---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Note: The file below may have several references to old addresses for the //Skyway\\. The new, correct addresses are: ** Skyway listserver: majordomo@novia.net ** Skyway submissions, to write to Matt: skyway@novia.net --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- // The Skyway \\ School Year 1993-4 -- Issue #17 May 22nd, 1994 (c) 1994 Bastards of Young (BOY/BetaOmegaYamma) Productions --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- ** Subscriptions, comments, contributions, anything you want to read: ** --> skyway@phoenix.creighton.edu <-- ** Manager: ** i261%nemomus@academic.nemostate.edu (Matthew Tomich) --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- The manager of this list, Matthew Tomich, and the school's facilities that this list is produced from, Creighton University of Omaha, Nebraska, are not responsible for the contents of the following mailing except for that which they themselves have originally contributed. --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- "Hangin' downtown...ain't got no other place to go!" Sunday, May 22nd, 1994 My day off from my goddamn job. ------------------------------- 0) Mowin' lawns again (and existin' at the house) ... M@ 1) Yeah, welcome to the list... Wendy, Keith Monioka, Carolyn Graves, Pafumi 2) Guitar hero Paul! (Brent Daniel) 3) Lucky's Revenge (Westerberg CD bootleg from Whiskey A-Go Go) available! Live video of Westerberg from San Diego 7/22/93 (Ric Rube) 4) Paul's mystery laugh during "Can't Hardly Wait" on SNL explained (Kevin Curry) 5) Summary of Replacements net services (Diego Navarrete) 6) Huh? Paul in Playboy? (Charles Ford) 7) TAPER'S QUARTERLY repost: Collecting the 'Mats part II, 'Seen Your Video?' (Charles Ford, author himself) 8) //Skyway\\ band compilation update! (Mark Timmins) 9) My stupid .sig, again! ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Fri, 20 May 1994 19:26:28 +0100 From: Matthew Tomich Summer is here, dammit! For the moment, I'm no longer in Kirksville, Missouri but in my 'hometown' of Omaha, Nebraska...and yes, for all those that were with the //Skyway\\ last summer, I'm mowing the green stuff again for the time being. That is, until Memorial Day, after which I return to rural Missouri to live off of a Biology research grant and do stuff with deer mice (don't worry; these are guarenteed to be hanta-virus free) and sit on my sub-leased porch with a boom box and an ice cold one. Of Gatorade, that is. Really, coming home this time around has really made this place seem like rented space more than a resting space. "Used to live at home, now I stay at the house..." makes for sense than ever before... Haven't seen jack for concerts recently, other than a couple of local bands. If Superchunk comes anywhere near you, it's a guarenteed good time. A bunch of midgets jumping around with loud guitars...punk heaven! Close friend of mine in Kansas City got into a car accident...she's okay...but I went down to visit her and stayed with her family and I couldn't believe what I saw: a fully functioning nuclear family! It was like seeing a bald eagle or something from the endangered species list. Really, alot of fun. If you see one at the store, pick it up while you can! Now that school is out, the issues should be coming out more often instead of this once-a-month thing like they have since the fall...so it shouldn't be long before you get another one of these quota-busters in your mailbox... ...Love You Till Friday...! -- M@ P.S. Got another great slacker quote, this time from Tim Blankenbaker... "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." -Del Lewis, President and CEO, National Public Radio Beauty, eh?! ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 17:04:41 -0700 From: wgchisholm@ucdavis.edu oops, this is my first written response and it has to be quick because school is a beckoning, even on a friday. but i was inspired to write for some reason about the one and only show i saw of the replacements in davis, ca (really bad accoustics in our auditorium, which probably made the feedback more abnoxious -- yahooooo!~) about two years ago for the all shook down tour. i can't remember much of what they played, we were all so wasted, some of us crawled out ... but i remember a dorm friend of mine who went because her boyfriend thought they were cool (ha) said that this girl walked up to "one of the guys with funny hair" and asked him if she could kiss him (they were lingering, why i didn't stick around is hard to tell) and she did and she walked off and he muttered something, screeched a little, jumped off the stage and ran after her. heh heh. then, *yes i missed more*, my lesser drunk friends ended up at one of the three bars in davis and drank with them while they caused quite a big ruckus, especially in davis standards where plain old food fights or even multi-culturalism is odd. other than that, i remember long car rides of complaining while i blasted certain albums that even my *cool older alternative sister* couldn't stand. actually, nobody understood. it was a crisis. but i stuck by, even when my mother complained about me singing things about stewardesses. it made high school less awful. or more pleasantly awful ... and it has aggravated a lot of the surrounding community here in davis -- although there are quite a few followers here. i call it musical education. gotta go but if anyone knows of any concert dates in the san francisco northern cal area, please post because i missed paul in leeds, england just a few months ago while in school there. i seem to be so obliviously out of it that i miss all the good stuff. i guess it comes with the life style. possibly more later ... and for profile information i'm considering my fifth year at ucdavis and am a "visual artist." ha ha, whatever that means. forty ouncers, toxic paints and chemicals and on-going video cameras ... and some yams. ha ha. any expansions on this can be sent to my address. i'm willing to try anything at least once ... or twice. wgchisholm@chip.ucdavis.edu or something like that. wgchisholm@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu yadda yadda, wendy ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Sun, 17 Apr 1994 20:05:53 -0500 (CDT) From: Keith K Morioka Hey Everyone, My fist exposure to the Mats was when I was fourteen, Let it Be just got released, and this local record store by my house was playing it. Well, the first song I ever heard from the Mats was Black Diamond, and in my younger days, I was a big Kiss fan, so I immediately fell in love with the Mats, I bought the tape that day, and ever since then, I have been a die hard Mats fan. I still listen to the Mats a lot, and I can't say I have a favorite album, because they are all so good, and the same goes for songs, i don't think there is a song that I don't like. I have been trying to aquire as many bootlegs as I can, but there are sooo many. I have about fifteen Mat's and four Westerberg boots. I am always willing to trade, so If anyone has some cool boots, Email me and I will be happy to stirke a trade. I think that my favorite Boot is Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ on 4/2/86. It is an excellent recording and they do some awesome songs, some that I don't have on any other boots, like a cool version of Nowhere Man from the Beatles. I really like the demo of "Birthday Carol", I am really getting into that song. Did anyone get the Westerberg Demos? I heard that he had some demos called 7 songs, and some of the original demos made the tape like Black Eyed Susan. I am not sure if this is true, but that's what I heard. Well, I just subscribed about a week ago, and I love this group, I always wondered if there was a Mat's mailing group, but did not find it til a couple of weeks ago. I am really looking forward to the next Skyway. Later everyone Keith mori0019@gold.tc.umn.edu ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Fri, 6 May 1994 08:37:36 -0500 From: Carolyn.G.Graves.5@nd.edu Dear Matt, After 6 or 7 months of reading Skyway, I am finally writing to you...but unfortunately it will be the last time I do for a while, since I am graduating in two weeks and have no idea when I will next be linked up to the world of computer mail. However, I figured it would be a good chance for me to give you my personal basic 'Replacements and me' story to add to your collection of readers. Hopefully I'll keep getting copies of Skyway from friends! Anyway, about myself, I'm 23 and a 5th year architecture student at Notre Dame. As I mentioned, I am a mere two weeks from graduating, at which time I will be moving out to Seattle to live and work as an underpaid architectural intern in a large firm there. As all arkies here are required to do, I spent my third year in Rome, which was probably the most formative experience of my life to date. One finds out a lot about oneself after a year in a foriegn country with poor communication skills, and trying to live (study, eat, date, fight, draw, travel, etc.) with 30 people you know more about than you ever wished to. I'm pretty anal when it comes to my work (though I hate to admit that) but have good capactiy for kicking back and relaxing when I'm not around my school work . I'm pretty much single (make that very much), love watching college basketball, think Frank Lloyd Wright is the greatest thing to hit America and buy fortune cookies by the bag full. That pretty much covers it. At any rate....at this time last year, the Replacements to me were no more than the random name of a group on a few of my mixed tapes other people had made. Looking back, it makes those first 22 years seem like something was missing. Over the summer I met up with a long lost friend (and Skyway subscriber) Kevin Curry whom I had gone to high school with and lost track of, only to be reunited by the wonders of cyber-correspondence. We went out to catch a movie and in the car Kevin was playing LET IT BE. He told me it was an essential item for any music collection and gave me an overview of all the songs. A couple weeks later on a shopping spree I decied to buy it purely on the recommendation. A few songs took some getting used to, but I became quite attached to it. Meanwhile, after I got back to school, Kevin sent me a copy of 14 SONGS and TIM, the next album he suggested I buy. As these, too, began to become fixtures in my life Kevin sent me a copy of Skyway and I decied to subscirbe to see what this Mats facination he had was really all about. It was amusing at first to drag a copy to class...my friends wanted to know what it was about and I just told them it was a bunch of people writing about how the Replacements changed their lives and such. Little did I know.... But by and by as Kevin kept sending me tapes, I began paying more attention to the Mats and they slowly crept into my life. It finally hit home one day when I was listening to "Bent Out of Shape," and heard the line about Sleepytime Tea, a cup of which happened to be a nightly ritual in my life as I curled up in bed. Then and there I knew. Well, I knew that Paul knew, and I felt comforted. From there on out I was hooked, discovering songs I'd never really listened to, lines that described life perfectly and I too became one of those people who's lives were affected by the Mats. It is wonderful to know that whatever mood I am in, and whatever happens in my life, I can find a song to remind me that I'm not the only one. That someone, somewhere understands. So I don't have any nifty Paul stories and I can't even tell you all the names of the band members. I'm just a young fan, growing and learning my every day. I'm not sure why I took to the Mats so readily (though I don't see how anyone couldn't) but it might have been the fact that this year, and particularly this semester, of my life has been full of much soul searching and confusion in deciding on a place to live, finding employment, winding up old friendships and discovering new ones. Well, that's about it, I guess. Just wanted to say thanks for everything and best of juck to you! I'll miss the Skyway but hope to keep becomeing a better Mats fan everyday! Hope to be back again soon! Carolyn ***************************************************** "...All good things - trout as well as eternal salvation - come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy." -Norman Maclean ***************************************************** Carolyn Graves (Carolyn.G.Graves.5@nd.edu) 222 E. Willow Drive South Bend, Indiana 46637 (219)273-6324 ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Thu, 19 May 94 18:18:12 EDT From: PAFUMI@aol.com I love skyway! Not as much as I love the Replacements...but close. I'll save all my favorite songs, albums, concerts, remembrances for the survey except to say that I was about 17 when I first heard the 'Mats, back in high school in the early '80's. My school had a radio station and I heard "Sixteen Blue" and well, it seems so corny to say, but everyone else has said it too---it changed me. Maybe not my whole life, but at least the part where I felt I was this weird awkward teenager that nobody understood. The 'Mats understood, and that was enough. Enough of that...I just wanted to pass along some info I recently heard about. Apparently, Dave Marsh has a New Book of Rock Lists out, and in it, he has a list of famous artists who have recorded under different names. He says that in '92, Westerberg hooked up w/ a musician from Laurance KS named Todd Newman to form a band called Leather Woods. They made a record called "Topeka Oritoria" that was released on Twin/Tone. But, before the disc was released Todd and Paul had a falling out and Paul refused to let his name be used on the project. Therefore, there is a credit on the record for a guy named..."Pablo Loserama". Weird, huh? See you... ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Sat, 7 May 1994 13:56:33 -0500 (EDT) From: Brent Daniel Paul had a short blurb in Guitar (for the practicing musician) magazine this month. I don't have the article ("Unsung guitar heroes, part 2") here to transcribe it, but it basically said that Paul's guitar was pretty influential, and that people are ripping it off today without knowing it. While it's great to see Paul get some credit like this, I'd have to say that most of the credit should be given to Bob. After PTMM, the guitar sound went downhill fast. Btw, Bob Mould was also mentioned. They drooled over him excessively (and rightfully so). On "NBA - inside stuff" today, they played "Seen your video" in the background of one of their features - it freaked me out. Brent ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 10:28:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Ric Dube Subject: Lucky's Revenge available A friend of mine has Lucky's Revenge available for $24 postpaid. I have a copy of this Italian cd and it is fantastic. Nineteen songs from the Whiskey, L.A., July 21, 1993, 67 minutes total. Good show too. If you want a copy of this, get in touch with Arthur: Thanks very much. _____________________________________________________________ Ric Dube | "Hey, wait. I've got dube@u.washington.edu | a new complaint." Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 10:38:35 -0700 (PDT) From: Ric Dube Subject: Live video for sale or trade I have copies of a good video, Paul Westerberg live in San Diego, 7/22/93. This was an outdoor show, so when it was light out, the video is near perfect (although a bit shaky, this was not shot with a tripod), and once it gets dark, the stage lighting is better than average. The show is exceptional and the whole thing is here (76m's). The crowd is enthusiastic, Paul is almost pulled into the audience as he tries to leave the stage. Price is $14 postpaid or a trade. Let me know what you have. Normally I do not sell stuff, but this is a very bad month for me (you know how it is). The set list for this show is typical of the tour: Another Girl, Another Planet Waiting For Somebody Mannequin Shop First Glimmer Waitress in the Sky A Few Minutes of Silence Dice Behind Your Shades Merry-Go-Round Someone I Once Knew Knockin' On Mine Skyway Things Dyslexic Heart Daydream Believer Can't Hardly Wait I'll Be You Here Comes a Regular World Class Fad Left of the Dial Down Love Alex Chilton _____________________________________________________________ Ric Dube | "Hey, wait. I've got dube@u.washington.edu | a new complaint." ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Thu, 19 May 1994 17:11:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Kevin Curry Subject: Westerberg on SNL So, Matt, for months I've been trying to solve this great mystery and I finally have, and would like to share it with my friends on teh SKYWAY. During CAN'T HARDLY WAIT on Saturday Night Live, someone yells something during the pause and Paul cracks up and misses a line. I couldn't for the life of me figure it out...but have after playing my stereo higher than is allowed under federal law. Someone yells: BURT REYNOLDS. I shit you not. I don't know what the joke was, but it got Paul. Knew you'd want to know! kcurry@u.washington.edu Kevin Curry ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: 20 May 94 15:42 EDT From: Diego Navarrete Subject: Hi Matt! Hi, Matt, I hope all is doing well at school and i figure you're either finished for the year or just about finished. I just wanted to drop you a note, hoping you did well this year and are ready to have a good summer. I'll be online, awaiting my latest issue of //S\\, and thinking of infinitely better weather that that which we had this past year... Anyway, I also wanted to tell you that I've been scanning most of the commercial services, watching for signs of our beloved 'mats, and have, I think, come up with a review, more or less of the bigger services and what kind of activity they have. Right now, it seems that America Online (AOL) has the most activity, and since they now have an Internet Gateway for mail and usenet groups they also know a good bit about the //Skyway\\. There's actually two areas which mats info appears: a Warner Bros. Record area that has a bulletin board specifically for Paul, and an area for general music postings. However due to the unusual setup on AOL, only 50 topics at a time can be posted on the general posting bulletin board. Obviously, It would be easy for the latest teen sensation to become the most active, but, due to the persistence of the online mats fans, the replacements "folder" is consistently found there. AOL sysops have even promised a set of "permanent" folders will include the replacements. Another feature is an online chat conference of mats fans (mostly the ladies), every thursday evening. All in all, AOL sound pretty interesting, although I'll have to compare and contrast costs, etc. The people seem fun, though, and that's whats important. (a special PS: one person online who knows someone who knows Paul has promised to send along copies of //S\\ for him to read over. Hmmm!) Prodigy is one of the older services and has always had a lively bulletin board area for music. One of the interesting aspects of Prodigy's BB setup is a seemingly unlimited (I think) set of topics for discussion. You'll wind up discussing not just the 'mats but anybody from shostakovich to Trent Reznor. The activity can be sporadic on the 'mats board but when it picks up (as it did when Paul was touring) it can really be interesting. Most of the folks will discuss Paul influences on other bands, that kind of thing, and generally discuss many of the same subjects found on AOL. Compuserve is probably the oldest of these networks, having started out way back when, and they also have a Warner Bros presence online. They do have a lot of uploaded material (i.e. song lyrics, graphics, etc.) and cover a lot of the same area that the other services do. Unfortunately, there is not always a steady replacements presence, and if there is one, it's usually as a result of recent 'mats activity (i.e. Paul on SNL) A word of warning, Compuserve can be EXPENSIVE! yikes there have been some months where I've gotten bills that shocked the daylights out of me. But I stick with them for the Computer Software support (Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, et. al.). Oh well, it seems that I've babbled on, but what the heck.. I think my next project will be to develop a World Wide Web page for the 'mats. If you know anyone who has an idea on how to set this up, please let me know. I've got a copy of Mosaic and some of the info is pretty fantastic, something that would translate nicely for the purposes of a mats archive. Enough!!! Have a good summer!!! Diego navarret@oasys.dt.navy.mil ------- ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Thu, 5 May 94 14:08:58 CDT From: cford@VNET.IBM.COM Subject: Westerberg Watch Paul Westerberg has finally arrived in Bunnyland. Check the photo and brief plug in the back pages of the June issue of Playboy magazine. (!?) Charles Ford ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Thu, 28 Apr 94 10:16:54 CDT From: cford@VNET.IBM.COM Here's another one of my articles that appeared in TQ... Collecting The Replacements II TQ Magazine 'Seen Your Video?' Charles Ford I was somewhat surprised by the response I received from my previous Replacements article in Issue #3 of TQ Magazine. The overall reaction to the article seemed to indicate that a great many people at least find the subject matter intriguing. Due to this interest, I think it would be of value to continue our focus on this fascinating band and pursue elements of the Replacements in greater detail. Since this issue is dedicated to the topic of video I think it is appropriate that we examine a rare and much sought after product--Replacements live video. To my knowledge there is not a wealth of available live Replacements video. My personal collection, I am sure, is very incomplete. I encourage readers who may have information on other videos to please write. If nothing else, this article may serve as the seed for a Replacements video forum where we may discover other available material. I would definitely be interested in additional information. In my observation, there is very little video on the Replacements prior to around 1986. There are a couple of reasons for this void. First of all, The Replacements always professed a hatred of the video medium, particularly of the MTV variety. This video-shyness probably spilled over to a distrust of the camera in general. The band did not encourage these things. One only has to listen to 'Seen Your Video' from 'Let It Be' to recognize this sentiment. Therefore, any authorized live video from this early era is probably all but nonexistent. After 1986, audience videos of the Mats began popping up in trading circles in greater frequency. The reason for this may have something to do with the increased popularity of the band, but it also has to do with emerging technology. The late 80's was the period when video cameras began to shrink, thus making the unauthorized taping more of a reality for the enterprising camera-person. The trend in video equipment has been going in the 'easier-to-hide' direction. So, lets start from the beginning. I have mentioned that 1986 marked the beginning of Replacements live video. The band began by teasing the public with their MTV video for 'Bastards Of Young' which contained no live footage at all--only a still shot of a stereo speaker. I have seen evidence of some 1986 bar videos (a nine minute soundcheck tape from 2/4/86 before their Maxwell's gig in New Jersey has been making the trading rounds for some time) but the first live tape that I witnessed was their Saturday Night Live appearance in January of '86. While not particularly rare (it could be taped directly from public TV, of course) it is interesting in that it reveals one of the only video performances with Bob Stinson in the band. There is reportedly an 'uncensored' version of this tape as well, in which Paul directs an obscenity at Bob, but no such exchange is apparent on my, presumably, 'censored' copy. The SNL video essentially introduces the world to the Mats. While Chris and Paul dress in their usual conservative fashion (Chris in overalls, Paul in t-shirt and slacks), Tommy is more rock star attired in torn jeans and black jacket, and Bob has on some sort of goofy clown suit. They rip into a scorching version of 'Bastards of Young' first. For the second number, 'Kiss Me on the Bus,' Paul, Chris, and Tommy exchange clothes. This little activity tends to highlight Bob as the odd man out, since he was way too heavy to participate. At one point during this song, Tommy walks to the microphone with a gleeful grin and says, 'Darn It,' or something like that. I guess this is a joke having to do with those things you cannot say on TV. For the grand finale it is Bob who provides the 'Mats-ism' by flinging his guitar over his shoulder to the floor. Feedback rings as the band leaves the stage. The 1987 tour produced a respectable number of audience videos of the Replacements. I managed to acquire three of these prizes from various sources. My first 1987 video was 7/31 at The Pier in Raleigh, NC. This video represents audience taping in its most basic form--a shaky, hand-held camera at a poor audience vantage point. This video is shot from sharp stage right. Tommy, for the most part, is hidden behind a speaker cabinet, Chris is not seen at all, but Paul and Slim are captured reasonably well. The band appears in good form, belting out rockers such as 'Hold My Life,' and 'Bastards of Young.' The usually buttoned down Paul is almost shirtless except for a light vest. My copy is only forty minutes long so it is unclear if this is a fragment of the master or if the master was an incomplete show. Two additional 1987 videos are in my collection, unfortunately I do not have the exact date or location for them. (Maybe the readers can help!) Both of them are twenty five minutes long and probably are samples from longer shows. The first tape is shot from a very steady camera, probably using a tripod, from a fair distance above. This position could be a balcony as even at full zoom the band looks small. The show begins with beer cups and towels flying. The bouncers appear to be working overtime with stage crowding. They do "Bastards of Young," "Can't Hardly Wait," and many other originals. The band appears to be dressed primarily in white. The sound is not particularly good. The next 'unknown' 1987 show begins with 'Hold My Life.' It is shot with a hand held camera directly from the floor by a rather short person. The camera concentrates on Paul between the bobbing heads of the audience. Paul is wearing a short sleeved sports shirt with horizontal strips. Slim is seen from time to time, all that is seen of Chris is an occasional cymbal crash, and Tommy is almost never seen. Oddly, during 'The Ledge' Paul chooses to not play any guitar. This decision forces Slim to struggle with the song a little bit. Sound quality of this video ranges from acceptable to awful as the camera operator shifts positions. I have also seen reports of a 9/15/87 Bloomington, Indiana video. While I have not actually seen the video, I have seen the set list so I know it is not one of my 'unknown' 1987 shows. >From the 1989 tour I only have two video performances. Undoubtedly there are others, but they have not been heavily promoted to my knowledge. Where were the video tapers for this tour? Fortunately, the two readily available videos from 1989 are quite good. The most easily obtainable of these two '89 performances is the 5/31/89 International Rock Music Awards which was broadcast in primetime on network TV. This event marked the Mats second opportunity to present themselves to the masses. And they did not let the chance go by. 'What the Hell are we doing here?' is Paul's introductory remark as the band launches into 'Talent Show' from the "Don't Tell a Soul" record. Paul looks particularly strange with a new short curly haircut and he mugs the camera somewhat--at one point sticking out his tongue. Once again there are reportedly censored and uncensored versions of this tape. On my copy the entire line, 'Feeling good from the pills we took' is silenced. Overall it is a spirited performance which TV critics at the time generally acknowledged as the highlight of the show. The only other 1989 video in my possession is the 8/18/89 Orange County Speedway, NY show. This is an arena show taken from the Replacements ill fated tour with Tom Petty. The band was unhappy on this tour and frequently performed little stunts in an effort to cheer themselves up. For this show Paul walks on stage wearing about five coats. As the band plays stripper music (Benmont Tench from the Petty band on keyboards) Paul removes the coats one by one. Following this little intro the band finally begins its regular set. The film is shot from the floor and is of surprisingly good quality. There are few obstructions and the camera is extremely steady for hand held. The operator is close enough to also make effective use of the zoom lens. The performance is quite good. Paul looks only slightly uncomfortable--not nearly as miserable as later reports indicated he and the band were on this tour. Even the audience seems to be supportive by shouting encouragement and requesting songs. Paul wears another one of those battered short sleeve sports shirts he is so fond of, Slim wears a blue jean jacket, and Tommy is in his velvet coat which he made famous on the '89 tour. Many selections from "Don't Tell A Soul" are performed. A couple of interesting covers are performed as well--the great T-Rex song 'Raw Ramp' and a peculiar choice of "Knockin On Heaven's Door" in which Paul takes the guitar lead. "Bastards of Young" ends it after forty six minutes of play. The final '91 tour saw an increase in video taping activity. I acquired three shows from this tour without really even trying, so I am certain that more exist. Unfortunately, the '91 tour, while technically proficient, was possibly the least interesting tour from an esthetic point of view. Founding member Chris Mars was out--replaced by a hack drummer named Steve Foley--and it was general knowledge that this was to be the final tour, giving the proceedings a 'wake-like' quality. Also, Paul chose this tour to test out his new sobriety, therefore insuring that stage antics would be kept to a minimum. Not far into the tour, a 1/31/91 show was taped in St. Louis, Missouri. This show begins as a very jittery, hand-held, almost unwatchable exercise. The camera person cannot seem to locate the stage for several minutes shooting long sequences of the ceiling and floor. Finally the operator finds Paul dressed in a long sleeve pullover and the video becomes a little more organized. It is shot from the balcony, but the camera has a good zoom so visibility is decent. I can actually make out the chords that Paul plays (one of my pet observations) on "I Will Dare." The band seems to be in a good mood. Tommy does a good deal of chattering with the audience, even introducing Steve at one point, and Paul joins in as well. Slim (in red pants) even gets in on the act with some uncharacteristic guitar rock star posturing. They do a nice "Achin To Be" and lots of material from "All Shook Down." Tommy (in silk shirt and vest) gets his turn on his own song, "Satellite," which was a '91 tour standard. "Swinging Party," a song from the 1985 album, "Tim," was resurrected for the '91 tour and is performed here. One peculiar incident occurs. At one point Paul knocks over his mic stand and strolls into the audience only to emerge a few seconds later as if nothing happened. Tommy says something cryptic such as 'we will see this on the video tele-prompter.' (?) The video ends after about fifty five minutes during 'Askin Me Lies' as the camera is apparently hidden away. On 3/8/91 the Replacements were once again captured on video at the Ritz in New York. The show begins with 'Achin To Be' in progress. Once again the camera operator has trouble getting oriented and wastes quite a bit of film taping the ceiling. This tape is also another balcony shot. (A popular place to hide.) The camera finally focuses in on Paul who is wearing a long sleeve, button up number. There is quite a bit of traffic in front of the camera as people keep walking past. There is also a fair amount of glare on the video image as the stage is often bathed in exceedingly bright light. Tommy wears a spiffy white sports coat which he later sheds. The band plays their typical '91 set list, but leans a little heavier on the "All Shook Down" material than usual. They even perform an unrehearsed sounding version of the rarely played "The Last" from this album. The audience seems to be in high spirits and sings along with "Skyway." By "Can't Hardly Wait," even Slim has become animated. Toward the end the viewer has an opportunity to witness drummer Steve Foley totally screw up "Hold My Life" which seems to irritate Paul who stops the song dead in its tracks. This tape is worth having in that it is almost a complete show clocking in at 85 minutes. My final Mats video comes all the way from Europe--4/10/91, Rotterdam, Holland. This video turns out to be the best one in my collection for several reasons. First, it is technically superior to the others. It is a good, clear, close shot of the entire band, and it almost has a professional look to it. Also, it shows the band in an interesting situation--overseas and slightly out of their element. It's fun to watch them struggle with the semi-indifferent Dutch audience. Finally, it is a complete audience show and my longest at an hour and fifty five minutes. The video begins with a cheesy prerecorded musical introduction of 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix' from the show. Paul walks to the spotlight and delivers a "sermon." "..Satan's tool. Do not be deceived, Bretheren." (The quiet and somber audience has inspired the band to launch a series of 'church' jokes as well as slower versions of several songs.) The high stage gives the camera, which is aimed at centerstage, excellent visibility. Paul is wearing another one of his long sleeved ivy league shirts and Tommy is decked out in his trusty velvet jacket. The stage appears incredibly smoky at all times, but there is no smoke machine. Europeans are still unapologetic smokers. The audience is very quiet and unresponsive so the band decides to start off with the appropriately titled 'Night Club Jitters.' Slim seems to be enjoying himself inspite of the dead crowd. Tommy takes a chance and asks if anybody has ever heard of them. 'NO,' is the overwhelming response. 'OK, so we can do what we want,' is Tommy's reply. What they choose to do is a slow, dirge-like version of 'The Ledge.' They try to liven things up to no avail by doing, 'Another Girl/Another Planet.' (I bet they felt like they were ON another planet!). Time for some more church jokes. Tommy offers the crowd an open invitation to come backstage after the show. Paul decides to play an obscure tune, 'One Man Guy.' (?) The crowd warms up a little bit. They continue struggling in this manner for several more songs. What the heck...they eventually take 'Androgynous' out of moth balls for a rare performance. (!) Then the ancient 'Customer' is played. The crowd, which was beginning to liven up some, becomes quiet again. Time for a little 'soft shoe.' During "I'll Be You" Tommy and Paul exchange instruments. They have Slim sing "Hey Good Lookin" which is actually great. Somebody requests "IOU" and they play it, preceded by a dirge-like "Never Mind." Later, an interesting encore is performed. Tommy and Paul walk out in the audience and do an acapella duet of "Hello Dolly" after which Paul is lifted back onstage by the crowd to complete the show. Paul has lost his energy by this time and performs the next song, a medley of the Door's "Roadhouse" and their own "Hootenany," from flat on his back. They leave the stage, but come back for the finale of "Alex Chilton" and "Kissing in Action" from the "Don't Sell or Buy..It's Crap" promo CD. I highly recommend this video. Every video in my collection has now been described in a fair amount of detail. I have attempted to provide some insight into the quality of these videos and especially their content. My sole source of information has been the videos themselves with some additional information provided by reading the lists of other traders. My purpose is to simply make you aware of some of the material that is available. (Emphasis on the word 'some.') These videos are readily available through trading circles so be sure to check the want-ads of publications such as TQ if you are interested. Now let's hear about all the Replacements videos that are NOT included in this article. The ball's in your court. ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- Date: Tue, 10 May 1994 16:58:27 -0400 From: timmins@polysci.umass.edu Subject: Help for the artistically impaired ... Hi, sports fans: Well, the compilation tape I'm working on is finally starting to come together. As of this posting, I have received three tapes and in response to my threatening ;-) notice of this week, a few others have promised to send me tapes soon, too. If there's anyone else out there thinking about doing this, consider this the last notice. But that's not why I'm writing. I need someone to draw me a picture for the cover art for this tape. The compilation is going to be called _The Fans Hit Back_ so I need a drawing that captures some essence of that title. Be that a fan punching out a guitarist, or just a drawing of an old fashioned fan (the kind that blows air around) -- whatever. I myself, however, and hopelessly incapable of drawing, so that's why I'm begging for help. FAX any submissions to me at (413) 545-0082. I can photoreduce the FAX I reciev to make it fit the tape sleeve, and that will also remove the "jagged" edges from the FAXing. To prevent the department secretary throwing it away, be sure to put my name on the cover sheet. I hope to hear from some of you. -Mark ---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===---===-- fin. --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- || Matthew Tomich || <<>> || || 1111 S. Mullanix #258 || ----> skyway@phoenix.creighton.edu <---- || || Kirksville, Missouri 63501 ||(administrative, contribution, all purpose)|| || (816)-785-5220 ||--==--==--==--==--==-*-==--==--==--==--==--|| || "You are not what you own." || ** Non-Skyway address: ** || || /\\/\\/\ - Fugazi /\\/\\/\\ || i261%nemomus@academic.nemostate.edu || --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- "You can make fun of God, but don't make fun of my shirt." -- Jim Connelly