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Post by Desert Dweller on Jun 11, 2024 17:38:00 GMT -5
Wait, is Apple Music actually able to replace songs in my library with newer released versions of those? Did I hallucinate this? Shouldn't it be making me buy a newer version? I think I am going crazy.
OMG, it seriously did this on some tracks that I *definitely* don't want replaced with newer versions because the newer versions are AUTO-TUNED/PITCH CORRECTED. This is no longer the same song. I don't care that the record company has wiped out the previous version and now call this the official version.
Yeesh, really glad I have actual physical CDs of some of this stuff, and an external drive with a lot of it, too. I will likely never get rid of pre-1997 released cds until they literally turn to dust. Or I do. Whichever comes first.
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Post by ganews on Jun 12, 2024 22:20:56 GMT -5
Unpopular music opinion: GWAR was funny the first time but then they ruined it because every year the voters would reward the guys in (rad) costumes doing forgettable covers, and Oderus died anyway.
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Post by MyNameIsNoneOfYourGoddamnBusin on Jun 13, 2024 20:08:47 GMT -5
Unpopular music opinion: GWAR was funny the first time but then they ruined it because every year the voters would reward the guys in (rad) costumes doing forgettable covers, and Oderus died anyway. Wait, is the popular opinion that GWAR was ever good?
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jun 13, 2024 20:34:15 GMT -5
Unpopular music opinion: GWAR was funny the first time but then they ruined it because every year the voters would reward the guys in (rad) costumes doing forgettable covers, and Oderus died anyway. Wait, is the popular opinion that GWAR was ever good? I do agree that their first AV Undercover appearance was very funny. I'm tired of them appearing every year though. I'm sure they will be back in the new season just announced.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jun 14, 2024 22:47:48 GMT -5
The Tony Awards are this weekend. The favorite to win for Best Play is a play about a fictionalized version of Fleetwood Mac trying to record an album. I mean, they don't call the band Fleetwood Mac, but it is definitely a take on Fleetwood Mac. So, now we've had a tv series about this, and a Tony nominated play. But there won't be a real film biopic about them because the band members likely wouldn't allow it.
Also, want to reiterate here that when those Harry Potter films came out I never would have predicted that Daniel Radcliffe would win a Tony Award.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jun 17, 2024 2:00:01 GMT -5
We don't have anywhere dedicated to theater, but since I'm talking about *musical* theater, I'll continue to post about it here. It cannot be overstated what a triumph Sonia and Maria Friedman just pulled off at the 2024 Tony Awards. Taking Stephen Sondheim's most notorious disastrous flop "Merrily We Roll Along" and 40 years later turning it into Broadway's hottest ticket, and then winning the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical is iconic. And I use that word correctly. This show is a notorious Broadway flop, it nearly ended the careers of everyone involved, including Sondheim's. It's been critically panned every time someone tries to revive it. There's even a documentary made about what a disaster the original show was. Over the last 40 years various people have tried to revive it because it is one of Sondheim's best scores. But it has long been considered impossible to successfully stage it. The book for it has some casting requirements that have previously been thought to be impossible to fulfill, as the characters need to span ages 22-40. As in they need to be those different ages all within the same show. Maria Friedman discovered the secret to making it a success: Cast great actors in their 30s with baby faces. (I think it also helps that people just seem to look younger now than they did in the 80s. So, you don't need to put weird aging makeup on a 31 year old to make him look 40.) This is total vindication for Stephen Sondheim, George Furth and Hal Prince, who all were convinced the show was a masterpiece, and who were all gutted when it was savaged by critics and flopped back in 1982. And sure, Stephen Sondheim isn't some horribly overlooked composer who needed the recognition. But this is truly a great score, and everyone who knows the show has deeply felt like Sondheim was right, and it *should* work. And now it finally has. Woooo! Jonathan Tunick, EGOT winner, won the Tony Award tonight for the orchestrations for this show. The shocker here? This is the first Tony Award for orchestrations he's won for a Sondheim show. This Tony category didn't exist back in the 70s and 80s when he was writing all of Sondheim's orchestrations. This is the 3rd set of orchestrations he's written for this show over 40 years (which gives you just a taste of its messy theater history). He's won the orchestration Tony award before, just not for a Sondheim show. Ah, Jonathan Groff, see now, all your time spent on Broadway, all the work you've put in, the many shows you've done, the way you were robbed for a Tony Award for "Spring Awakening"... all you had to do to finally win a Tony Award was take on the challenging lead role of a ridiculously hard Sondheim show which has been an infamous flop for the last 40 years. See? Easy peasy! Congrats on your first Tony win! And you, Daniel Radcliffe, child actor from a major blockbuster film franchise, no one took you seriously when you first announced you wanted to be a stage actor. You got great reviews for your first show, but no Tony nomination. You got truly great reviews for your second show, and critics said you were snubbed for a Tony nomination. But, see, all you had to do to be taken seriously is take on a leading role in a ridiculously hard Sondheim show which has been an infamous flop for the last 40 years, AND flawlessly perform one of Sondheim's Top 5 most difficult songs every night for months. Easy peasy! Congrats on your first Tony win! What this group pulled off was a true 10/10 on the difficulty scale. Bravo to all! Finally, you know how movies about movies often get nominated/win at the Oscars? "Merrily We Roll Along" is a show about two guys who write Broadway musicals. And the play that won Best Play is a show about a rock band trying to record an album. So, the Tonys award shows about writing music.
Edited to add: And if you don't believe me that Radcliffe performs an incredibly difficult song in this show, here's the audio proof. There is no released video from this show. Yet. I sincerely hope they've filmed it, because we really need a good recording of each of Sondheim's shows. The best performance on video of this is a grainy bootleg from an early 2000s production ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3RAF6jqOYc). But here's Radcliffe on audio, with the lyrics up, so you can get an idea of exactly why this is so hard, and exactly why Sondheim is considered a master lyricist:
Edited again: It is so surreal to hear freaking Daniel Radcliffe singing some of Sondheim's most iconic songs.
Congrats to Groff and Radcliffe on their wins and Mendez on her nomination. Total vindication for Sondheim and Furth. And ha ha ha ha ha to the decades of critics saying it was impossible to cast this show correctly!
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Post by pantsgoblin on Jun 21, 2024 14:16:53 GMT -5
NYT's list of the "Top 10 R.E.M. deep cuts" (one track per album up through New Adventures) is pretty decent. With my comments:
“Pilgrimage” Obviously a great song but not better than "Talk About The Passion" [released as a single] and "Shaking Through"
“Pretty Persuasion” Absolutely. Best song on Reckoning by a country mile.
“Life and How to Live It” A good one but I think the second half's ballads are the real keepers on Fables.
“These Days” I'll allow it.
“Fireplace” I so rarely throw on Document that I can't even remember this one.
“Turn You Inside-Out” Always makes me think of desert landscapes so it's a personal favorite.
“Me in Honey” I guess they're not considering "Country Feedback" a deep cut. Sure, why not. EDIT: Duh, of course "Country Feedback" was released as a single because it's probably my favorite R.E.M. video.
“Monty Got a Raw Deal” Should have been "Sweetness Follows"
“Star 69” One of the weaker tracks on Monster, in my opinion. I would have gone with "King of Comedy".
“So Fast, So Numb” 100%. A top-ten R.E.M. song of any type.
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Post by MyNameIsNoneOfYourGoddamnBusin on Jun 21, 2024 18:32:58 GMT -5
NYTI don't get their criteria. If "released as a single" means not a deep cut, "Pretty Persuasion" should also be disqualified.
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Post by Some Kind of Munster on Jun 21, 2024 21:44:51 GMT -5
“Me in Honey” I guess they're not considering "Country Feedback" a deep cut. Sure, why not. EDIT: Duh, of course "Country Feedback" was released as a single because it's probably my favorite R.E.M. video.Hell yeah, just heard “Me In Honey” the other day and thought about how it may be my favourite REM song
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Dellarigg
AV Clubber
This is a public service announcement - with guitars
Posts: 7,597
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Post by Dellarigg on Jun 28, 2024 3:43:15 GMT -5
Growing up in Newcastle in the 70s and 80s, all the men looked like Bon Scott - long-haired, double-denimed, tattooed, teeth missing, drunk, and full of that cheeky good cheer that could turn to head-butting violence in an instant. Not as charming as he could be, though, and not as good at singing.
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Post by songstarliner on Jun 30, 2024 20:08:07 GMT -5
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moimoi
AV Clubber
Posts: 5,049
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Post by moimoi on Jul 3, 2024 21:30:13 GMT -5
Dellarigg I am forever in your debt for evangelizing on behalf of early Simple Minds. I'm listening to Real to Real Cacophony and it's and absolute delight. Totally ahead of its time.
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Dellarigg
AV Clubber
This is a public service announcement - with guitars
Posts: 7,597
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Post by Dellarigg on Jul 4, 2024 5:31:02 GMT -5
Dellarigg I am forever in your debt for evangelizing on behalf of early Simple Minds. I'm listening to Real to Real Cacophony and it's and absolute delight. Totally ahead of its time. Yr welcome. Empires and Dance, Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call, and New Gold Dream are my mainstays, but it's all good. (And then it goes off a cliff, but never mind.)
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Post by Jimmy James on Jul 5, 2024 19:56:17 GMT -5
I'm like 99.999% sure Pablo Picasso must have gotten called an asshole at some point in his life, and if he didn't, he sorely deserved it.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jul 11, 2024 17:20:49 GMT -5
Saw this headline on Vox: "Why are so many female pop stars flopping?" I initially dismissed this with, "Because the music is boring", but then I figured that problem isn't exclusive to female pop stars, so I clicked open the article. www.vox.com/culture/359734/female-pop-stars-charts-billboard-rap-country-popularityI'm not entirely sure I understand what this writer is saying. Anyone else here have any thoughts? And to be clear, even though I've posted here that I mostly hate modern pop music, I've actually listened to a lot of the stuff being referenced here. She seems to be saying that maybe listeners are tired of the changing sounds and the way female artists change their "persona" with every release, whereas male artists are more "predictable". This is a tough premise for me to parse because to my ears all modern pop, R&B, hip hop has sounded the same for at least the last 15 years, maybe 20. I think the only way I can get close to accurate dates on any of this stuff is when the beat style was popularly in use. Is this argument just a way of saying that listeners might perceive these rappers and country singers as "authentic" while they see "artificiality" in these female pop stars? And have we really reached a point where we are writing think pieces to say that women should stop making "artistically challenging" music and just make "simple", "fun" songs? As if modern pop isn't all oversimplified to the point of blandness already? What is happening??
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moimoi
AV Clubber
Posts: 5,049
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Post by moimoi on Jul 11, 2024 20:05:47 GMT -5
Saw this headline on Vox: "Why are so many female pop stars flopping?" I initially dismissed this with, "Because the music is boring", but then I figured that problem isn't exclusive to female pop stars, so I clicked open the article. www.vox.com/culture/359734/female-pop-stars-charts-billboard-rap-country-popularityI'm not entirely sure I understand what this writer is saying. Anyone else here have any thoughts? And to be clear, even though I've posted here that I mostly hate modern pop music, I've actually listened to a lot of the stuff being referenced here. She seems to be saying that maybe listeners are tired of the changing sounds and the way female artists change their "persona" with every release, whereas male artists are more "predictable". This is a tough premise for me to parse because to my ears all modern pop, R&B, hip hop has sounded the same for at least the last 15 years, maybe 20. I think the only way I can get close to accurate dates on any of this stuff is when the beat style was popularly in use. Is this argument just a way of saying that listeners might perceive these rappers and country singers as "authentic" while they see "artificiality" in these female pop stars? And have we really reached a point where we are writing think pieces to say that women should stop making "artistically challenging" music and just make "simple", "fun" songs? As if modern pop isn't all oversimplified to the point of blandness already? What is happening?? I think this is just a dumb article. Like, it reminds me of what a high school kid would write for the school paper. I think she's trying to make some point about double standards, but that's hardly new. Female artists have ALWAYS been judged by their looks compared to male artists of 'substance'. Only a very young person would think this is a new enough phenomenon to comment upon what are just the most recent examples. As for the ambition of female pop artists, I don't think the writer knows what she's talking about. There are huge marketing teams behind the selling of these artists--major label signee Chappell Roan is no exception. That's why there seems to be more hype than the music can frequently live up to.
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Post by Celebith on Jul 12, 2024 0:44:05 GMT -5
Saw this headline on Vox: "Why are so many female pop stars flopping?" I initially dismissed this with, "Because the music is boring", but then I figured that problem isn't exclusive to female pop stars, so I clicked open the article. www.vox.com/culture/359734/female-pop-stars-charts-billboard-rap-country-popularityI'm not entirely sure I understand what this writer is saying. Anyone else here have any thoughts? And to be clear, even though I've posted here that I mostly hate modern pop music, I've actually listened to a lot of the stuff being referenced here. She seems to be saying that maybe listeners are tired of the changing sounds and the way female artists change their "persona" with every release, whereas male artists are more "predictable". This is a tough premise for me to parse because to my ears all modern pop, R&B, hip hop has sounded the same for at least the last 15 years, maybe 20. I think the only way I can get close to accurate dates on any of this stuff is when the beat style was popularly in use. Is this argument just a way of saying that listeners might perceive these rappers and country singers as "authentic" while they see "artificiality" in these female pop stars? And have we really reached a point where we are writing think pieces to say that women should stop making "artistically challenging" music and just make "simple", "fun" songs? As if modern pop isn't all oversimplified to the point of blandness already? What is happening?? I only got about halfway through that article. Is 'artificiallity' or 'authenticity' relevant to listeners? Are Swift or Billie Eilish somehow inauthentic? Are artists not allowed to evolve or experiment? People are going to like what they like, and female artists have historically been less 'popular' than males (there's more data out there, but those are fairly representative). Country and R&B charts have been particularly male-centric forever. I'd argue that currently, female artists are more culturally significant, and that Swift is going to have more long term relevance than any current country phenom. Chart success is increasingly meaningless, and most pop music is 'disposable.' Part of this is down to my listening habits, but while there are tons of 'hits of 80s through today' stations, I haven't found many country stations that play a similar format. I can't think of the last time I've heard Garth Brooks, Alabama or George Strait on the radio. Maybe Morgan Wallen will stick around, but I bet that by the end of the decade he'll just be somebody that we used to know.
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Post by Celebith on Jul 12, 2024 0:46:01 GMT -5
major label signee Chappell Roan is no exception. That's why there seems to be more hype than the music can frequently live up to. Good Luck, Babe! reminds me of a specific '80s song every time I hear it, but I can't put my finger on which song it is. Which has nothing to do with anything else here, but it's what I cam here to post in the first place.
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Post by Celebith on Jul 12, 2024 0:54:24 GMT -5
I wouldn't oversell the youth of the genre. Hip-hop as a recognizable form is only 15-20 younger than rock n' roll as a recognizable form. A child at a 1973 Queens block party is ~60 years old today. Hey! I was a child at 1973 Queens block parties, and I'm only 52!
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Post by Ben Grimm on Jul 12, 2024 5:43:19 GMT -5
Part of this is down to my listening habits, but while there are tons of 'hits of 80s through today' stations, I haven't found many country stations that play a similar format. I can't think of the last time I've heard Garth Brooks, Alabama or George Strait on the radio. Maybe Morgan Wallen will stick around, but I bet that by the end of the decade he'll just be somebody that we used to know. I think the cutoff seems to be the 60s or 70s for the Country stuff that "Stuck." Dolly Parton is still revered, so are Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash and some of the other early artists. Dolly and Willie first got big in the early 70s, but I can't think of anyone newer who seems like anything other than "that Country pop act from the 80s" or something similar.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jul 12, 2024 11:17:37 GMT -5
I think this is just a dumb article. Like, it reminds me of what a high school kid would write for the school paper. I think she's trying to make some point about double standards, but that's hardly new. Female artists have ALWAYS been judged by their looks compared to male artists of 'substance'. Only a very young person would think this is a new enough phenomenon to comment upon what are just the most recent examples. As for the ambition of female pop artists, I don't think the writer knows what she's talking about. There are huge marketing teams behind the selling of these artists--major label signee Chappell Roan is no exception. That's why there seems to be more hype than the music can frequently live up to. Yeah, that's where I really got stuck, and why I asked if all that stuff was just her saying, "Male artists are perceived as authentic while female artists are seen as artificial". And that is, as you say, a really old problem in pop music. Is it actually strange that the chart is being dominated by male artists right now? I can explain why the Kendrick Lamar/Drake thing is so popular. I know why bro country is popular. Are these female pop stars hugely underselling vs their expectations? Is the whole issue really a marketing issue? I don't know. I just read that article and my first thought was "Ye gods, I'm old". And then I tried to figure out what she was really saying. So, I wanted to run it by people who know a bit more about current pop music than I do. I have a really hard time believing that the audience has dismissed female pop stars because their concepts are too "artistically challenging". When she called on them to simply make fun Summer songs, I was like, "Is she for real?"
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jul 12, 2024 11:21:40 GMT -5
Part of this is down to my listening habits, but while there are tons of 'hits of 80s through today' stations, I haven't found many country stations that play a similar format. I can't think of the last time I've heard Garth Brooks, Alabama or George Strait on the radio. Maybe Morgan Wallen will stick around, but I bet that by the end of the decade he'll just be somebody that we used to know. I think the cutoff seems to be the 60s or 70s for the Country stuff that "Stuck." Dolly Parton is still revered, so are Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash and some of the other early artists. Dolly and Willie first got big in the early 70s, but I can't think of anyone newer who seems like anything other than "that Country pop act from the 80s" or something similar. No, the reason is that country stations are pretty strongly divided between actual country and pop country. So, Alabama, Garth Brooks and George Strait will be heard on a real country station. But a station playing pop country won't go back into the 80s because country was still mostly country then, and wasn't pop country. There was a whole controversy about this in the 90s when pop music started to take over country. My parents almost exclusively listened to country radio stations in the 80s and 90s, so I heard a LOT of that stuff. Alabama was my dad's favorite country group. My mom and I went to see George Strait in concert in the mid-90s. He was great.
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Post by Ben Grimm on Jul 12, 2024 14:54:14 GMT -5
I think the cutoff seems to be the 60s or 70s for the Country stuff that "Stuck." Dolly Parton is still revered, so are Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash and some of the other early artists. Dolly and Willie first got big in the early 70s, but I can't think of anyone newer who seems like anything other than "that Country pop act from the 80s" or something similar. No, the reason is that country stations are pretty strongly divided between actual country and pop country. So, Alabama, Garth Brooks and George Strait will be heard on a real country station. But a station playing pop country won't go back into the 80s because country was still mostly country then, and wasn't pop country. There was a whole controversy about this in the 90s when pop music started to take over country. My parents almost exclusively listened to country radio stations in the 80s and 90s, so I heard a LOT of that stuff. Alabama was my dad's favorite country group. My mom and I went to see George Strait in concert in the mid-90s. He was great. I would not put Alabama, George Strait, or Garth Brooks on the "real" side of a real/pop country split. Especially not Brooks. I primarily listened to country until I got out of high school, in 93, and part of the reason I stopped listening to it was that everything that was playing by then was pop country, and Brooks was the epitome of that to me.
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Post by ganews on Jul 12, 2024 15:00:57 GMT -5
I wish the KEXP program Swingin' Doors ("all kinds of hardcore twang!") was still around for me to recommend it. I had to console myself with the Cocaine and Rhinestones podcast.
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moimoi
AV Clubber
Posts: 5,049
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Post by moimoi on Jul 12, 2024 19:04:09 GMT -5
major label signee Chappell Roan is no exception. That's why there seems to be more hype than the music can frequently live up to. Good Luck, Babe! reminds me of a specific '80s song every time I hear it, but I can't put my finger on which song it is. Which has nothing to do with anything else here, but it's what I cam here to post in the first place. The synths are a slightly sped up " Last Christmas" (same chords too) and her vocal affectations are clearly Kate Bush/ Lene Lovitch.
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Post by Celebith on Jul 16, 2024 20:40:21 GMT -5
Good Luck, Babe! reminds me of a specific '80s song every time I hear it, but I can't put my finger on which song it is. Which has nothing to do with anything else here, but it's what I cam here to post in the first place. The synths are a slightly sped up " Last Christmas" (same chords too) and her vocal affectations are clearly Kate Bush/ Lene Lovitch. I'll have to check out the last christmas comparison. I realized that it kinda reminds me of Gwen Stefani's Cool, but that also reminds me of the same from the early 80s.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jul 17, 2024 17:45:36 GMT -5
Looks like Ye Old Country has officially restarted AVC Undercover today. GWAR is the first performer. They have "I'm Just Ken" from the Barbie soundtrack. While this was fun, gotta say it was a little underwhelming. Maybe I've just had enough of GWAR at AVC Undercover. Danette Chavez posts the song list here: www.avclub.com/the-official-song-list-for-a-v-undercover-season-9-1851592868 along with some general AV Club news
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Post by pantsgoblin on Jul 24, 2024 13:03:59 GMT -5
Eminem's latest edgelord shit includes a reference to Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer killed by the gun fired by Alec Baldwin and there was actually a sizable story in the Santa Fe New Mexican about the lyrics. That's how much the local media is ruing the loss of their meal ticket story after the judge tossed the case.
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Post by Some Kind of Munster on Jul 25, 2024 13:12:24 GMT -5
Reading Dan Ozzi’s book “Sellout” about the mid-‘90s/early-‘00s major label punk rock feeding frenzy and the chapter on Green Day led me to look up exactly when it was that I saw Green Day open for Bad Religion. Turns out it was October of ’93, so roughly 6 months before they released Dookie. This was a pretty pivotal show for me – one of my first punk shows (if not my very first? Details are blurry), with my older sister and a few of her hip friends. Bad Religion headlining with Green Day, the Doughboys and Seaweed opening. I was mainly there to see the Doughboys but I’d also recently heard Bad Religion’s Recipe For Hate and was about to become obsessed with that band as well.
Looking at it now, it’s kind of funny to note that the Doughboys were the only one of those bands signed to a major at that point (or at least the only ones to have released a major label album – BR and Green Day may have already been under contract by that time), and they’d had some moderate regional success with a couple of videos from their excellent ’93 album Crush added to regular rotation on MuchMusic. I don’t really remember the word “sellout” getting thrown around, but I do remember that most of the serious dude punks headed out to the lobby or the bar at the back of the room during their set because Doughboys were for teenagers and girls now.
Anyway, I also stumbled across Green Day’s entire set from that show on Youtube, and while I haven’t really listened to them at all since 1994 (I liked Dookie upon its release and didn’t really consider it a sellout move… until the band got popular. Yeah. I know.) this is a good reminder of why I immediately got someone to tape their early compilation 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours for me after that show. These guys were pretty good!
(so there’s another video that has the full set but the quality sucks – this one only has the first half but it’s more than enough to get the gist)
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Post by Desert Dweller on Jul 26, 2024 20:51:08 GMT -5
Overheard during NBC's Olympic Opening Ceremony coverage: Kelly Clarkson exclaiming, "Wow, they are mixing classical music with heavy metal! That is so cool!" as if this hasn't been done by metal bands literally as long as metal has existed.
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