed this band, which he would reform a few times in the future.

In 1993, Bash & Pop released their debut album: Friday Night Is Killing Me. It wasn’t another Replacements album. It was more Faces than Replacements. Paul Westerberg was the main writer of the Replacements, and here Stinson wasn’t trying to rewrite Let It Be or Tim. Instead, he played into a ragged, Keith Richards-type vibe that owed as much to the Stones and Faces as to his original band. The songs were loose and built around Stinson’s raspy vocals. I can’t get enough of this album.

This was released at a time when grunge was dominating radio, so it got lost in the shuffle. But for those who found it, the record became a classic. It showed that Tommy Stinson could front a band and write quality songs with soul. They don’t have that slick commercial sound to it, and I applaud that.

Tommy Stinson wrote most of the songs on the album, except one, Fast and Hard, which he co-wrote with Steve Foley. This album could be considered power pop, but a rough, as hell raw version of it, which I love! I’m super excited about this album as a whole. I really missed out in real time with this one.

I’ve picked two songs off the album to highlight (Loose Ends and Never Aim To Please), and a link to Spotify to the source album. It is one of those records you hand to someone who thought rock was dead by the early ’90s. It’s alive here and full of heart. This album is for the fans of The Replacements, The Faces, or anyone who likes rock music and some great hooks.

I usually don’t mention critics, but here are two. AllMusic wrote that “decades after its release, the album feels like a bit of the hangover from the ’80s, a celebration of irreverent roots rock performed with an audible grin.” Magnet considered it “the best batch of songs by any Replacement since 1987’s Pleased To Meet Me.”

Loose Ends

Miss come-and-go
Where you been now?
Put a red light on the rest
And wondered why and how
Your love it grows
But no one knows
Who’s on your mind, who’s on your lap
Don’t they look the same yet
It’s alright

Early morning, drinking tea, a slice of whole wheat
Another lesson you should’ve learned, you had to wait
You care too much, you care less
Headin’ for a better view, fail to impress
Well, I guess you’ve got too far to stray
No place particular is where you end your day
You know I got no, the pavement holds no one

It’s time to tie your loose ends up
Never mind which way
Time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)
No one left to blame, oh yeah

Butterflies that turn to knots
In your guts around your neck
You get ’em too tight and they slip again
‘Cause you look too far, ’cause you fall too fast
It’s a raincheck for a date, but you’ve no interest
Guess you’ve got too far to stray
Your heart’s breakin’ all over the place
You know I got no, the pavement holds no one

It’s time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)
How much you gonna take?
So time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)
You’ve got too much to shake

When mom comes home at last
It’s a whisper through the glass
Can’t you hear the voices screamin’
Yeah, I’m screamin’, “Go ahead and tie ’em up!”

You fall apart before my eyes
I’ll sweep the mess
And the shortcut through the dirt is always best
You look too far, you look to the west
Heading time is all you needed
I know best
And I guess you got too far to stray (stray)
No place particular is where you end your day (your day), oh no
And the pavement holds no one

Time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)
Never mind which way, yeah
Time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)
No one left to blame (Tie ’em up)
Time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)
How much you gonna take? (Tie ’em up)
Time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)
You got a lot to shake (Tie ’em up)
Time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)
Time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)
Time to tie your loose ends up (Tie ’em up)

A Replacements Revival

Thanks, Dave, for asking me to participate. Dave wanted us to pick a band we would like to see reunited based on reality and not bringing people back to life. A lot of bands that I would love to get back together, but most have deceased members, and under his rules, we cannot raise them again. Allman Brothers, The Band, Big Star, and many others where one or a few are alive. I considered The Kinks because Ray and Dave Davies are still alive, along with Mick Avory, the drummer. I also considered REM, CCR, J Geils, and The James Gang. Even if Dave had said we could resurrect people, I still would not pick The Beatles. I’m forever grateful they didn’t try it before Lennon passed. There is no way they would have lived up to people’s expectations.

The Replacements, Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, and Chris Mars are still doing well. Their lead guitar player, Bob Stinson, passed away in 1995. He was replaced by Slim Dunlap in the ’80s when Bob quit. Slim passed away in 2024. He didn’t tour with them in the teens when they DID reunite because of a stroke he had in 2012.

They reunited in 2012 and started to tour, which lasted until 2015. They sold out huge arenas, made more money, and played in front of more fans than they did in their prime. Although their last show in Chicago drew over 50,000 people in 1991.

They had a penchant for shooting themselves in the foot in the ’80s over and over. Grabbing their new producer and tearing his clothes off and throwing him in the hall, saying the F word on Saturday Night Live and then getting banned, guest hosting a radio show and picking old blues records they knew had cuss words, and getting kicked out of there, and opening up for Tom Petty and breaking in Petty’s dressing room and stealing and wearing his wife’s clothes on stage (they finished the tour though…Petty had a sense of humor), refusing to make videos, knowing that record executives from big labels were coming to watch them and getting drunk playing TV theme songs plus KISS covers all night long. No need to add more things…you get the point.

I’ve heard from people who saw them in their prime. They usually have two things to say about them if they have seen them at least twice. “The best rock and roll band I’ve ever seen or heard” OR “The most drunken display I’ve ever seen” but even when they said that…they said they liked them and they still beat most bands. It does make sense, though. They started off as a punk band and slowly developed into a rock band when Westerberg developed as a songwriter. They had a rebellious spirit to the end.

Personally, I think if they had played the music company game like REM, they could have been popular in the mainstream. They had some of the strongest songs of the 1980s because of Paul Westerberg, and I put his songwriting on the level of Springsteen. Now let’s get into the songs of the band. I think many of their songs rival The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Stones, or anyone you could throw out there. Bastards of Young, Here Comes A Regular, Alex Chilton, Androgynous, Can’t Hardly Wait, I Will Dare, Left Of The Dial, Unsatisfied, Kiss Me on the Bus, Skyway, Color Me Impressed, The Ledge, and so many more. If they had gotten proper airplay, I have no doubt they would have been hits.

Most indie bands were out of touch with the mainstream at the time, and that is the reason they all had such a large fan base. It started to cross over, though in the late eighties or early nineties at last, but by that time…The Replacements were winding down. This is a band I would want to see again, clicking on all cylinders. From the reviews of all of their reunion shows…they were on.

So Paul and Tommy…how about one more go around? Please include some TV Themes and KISS cover songs…just because you can. If you guys are happy…we will be.

…

Replacements – Little Mascara

Great name for a song or a band…and that guitar is what I was sorely missing around this time in the 1980s. This album was in the stretch of great albums by the band. Let It Be, Tim, and Please To Meet Me. Personally, I never knew how big this song was with fans. One search on YouTube and you can find bands covering this song everywhere.

Everyone who knows me… knows I’m not a huge fan of the Top 40 in the 1980s but alternative rock is a different story. In my opinion, the two best American alternative rock bands to come out of the 80s were The Replacements and R.E.M. The Replacements were the generation’s Big Star influencing 1990s and 2000s bands. They had a secret weapon in Westerberg as a songwriter. I would safely say they were two of my favorite bands in the 80s.

This song was on their 1985 album Tim. Why was the album called Tim? There was no reference to the name on the album. The band’s manager said that he asked Paul Westerberg what the name of the album would be. Paul told him “Tim,” and the manager asked why. Paul said, “because it’s such a nice name.”

This album was their first major label release on Sire Records in 1984. This would be the last album by the original band because Bob Stinson would be kicked out a couple of years later. Stinson did a great solo in this song…very Keith Richards-like.

Tim was placed 136th on Rolling Stone’s 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 137 in a 2012 revised list. The album peaked at #186 in the Billboard Album Chart in 1986.

I couldn’t find any footage of them originally doing this song live so here they are when they regrouped in the teens.

Little Mascara

You and I fall togetherYou and I sleep aloneAfter all, things might be betterAfter one, and there’s one that’s long gone

For the moon you keep shootin’Throw your rope up in the airFor the kids you stay togetherYou nap ’em and you slap ’em in a highchairAll you ever wanted was someone to take care of yaAll you’re ever losin’ is a little mascaraLittle mascaraLittle mascara

Afternoon, things are quietSettle back now if you canStations clip by like a rocketDon’t you worry if you wonder why he ran

All you ever wanted was someone to take care of yaAll you’re ever losin’ is a little mascaraLittle mascaraLittle mascaraThat you cry, cryThat you cryYour eyes outThat you cryThat you cryThat you cryYour eyes out

All you ever wanted was someone Ma’d be scared ofAll you’re ever losin’ isA little mascaraLittle mascaraLittle mascaraThat you cryThat you cryThat you cryYour eyes outThat you cryThat you cryThat you cryYour eyes outThat you cryThat you cryThat you cry…

…

Replacements – Alex Chilton

I never travel far, without a little Big Star

The Replacements are up there to me with the Beatles, Who, Kinks, Badfinger, Big Star, and The Stones. I wrote this for Dave’s site last year when he wrote a post about Hüsker Dü for my site. It’s catchy, great lyrics, and one of my favorite songs of the 1980s.

The Replacement’s tribute song about Big Star and Box Tops lead singer, Alex Chilton. The song was off the album Please To Meet Me.

It was 1985 and the Replacements had a gig at CBGB’s. This was not an ordinary gig though. Their reputation as a great live band had grown and in the audience were a lot of record company representatives. They knew this and refused to play the game. They spotted Gene Simmons coming in the door and The Mats played a terrible version of the KISS song Black Diamond…Simmons got out very quickly. The band followed up with an X-rated version of the “Ballad of Jed Clampett,” then whistled their way through the theme from The Andy Griffith Show before finally leaving the stage.

The Replacements and Alex Chilton shared a booking agent named Frank Riley. He watched the Replacements at CBGBs doing an absolutely self-sabotaging drunk set. Chilton had a grin plastered on his face. After the show, both Jesperson (manager) and Chilton were waiting to get paid by CBGB owner Hilly Kristal. Jesperson offered to buy breakfast the next morning. Chilton accepted.

The next morning Jesperson stopped by Westerberg’s room to remind him of the day’s interview schedule. Still sleepy and hungover, Westerberg asked where Peter was going. When he found out, Paul shot out of bed, threw on his clothes, and tagged along.

Paul did not impress easily, but he was very impressed with Alex Chilton. They took a taxi to the Gem Spa newsstand on Second Avenue and St. Mark’s Place. “He was standing by a trash can with a bag full of matches,” said Westerberg. “He was playing a game . . . pretending, ‘I’m Alex the Weirdo.’ I sucked up to it, and played the role.”

While eating breakfast…Chilton leaned over to Jesperson. “Man, I gotta tell you I thought they were great last night,” he said. “I’d love to work in the studio with them someday.” He did get to work with the band later on and played on “Can’t Hardly Wait.” The band avoided the awkwardness of playing “Alex Chilton” whenever Chilton was around.

This was around 1985 and Seymour Stein signed them up to Sire Records. They released their 4th album, Tim. For the first time, they were on a major label. Chilton was going to produce Tim but the negotiations fell through. He did help out on their next album recorded in his hometown.

The Replacements recorded their fifth album Pleased To Meet Me in Memphis at Ardent Studios in 1986, the same studio as Big Star. The man behind the board was Jim Dickinson, who produced the storied third Big Star album. It was probably their most radio-accessible album.

The record company loved the song but wanted the band to change the title and theme to a more famous person. The song was credited to Paul Westerberg, drummer Chris Mars, and bass player Tommy Stinson.

Per Wiki: Kory Grow of Rolling Stone called the song one of the two “all-time classics” from Pleased to Meet Me, the other being “Can’t Hardly Wait.” Kristine McKenna of Los Angeles Times was similarly glowing in her praise of the song, writing, “It’s hard to think of a more deserving pop hero [than Chilton], and if Pleased achieved nothing more than to revive interest in the criminally underrated Chilton it would justify its existence.”

Paul Westerberg: “It’s one of those where melody and chord changes were there and the lyrics changed over the course of six months or so. By the time we were down in Memphis we had already met Alex and I steered it toward him. Of course it was as the legend goes ‘George from Outer Space’ was the first working title, but that just didn’t grab it quite as well. I just thought it would be fun to write a song about a living person and we’ve been through this, Al and I, and I sort of regret the albatross that it’s came with… I was certainly trying to like, I guess, hip the outside world on who this guy might be publicly, but he didn’t need that. It would kind of hurt if he was always known as Alex Chilton of that song.”

Alex Chilton

If he was from Venus, would he feed us with a spoon?
If he was from Mars, wouldn’t that be cool?
Standing right on campus, would he stamp us in a file?
Hangin’ down in Memphis all the while.

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes ’round
They sing I’m in love. What’s that song? I’m in love with that song.

Cerebral rape and pillage in a village of his choice.
Invisible man who can sing in a visible voice.
Feeling like a hundred bucks, exchanging good lucks face to face.
Checkin’ his stash by the trash at St. Mark’s place.

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes ’round
They sing “I’m in love. What’s that song? I’m in love with that song.”

I never travel far, without a little Big Star

Runnin’ ’round the house, Mickey Mouse and the Tarot cards.
Falling asleep with a flop pop video on.
If he was from Venus, would he meet us on the moon?
If he died in Memphis, then that’d be cool, babe.

Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes ’round
They sing “I’m in love. What’s that song? I’m in love with that song.

I’m in love. What’s that song? I’m in love with that song.

Max Picks …songs from 1990

1990

The La’s – There She Goes

This song played a key part in making me love the power pop genre. It’s one of my favorite power pop songs of all time. It was originally released in 1988 but wasn’t played over in America until 1990. So I’m cheating on this but I had no way of hearing it before then.

A song by a British band called The La’s. A very good pop song that has no verses…it just repeats the chorus four different ways four different times. It was written by the singer Lee Mavers and recorded in 1988 and remixed and released again in 1990. It only peaked at #49 in 1990 in the US.

Many people think the song was about heroin. Paul Hemmings an ex-guitarist for the band denies that rumor. Either way, it is a perfectly constructed pop song. It’s been covered by a lot of artists but probably most successfully by Sixpence None the Richer. I’ve always liked The La’s version the best.

The Black Crowes – Hard To Handle

When I heard this song in 1990 I was thrilled because it sounded like the Faces of the 70s. It was plain rock and roll and had a timeless quality about it. I waited the entire 1980s for rock and roll like this to be back on the mainstream charts. The Replacements were the other rock band but not in the charts. It happened occasionally (Georgia Satellites and Guns and Roses) but not much. This song was originally recorded by Otis Redding, who wrote it with Allen Jones and Al Bell. It was the only cover song on The Black Crowes debut album which sold over five million copies.

The album also had songs like Jealous Again and She Talks To Angels. I knew things were changing when I saw the success of their album.

The two other versions that I like are Otis Redding and Grateful Dead version with Pigpen taking the lead.

The Replacements – Merry Go Round

This one is off of their last studio album All Shook Down. I was going to conclude with this one having one off of their studio albums but there is one more coming next week.

This is not my favorite off the album but it did have a commercial sound for that time and it’s something that I thought would have charted in the Billboard 100. Merry Go Round did peak at #1 on the alternative charts. The album peaked at #69 in the Billboard Album Chart in 1990.

“Merry Go Round” was written about the lives of Westerberg and his sister Mary (“They ignored me with a smile, you as a child”).

The band went to Los Angeles to make a video for Merry Go Round. With Westerberg’s okay, Warner Bros. hired Bob Dylan’s twenty-three-year-old son Jesse Dylan, who was just starting to direct.

AC/DC – Thunderstruck

As much as I love Angus Young’s intro to this…it’s his brother’s rhythm guitar that makes this song go. Brothers Angus and Malcolm Young wrote this song.

A side note to this song. In 2012 a couple of Iranian uranium-enrichment plants were hacked and their computers shut down but not before blasting Thunderstruck at maximum volume like you are probably doing right now or will be soon.

The album was recorded with producer Bruce Fairbairn at his Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, where he also produced Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet and the Aerosmith albums Permanent Vacation and Pump. It was the group’s first time working with Fairbairn.

Sinéad O’Connor – Nothing Compares 2 U

This song was everywhere in 1990. Prince wrote this song in 1984 but didn’t release it. He gave it to a group called The Family that was signed to his label. The Family included it on a 1985 album but it never went anywhere. Five years later it became the biggest hit of 1990. Prince recorded his own version as well, but it wasn’t released until 2018, two years after his death.

It was O’Connor’s manager, Fachtna O’Kelly, who suggested she record a version of the track. O’Kelly knew it would be perfect for her.

…

Max Picks …songs from 1987

1987

I listened to the radio in 1987 a little more than in the previous 3 years or so. The albums that really got my attention were George Harrison’s Cloud Nine and the Replacements album that’s one of my favorites of the 1980s…Please To Meet Me… it was recorded in the Memphis studio where Big Star recorded. It was also the year of the Grateful Dead…a huge top-ten album and single.

Grateful Dead – Touch Of Grey

I knew of the Grateful Dead from an older brother of a friend I had. I had heard of them as a kid in the seventies before I actually heard them. I knew some of their songs and the Garcia song Sugaree. I always pictured this heavy tough metal band with a name like that. Whenever they toured they would draw a massive amount of fans despite having no top ten hits…until this song. After this song, they drew a larger amount of attention and fans.

When this came out in the 80s, it was like Deadmania. With MTV suddenly everyone was talking about them. While big success is great it did cause some trouble at some of their concerts. Chilled-out Deadheads followed them around the country for decades. Some financed their travels by hawking food, T-shirts, and handicrafts…not to mention pot and LSD usually peacefully. Through the years more would add to the fold…some described it as a giant community more than a regular concert. In 1987 they suddenly had an influx of new young fans (Touchheads) and some didn’t know what the band was about. Along with them came some gate crashers and riots.

With the backing of the band, older Deadheads handed out flyers on how to act, trying to mellow out the newer crowd.

Robert Hunter started writing the lyrics to this song in 1980, and the Grateful Dead first performed it in 1982. They played it sporadically over the next few years and finally recorded it for their 1987 album In The Dark.

George Harrison – We We Was Fab

I loved this song when I heard it. To hear George sing about his time with The Beatles surprised me. Of all the Beatles George seemed to have the most resentment and some of it was understandable. A few years after this he would join the remaining Beatles and start on The Beatles Anthology. George wanted Paul to be in this video but Paul was tied up at the time. He asked George to put a left-handed bass player in the video with a walrus mask and tell everyone it was him.

George co-wrote the song with Jeff Lynne, who also co-produced the album that shortly pre-dates the two of them forming The Traveling Wilburys. ‘When We Was Fab’ is a musical nod to the psychedelic sound that the Beatles had made their own. George used a sitar, string quartet, and backward tape effects.

He also got some help from Ringo. Starr played drums on this track and a few others on the album. Harrison says that when he started writing the song, he had Ringo’s drumming in mind for the intro and the overall tempo

Replacements – Alex Chilton

The Replacement’s tribute song about Big Star and Box Tops lead singer, Alex Chilton. The song was off the album Please To Meet Me. One of my favorite bands of all time singing about a singer in one of my favorite bands. This would be my number 1 song of 1987.

The Replacements recorded Pleased To Meet Me in Memphis at Ardent Studios, the same studio as Big Star. The man behind the board was Jim Dickinson, who produced the storied third Big Star album. Alex came into the studio a few times while the Replacements were working on the record (and laid down a guitar fill for “Can’t Hardly Wait”), but the band avoided the awkwardness of playing “Alex Chilton” whenever Chilton was around.

R.E.M. – It’s The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

This song came off of the great Document album. With some REM songs, it takes a few listens for me but this one… the first time was enough to know I really liked it. It was recorded in the Sound Emporium in Nashville, Tennessee. The song peaked at #69 in 1988. The song was inspired by Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan and you can tell.

Michael Stipe said: “The words come from everywhere. I’m extremely aware of everything around me, whether I am in a sleeping state, awake, dream-state or just in day to day life. There’s a part in ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It’ that came from a dream where I was at Lester Bangs’ birthday party and I was the only person there whose initials weren’t L.B. So there was Lenny Bruce, Leonid Brezhnev, Leonard Bernstein… So that ended up in the song along with a lot of stuff I’d seen when I was flipping TV channels. It’s a collection of streams of consciousness.”

Los Lobos – La Bamba

This band had been around a long time before this song came out. They formed in 1973 and released their first album in 1978. They opened for bands such as The Clash and The Blasters so they got exposed to a lot of different audiences.

They recorded some Ritchie Valens covers for the movie La Bamba and their cover of the title track made them known internationally. The song was number 1 almost everywhere including the US, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand.

Replacements – Can’t Hardly Wait

Dave from A Sound Day asked us to name a song that we feel should have been a hit but wasn’t. Coulda Been a Contender…

When Dave asked the question…this band came to my head right away. The Replacements should have had a lot of hits. The songs I had to pick from were Alex Chilton, I Will Dare, I’ll Be You, Unsatisfied, Skyway, Bastards Of Young, Here Comes a Regular, and the one I ended up picking… Can’t Hardly Wait.

This song was first recorded for the 1985 album Tim but didn’t make the cut. It appeared on the 1987 album Pleased to Meet Me. It was also featured in the movie Can’t Hardly Wait and on the soundtrack in 1998.

The original, found on the Tim demo sessions is about committing suicide. The record company felt that Pleased To Meet Me, with the suicide song “The Ledge,” didn’t need any controversy over having two songs about suicide, so the lyrics to this song were altered. Jim Dickenson produced it in Memphis at Ardent Studios. The same studio that Big Star used. He also dubbed some horns on this song which made it incredibly radio-friendly.

This new video was released this year for the new Pleased to Meet Me (2020 Remaster) version. It was originally shot in 1987 for “The Ledge;” however, that video was pulled from MTV for “objectionable song content,” so the band re-used it for the follow-up, “Alex Chilton.” This version comes with an HD resolution upgrade and remastered audio.

Alex Chilton is very radio-friendly but the subject is not.

Can’t Hardly Wait

I’ll write you a letter tomorrow
Tonight, I can’t hold a pen
Someone’s got a stamp that I can borrow
I promise not to blow the address again

Lights that flash in the evening
Through a crack in the drapes

Jesus rides beside me
He never buys any smokes
Hurry up, hurry up, ain’t you had enough of this stuff
Ashtray floors, dirty clothes, and filthy jokes

See you’re high and lonesome
Try and try and try

Lights that flash in the evening
Through a hole in the drapes
I’ll be home when I’m sleeping
I can’t hardly wait

I can’t wait
Hardly wait
I can’t wait
Hardly wait
I can’t wait
Hardly wait
I can’t wait
Hardly wait
I can’t wait
Hardly wait

Replacements – Favorite Thing

Pure rock and roll from the 1980s. One of the few who was producing raw rock at that time. I love the riff that Bob Stinson played in this song. Paul Westerberg remembered: “Bob started on the wrong note so he bent it [up] to make it fit.”

Let It Be was the third full album by the band’s original lineup: lead singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars.

This was their last album on the small label Twin Tone Records and one of their best. The name of the album was Let It Be and it has a typical Replacements story. In the spring of 1984 the band was en route to a gig in Madison when inspiration struck. “We were riding around . . . kicking around silly album names and we thought, ‘The next song that comes on the radio, we’ll name it after that,’” said Westerberg.

Just then…the sound of Paul McCartney’s voice came out through the speakers: “When I find myself in times of trouble . . . ” It was fate… Let It Be would be the title of The Replacements’ new album.

This song is credited to all of the members of the band.

Paul Westerberg: We were supposed to stop, and I guess somebody didn’t stop, so we said, ‘Take it down to hell after the lead’—we weren’t sure what to do, you can hear me yell, ‘C!’ and everybody ended back on the C chord. It was a lucky guess. Then Chris started slowing it down. He was thinking, Aw, fuck this, let’s end it. Then we picked it back up. Later we overdubbed the piano and finger snaps.“Bob started on the wrong note so he bent it [up] to make it fit.”

Favorite Thing

Yeah!

Yeah, kid, it’s a really hipWith plenty of flash and you know itYeah, dad, you’re rocking real badDon’t break your neck when you fall down laughingDonna, wanna, Donna

Yeah, I know I look like hellI smoke and I drink and I’m feeling swellYeah, I hear you think it’s weirdBut I don’t give a single shit

Yeah, man, it’s a-hip, you know what I’m sayingIt’s a-hip, you know what I’m sayingAnd I hear itMy heart aches, it’s a-looking for a dollyLooking for a dolly, can’t you hear itWant to be something, want to be anything

Yeah, I know I feel this wayBut I ain’t gonna never changeYeah, I hear, I think, I knowRock don’t give a shit, you know

You’re my favorite thingYou’re my favorite thingBar nothing

You’re my favorite thingYou’re my favorite thingYou’re my favorite thingYou’re my, you’re my, you’re my, you’re myThing, thing,Thing, thing,Thing, thing, once in a whileThing, thing,Thing, thing,Thing, thing, once in a whileThing, thing, thingThing, thing, thingThing, thing, once in a while

Replacements – Androgynous

The Replacements are a band that deserved to be heard. I always thought they should have been in the spotlight just as much as R.E.M. I always looked at them as the Stones to R.E.M’s Beatles. They didn’t help themselves though… as they tended to self-sabotage many breaks they received.

Paul Westerberg was one of the best songwriters of the 1980s. They had more of a timeless sound than many of their peers until their last albums. You could listen to this album Let It Be and think it comes from any decade and that is what Westerberg wanted.

This song was way ahead of the curve on the subject matter. It was released in 1984. Their manager Peter Jesperson for a brief time worked for R.E.M. and the two bands were friends. When he came back to the Replacements he had a couple of Peter Bucks (guitar player for R.E.M.) guitars. Buck came by to get them and used that as an excuse to hit the clubs with Westerberg.

Westerberg and Buck even talked about having Buck produce this album. As Buck and Westerberg were drunkenly hitting the bars they decided to have some fun and wear loud makeup and women’s clothes for a laugh. It nearly got them into a bar fight with some less-liberal locals.

A girl called them androgynous, which was the first time Westerberg heard the word. He looked it up and based the song around it. The song is about Dick and Jane who don’t stick to traditional gender norms.

An artist in the movement for transgender rights was Laura Jane Grace, who performed this song with Miley Cyrus and Joan Jett at a benefit for The Happy Hippie Foundation, which encourages young people to accept others without judgment.

The Crash Test Dummies and Joan Jett have covered this song.

Androgynous

Here come Dick, he’s wearing a skirt
Here comes Jane, you know she’s sporting a chain
Same hair, revolution
Same build, evolution
Tomorrow who’s gonna fuss

And they love each other so
Androgynous
Closer than you know, love each other so
Androgynous

Don’t get him wrong and don’t get him mad
He might be a father, but he sure ain’t a dad
And she don’t need advice that’ll center her
She’s happy with the way she looks
She’s happy with her gender

And they love each other so
Androgynous
Closer than you know, love each other so
Androgynous

Mirror image, see no damage
See no evil at all
Kewpie dolls and urine stalls
Will be laughed at
The way you’re laughed at now

Now, something meets boy, and something meets girl
They both look the same
They’re overjoyed in this world
Same hair, revolution
Unisex, evolution
Tomorrow who’s gonna fuss

And tomorrow Dick is wearing pants
Tomorrow Janie’s wearing a dress
Future outcasts and they don’t last
And, today, the people dress the way that they please
The way they tried to do in the last centuries

And they love each other so
Androgynous
Closer than we know, love each other so
Androgynous

Replacements – I.O.U.

THIS sound is what I missed in the 1980s while growing up in that era. The Replacements were a throwback band in a lot of ways. The guitar could have come off of Exile on Main Street. The guitar tone does not sound pretty or clean…that sound went missing in the land of overproduction in the 80s.

IOU was more band biography as were several of their songs, Westerberg was eager to cancel out old relationships...“I want it in writing / I owe you nothing.”

The song appeared to be directed at former manager Peter Jesperson and guitar player Bob Stinson, but Westerberg said the literal inspiration came from an encounter with Iggy Pop: “I was on the bus with him after a show, and somebody asked for his autograph. He wrote, ‘IOU NOTHING.’ I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.”

This was off of the album Please To Meet Me recorded in Memphis with Jim Dickinson producing. Dickinson also produced Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers album a decade before. Bob Stinson was out of the band at this time and it was recorded as a trio of Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, and Mars.

Westerburg has said he wanted their albums to sound timeless…not as tied to the decade they were recorded in. For the most part, he got his wish.

This song kicked off the album Please To Meet Me with a bang. To these ears…the best pure rock band of the 80s.

I.O.U.

Give me a/get me out of this little stinkin’ fresh air
Ninety days in the electric chair
Step right up son
Gonna show you something ain’t never been done
You’re all fucked

Listen, it don’t cost much
I lay down the line that you touch
Never do what you’re told
There’ll be time, believe me, when you’re old
You’re all wrong and I’m right

Please be on your honor
Please be on your side […sucker?]

Listen to the story all right
I’m losing all I own on that dotted line
Step right up son
Gonna show you something ain’t never been done
You’re all wrong and I’m right

You see I want it in writing, I owe you nothing
Want it in writing, I owe you nothing
Want it in writing

Chris Bell – I Don’t Know ….Power Pop Friday

This one is a rocking song by Chris Bell. Chris was one the founding members of Big Star. Alex Chilton would get more publicity…mostly because of him singing for the successful Box Tops. In the pop world, it’s tragic that Big Star wasn’t heard by the masses. They could have become huge but it’s something that we will never know.

The sound that Big Star had largely originated from founding member Chris Bell. Alex Chilton and Chris Bell wrote most of the first album and they modeled themselves after Lennon and McCartney. Their first album was praised by practically everyone but not distributed…people wanted the album but the album was not in the stores for people to buy. Chris left the band not long after that failure.

He kept recording in Memphis with different musicians. In the late seventies, there were rumors that Big Star would reform and tour Europe where they were getting known but it never come to pass. In the fall of 1978, Bell got a call from Car Records and they wanted to release a single with a song called I am the Cosmos with You and Your Sister as the B side. It was the only solo release Chris would see in his lifetime. Unfortunately, Chris didn’t get to enjoy it long. He died in a car wreck on December 27, 1978. He was only 27 years old.

Big Star’s and Chris Bell’s recognition started to rise through the eighties with bands like The Replacements, REM, and more singing their praises. The first glimmer of international recognition for Chris alone came in 1992 after Rykodisc released the first edition of his I Am The Cosmos LP. It compiled not only the tracks he recorded at Ardent Studios, but also his 1974-5 sessions at Shoe Productions in Memphis, George Martin’s AIR Studios in London, and Château D’Hérouville in France.

If anyone of you are interested in Big Star I would recommend this documentary (Nothing Can Hurt Me Now) and this book about Chris Bell.

I Don’t Know

Whatever it is you’re thinking
Sit down and let’s give it a try
You know that I’ll always listen
But sometimes I’m wondering why
You don’t lie to me
And I wouldn’t lie to you, oh no
Baby I’m feeling lost
I don’t know what I’m going to do
You don’t know what you’re putting me through
I gotta get away from you
Once in a while you’re lonely
Tell me if needed a friend
I’m wondering what is the matter
But you say that you can’t explain
But you don’t lie to me
And I wouldn’t lie to you, oh no
But baby I’m feeling lost
I don’t know what I’m going through
You don’t know what you’re putting me through
I gotta get away from you
Do you want me
I want you
You don’t want me,
I want you
Don’t you know I’m losing sleep at night
Sleep at night
I don’t know what I’m going to do
You don’t know what you’re putting me through
I gotta get away from you
Whatever it is you’re thinking
Sit down and let’s give it a try
You know that I’ll always listen
But sometimes I’m wondering why
You don’t lie to me
And I wouldn’t lie to you, oh no
But baby I’m feeling lost
I don’t know what I’m going to do
You don’t know what you’re putting me through
I gotta get away from you

Replacements – Waitress In The Sky

Songs like this are what made The Replacements the Replacements.

Waitress in the Sky” was written for one of Paul Westerberg’s sisters…Julie. She was a career flight attendant. In the song, Westerberg’s character came on like every stewardess’s nightmare passenger. “I was playing the character of the creep who demands to be treated like a king. I’d heard all the stories from my sister about how [passengers] would yell at the flight attendants and how then they’d ‘accidentally’ spill something on them.”

Later on, when they signed to Warner Bros and an executive told them to make a music video. That is something that they absolutely would not do. Westerberg was willing to compromise though.

He did joke with the executive with a quote worth remembering… ‘Tell you what… if you get The Replacements on Hee-Haw then I’ll lip-synch to ‘Waitress in the Sky.’

Warner Bros were not amused. The conversation did lead to a live TV gig though. Westerberg didn’t think Warner Brothers would be able to swing a deal for a TV spot so he agreed. He would soon regret his decision. Yes, Warner Bros got them not only a TV gig but a live one. They were then scheduled on SNL and that led to being permanently banned from the show after Westerberg uttered a naughty word on national television.

They were stuck on the 18th floor waiting all day for SNL. To soothe the band’s nerves, soundman Monty Lee Wilkes smuggled some alcohol into the studio in a little road case. As they began to dip in, the show’s host, Harry Dean Stanton, said hello. Harry ended up joining in and becoming quite intoxicated. Word began to circulate that the host was getting drunk mere hours before the live show. Panic ensued until a production assistant dragged Stanton out of the band’s dressing room.

Sufficiently lubricated, their rehearsal set went off smoothly. Bob Stinson shocked everyone by donning a striped lady’s unitard. The only hitch occurred during “Bastards of Young” — Bob was late coming in on the solo. Westerberg would make sure he didn’t miss his cue during the live broadcast. Make sure he did… he cued Bob by saying to Bob, just off mic: “Come on, f****r.”

This was a low point for SNL…Michael Lorne had just returned and the show was rumored to be canceled…so he didn’t take this well. They were permanently banned from playing there again…although Westerberg played there later during his solo career.

The song was on the Tim album released in 1985. Tim was the fourth studio album by The Replacements. It was released in October 1985 on Sire Records (a subsidiary of Warner Brothers). It was their first major-label release.

Looking back on their career…it gets maddening. They bucked at playing nice with industry figures, purposely tanked do-or-die shows, and antagonized producers until they quit. They wanted to make it on their own terms but ended up sabotaging themselves. They could have been up there with R.E.M. but they couldn’t get out of their own way.

Julie was indeed a lifelong flight attendant…or Waitress in the sky…she retired in 2019 from Delta Airlines

Their performance on SNL…sorry for the quality but this is the only one the SNL police will allow.

Waitress In The Sky

She don’t wear no pants and she don’t wear no tie
Always on the ball, she’s always on strike
Struttin’ up the aisle, big deal, you get to fly
You ain’t nothin’ but a waitress in the sky
You ain’t nothin’ but a waitress in the sky
Paid my fare, don’t want to complain
You get to me, you’re always outta champagne
Treat me like a bum, don’t wear no tie
‘Cause you ain’t nothin’ but a waitress in the sky
You ain’t nothin’ but a waitress in the sky, oh hoh
And the sign says, “Thank you very much for not smoking”
My own sign says, “I’m sorry, I’m smokin'”
Don’t treat me special or don’t kiss my ass
Treat me like the way they treat ’em up in first class

Sanitation expert and a maintenance engineer
Garbage man, a janitor and you my dear
A real union flight attendant, my oh my
You ain’t nothin’ but a waitress in the sky
You ain’t nothin’ but a waitress in the sky
You ain’t nothin’ but a waitress in the sky

Oh oh, ba ba, oh oh, ba ba, oh oh, ba, ba, oh oh

Replacements – Achin’ To Be

A wonderful song from the band’s sixth album Don’t Tell A Soul. It was the first album with new guitarist Bob “Slim” Dunlap after Bob Stinson quit. They recorded their previous album Please To Meet Me as a trio with Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, and Chris Mars.

Westerberg has claimed the song’s protagonist was a composite of several people, though one inspiration was his younger sister Mary. She was a Minneapolis budding rock radio deejay, Mary was experiencing the same uncertainties Paul had gone through prior to the Replacements. (In the video showed Mary as both Paul’s shadow and reflection.)

The sound of this album turned some of the older fans off. In order to get more radio play the record company brought in Chris Lord-Alge to mix the album. The album had a lot of those eighties effects used to enhance the music. The result was more of a polished Replacements album.

They would release one more album after this one called All Shook Down in 1990. Chris Mars left the band in 1989 and was replaced in 1990 by Steve Foley. The band toured with Elvis Costello in 1991 and would play their farewell gig in Chicago on July 4, 1991.

In 2012 they would regroup with a different drummer and tour until 2015. They sold out some arenas that held around 14,000 people in 10 minutes in some areas. After they broke up their legend grew and they were heard more than they were when they were together originally. For my money…they were the best pure rock band in the 80s for these ears.

Achin’ To Be

Well she’s kind of like an artist
Sittin’ on the floor
Never finishes, she abandons
Never shows a soul

And she’s kind of like a movie
Everyone rushes to see
And no one understands it
Sittin’ in their seats

She opens her mouth to speak and
What comes out’s a mystery
Thought about, not understood
She’s achin’ to be

Well she dances alone in nightclubs
Every other day of the week
People look right through her
Baby doll, check your cheek

And she’s kind of like a poet
Who finds it hard to speak
Poems come so slowly
Like the colors down a sheet

She opens her mouth to speak and
What comes out’s a mystery
Thought about, not understood
She’s achin’ to be

I’ve been achin’ for a while now, friend
I’ve been achin’ hard for years

Well she’s kind of like an artist
Who uses paints no more
You never show me what you’re doing
Never show a soul

Well, I saw one of your pictures
There was nothin’ that I could see
If no one’s on your canvas
Well, I’m achin’ to be

She closes her mouth to speak and
Closes her eyes to see
Thought about an’ only loved
She’s achin’ to be
Just like me

Replacements – I Don’t Know

Paul Westerberg once said he wanted the Replacement albums to have a timeless sound and not tied to a decade…for the most part he got his wish. I love the irrelevance of the band…how they didn’t take themselves seriously.

The Replacements were a handful to record but they made some fantastic albums…for me some of the best of the 80s. This song is as subtle as a brick through a window. It’s the band’s open letter about the state of the Replacements and the 1980’s music industry. They were releasing what are now considered classic albums but were getting nowhere. The song is credited to Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, and Chris Mars.

Do we give it up? (I don’t know)
Should we give it hell? (I don’t know)
Are you makin’ a fortune? (I don’t know)
Or don’t you wanna tell? (I don’t know)
Should we give it up? (I don’t know)
Or hang around some more? (I don’t know)
Should we buy some beer? (I don’t know)
Can I use your hairspray?

One foot in the door, the other foot in the gutter
The sweet smell that you adore, yeah I think I’d rather smother

John Hampton was behind the board so Westerberg had fun with him with the line Who’s behind the board? (I don’t know) They tell me he’s a dope (I don’t know).

The lead single off of this album was The Ledge but MTV in their infinate wisdom decided not to play the song because it discussed suicide. I Don’t Know was sometimes used as the closing song on their reunion tour. I like the saxaphone and the energy of it…and it rocks.

Jim Dickinson: “Every day they were like a sine wave, they wouldn’t be drunk enough early on in the day to get anything. Then they’d be good and drunk, and it would be great. And then they’d be too drunk, and they’d get useless.”

“They couldn’t conceivably play the same song four or five times in a row, because they would get bored, so I would pick three or four songs, and we’d cut them like a set.”

I Don’t Know

One foot in the door, the other foot in the gutter
The sweet smell that you adore, yeah I think I’d rather smother

Should we top it off? (I don’t know)
It’s startin’ to smoke (I don’t know)
Who’s behind the board? (I don’t know)
They tell me he’s a dope (I don’t know)
What the fuck you sayin’? (I don’t know)
Our lawyer’s on the phone (I don’t know)
How much are you in for? (I don’t know)
What did we do now?

One foot in the door, the other one in the gutter
The sweet smell that they adore, I think I’d rather smother

One foot in the door, the other one in the gutter
The sweet smell that they adore, well I think I’d rather smother

(4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12)

Are you guys still around? (I don’t know)
Whatcha gonna do with your lives? (Nothin’!)

One foot in the door, the other one in the gutter
The sweet smell that you adore, hey I think I’d rather smother

One foot in this door, the other one in the gutter
The sweet smell that they adore, oh I think I’d rather smother

Replacements – Kiss Me On The Bus

This song is off of the album Tim released in 1985. This was their first album on Sire Records with Warner Brothers. They had left the indie Twin/Tone records after the album Let It Be. Another song title that I had to listen to and I’m glad I did.

Bob Stinson’s imprint was heavy on Kiss Me on the Bus, which he turned into a showcase for his breakneck riffing. When Bob was right…he could give you the quickest most perfect riffs…but when he was off…he was off. It could be from song to song some nights.

This would be Bob’s last album with the band. He would leave a little while after this. Slim Dunlap would take his place in 1988.

Being on a big label meant they got a slot on SNL. They sounded ragged but great on the show. They played two songs… Bastards of Young and Kiss Me On The Bus. Paul Westerberg muttered the F word during Bastards of Young and Lorne Michaels berated the band before they played this song as their last song.

It would be the last time because they were barred from future SNL performances.

After their performance, they went to a party and then back to the hotel. Bob Stinson who had some emotional along with chemical problems caused a lot of damage in his room at the hotel.

Later when Michaels got the $1,100 bill for the hotel damages, he hit the roof again. He was threatening to ban not just the Replacements but any Warner Bros. act from appearing on SNL. In one night, the Replacements had managed to destroy a decade of cozy relations between the show and the label.

Paul Westerberg: “Rock-and-roll doesn’t always make for great television, but we were trying to do whatever possible to make sure that was a memorable evening.”

I could not find the SNL video, but the below clip is a European television appearance. Bob’s guitar playing is the highlight of this video.

Kiss Me On The Bus

On the bus, that’s where we’re riding
On the bus, okay, don’t say “hi” then
Your tongue, your transfer
Your hand, your answer

On the bus, everyone’s looking forward
On the bus, I am looking forward
And it really ain’t okay
I might die before Monday
They’re all watching us

Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus
Oooo, if you knew how I felt now
You wouldn’t act so adult now
Hurry hurry, here comes my stop

On the bus, watch our reflection
On the bus, I can’t stand no rejection
C’mon let’s make a scene
Oh baby don’t be so mean
They’re all watching us

Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus
Oooo, if you knew how I felt now
You wouldn’t act so adult now
Hurry hurry, here comes my stop

Oooo, if you knew how I felt now
You wouldn’t act so adult now
They’re all watching us
Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus
Kiss me on the bus