______________________________________________________________________________ / // The\kyway \\ / skyway@novia.net Issue #38 June 1st, 1996 ______________________________________________________________________________ (c) 1996 Bastards of Young (BOY/BetaOmegaYamma) Productions list manager: Matthew Tomich (matt@novia.net) technical consultant and thanks to: Bob Fulkerson of Novia Networking ______________________________________________________________________________ SKYWAY SUBSCRIPTION/LISTSERVER INFORMATION Send all listserver commands in the body of a letter to "majordomo@novia.net" To subscribe to the //Skyway\\: subscribe skyway To unsubscribe from the //Skyway\\: unsubscribe skyway THE //SKYWAY\\ WEB PAGE Check here for back issues, lyrics, discography, and other files. http://www.novia.net/~matt/sky/skyway.html ______________________________________________________________________________ Send submissions to: skyway@novia.net ______________________________________________________________________________ 0. Meatballs XXIII: Goin' to camp! (Matt Tomich) (Summer address, new guitar tabs, stupid shit) I. Tellin' it like it is A. Jason (Madison, Wisconsin) B. Bryan McGannon (DC, but his spirit is in California) C. Seth Hood (San Diego, CA) D. Mark Celichowski (in class in Wisconsin) E. Alan Crandall (Sunnyvale, CA) F. Laura White (Kent, OH) G. Melinda Adams (Cincinnati, OH) H. Xre (realm of Xre) I. Graham Stroud (London, England) J. James Boles (somewhere in California) K. Johnny Moulton (Minneapolis, MN) L. Scott Muhlbaier (Central Florida) M. Corey (Ames, IA) N. Tim (Nostalgiaville) O. Anthony (Greenwich Village, NY) P. Dana Schmidt (St. Louis, MO) Q. Matt (on the soapbox) R. Bryan McGannon (DC) S. Jon Teichman (Bowling Green, OH) T. Milo (indie rokk land) U. Tim (uga!) V. Albert (at the dole queue) W. Robert Williams (Virginia, maybe Richmond) X. Pierre Hellqvist (Norrkoping, Sweden) Y. Ron Goldberg (Phoenix, AZ but really Minneapolis, MN) II. _Eventually_ n' Paul Westerberg A. Your reviews and comments (Mark Timmins, Anthony, Jimmie K, Par Nilsson, Duncan DeGraffenreid, Renee, Wade Krueger) B. Everybody else's reviews 1. People (Paul Greblo) 2. Cross Beat (Mutsuko Nagai) 3. Courier Journal (Shannon Compton) 4. Berkshire Eagle (Mark Timmins) 5. Time Out (Mutsuko Nagai) 6. Something I found in Virginia (Matt Tomich) 7. Boston Globe (Mark Timmins) C. Interviews with the man 1. Album Network (Elizabeth S.) 2. AOL Live (Marlena) 3. San Francisco Chronicle (Troy McClure) 4. Associated Press Weekend (Kelly Richmond) 5. Bob G. (somebody, or maybe nobody) 6. Modern Rock Live (Tim) D. Miskellanyus stuff 1. Sales figures for Eventually (Renee) 2. Bonus track (Make Your Own Kind of Music) (Mutsuko Nagai) 3. Paul hangin' at the Gin Blossoms (John Anderson) 4. Paul Westerberg web site update (Kathy) 5. Love Untold video observation (J. Mikey Huff) 6. Gonna be on MTV's "Week in Rock" (Renee) 7. Take charge and give this jerk a call! (Scott Hudson) III. Perfect n' Tommy Stinson A. Reviews of the advance release (Gondola Bob, Chuck) B. Tour dates! (Chuck) IV. Social events A. Prospective shin-dig in the Big Apple (Ron Egatz) V. Wanted, demos, bootlegs, rarities A. New demos up on the web page! (Mike Monello) B. Wonderfully generous 'Mats rarities offer (Bill Ruef) C. Trade lists (Pierre Hellqvist, Mr. Treatment Bound) D. Wanted 1. 14 Feb 91 Ann Arbor, MI show (ABloink) 2. SNL videotape and mail order CD bootleg service (Jeff Lake) VI. _The Fans Hit Back II_ update (Mark Timmins, who else?) (Thanks to Duncan DeGraffenreid for sending in some of the posts from the alt.music.replacements newgroup.) (Thanks to Matt Walter for FTPin' this junk to an uncooperative computer.) ______________________________________________________________________________ 0. WHATEVER. THIS PART RIGHT HERE IS SORTA IMPORTANT IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHY YOU MAY NOT GET QUICK RESPONSES FROM THE SKYWAY THIS SUMMER This summer I'm going to be a camp counselor in Thetford Center, Vermont (Camp Thoreau-in-Vermont). However, the //Skyway\\ will continue to be sent out (unlike my internet-less summer last year in Costa Rica)! However, I won't be able to check my mail very often...so notes of a personal nature probably won't be able to get answered until I get back in late August (around the 25th). This includes stuff like file requests, tape trades...any stuff that I'd normally reply personally to. I'll have less than an hour a week to check on the computer, so I'll write what I can and catch up on the rest when I get back. HOWEVER, whenever I get ahold of tour dates, they will immediately be sent out. And feel free to send in your stories/ reviews/narratives about the shows! I will try to get an issue out as soon as humanly possible. I can't make any guarantees because camp tends to be a 24-7 kind of job, but I'll do what I can! And like I said, any info of a timely nature (tour dates) will be forwarded out ASAP. If you're feeling social, I'll be driving up the coast from North Carolina to Vermont the week of the 9th. If you want to get together and hang, drop me a note at matt@novia.net! I also plan on making a side visit to Montreal. And like last year, the favor of any postcards or mix tapes sent to me at camp will be reciprocated when I get back! SUMMER ADDRESS (until August 20th) //\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//:-< Matt Tomich camp counselor Camp Thoreau-in-VT RR #1, Box 88 - Miller's Pond Road Thetford Center, VT 05075-9601 Also, next week, right before I leave for Vermont, my housemates and I are probably moving out of the casa at 2407 Chapel Hill Road. I'll post my new address sometime next week for this who like to manually (snail mail) sending stuff into the Skyway. ** New song tablatures are available on the //Skyway\\ web page! (easily typed in as http://www.novia.net/~matt): Don't Get Married [Replacements demo] (Xre) Never Aim to Please [Bash n' Pop] (Mark Timmins/Mike Graham) Love Untold [Paul Westerberg] (Mark Timmins/Mike Graham) Runaway Wind [Paul Westerberg] (Mark Timmins/Mike Graham) Has anybody else noticed the disturbing trend of fast food joints backing away from their health fads of just a few short years ago? First, there's this big slopburger that Mickey D's is pushing, the "Arch(teriosclerosis) Deluxe" or whatever. And for an extra 40 cents, you can add another nail in the coffin and throw on a big slab of bacon! And then Hardees has this charred thingie... Oh yeah, I saw the Posies on Friday and they were just ridiculously good. I thought the albums I'd heard were okay enough, but there's something just amazing about seeing a band that sings utterly perfect harmonies, doesn't miss a >single< note, and leaves you speechless as you wander dizzy to the car. When I got home, I couldn't decide if I should pick up my guitar or just throw it away. I can see how they were a perfect backup for Big Star! Also, Nada Surf and Too Much Joy (again!) were both great shows. Don't miss 'em if they hit your area! And what is it about listening to the same bands as someone else? Why is it if I meet someone else who blows out their hearing to the same tunes that I do, I feel this immediate connection that is definitely lacking with those that intentionally subject themselves to Garth Brooks and Travis Tritt or just don't plain listen to much music at all? Is this just me? Is this ridiculous? Hey, have a good summer and don't get too much Vitamin D! -- M@ ______________________________________________________________________________ I. WORDS Date: Fri, 10 May 1996 11:44:26 -0500 From: Telco Community Credit Union Hello, my name is Jason, I'm 24, and I live in Madison, Wisconsin. I don't know if my story is odd, but as passionate as I am about Replacements now, I can honestly say I don't remember the turning point that made me the way I am today. I know the first 'Mats album I ever heard was DTAS and I remember I was not all that impressed. I liked it, but it was nothing earth moving. I later picked up PTMM and Tim and did not immediately like them either. But something kept drawing me to listen to them and I guess over repeated listening I finally realized that the music/lyrics/experience spoke to me in a way that no other music ever had, or has even has come remotely close to since. It is really amazing to me but for all of the times I have listened to every one of my albums I am constantly finding or hearing something new, or having the music affect me in a way that it never had before. I'm quite convinced that no other band will ever be able to that. And as far as the 'Mats relative obscurity as compared to the undeniable greatness, I have to say that I'm almost glad. I wouldn't want to hear their music all the time on the radio, one, because I think it desensitizes people to the music, two, it takes it out of perspective as an entire body of work, and three, the vast majority of general public most surly cannot appreciate how great the mats really are. REM of the past couple years comes to mind illustrating those points. I don't want to turn this little introduction into a giant spoogfest, because I've sure you've all heard it before, its just nice to know some people who can appreciate what I am saying. Most of my friends listen, but are not in awe like they should be. I unfortunately only saw the Mats once, but it was a pleasure nonetheless. It was actually their third to last show at Summerfest in Milwaukee. I happened to run into Tommy earlier in the day. He was wearing the same jacket from the I'll Be You video. I would love to say I went up and bought him a beer and had this great conversation with him, but I'm too much of a wimp. I just said hi, and told him I loved the band. Real original I know. I have also seen Paul here in Madison. Interestingly, the same night Paul was playing here Bob was playing at a different bar. I sometimes don't wonder if I should have gone to see Bob instead, because I'm sure I'm going to see Paul again. Needless to say they were the two best shows I have ever seen. I try to get my hands on bootlegs whenever I can, I currently have Shit, Shower, and Shave, Lucky's Revenge, and It Ain't Over Till the Fat Roadies Play. I'm always looking for more though. Favorite song is Left of the Dial. Other stuff I listen to is Pavement, Buffalo Tom, Uncle Tupelo/Sun Volt/Wilco/Golden Smog, HuskerSugarMould, Superchunk etc. You know the usual mats fan fare. In closing I'd just like to say that I find it kind of interesting that now that I have graduated from the UW, have a 'real' job in the 'real' world the lyrics seem to hit home harder now than when I was the angst filled, lost, confused high school and college student. Anyone know why that might be? Look forward to reading Skyway. Thanks for reading the babble. Jason Date: 10 May 1996 14:49:14 GMT From: "Bryan McGannon" Subject: pleased to meet me? I'm finally getting around to subscribing. I've been enjoying the Skyway for sometime and all I can say is thanks, you're making a lot of people happy. First things first. I'm Bryan McGannon and I live in Washington, DC. I call it home but my spirit is in California (Palo Alto, growing up; UCSan Diego, school; Orange County, working on a political campaign) where my first 22 years were spent (and spent well.) I work in a government affairs office doing some cool things for a telecom company. My first exposure to the 'Mats was early in high school when my brother (who I give credit to all my musical tastes) bought Pleased to Meet Me. At the time I was in the U2/modern rock phase and was itching for something else. Pleased to meet me absolutely rocked and I was hooked. I was a senior when Soul came out and finally made the connection that the lyrics meant something and, most importantly, meant something to me. A select few in my class were also fans but I was the only one able to attend the show (about this time of year) at One Step Beyond in Sunnyvale, CA with a capacity audience of 600 or so. Everyone else had to take the calculus AP exam the next day (I had taken it a year before.) That concert changed my life as a music fan. Never again would I go to an arena show, never again would I accept mediocrity. I saw the 'Mats a few more times in college before the break up and saw PW for free in San Diego in '93 for the 91X 10th anniversary. Since then, I've been waiting patiently. I've realized the brilliance in the music is the way PW can put an enormous thought/feeling in simple words: "How do you say goodnight to an answering machine," etc. What else am I into? Superchunk, Descendents/ALL, Archers of Loaf, GVSB, the Democratic Party, old Soul Asylum, Husker-Bob-Sugar, the Darling Buds, Just Plain Big, Dino Jr.-Jmascis, Sebadoh, Pavement, to name a few. I would love to get some live 'Mats shows but don't have much to offer but blank tapes. Any thoughts? I do have the 'Mats performance on video tape of that pathetic awards show where they played talent show at my folks house (some effort required). Thanks again. Bryan McGannon Date: Fri, 10 May 1996 12:56:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Seth Hood I am really in debt to all you guys at the Skyway. Stuck out here in San Diego (a city with very few fans of the 'Mats) I never would have known when Paul's new album was coming out or been able to read all the great articles Skyway members have posted. The distribution of Eventually out here has been pretty bad. Tower records did not even have the CD in stock on April 30th. The reviews I have read have been somewhat mixed. The San Diego Union gave Eventually three out of four stars labeling the CD a disappointment. The reviewer, Karla Peterson, hated two songs particular - Trumpet Clip and Your Sick Of You calling them smug and stupid. So far I like the album (in particular Love Untold, and Good Day). However, there are some tracks which I don't get like Century and the two mentioned above. Unrelated to all this, I was luck enough to see Paul live at a free (yes Free) concert right after the release of 14 Songs. I was blown away by how much positive energy Paul and the band created, and how great PW's voice sounded. It was quite a bit different from the last time I saw the 'Mats at Madison Square Garden opening up for Elvis Costello (Paul appeared to be drunk or really tired and the band was not into it). Thanks for everything, Seth Date: Thu, 09 May 1996 00:15:17 +0000 From: Mark Celichowski I just want to thank you for starting this beautiful thing you call Skyway. I really enjoy reading how there are people out there who love and relate to Replacement songs as much as I do. I guess I never realized how much these songs have shaped who I am and what I think. There words showed me that its alright to not totally fit in, that there are more of us outsiders than there are insiders. And I guess Skyway just proves that point. So thanks again, I hope you realize what kind of gift it really is to receive a new Skyway after a shitty day of classes and then listen to the Mats afterwards. Thanks again, Mark Celichowski mrcelich@students.wisc.edu Date: Sun, 12 May 1996 12:44:13 -0700 From: "Alan K. Crandall" Subject: my first "skyway" posting I'm new here. My name's Alan Crandall. I live in Sunnyvale, CA (which is a few miles north (roughly) of San Jose, and about 50 miles south (roughly) of San Francisco, if anyone's interested. The story of Alan meets The Replacements. I discovered them near the end months out of high school. My high school was a very conservative place, where The Cars were considered a 'weird punk band.' I was, at that time, heavily into The Velvet Underground, Ramones, Patti Smith, also The Clash, Sex Pistols, a big fan of British 60's stuff (Kinks, Who, Stones) and discovering the real fathers of punk rock (New York Dolls, Stooges, MC5). I dug hardcore, but always found something kind of lacking in it. I liked X and I loved The Cramps. I was the only one in my school who liked this kind of shit, and I felt like a real alien. Anyway, back to the end of `84. Not much chance to hear new and challenging music out here in demographic normsville. I did a lot of reading (any cool magazine articles that would turn me on to new music) and cranking our one good rock station, KFJC 89.7 in Los Altos, which is a national treasure...tune it in if you're ever in town! Thanks to this, I heard of some new, exciting groups that were cooking up music that had the same qualities I found in the older stuff: Husker Du, The Minutemen, R.E.M., and The Mats. I had a little disposable income back then (18, living at home, first real [dead end] job), so I went on a record-buying splurge. Came home with ZEN ARCADE, DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME, FERVOR (by Jason and the Scorchers, another fave), MORE FUN IN THE NEW WORLD, and LET IT BE. These are all great albums, but the one I kept coming back to was LET IT BE. By the time 'Answering Machine' rolled around, I knew I had a new favorite. The album went from pure adrenaline rush, to loud, stoopid rock 'n roll, to wrenching ballads. The band members looked like the kind of guy who hung out near the locker rooms sneaking smokes, never having any friends but each other, and wondering why they never got laid. The guitar player looked like Zippy the Pinhead. It was about this time that their legend began to grow, and the SJ Mercury news ran a full-page story on them in their Sunday entertainment section (I wish I had it still). Tales of their drunken shows began to pile up. I bought TIM the week it came out. At first I didn't like it as much as LET IT BE. Then I changed my mind and decided I liked it even better. I kept having to return the damn thing because the pressings were defective and my needle skipped all over the first three tracks (anyone else have this problem?) I think I went through six copies before I finally gave in, threw a nickel on the tone arm and taped the fucker. In the process of my multiple trips to return it, I ended up in conversations with record- store clerks and customers about the band, and LET IT BE, and how great they were. I'm getting bogged down in details. Suffice it to say, I followed closely, and every brush with The Replacements made me love 'em more. My Replacements fandom eventually brought me, not only untold hours of pleasure from their music, but friends, lovers, good stories. Saw `em live for the first time in `87. This was probably the least of the five gigs I ever saw them do, and it was still phenomenal. I'll tell you the story: Back then, outside of San Francisco, there were no good clubs out here. The Keystone, where I had seen Husker Du (and many others) a couple of years ago, was gone (The `Mats played there in `83, for the record). The Laundry Works in San Jose was the place for local bands and an occasional little-known touring act, but that had given up the ghost, too. All we had left was One Step Beyond in Santa Clara. This cavernous dance-hall holds a special place in the memory of all of us South Bay types who frequented its halls. It was big, dirty, hot, the sound system was shit, the staff were mostly cretins, the drinks were overpriced (they even charged for ice-water!) and the owner was a pretentious Brit who probably wanted to be Malcolm McClaren. They even tried enforcing a dress code for a while. But for all the things to hate about One Step, I have countless fond memories of the place. They really did book cutting-edge bands (unheard-of for the San Jose area), and I always had a good time. Back to the night in question. There was a buzz in the air I've never felt before, or since. Perfect strangers struck up conversations about their love for the `Mats. Most of us were seeing them for the first time. The Young Fresh Fellows opened and were great, though they baffled most of the crowd. Then, through a haze of smoke and alcohol. we saw Paul shamble onstage skinny, ugly, bowlegged(!), wearing eyeliner, hair flying in a thousand directions. The minute they came on, the crowd surged forward ten feet. And then, when they let fly into 'Hold My Life' (I think. Or it might have been 'Bastards.' It was something off of TIM, I know that), we all got knocked ten feet backwards. They remain one of the loudest bands I have ever heard. The crowd was going nuts. I've never felt so much excitement out of a crowd. We didn't just dig their music, people loved this band. With a passion. Like I said, it was the least of the shows I ever saw them perform: the energy level was low. But I still remember Tommy kissing Paul, and the way they played 'If Only You Were Lonely' as the first encore. And Paul giving me the dirtiest look imaginable when I tried to talk to him after the gig (I found out later he did that to a lot of people). A couple nights later in San Francisco, they smoked the One Step gig. You could hear `em clearly, for one thing. Good memories associated with that gig: a stage diver slamming right into Paul (who didn't seem to notice) and then headfirst into the drumkit. A tiny little bleached- blonde who managed to give Tommy a big fat kiss before the bouncers dragged her off. Another guy who ran in circles around the stage, pursued by bouncers, while screaming 'catch me! catch me!' as the band remained oblivious. Paul drinking whiskey out of a Big Gulp cup (He had a couple of them. Their alcohol habit was not exaggerated). I saw them about 3 more times after that, and they were always great (even opening for Tom Petty). I was truly saddened by their breakup. It came during a very hard time in my life when it felt like everything was falling apart. But, in retrospect, I think they'd run their course. What made The `Mats so grand is that they were such a perfect rock 'n roll band - their music had the 'anything goes' spirit of great punk rock, but it had heart and soul and wit as well. Lots of bands could make joyful noise like 'We're Comin' Out,' but only the `Mats could veer from that to 'Here Comes A Regular' and pull it off. They could be as silly and funny as The Young Fresh Fellows or Mojo Nixon, but they were never a joke. Even when they were silly, there was a seriousness underneath. Their roots were as shallow as Kiss and as deep as Robert Johnson. They were outstanding musicians, all of them. They were true underdogs: skinny, ugly, drunk, insecure, losers who came out of their shell and changed the world. There are a lot of bands who make great music; and then there are those who do a little more. Their fans not only get into their music, they get into the band. They buy their records, wear their shirts, read books and articles about them, swap stories ... even start web pages about them. Only a few seem to inspire this kind of love, and you probably know who some of them are: The Who, The Stones, The Beatles, Elvis, The Velvet Underground, Buddy Holly, Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana (apparently). Maybe you're even a fan of some or all of those. Well, the `Mats have unquestionably, and deservedly, graduated to that class. I think that time will do them well. While I hear their influence all the time, I'm not much impressed with the new 'alternative stuff.' Nirvana was okay (just okay, in my book ... no offense meant to any Nirvana fans), but 99% of grunge/alternative whatever you wanna call it just sounds like by-rote rehashes of the ideas The 'Mats and their brethren kicked out ten+ years ago. Paul Westerberg and Bob Mould sang about their doubts and insecurities and fears because they felt them. Now, the current crop sings about doubts, insecurities, and fears because ... well, because they want to be like Paul Westerberg or Bob Mould. I resent the fact that all of these outfits have achieved the above - broad fame and $$$ while The Mats and company are only slightly better - known than when they were together. And now it seems critical opinion seems to divide between worship (god, they were 'grunge' before there was 'grunge') and dismissal (Nirvana/Pearl Jam/Smashing Pumpkins are better). I understand why Sterling Morrison was bitter for so long about people celebrating the Velvets long after their demise. But this is just carping, I suppose. I think the `Mats music will survive. Like the Velvets, Stooges, Doors, and NY Dolls, new fans will come aboard as they discover the richness of this music, especially as the so- called 'alternative' (re: mainstream) becomes more and more irrelevant (as I think it has now), people will discover the true taste of the real thing, and, like the bands that inspired the Mats, they will inspire others to do more than just cop their look or attitude or sound - people who try, not to sound like the Mats, but to create like them. Well, that's my Mats story. As for me: I'm 30 years old, work for a software company and recently had my heart broken. I'm an avid record collector, these days I'm mostly into 50's stuff - rockabilly, r&b, blues and weird novelty records. Besides the Mats, I love The Stones, The Cramps, Buddy Holly, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Richard Thompson, and many others. Among current stuff, I worship Southern Culture on the Skids, The Spanic Boys, and Alejandro Escovedo. AND ... if you love the Mats, I unequivocally recommend a now-defunct band called The Pontiac Brothers. Anyway, thank for reading, and hello to all fellow 'skywegians.' Alan Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 00:16:39 +0100 From: loraaw@gwis.com (lora) Subject: (Hope you're) pleased to meet me First off, let me say that the first night a ran across The Skyway I was only going to spend about five minutes on my computer and instead I stayed up reading all night and got zero sleep. What a find! Like most of the best things in life, I started listening to the Replacements way too late. When I heard "I'll Be You" in '89, I called in right away (I'm in love, what's that song?) to find out what it was. The DJ had gone to the john and the producer or someone had spun the record. They had to go search him down to find out - but finally I got the name of the band that (it sounds trite, but I noticed most of you said it) changed my life. Oh, here's a little about me. My name's Laura White, I'm 26, and I live in Kent, Ohio. I graduated from Kent State University a little over three years ago with a degree in magazine journalism. When I'm not listening to The Replacements, I'm the editor of a weekly community newspaper. I love to slip "Paulisms" into my headlines to see if anyone will catch on. No one ever does. Anyway, after I bought "Don't Tell A Soul" and fell in love, I went out and bought "Pleased To Meet Me," figuring it may not be as good, but I'd give it a shot. What a pleasant surprise. To this day, "Pleased To Meat Me" is my favorite. All the others fell in soon after that. Favorite songs have come and gone, but I'd have to say "Alex Chilton" is the one that's been my standard (listening to it now to set the mood). "Swingin Party" is the one that hits a scary personal chord for me - my favorite and least favorite song at the same time. One thing I like about Paul is that his writing seems to grow with my taste. Yeah those old songs seemed to have a lot more depth and feelings, but who wants to feel "Unsatisfied" all the time, ya know? I thought 14 Songs was a wonderful mix of tunes. The cuteness of "Things" just makes me grin. I can't say "Sixteen Blue" ever did that. Likewise "Eventually" is really growing on me. AND THE SHOWS I'VE SEEN!!! If only I'd known who they were earlier. The first time I saw them was at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, OH (where I ushered for five years). I think it was 1989. It was definitely the "Don't Tell A Soul" tour. They were opening for Tom Petty. I almost had to kill my buddies because they were so blasted we almost didn't make it in time to see The 'Mats (I was the only one who cared, they just wanted to see Petty. Don't ask me why!). We were sitting far away on the lawn. As is typical of an opening act, everyone was just milling about and not paying any attention. I was the only one standing, dancing, singing along, having the time of my life. I guess the band was just as frustrated with the audience as I was, after about 20 minutes they stopped midsong and left the stage. For the life of me, I can't remember what song they were in the middle of. If someone was there, please help me revive those dead memory cells. The second time I saw them was at the Cleveland Agora, mid-February, 1991. My dream came true and I finally got to see just The Replacements. And not only that, but I got the tickets from the man of my dreams (unfortunately not a Mats fan, no wonder it didn't work out) for my 21st birthday. Well, he dumped me the day before the show and I dragged some unwilling girlfriend along instead. That show was the best drug possible for my depression. I'll just never forget the joy of seeing and talking to a whole concert hall full of people who loved The 'Mats. And the music! They were perfect that night. The Agora is such a great place to see a show. I decided then my goal in life was to find someone who appreciated them as much as I did. The third time I saw them was just plain fun. It was the summer of 1991. They were opening for Elvis Costello at Nautica in Cleveland. I was on the guest list for the opening act before the opening act, before the opening act (some local band. There were five bands that day). Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet the guys or anything, but when we (me and some boyfriend who had no clue, but he got me on the list for the sold-out show) went out front we were right there at the stage. Words can't describe how happy I was. Oh, and may I add, that show also made me a huge Costello fan for life. And then the solo shows. I saw Bash and Pop at some club in the cells to be sure). I loved every moment of it, and really felt a part of the experience. A few months after that Paul came to the same club on his "14 Songs" tour. I was out of town when tickets went on sale and it sold out. He got bad reviews that night, but what do newspaper people know? Oh yeah, I am one ... Anyway, I've since given up my quest to turn others into 'Mats fans or to find a 'Mats mate. It's become a very personal thing with me - so it seems strange to even be writing about it. I play my 'Mats stuff when I'm alone (and since I like to be alone, that's ALOT). Friends come over and say "Who are The Replacements?", but I stopped playing them for friends when one "friend" said "Sounds like a Ramones rip-off." And now, I can share them with you ... From: Wri10@aol.com Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 19:33:40 -0400 Invite a writer to write. A gesture to be considered both kind and evil. My life story really isn't terribly intriguing. In fact, it's a real yawner, so I'll skip it. I was born a year after the Kennedy assassination, I rather suspect I fall in the same age group as most of the older `Mats fans, though I didn't actually pick up on the band until 1984 or 1985. I was living in a small town just north of Champaign Urbana, Illinois, early in my marriage, and about the only entertainment I had was listening to the radio. I had no friends but my husband, I was about twenty. WPGU was the only decent radio station I could pick up. I was so fortunate I still feel like I dodged a bullet. I could be signed on to a Travis Tritt mailing list right now. I'm kidding. I'd been a Cheap Trick fan, a Todd Rundgren admirer and I kind of liked The Ramones at that point. But there was something missing from all that. I'd dropped out of college just before the `Mats hit most of the playlists in and around Cincinnati (born there, went back there, still live there -- now on my own) well, like they ever really did. We've had some of the most pathetic excuses for radio stations here you ever saw. Anyway, I'd heard Bastards Of Young and a few older songs doing time in Rantoul as a military dependent, cooking the nightly generic version of Kraft Dinner. It felt like what I was living at the time, the only entertainment we could afford was Miller Lite, a pizza once a week and Friday Night Videos on a little B&W 13" TV. I felt like a bastard, all right. Things improved. We moved to New Mexico, we got cable, I saw the B.O.Y. video on 120 Minutes on MTV and had to sit down on the floor and laugh. Nobody had ever thumbed their nose so fabulously at MTV, I bruised my heels kicking them on the floor. At least nobody lived downstairs. Started writing novels out in the desert. The first ones I wrote were about musicians. Bought Tim, that was the only one I could get anybody in the music stores in Alamogordo to order out of the catalog. But that's okay, if I had to pick a first Replacements album to have, that would be the one. Listened to it until it was part of my mitochondria. Moved to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Picked up a copy of Let It Be -- it was a miserable hell hole to live in, nobody ever played there and it was expensive if you had to live on the economy, but we survived it. Felt like a bastard again. Back to Cincinnati. Circa 1989. Met one of the best friends I'll ever have, he worked in a used record store in Corryville and played in a mediocre punkabilly band called Bucking Strap. Not a mediocre drummer, and not a small Replacements fan. Everything I hadn't bought he played for me, taped for me, hammered into me. I'll never forgive you, Marc, but I'll never forget it, either. You were and still are living proof that drummers can think. I've never seen the Replacements or any of the post-Mats projects live, except for a bootleg videotape bought at a record show once. I think it was an anomaly for a Replacements show -- Paul was standing for the entirety, and they played at least two sets before they fell apart, though they did spend a great deal of time giggling into microphones and refused to tune after the first song. No brushes or even near-brushes. I know a guy who sort of looks a little like Paul, that's about as close as it gets. I smoke too many cigarettes and I like red wine -- though it's usually on Friday, not on Sunday. I work Mondays. I drink it at home and stay out of the car. I ain't nobody's "regular". I looked at a bottle of Chateau Timberlay at my local package store and grinned once, but I usually buy Beringer. It's cheap enough, too. No, I take it back -- here's my near brush. Went to see Ben Folds Five play at Top Cat's in Cincinnati back in January. The first band on a three-band bill was a band fronted by a singer and guitarist from Minneapolis-St. Paul, the band was called The Customers. I guess you all know whence the name. He's a huge Paul Westerberg fan. Their stuff is great, it's not unlike a mishmash of Ramones and Let It Be/Tim-era Replacements, though they didn't start drinking in earnest until after the set was finished, their instruments were in tune, and they were polite and complimented the lousy second band and Ben Folds Five profusely. They were genuinely nice guys, and the singer was flattered that I thought the songs sounded like Replacements material from the middle era (i.e. when they'd matured but were still drinking, I guess). So I met a gangly, talented Minneapolis guitarist/singer/songwriter whose band sounds not a little like the 'Mats. I don't care if I ever get any closer. I've had opportunities to meet other artists whose work I respected, and the few I've taken have been disappointing. It's not what I want. I mean, all I want is more work. I can't tell you anything about writing a novel. If you want to know about writing a novel -- sit down and write a novel. Meeting me isn't going to enable you to write one, and I don't know dick about publishing one, so don't even ask. I haven't done that yet. I don't want to know what Todd Rundgren eats for breakfast, what brand of gum Paul Westerberg chews to keep from smoking. I like "Eventually," now that I've listened to it about fifteen times. The older I get, the longer it takes things to grow on me. I even liked "Trumpet Clip", though I don't understand it any better than Matt does yet. Is that line really "Pin the tail on Demi Moore"? E-mail me if you live in Cinci and want to trade war stories, or if you likewise write fiction and would like to commiserate on the conditions of Cincinnati or the publishing industry in general. Or from anywhere, actually, though it's more fun to commiserate with people who sat in the same traffic jam you just did. Thanks. I feel like I finally found the swingin' party, even if it is a long way down the line... Melinda Adams From: xre@ndcwireless.com Date: Mon, 13 May 96 19:43:15 PST Ok, here it goes... Hi, Matt and fellow Mats-freaks! I've finally drank too many buds to convinced myself to formally scream out my self to the other Skyway-commuters. Thanks a lot to Pete Palmer for letting me know, many moons ago, that the Skyway-list really do exist and that I'm not alone in playing Mats-songs. It was the most excellent piece of email I've ever gotten! My name's Xre and I've been a Mats-fan since I got blown away by "I.O.U" back in 1988. I got kinda pissed off at Compuserve's RockNet for not having any Mats-materials, so I created a web-page on Compuserve's server specifically for introducing The Replacements to them. I love the Mats because of the perfect blending of lyrics and rocker-instruments. I'm not an anti-Paul dude, but reading the various Skyway-issues and the posts at the newsgroup convinced me that most of these newer Mats-fans worships Paul's lyrics more than the Mats-music itself. Hey, I can understand the love for Paul's lyrics, but we ought to get real sometimes. I mean, Paul's lyrics are really nothing without the music of the rest of the Replacements. Ever try imagining "Within Your Reach" without Bob's noodling-guitar? Paul's proven it twice now with his solo-albums. Consider this: "14 Songs" was so scattered an effort while "Eventually" was so organized and wimpy one. Is this the same Mats front-man who screamed his heart out while playing Answering Machine? Is Paul trying to get himself into the easy-listening crowd? God forbid! Middle-age crisis, I guess. But, you know, if Paul wants it like that, more power to him then. Heck, I bought his new CD. I guess I'm wishing for his future 3rd post-Mats album to be the one that will blow away every friggin' alternative-bands that tried to emulate the Replacements and the Mats-experience. Anyway, the "realm of Xre" (ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/xre) homesite is finally established and reached the 3-digits mark in about 2 months of existence last Friday. It's now featuring RealAudio-2 files of regular Mats-songs by request, along with my other stuff. Mike Monello's excellent Homepage is still the one that's featuring the Mats-rarities, among other things. In fact, I even snagged his animated-gif. Thanks, Mike. :) I've said it and now I'm done. Keep listening to the Replacements and u'll never be unsatisfied with your life. :) ------ XrE http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/xre xre@ndcwireless.com rexee@msn.com ------ Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 10:05:48 From: "Stroud, Graham" Hope everything is well, my name is Graham Stroud, fast approaching 30 years of age and living in London, England. It's difficult to try to write down but I suppose it was a day in 1987, can't remember when exactly, but my friend Paul gave me an album that 'I think you might like'. He used to do this a lot, working for a music paper he used to get so many freebies - most of them crap. Anyway this particular album had a cheesy cover and a terrible title -'Pleased To Meet Me' - things didn't look too bright. But from the first bar of the first song - my life changed , how can anyone get a guitar to sound that dirty. I remember thinking on that day that I'd found the band I was always looking for, a band that could move from 'IOU' to 'Skyway' blowing away anything in between - I had found The Replacements. So from then on the search for 'Mats stuff was on, which was not too easy in England at that time - very few people knew who the band were and it was a while before I found 'Sorry Ma...' and then the rest of the albums followed over the next year or so. Another problem with being on this side of the water is that bands like the Mats didn't come over too often, mind you I did see them eventually at the Marquee in April 91 (I've got a great tape of this gig if anyone's interested) and then a couple of months later they'd gone - split up - leaving us with nothing but bootleg hunting and the solo stuff . Westerberg toured with '14 Songs' which were great gigs and I'm hoping he'll tour with the new album which I think is an improvement, even though it's not been received too well - one review slated him for his 'Texan drawl' (I'm glad these critics do their homework)! The man has been criticized some places for getting older - I feel this is inevitable! Apart from the Mats the sort of music I listen to is Bob Mould (should cover everything from Husker Du to the current album), Billy Bragg (little bit of politics), China Drum, Mega City 4, Teenage Fanclub, Doughboys , Goo Goo Dolls and loads of other stuff too forgettable to list. Anyway that's about it for now - keep it loud - keep it proud ! Graham Stroud stroud@yasuda.win-uk.net From: JEBGOGH@aol.com Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 02:26:26 -0400 As a new member let me introduce you to myself and why I am a Mats fan. My name is James Boles (aka JEBGOGH@aol.com) and I have been a Replacements fan for over 8 years. I first started like many listening to weak rock and, yes (sob), even some heavy metal. I was 18 (I am 26 now) when I first heard a Replacements song. I think it was "Take Me Down to the Hospital" but I'm not sure. I just remember thinking these guys must be fucked up. Well the initial high wore off and I needed more. My Descendents, Clash, and Agent Orange albums went to the wayside as they were not the fix I needed. I craved that reckless abandon that the Replacements gave me. I started on the light stuff and only on the weekends. I was listening to "Sorry Ma Forgot to Take out the Trash" and telling myself I could quit at any time. Then 6 months later "Pleased to Meet Me" came out. I was hooked. I started to need more and collected all of their albums including "Tim", "Let It Be" and anything else I could get my hands on. I withdrew from friends and they started to worry. I started to go to bars alone just to see if I could become a regular. My friends tried an intervention. At the intervention they told me what a great guy I was before I became a Mats-addict. They pointed to my seeming disheveled appearance, my willingness to drink beer at any time of the day, my calling of stewardess just a waitress in the sky. They tried to take me to the hospital, but I just got my tonsils out. Undeterred I built a new life for myself revolving around the Replacements. I never got a chance to see them live. I lived in Albuquerque and they never played there. I live in Los Angeles now and almost saw them during the All Shook Down tour (the last one), but when I went to buy a ticket they had only one left. I had promised my then girlfriend to take her, but there was only one so it was girlfriend or Replacements and I made the wrong decision. When Paul Westerberg was supposed to play LA during the 14 Songs tour he canceled due to back problems. Oh cruel, cruel world. I am left so unsatisfied. That is my story of woe. Don't take pity on me. Send me bootlegs. I have a good bootleg of the Replacements at the Lingerie in Los Angeles but want more. My habit is costly and needy. I go through withdrawals if I don't hear a Mats tune a day. Some say I'm sick but to me I know I'm on the way to recovery. But it may be too far to walk so lets take a ride. From: Jonraygun@aol.com Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 22:26:10 -0400 hello fellow mats fans! well, it's time to put in my 2 cents............... my name is Johnny Moulton. i am a 26 year old-scorpio who grew up in Minnetonka, a suburb of Minneapolis. now, i reside in Minneapolis 4 blocks from the cc club an old mat's watering hole.... i got to see the mats 3 times: First Ave wed may 27, 1987 (all ages) Orpheum sun nov 15, 1987 Roy Wilkins sat june 3, 1989 the 1st ave show was something else. i remember them opening with "hello dolly" which was so great! also they played "born in the usa" which was the balls too. they were in a drunken stupor. (tommy grabbed the mic and said "we all should be gay".) that day Ozzy Ozbourne was signing autographs at the mpls musicland. the metal fans were heckling the mats fans...thus mpls felt like the ultimate rock haven. (we had to jump over the half eaten bat's ozzy snacked on)...just kiddin' Orpheum show was a hoot! i remember "alex chilton" and "iou" were sizzling. paul fell into the crowd a couple times. i was swillin' special ex before show at a park. then a crew of us piled into a wagon to go see em'. where have all the good times gone??? the Roy Wilkins show was a kick in the pants! slim, paul & tommy waving to us in these nose bleed seats. it was a summer day inside. paul played pixies "monkey gone to heaven" solo while sitting in a chair giving his best rockettes impersation - kickin' his feet up... the 1st album i got was sorry ma and to this day it's still my fave. i haven't heard anything so brutally honest since uncle tupelo's no depression. i recall in high-school a girl dissed me hard! man, i was ticked!!! "don't ask why" was the perfect line for me! "raised in the city raised on beers, she lay's rubber in all 4 gears" another feel good lyric... on the "otto" topic....er....auto topic...i recall early morning driving in a ol' beat up rabbit to high-school, with a buddy blaring STINK fueled on kodiak, mountain dew and camel lights. "fuck my school" before homeroom!!!! a few years later i went to Regis College in Denver. i met a friend who was from California, our friendship was born when i heard "iron cock" by the buck pets blaring from his dorm room. he tried to tell me the mat's were from Texas!!???... ha ha i calmly assured him the boy's were from my hometown. (paul in cowboy hat?? slim riding on a horse...?? the mats playin' an outside gig with oil wells going up and down in the background..??) along that note, a friend o'mine from mpls and equally a mats fan was in college where a guy came running up to him and said "you gotta here this guy paul weasterberg!! (as in rhyming with easter) ha ha (this clown had just got singles soundtrack and was impressed with "waiting for somebody" the day "don't tell a soul" came out, i went to the record store in Denver. i noticed musician mag had the boy's on the cover. the clerk said "look at the shirt chris is wearing." it was from albums on the hill in Boulder, which is 20 minutes from the record store. hmm...ironic. a friend o' mine has the mat's on sat.nite.live where they played "bastards" and "kiss me on the bus" (as a bonus it's a actually a funny SNL!!) bob was on fire blaring that gibson in a 1950's swimsuit!! what a spirited performance. i saw the goo-goo dolls play at 1st ave and the p.a. guy played those 2 videos on the big widescreen!! this was a few day's after bob passed..... i remember one day i was driving down lyndale ave and saw bob joking around with some girls at a bus-stop. i was cracking up thinkin' "geez that bob is a nutball." the day he died, my bro told me at 6:30 a.m. as i was getting ready for work. i was blown away, i sat down grabbed my 6 string and played "here comes a regular" in my boxer shorts and said a lil prayer for him. i think that hit me harder than when Kurt pulled the trigger....... cool mat's stuff i got live@bummerfest,milwaukee hootenany in hoboken live@uptown bar shit, shower and shave live@ritz on video i play guitar (strat) with a 35 watt lil' marshall which has more punch than tyson! these cat's inspired the hell out of me to play. how could bob remember all those scales??? has anyone heard paul play "get outta my i'm drunk"?? i'm interested to see if anyone has 1st ave show i listed??? i would be up for a trade! MY 1ST MATS SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! other bands i like uncle tupelo, buffalo tom, gear daddies, paw ,pegboy, naked raygun, bob mould, rem, bottle rockets, j.hatfield, supersuckers, neil young, beatles, no pun intended, whirligigs...etc....... i drive an 86' jetta with a 140,000 miles on it. complete with a son volt & paw stickers & rust! if i travel 2 blocks i will bring 5 tapes in case my mood changes. sometimes when i drive home from work, i'll throw in let it be and "favorite thing" just plain and simple satisfies the soul! on "bummer" day's unsatisfied is like gospel. i think the mats were the real deal holyfield when it comes to rock and roll!! humor, wit, melody and guts! if you look at bands like bush, collective soul, toadies. they are just a marketing operation not rock bands.... well, i think i've spilled my guts enough....... johnny "it beat's pickin' cotton" moulton Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 04:50:17 -0400 From: Scott Muhlbaier Subject: PAUL! (Album and '93 tour details of meeting) Ok...before I get into details about actually meeting the man (as more than a fleeting thing back on solo tour #1), I have to say one thing. Despite the pundits I really like the new record. Sure it's pop, but it's WESTERBERG pop -- that makes it instantly unique and revered. "Love Untold" is going to be a hit -- I hear that song a lot on the radio here in Florida (thanks to WHPT in St Pete who plays it a ton! Big plug for the station -- they have a GREAT format and style). It has major crossover potential too. I still prefer "Ain't Got Me" -- love it's ragged multi-track harmonies and female backup vocals and the ultra-cool piano tinged bridge. THAT epitomizes the modern-day Westerberg and how can you complain? Hope they single that one out next -- also has big potential. I also like the rowdy 'Trumpet Clip' (more w/ each listen) and the sentimental "Hide N Seekin" with it's whisk broom drum part. MamaDaddyDid is other favorite and has got AAA airplay written all over it. Already this album is different from others -- getting all kinds of promotion and I've heard straight from a AAA station's music director in Orlando -- a big buzz. NOW, for the news that brought a huge smile to my face earlier today (actually 2 things). Anyone check out the new May 18 Billboard Mag? As I did about 3 years ago (unsuccessfully) for 14 SONGS after the acclaim, I checked out the Top 200 albums (Eventually has been out long enough to register). Slowly, I scanned from 200 to 100 and nothing -- though Bob Mould's new one is 101 (good for him!). Disappointment begin to set in. Just for good measure I looked down at the capsule of artists under "W" and lo and behold and there he was right with Winona! What really startled me was the number next to it -- not 200, not 100, not 80, or even 60. Folks -- Westerberg's disc has DEBUTED at (drum roll please)... NUMBER FIFTY!!!!!! Did 14 Songs even break the top 200 ever (maybe 175)? It sold a total of about 160,000 copies which is really pretty measly. I rubbed my eyes and again there it was -- number 50. SOMEONE is buying this disc -- actually a LOT are! As well they should -- Westerberg deserves success more than anyone -- and appears to be finally getting it! Truly amazing what a little radio exposure will do for you and "Love Untold" is in the top 40 videos on MTV and was just added at VH-1 too -- THAT certainly doesn't hurt either! Now for the SECOND bit of good news. Around the corner from Billboard I picked up the latest STEREO REVIEW (June) to look at album reviews as I usually do. Paul's disc was not only reviewed in it but was proclaimed BEST OF THE MONTH with by far the best review I've seen on it -- he loved it! Great boost for June -- and a great close to a very stressful work week! Now about me and my Mats experience briefly. My name is Scott Muhlbaier. I am 28 years old and now live in Central Florida. I first heard of the Replacements back in college in California. Back in 1986 a dorm-mate was really into them and kept trying to get me to listen but I never really caught on. He was still into TIM when I first met him then while there got P2MM in '87. It wasn't until after college in maybe 1991-2 that I started mining the back catalog. I think I started with ASD (which I still really like), then worked backwards to DTS and P2MM. THAT disc sold me -- great digital recording and still some of his best work (including Skyway). That disc saw a lot of time in my car CD player in summer of 92/93. From there is was Sorry Ma then Hootenanny (still love "Color Me Impressed). The only disc I don't have from him is Stink. I also have Bash and Pop's sole outing and like that too -- and HAD Chris Mars' records (now only have Tenterhooks). Although I was too late to see the Replacements on tour (I would've flown to Chicago for the last one), it was my good fortune that in 1993 on Paul's 14 Songs tour he played my then-residence San Diego for a FREE show in Oceanside. This is where I have a lifelong memory. I heard he was going to be at the 91-X radio station but got caught in traffic and JUST missed him. I then drove the 45 minutes up the coast to the seaside venue to see what I could find. Well, I get there and check out the situation and meet another fan (actually 2) almost instantly. Anyway, as I am going around the bandshell I notice a caged "backstage" area and glance at who's inside. Lo and behold Paul himself is 5 feet in front of me munching on a Subway sandwich! I throw all caution to the wind and walk over the gate and flat-out tell him: "Hey man -- get over here" and smile. He walks over to me and we chat a bit, THEN the person with me asks if he'll take a picture -- and he obliges. He walks out of the cage and gets with him and I snap their picture . Then I just talk 1 on 1 with him for about 10 minutes. Totally informal and let me tell you, the guy is very, very nice and unassuming. Last thing he does it scrawl his signature across the centerspread of my P2MM disc booklet. Hard to believe he is same man who used to front that rebellious group. After that he goes back to prepare some more then comes out on stage and rips into a soundcheck with "Few Minutes of Silence" -- his typical manic self on stage. About the only down side to the day was that his vocal was almost gone due to two nights of screaming at the Whisky in LA. Still -- an experience I will not forget. Paul, if you read this -- thanks for the memory and congratulation on the apparent success of the new one! Now choose a venue to play here in Florida when you tour! :) Scott Muhlbaier Orlando, FL P.S. Still can't get over the Top 50 BILLBOARD position! Makes it by far his most commercially successful venture yet. Date: Sat, 18 May 96 23:17:47 -0500 From: Melinda K Davenport Upon finding 'Skyway', I was overcome by the feeling that I had somehow found long lost members of my family. My name is Corey, I am a longtime Mats fan and cherish the opportunity to get to know all of my long lost brothers and sisters out there. I first came to know of the Mats - one night while getting dumped by yet another girlfriend - and at the same time catching the I'll Be You video on MTV. How ironic - my life has never been the same !!! I'm now happily married and I am the proud father of two-year old twins who love listening to 'Uncle Paul' sing. I've had the honor of seeing the Mats in concert three times, Paul's solo tour once and a very memorable evening with Bash and Pop in the parking lot of a small Midwestern university (more on that later). The Mats shows were nothing short of amazing - I saw them twice on the Don't Tell a Soul tour and once on the All Shook Down tour. Nothing sticks out in my mind about the shows but without question they were incredible. I have three memorable Mats experiences that deserve mention: 1. Following an Omaha, Nebraska - Don't Tell a Soul show - I decided I had to at least attempt to catch a glimpse of my heroes - as I ventured toward the tour bus - Slim (looking only like Slim can) opened the stage door and walked towards me - stunned, I managed only a quick "great show man" and he responded with a polite "thanks". 2. Much to my delight Bash and Pop was booked to play a 'Music Fest' at the University of South Dakota - 45 minutes from my hometown. The show was to begin at 3:00 in a parking lot outside university commons - afraid that I may somehow miss Tommy's visit to my motherland - I arrived at 9:30 am. It was well worth the wait - by the time the band took the stage - the temperature had reached a balmy 50some degrees. Needless to say I positioned myself in the front row against the stage with camera in tow. The band rocked its way through the mostly 'Friday Night...' set list - highlighted by a great version of 'Satellite'. A high point of the show was Tommy's interaction with the 75 or so people gathered in the parking lot - a group of football players stood about 3 rows back from the stage and proceeded heckle the band ... Tommy shouted back "I suppose you are the dickheads that didn't make the team". After the show I hung around hoping to have my picture taken with 'the man' but couldn't bring myself to approach him after he gave another fan a less than cool response to the same question. Oh' and the pictures - my fiancee - screwed up the film no pictures. 3. Caught Paul's solo tour in Iowa City, IA.... my wife (6 months pregnant) and I stood front row for one of the most amazing musical performances I have ever witnessed. As Paul took the stage and blasted into 'Waiting for Somebody' my wife's belly came alive with movement - these are the same twins who now love 'Mamma and Daddy Did' (Sounds corny I know - but true) Sorry for this less than spectacular addition to Skyway but just needed to vent to someone who might care .... I would love to exchange Mats info - tapes - videos - etc. Please help me build my collection - I'm willing to pay $ or trade 2 for 1 - you name it !!!!!! E-mail me : hawkeye@iastate.edu From: fervor@clark.net (Exiled on Main Street) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: Drunken rantings of a lunatic Date: 19 May 1996 06:21:36 GMT Hello folks... Just a warning... this is a posting by a man who has downed 9 beers. Sentimental ramblings will follow. Does anyone else remember the energy that flowed through them as they peeled the cellophane wrapper off of their vinyl copy of Tim? Does anyone else remember putting the LP on the turntable and looking up as the 1st power chords struck them? I do. It is memories like that that kept Tim on my Turntable/tape deck/CD Player for years. There was magic in all of it. Magic I've only heard a few times since (Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation and Buffalo Tom's Late at Night single). The thing about the Mats is that energy, that knot in my stomach that formed so many years ago... still forms whenever I put Tim in the CD player. To me that is amazing. I may not wish to be 15 ever again, but I wouldn't trade my copy of Tim for anything. So... as I sit here in my Replacements Stink Kids Don't Follow Plus 7 T-shirt, alcohol coursing through my veins, I am struck by the profound effect it can all have on me ten years later. I don't know how I would have made it through those awful times 10+ years ago without the Mats. I don't know how I would have made it this far without them either. Just food for thought.... Tim From: Antman3727@aol.com Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 21:02:07 -0400 Subject: Too Much Joy/Paul/Chapel Hill Matt, you fucking asshole! I didn't know you lived in Durham! I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in May of '95. I'm from NY and live in Greenwich Village. It's funny that you mention Too Much Joy. I was invited to their CD Release Party back in March at Coney Island High in the East Village. They played for two awesome hours and I was right up against the stage. My friend Steve (also a big Replacements fan as well) is trying to get Joy to perform at his wedding. I engaged Tim Quirk, the lead singer, in a lengthy discussion at the urinal. I asked him if he ever got "stage fright" and he knew exactly what I was talking about -- you know when you can't pee because some asshole is waiting to use the bathroom behind you. Anyway I thought I'd share that with you. Surprisingly my first experience with the Replacements was through Too Much Joy. Before I went to Chapel Hill, I grew up listening to very boring, white bread classic rock, and I knew that there had to be something better out there but I just wasn't finding it. I guess I heard some old Elvis Costello and figured there really were better song writers than Elton John. Then I met my friend Steve. He was "obsessing" over this "amazingly funny and incredibly catchy" band called Too Much Joy. So I figured I'd check them out. I buy Cereal Killers and I nearly burn out the damn laser on my CD player listening to the thing over and over again. I knew there was more out there and Steve was the man to go to. So I asked him to tape some stuff for me. He taped your standard, alternative fare: The Clash, The Alarm, Jane's Addiction, but there was a block of four songs towards the end by a band called the Replacements that just blew me away. He taped "I Will Dare", "Can't Hardly Wait", "On The Bus," and "Talent Show." From the first line of I Will Dare, "How young are you, how old am I, lets count the rings around my eyes" -- I knew this was the guy. So I went shopping for my first Replacements CD. I went out and bought Pleased To Meet Me, solely on the strength of "Can't Hardly Wait". Little did I know what awaited me. When "I.O.U." came scratching through my speakers I thought I had made a big mistake, but I decided to listen to the whole album. I had such a musical epiphany it was unbelievable. Little lines jumped out at me, "Valentine" -- "Are you strung out on some face -- well I know it ain't mine" and I was hooked from there on in. In a matter of months I had purchased all of their albums and several live imports from School Kids records in Chapel Hill. I saw him solo first in NYC at Irving Plaza -- he played a great show -- including "If Only You Were Lonely" and that great cover of "Another Girl, Another Planet". Immediately Paul Westerberg became my hero. I loved the recklessness, the self-deprecation and the musical and lyrical genius all rolled into one. I'm so glad I found this mailing list. It gives me a place to vent my admiration for a band and man, without sounding like an obsessive dweeb. All my friends would hate me when I would tell them that Paul was doing what Kurt Cobain tried to do, ten years before Kurt did. Oh well. I also like Superchunk -- saw them at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro last year. My roommate from college was in an Archers of Loaf video that was shot on Campus. My favorite Replacements album is Tim, followed very closely by Pleased To Meet Me. I don't mind his solo stuff, but I wish I could have seen the Replacements live. I have a great import CD, "Shit, Shower and Shave" that has some of my favorite live performances ever. If you ever want to trade imports, bootlegs, etc. I'd love to, but I'm sure you've got everything I know. What I'd really like for you to do is let me know when Paul is playing in the Research Triangle area, because I'll come down. Sorry to take up so much of your time. Just for some info, I'm 23, an advertising copywriter, who likes basketball, golf, alcohol, women and snotty lyrics (although not necessarily in that order). You could never tell from the sloppy prose of this letter, but I was actually an English Major at Chapel Hill. Later Matt, and thanks for starting this list. It's about time that bastard started getting some credit for his genius. As I once told one of my friends: He's perfect in his imperfections. Later, Anthony. Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 13:08 -0600 (CST) From: "Schmidt, Dana SAMC" Subject: Joining the group My name is Dana and I got started listening to the Replacements at Northeast Missouri State University. A very good friend of mine, who I miss lots, loved the group. He always had the Replacements playing at his house and made me lots and lots of tapes to take home with me. My first concert was in 1990. It was awesome!!! Five of my friends went and we had the best time, even missing class. I was so excited to find a web page that could keep me up to date, since I have not seen my friend for so long. Keep up the great work Matt!!! Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 17:07:58 From: Matpgh@aol.com Just wanted to say thanks for the site. I can't believe it took me this long to find it. I guess I wasn't really looking to hard because I figured nobody gave two shits about a relatively "unknown" band. Glad I was wrong! My story - My name is also Matt and I first "discovered" the Mats back in 1985. They opened up for "X" at the Syria Mosque (RIP) in Pittsburgh, well they actually came out all fucked up and trashed the stage. I was 18 years old and I thought wow! I don't even have to know how to play an instrument and I can be in a band. These guys were Rock Stars, in every sense of the term. In '85 the 'Burgh wasn't the hotbed for the alternative music scene so it was hard to come about any Mats recordings. I went to college in Wheeling, WV in the fall of '85 (a small private school-Wheeling College), to play ice hockey and it helped that the school was so small (less than 1000 students) because I was pretty shy. The first day there, my neighbor across the hall is blaring Let it Be on his stereo. I knew I was going to be O.K. Kevin and I became fast friends, drinking and listening to the Mats all year long. He introduced me to a lot of songs I hadn't heard. I was lucky enough to see them 7 times and believe I was able to talk with the boys after every concert. I remember when they opened up for Petty at the Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh. I went for free because I was going to work Security. To my surprise I got stationed backstage and got to hang out and escort the band back to the bus. I've gotten plenty of autographs (except Bob's - RIP) over the years but no live tapes. This place is great. I feel O.K. again, your all like family to me and I look forward to getting to know everybody over the years. I am looking to get some live/bootleg music so if anyone's willing to make me a tape maybe down the road I can do you one back. Thanks for the Soap Box, "in my stupid hat and gloves at night I lie awake wondering if I'll sleep, wondering if we'll meet out in the street...to take the Skyway" Matt Date: 10 May 1996 14:49:14 GMT From: "Bryan McGannon" Subject: pleased to meet me? I'm finally getting around to subscribing. I've been enjoying the Skyway for sometime and all I can say is thanks, you're making a lot of people happy. First things first. I'm Bryan McGannon and I live in Washington, DC. I call it home but my spirit is in California (Palo Alto, growing up; UCSan Diego, school; Orange County, working on a political campaign) where my first 22 years were spent ( and spent well.) I work in a government affairs office doing some cool things for a telecom company. My first exposure to the mats was early in high school when my brother (who I give credit to all my musical tastes) bought Pleased to Meet Me. At the time I was in the U2/modern rock phase and was itching for something else. Pleased to meet me absolutely rocked and I was hooked. I was a senior when Soul came out and finally made the connection that the lyrics meant something and, most importantly, meant something to me. A select few in my class were also fans but I was the only one able to attend the show (about this time of year) at One Step Beyond in Sunnyvale, CA with a capacity audience of 600 or so. Everyone else had to take the calculus AP exam the next day (I had taken it a year before.) That concert changed my life as a music fan. Never again would I go to an arena show, never again would I accept mediocrity. I saw the mats a few more times in college before the break up and saw PW for free in San Diego in '93 for the 91X 10th anniversary. Since then, I've been waiting patiently. I've realized the brilliance in the music is the way PW can put an enormous thought/feeling in simple words: "How do you say goodnight to an answering machine," etc. What else am I into? Superchunk, Descendents/ALL, Archers of Loaf, GVSB, the Democratic Party, old Soul Asylum, Husker-Bob-Sugar, the Darling Buds, Just Plain Big, Dino Jr.-J Mascis, Sebadoh, Pavement, to name a few. I would love to get some live mats shows but don't have much to offer but blank tapes. Any thoughts? I do have the Mats performance on video tape of that pathetic awards show where they played Talent Show at my folks house (some effort required). Thanks again. Bryan McGannon Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 10:41:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Jon Thomas Teichman Subject: Ohio Replacment fans interested in PW shows Hello All, My name is Jon Teichman and like many of you, have an affinity for the Replacements and the respective individuals involved in the group. This isn't the best way to introduce myself and it is by no means a complete introduction like others have done, but it is simply a summation followed by a request/idea. I was introduced to the band through mainstream media like Rolling Stone and eMpTytV...however, I bought Don't Tell a Soul at a hole in the wall used record store in Jacksonville, Florida because of the band's reputation and the price, in addition to combat the oppression of Floridian radio and the overwhelming presence of country/western...since then I've been a converted fan...rabid for new music...old music...learning songs to play on guitar...and now the best off all Paul Westerberg's tour... featuring the bard of my life...playing songs both old and new. Here's the pitch--->I currently reside in Bowling Green, Ohio where I am a student in the popular culture program and a swimmer on the men's swim team. Without any transportation to speak of (other than feet/bicycle) I would like to propose to any/all 'Mats fans in the southern Michigan/northwest Ohio area band together to journey to either the Cincinnati or Columbus show(s)...I am willing to jump for gas or make food for the trip...I would like a ride to the show and some fellowship with other fans in addition to rocking out to the man who turns the phrases and writes the hooks that serve as the soundtrack for our days. Please email me tjont@bgnet.bgsu.edu if interested or if you have suggestions on how to get to the show...tickets, etc. Thanks for reading/considering! Cheers, Jon Teichman Name: Milo Email: HOOTNYC@aol.com Comments: Oh my god! I am truly in cyber heaven. Today was the first time I was able to use my shitty AOL browser I hit paydirt. Now I understand why my friend never sleeps. I hope to be a regular contributor to this page. I work as a radio promoter for an independent label and can give you regular updates on "Love Untold". I'm actually in search of a new company, perhaps I'll end up at Reprise, that would RULE! Eventually is starting to grow on me. There is a good interview in Bone Radio magazine in which Paul states that it is very difficult to make good rock n' roll w/out a band. He doesn't have anyone to bounce ideas off of. I think we need to judge each release individually. The only way we're going to get an album that is truly reminiscent of the 'Mats is if Paul were to form a band prior to recording rather than just before touring. Still, this may very well be his most successful album since his sound is perfect for fertile triple A radio. He's always good for about 120K units, but with heavy promotion and airplay there may be alot of first time buyers. If he gets his gold record with this album, so be it. He certainly deserves it. Thanks Matt for spicing up my cyber life and causing some serious tension in my love life! See Ya Mat-freaks Milo Name: Tim (no joke) Email: Boytim@Music.cc.uga.edu Date: Wednesday - 22/May/96 - 9:46:06 Comments: First time seein' The Mats, June 1986, Ritz, NYC, "Tim" tour. The boys were all drunk as fuckin' skunks. Bob came out in a dress before the show, bent over, ballbag a flyin' and lit a stink bomb to entertain the easily amused in the front row. Band proceeded to "Hoot" for the whole set. Paul stage dove, fell flat on his bulb nose, and a punker stomped on his finger with his doc. Can't play with a broke hand, whether ya feel it or not. Show over. Goodnight. We stank They stanker. Parrot dink on tar. Thanks, yer awfully kind. Yer awful. Name: albert Email: tccu@itis.com Date: Thursday - 9/May/96 - 14:30:42 Comments: Hi. I'm graduated, I'm unskilled, and I'm still buying my own smokes. Date: 29 May 96 21:08:36 EDT From: "Robert E. Williams" <102215.1204@CompuServe.COM> Subject: pleased to meet me Greetings from the newest Skyway subscriber. I caught a link to your sight from another Replacements page (Xre?) and was thrilled to find that the 'Mats are alive and well on the internet. I first heard the Replacements on a local college radio station sometime ago playing Mr. Whirly, and thought hmmm, that sounds kinda familiar. Didn't give it another thought until a friend played me Waitress in the Sky from this really cool new album. Yeah, I thought, that's pretty good. Not until I was listening to that same college radio station a year or so later and they had just finished playing a song from a band I was in at the time followed by Skyway did I have that moment we'll all remember. The first time we knew our lives (to whatever extent) would never be the same. Since I have been a die hard 'Mats fan. About me: I am 29. Overeducated, underemployed, engaged, buying a house, middle of the road suburbanite by day. I still play in a band in my hometown of Richmond, VA called JOE BUCK. We have just released a CD, titled "Used to be Somebody" If we ever get to the triangle area I will look you up, if you would like a CD let me know. If you're ever up this way look me up, there are only 13 of me in the book to weed through. Regards, Rob Williams From: Pierre Hellqvist Petter Swartzgatan 8 602 35 NORRKOPING, SWEDEN (^ umlats over this O) Date: 14 Apr 96 Hi, how are you doing? In Sweden the spring is on the brink to break through, but still there's snow comin' down on us now and then. Yesterday I read issue #35 of the Skyway at a computer at the town library here in Norrkoping. Since I ain't got any address of my own I can't mail you anything, that's why I deliver this letter "the old fashioned way". What do you other 'Mats-fans think of "Eventually"? I've had this promotional CD for a month or so and I think it's really great. It's more acoustic and soft, and also I find it more personal and intimate than "14 Songs". My favorites thus far are the mid-tempo ones, such as "Love Untold", "Mamadaddydid" and the painfully beautiful "Once Around the Weekend". Hell, even those old sandblocks from "Androgynous" can be heard on "Hide N' Seekin'"! Since I nowadays work as 2nd editor of the Swedish indie-pop/rock mag Sound Affects, I've tried to get an interview with Paul. The closest he came to Sweden was Norway, where he did a promotional visit. Warner here in Sweden handled a couple of interviews, but chose to give 'em to daily newspapers. Now I'm hoping to get a chat with our man over the phone...but I don't know, it would've been great to meet him (even though I don't think my nerves would've coped!) My top ten list for the moment looks like this: 1. Paul Westerberg - "Eventually" (of course) 2. Luna - "Slash Your Tires" (old track from their debut "Lunapark") 3. Steve Earle - "I Feel Alright" 4. Guided by Voices - Tigerbomb EP 5. Steve Wynn - Melting in the Dark (fab album from the Dream Syndicate-hero) 6. Mark Eitzel - No Easy Way Down (track from recent solo effort) 7. Honeyman - demo '96 (demo from Swedish Kinks-meets-Kiss type of band) (you want one? write me!) 8. The Posies - Amazing Disgrace (new album) 9. Rocket from the Crypt - Scream, Dracula, Scream! 10. Jonny Polonsky - Hi, My Name is Jonny! (Like J. Richman backed by Weezer) Bye! Pierre Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 20:26:31 -0500 From: "RONALD M. GOLDBERG" Subject: introduction I'd like to echo the sentiments of other recent subscribers; I felt like I found long-lost family members. I'm a born & raised Minneapolitan, recently (Jan. '96) relocated to Phoenix, AZ (another story for another day). I got my fake ID in the summer of 1980, age 17, and starting hitting the local music scene--Zoogies, Uncle Sam's/First Ave & the Entry, the Longhorn, Boyd's (on the River, of course), the Cabooze, and my all-time favorite, Duffy's (plus that dump next door to Duffy's, which burned down & was rebuilt as a cock rock bar). For those who were there, you'll remember the scene was/were (among many) The Phones, The Flaming Oh's Johnny Ray and the Reaction, Sussman Lawrence, Lamont Cranston (and the Hoopsnakes), The Hypstrz, Husker Du, Loud Fast Rules (now Soul Asylum), Prince (before he lost it) the Gear Daddies (later on) and of course The Replacements. Duffy's was my favorite place, because they were owned by a liquor family and always had stupid drink specials. By stupid, I mean admission plus all you could drink for $5. I kid you not. Now, this was the early '80's, and the designated driver thing hadn't quite taken root. So, for pocket change, one hell of a night could be had. I'll spare you the various stories of the 'Mats, because they were pretty much the same; too drunk, too loud, wearing each others' clothes, Bob wearing women's clothing or nothing (and even performing once standing in a garbage can), etc., and playing video games with the crowd during the breaks. I graduated high school and started going to the Univ. of MN in 1981 (hey, just like Debi Lucke from the last Skyway...), and bought "Sorry Ma" in the student-run record store in Coffman Union (one of the finest record emporiums ever). Caught their various shows on and off campus, most memorable being a show at Willey Hall with about 25 other paying customers; the sound was nothing but white noise. Anyway, I dragged my cousin to that show, and wouldn't you know it but she ended up dating and living with Bobby for a while, so there's my claim to fame, I guess. I was at their place, once; the entire perimeter of the bedroom (except for the doorway) was filled by records lined up like books, and there were wires stretching across the ceiling for holding clothes. Quite the trip. That would have been around 1983, I suppose. Both I and the band sobered up and got serious around 1988 or so, which of course was the death knell. I'm now a serious type practicing law in AZ, but trying not to forget my roots. So, anyone willing to trade tapes, etc., the hallmark of my collection would be a video of Holland 1991, not so much for the content as for the quality. I'd like to track down taped shows from '80 thru '85; the twilight of my youth, you must say. Also, I'd like to track down any live Sussman Lawrence (Peter Himmelman's old band), but I know that's a stretch. And, if you're looking for the heir apparent to the Mpls. sound but have grown tired of Soul Asylum/Pirner, check out Austin, Minnesota's own Gear Daddies (2 studio albums -- "Billy's Live Bait" and "Let's Go Scare Al" & 1 "farewell" compilation of live stuff & outtakes-- "Can't Have Nothing Nice) and Martin Zellar (the Daddies' former front man, now on his own with a new album). The Daddies won't disappoint you. For those who want to reminisce (spelling) or trade, I'm rmg@quarles.com. --Ron Goldberg ______________________________________________________________________________ II. EVENTUALLY AND MR. WESTERBERG STUFF From: MRTimmins@aol.com Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 22:05:57 -0400 Subject: My Review of _Eventually_ Well, Matt, don't say you didn't ask for it. I'm checking in with my impressions on the new Paul Westerberg album, _Eventually_. Let me start off with my impressions on the single, "Love Untold." I first heard it a month ago now, whenever they first started playing it on the radio. I must admit I was almost completely underwhelmed at first listen. It struck me as vapid, if not pleasant-sounding, pop that sounded like Paul, but lacked any real edge or substance or, well, something. I dunno. (For what it's worth, I had the same reaction when I first heard "First Glimmer," which I now like, but not as much as many other tracks from _14 Songs_). But with the song being in heavy rotation on at least three stations I listen to, it has managed to grow on me some (one benefit of living near Boston is that there are three(!) commercial alt.rock stations and at least one "adult alternative" station which are currently playing the song). I guess I can now appreciate it for the longing melancholic mood it evokes, but honestly that's nothing unusual for a Paul song, is it? Maybe I'm just falling victim to being disappointed when reality fails to meet unrealistic expectations, but I really expected there to be more, I dunno, /Paulishness/ to this album. With a few notable exceptions, the poetry seems underinspired (the price of not being an angry young man anymore?), and the clever wordplay, one of my old favorite Paul attributes, is largely lacking (btw, Kathy, why aren't "dressing sharp and feeling dull" or "try hailing an ambulance by sticking out your tongue" or "playing makeup / wearing guitar" on your top ten list?). While "fading faster than a UK pop star" (is this the same pop star he referred to in "World Class Fad"?) evokes a wan grin every time I hear it, it's not enough to save the otherwise mediocre lyrical content of "You Had It With You." Of all the songs, "MamaDaddyDid" is probably the most sticky, in that you can't get it out of your head for hours, but the lyric falls just short of great. "These are the Days" has a nice catchy, if insubstantial, pop feel to it; ditto "Ain't Got Me," which doubles as a weak sequel to "Answering Machine" via its contrived carp on telecommunications technology. Honestly now, was he unable to come up with something more clever than "call waiting / it's irritating"?!? "Century" does nothing for me. "Good Day" is a very nice, but not quite great, tribute to Bob. To his credit, Paul manages not to cross the line between sincerity and maudlin schmaltz on this cut, but in my opinion a far better eulogy for a recently departed (and arguably more significant, dare I blaspheme) rock icon can be found in the song "Radio King" by Golden Smog, a tribute to Wolfman Jack. And does it bug anyone else as much as it does me how at least two of the songs blatantly rip-off earlier Paul compositions? The opening riff to "You Had It With You" sounds so much like "Down Love" it'd be criminal if anyone else did it. And what's up with that pointless and insufferably long pause near the beginning of "Hide N Seekin"? It damn near ruins what is otherwise a fine song. "Time Flies Tomorrow" and "Once Around The Weekend" are the two tracks which strike me as being very strong. "Trumpet Clip" seems tossed off, since it's just plain goofy, but in a good-feeling, _Pleased to Meet Me_ sorta way. "Angels Walk" wants to be another poignant balled a la "Darlin' One" but doesn't quite make it, tripped up in part by an inappropriate drumbeat. I know this review is kinda harsh, but I feel I can vent these frustrations here because you people can appreciate them. Anywhere else I'd just be screaming at the wall. Besides, you are hardest on those you hold dearest. To be fair, I'd have to say that in a global context (i.e., relative to all pop music, and not just Paul's body of work) this album rates probably somewhere around "good" -- not "great" and certainly not "classic" but not "fair" or "poor" either. Paul has done much better, and perhaps unrealistically I expected too much (I'm always telling one friend that Steve Wynn will never again write the first Dream Syndicate album, so he should stop dismissing Steve's solo work as crap just because it isn't a carbon copy of that first album). I know I can't expect another _Tim_ or _Pleased to Meet Me_, but I'd be happy with the understated greatness of _All Shook Down_ (or of Steve Wynn's solo albums, for that matter). Instead we only get hints at greatness. On _Hootenanny_, such hints pointed toward the future. I fear that on _Eventually_ such hints point toward the past. To me the ultimate irony is that via his weakest offering in years does Paul finally seem to be getting the long-overdue recognition he deserves. All that said, the disc remains for the time being on my heavy rotation playlist, and becomes more pleasant to listen to each time through, or at least more familiar. On my way to go buy _Eventually_, I listened for the first time in a few months to _14 Songs_ and for the first time ever it sounded "classic" to me. The first five or six songs are a near perfect set (not that each song is perfect, mind you, but as a whole the set works). I even got into "Down Love," and "Someone I Once Knew" didn't completely grate on my nerves. Both of those are songs I had originally lambasted the way I'm lambasting much of _Eventually_ now, so maybe there's hope yet for the new album.... I had to laugh when one of the reviews I saw on someone's website suggested that this was Paul's best yet singing effort, since earlier in the day I had decided that Paul really isn't a very good singer (his voice breaks nervously in several spots on the album) but that that's okay, since musicianship has never been the primary reason we like him. But then again, I love that shit when Suzanne Vega or Juliana Hatfield or somebody like that does it, so maybe some of Paul's fans get lumps in their throats when his voice breaks and reveals his vulnerability... :-) Thanks, Matt, for giving me a place to over-analyze records by my favorite artist! It's good to know that my college education wasn't all for naught. -Mark P.S. Finally, the review of my friend Mike (who sent me the Rogovoy review) was even more concise: "Eventually Paul will write another good song." From: TrytmntBnd@aol.com Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 14:59:37 -0400 Got the new disc a day before official release date. It's been just over two weeks now...time to contribute my thoughts. I'll lay it out straight: Paul doesn't owe any of us anything. He's just doin' his thing the same as he always has. Frankly, I'm thankful he's alive and still composing music after all he's been through over the years. Don't get me wrong...I don't feel sorry for him. I'm just THANKFUL he's still around. Every so often he's gonna put together a record and I'll be there to give it a listen. I enjoy his music just as much as the Replacements records. The common thread lies in his honesty and unwillingness to conform to anyone else's expectations. Would you rather have him write contrived songs meant to please the media....hell no...right? As for "Eventually", once again Paul has put together a "state of being" record that is striking some chords inside me. "Once around the weekend", a classic in my opinion, ranks up there with "Achin' To Be", "Things", and "Nobody". And just as with "All Shook Down" and "14 Songs", I know soon enough some of the other tracks will gain personal "classic" status and still others will be left off future playbacks. In closing, I'd just like to say, when PAUL is READY to write another knockdown, dragout, over the edge, rock & roll record, I'LL be EXPECTING one. Until then I'm riding the roller coaster with him. Thanks Paul... Bob McNichol TrytmntBnd@aol.com From: Antman3727@aol.com Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 15:36:15 -0400 My interpretations of "Eventually" Century -- Paul Says, "Destruction starts here on this block" it's a play on words with "Construction starts on this block". Ain't Got Me -- He says (I think) "Baby I've got to be a boy again/with a nick on my chin/ and a quicksilver domino "Nick on my chin" refers to an adolescent learning how to shave. Shit, it kind of rhymes with "again", and it sort of makes sense. Trumpet Clip -- He absolutely does say, "Are you the Unabomber? Kill the sucker" And the next line does support it with something about "when ya gonna blow?" He pronounces Unabomber -- Unibomber, though. Good Day -- He actually says, "A bad day comes every once in your "bonny" life. Bonny is a little used word that means happy, content etc. Have you ever heard of the expression "the bonny lass." I think it's actually a Scottish word. But it absolutely makes sense in the context of the song. These are just my impressions, I could be wrong. I have one more that I'm not sure of. In "You've had it with you" I think he says "You've had it with you baby when you start your car." I'm pretty sure that's what he says, or is "Star-cheap car" an expression that I don't know? Could be. Maybe it's some sort of Minneapolis type of expression. I'd like your feedback if at all possible. Thanks, Anthony From: jimmiek@aol.com (JIMMIEK) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Date: 20 May 1996 09:06:01 -0400 Warning: Purely subjective, visceral post. Flaming would be like shooting fish in a barrel. I went to a record store today, figuring I'd get Eventually. I saw the CD, picked it up - and set it back down. I got Jack Logan's "Mood Elevator" and a used Pere Ubu CD instead. Why in the hell did I do that? I wondered on the way home as the 'Mats 1987 Beacon Theater show played on the tape deck. Based on a few remarks in recent interviews Paul probably feels that he's outgrown his old music, that "Bastards of Young", "Unsatisfied" and "Goddamn Job" probably don't speak to a man of 36 as they did to a man of 24. Maybe. But that got me thinking. My life is a hell of a lot different as a 33 year old now than it was at 22, when I first picked up Tim. I've got a steady job, a wife and an 18 year old stepdaughter, 3 dogs, 2 cars, a mortgage and a steady stream of bills to pay. My stepdaughter is going to college in the fall, and I'm doing grown up things like filling out FAFSA forms and checking out curricula for her. I've had to choose medical insurance plans, consider long distance calling schemes, and wonder whether that constant clicking in my knee means that my running days are over. And I don't feel qualified to do any of that just because I'm the age I am. And I haven't outgrown the Replacements. And I probably never will. "Unsatisfied", "Bastards of Young" and "Left of the Dial" still hit me at a level I can't explain. First they hit you in the gut, then they make it to your brain. They did that the first time I heard them, and they do that now. Which is why it saddens me that Paul decries loud guitars as parlor tricks, feigning the signification of rebellion while doing in actual fact no such thing, and then figuring that by turning it down he's doing the naughtiest thing this side of shooting smack. But he's missing the point. The thing about those songs that reached me viscerally weren't the loudness of the guitars or the heaviness of the beat. It was the honesty that lurked behind the volume, the intelligence, the sensitivity, the feeling of vulnerability that made the Replacements THE MOST DANGEROUS band because they didn't cut corners, because you got the feeling that they confronted the same demons that were rattling around in your brain (that STILL ARE). I can sing "I'm so unsatisfied" or "haven't lost yet so I've gotta be a winner" or "on and on / which side are you on?" over and over, any day or any night, without feeling like an idiot or a walking "Gen X" cliche. And I feel I can do that until I die. But I will NEVER be able to sing "clean underwear" ever, not even in jest. And so I sat in traffic, listening to music recorded nine years ago by a band that hasn't existed for five (or seven, depending on whether you think ASD is still Replacements), and wondering if I will ever pick up Eventually. JMK Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 08:27:47 +0200 From: "P.R NILSSON" I suspect that the next Skyway will be overflowing with opinions about EVENTUALLY, but that won't stop me from making a few short comments... In all, I think the album's pretty decent; neither better nor worse than 14 SONGS, but obviously weaker than Paul's best work with the Replacements (i.e. PLEASED TO MEET ME and ALL SHOOK DOWN). Fave tracks are "Ain't got me", "Trumpet Clip" (where Paul sounds like he's having fun making music, which can't be said of the entire album) and "Stain Yer Blood". (Does that last title have a particular meaning to Americans? Is it some kind of well-known expression? My spontaneous interpretation of the lyrics ("Stay the night for fun / I won't stain your blood") was that hey, I'm clean, I don't have VD, I'm not HIV positive, so it's OK to fuck me; but what do I know?) Can't see why he (or was that the record company?) chose "Love Untold" as the first single, and did he really have to recycle the riff from "Down Love" in "You've Had It With You"? Cheers, Par in Goteborg, Sweden From: Duncan deGraffenreid Subject: Eventually IMO Date: Mon, 27 May 96 21:19:52 EDT After a dozen or so listens (I can't listen to something twice in a day), I finally have an opinion on Eventually. I like it, but I don't love it. And I even know why. I like the music -- I've noticed the tunes stay in my head later, I wander around humming them. I also like the upbeat sentiment of the album. Paul's progression from Unsatisfied to Once Around The Weekend parallels my own, from active addiction to Ward Cleaver. I'm 45, I like my life hanging around with my wife and single-digit-age daughters, watching rabbits and deer in the back yard. A good day IS any day I'm alive. And the boss ain't got me (he'd like to, but its my hey day). However, it won't be my fave thing. Last week I saw Son Volt in Baltimore on a rare night out with my wife. Great show! Not as great as the Mats shows I remember, but two encores culminating in Crazy Horse's "Come On Baby" approached orgasmic. I can't keep Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt off my boxes ... same with Bob Mould and Sugar. And I suspect the new Syd Straw album will stay in rotation longer than Eventually too. But that's OK, I can't listen to one album over and over anyway. It's good there is so much out on CD this year that I've grown to love. Here in the great cultural wasteland of Washington DC I don't listen to radio other than for jazz or talk or bluegrass. And like someone said on some TV show, what's life without a soundtrack. I did improve Eventually by remixing it on tape. I replaced "Century", "You've Had It With You", and "Time Flies Tomorrow with "Stain Your Blood", "Seein' Her", and "Sunshine". Makes a good weight-lifting tape! -- Duncan deGraffenreid (duncand@sonnyj.btna.com) Date: 29 May 96 22:01:12 EDT From: richard esquivil <76053.3123@CompuServe.COM> Subject: last day of Catholic school & other stuff This really doesn't have much relevance, but I'll mention it anyway: that part in "Ain't Got Me" when P.W. sings "You got a voice like the last day of Catholic school" reminded me of my own last day. I didn't want to leave-hey, what did I know, I was only 9 then. The teacher wanted to know which of us weren't coming back the next year so she could give us candy and say goodbye. The others crowded around the teacher, except for me. I walked out without a word. I had forgotten about that until now. Has anyone changed their negative opinions on Eventually? ( I hope so. But then it is your opinion.) The only song I don't like very much is "Once Around the Weekend." The word "wimpy" could probably be applied to that song. And has anyone figured out what the hell he's singing in "Trumpet Clip"? I'd like to know. Something about being paranoid, I know that, and pinning the tail on Demi Moore. It's fun to play that so loud the walls shake (someday I know the glasses in the bar will break and, boy, will my parents be pissed off) and sing the decipherable parts. Of course, you could just make up new lyrics yourself. Yesterday I found an entire book about misheard song lyrics called "'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy." I used to think the part in "I Will Dare" that goes, "Ain't lost yet, so I gotta be a winner/bacon and a cigarette's a lousy dinner" was actually "Bacon and a seagull" until I saw the lyrics on the web. That seems like a much worse dinner to me. If you saw the touring schedule you know why I envy all of you who live in the Midwest or the East Coast. Renee Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 17:29:42 -0400 (EDT) From: "Wade N. Krueger" Subject: eventual thoughts on Eventually Okay, so the pun I'm trying to work in my subject line doesn't quite cut it. You get the gist of it, though, right? That's all I ask. Anyway, I've had time to assimilate some coherent thoughts on "Eventually," and I've managed to make some time to devote to them amidst the flurry of academic responsibilities I currently find myself adrift in. That said, here you have my review of the new solo effort, complete with official title: "Nothing to hold" At the end of the Replacements' entry in SPIN magazine's recently published "Guide to Alternative Music," we find a gloss on "14 Songs," Paul Westerberg's solo debut, that concludes with the observation that "Westerberg can become as much of an elder statesman as he wants to." This comment says a good deal about both Westerberg and his audience. The Replacements' devoted core of fans continues to view the band in a decidedly mythical light, but coupled with the nostalgia is a sometimes maddening desire for what we might call simply "MORE." When Westerberg decided after "Pleased to Meet Me" that it was time for him, to appropriate the words of Keith Richards, "to grow this music up a bit," the production values weren't the only thing to change on Replacements records. Rather, Westerberg, the once and, God and / or Paul willing, future prophet of heartbreak and desperation, widened his lens; as the amps were turned down, the lyrics seemed to become less personal. Or, perhaps more accurately, Westerberg started looking outwards more often than inwards, disguising his confessions and projecting his inner demons onto others instead of painting his soul in the vibrantly reflective colors that characterized his previous work. "Eventually" finds Westerberg simultaneously reclaiming old ground and continuing to blaze his own idiosyncratic trails. Melodically, this is his most assured work in perhaps a decade: the hooks bite where on previous outings they've merely scratched. Nothing on "Eventually" approaches the sonic maelstrom of "14 Songs"' scathing "World Class Fad," but nothing approaches the puerility of "Dyslexic Heart" or "Dice Behind Your Shades." Simply put, this album boasts the most organic sounding music Westerberg has produced since the Holy Trinity of "Let It Be," "Tim," and "Pleased To Meet Me." Where the songs on "Don't Tell a Soul" gasped for air beneath the heavy coat of studio glaze, tracks like "Love Untold" and "Ain't Got Me" crackle and tumble buoyantly out of the speakers. Westerberg isn't about buoyant tumbling, though, and his lyrics have always provided a stark counterpoint to his melodies. "Eventually" doesn't break tradition in this respect, but while Westerberg's songwriting craft may be more evident than ever, the expertise tends to mask the pain beneath. Rather than finding exorcisms for our own private demons in his songs--and when it boils down to it, that's what we want Paul to give us--we have to latch onto individual lines or moments: his furious howl towards the end of "Ain't Got Me," or the way his voice breaks when he mourns "the saddest love of all / The one that lets you fall / Nothing to hold" ("Love Untold"). In addition, Westerberg's primary concerns are becoming more individualistic as he gets older. With the notable exception of "Love Untold," he more or less does away with the narrative style he's been using on his last couple of albums and sings about himself. When, however, in "Once around the Weekend" he sings about watching "rabbits in my yard" as he watches himself "fall apart," we don't see much of ourselves in the self portrait. Nor do we get much sense of the soul beneath the image. Rather, we get the sense that Paul is telling us only what he wants us to know, is still hiding despite the apparent focus on himself. "Good Day," the album's most disappointing track, illustrates the limitations of this direction in Westerberg's songwriting. Ostensibly written in response to the death of the Replacements' founding guitarist, Bob Stinson, the song is one of the few entries in the Westerberg canon that reeks of insincerity; it is curiously devoid of genuine emotion, as Paul quotes his own past ("Tim"'s "Hold My Life") to inadvertently parodic effect. Still, for the most part, "Eventually" is the most consistently pleasing album that Paul Westerberg has produced literally in years. I don't mean to damn him with faint praise; consistently enjoyable Westerberg is a fine, valuable commodity in this Era of Hootie. Paul never seems to share his fans' nostalgia for his earlier career, however, and he is nothing if not leery of the prospect of fashioning himself into any kind of elder statesman. Consequently, he gives his fans plenty to hum on "Eventually," but leaves little to cherish absolutely, almost nothing to hold. Well . . . that said, I guess I can get on with my life. Can you tell I used to write these things regularly for my college newspaper? I hope I don't come across as being too hard on him; I think it's a great album, and I can't wait to see him transform them live (thanks for the dates, by the way). Later, Wade From: pgreblo@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Paul Greblo) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: People Mag Date: 9 May 1996 21:42:30 GMT People Magazine offers its typical weighty analysis of things recorded for Paul's latest effort: "Even though TV sets have become too heavy to toss out of hotel room windows and remnants of hip haircuts start showing up in the sink, some aging rockers don't get the hint that time is not on their side. These are the acts you'll see at county fairs this summer. Not Westerberg. He has embraced growing older, delivering the most sophisticated disc of his career. This second solo album does, in fact, have songs (such as "Ain't Got Me" and ""You've Had It with You") recalling the rowdiness that made Westerberg's old group, the Replacements, the premier garage-rock band of the '80's. Overall, though, Eventually sounds as if he spent more time than ever in the studio crafting a richer, fuller sound. In wistful romantic tunes like "Love Untold" and "Once Around the Weekend", the music is calmer and more introspective, while the lyrics appropriately revolve around guys struggling to settle down. "Good Day", in which Westerberg sings, "A good day is any day that you're alive", sums up the CD's philosophy: Maybe you never get too old to rock and roll, but everyone needs a rest now and then." Reprinted w/o permission. Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 00:14:33 +0900 From: piyopiyo@ing.alacarte.co.jp (Mutsuko Nagai) Subject: I did it! I translated a Japanese review into English. It took long time but it was good for my practice. Okay, here this is. Eventually review from CROSS BEAT magazine issue #108 Eventually, He is not like anybody, He is unlike anyone. He is one and only. I thought so when I listened to head of the sound of the first song "These are The Days" at once. He has many followers one after another and many younger generation band is active now. But his songs has kind of human touch from his inside with 15 years more his career. Do you feel it or not? Three years passed from his first solo album "14 Songs." He produced by himself, Brendan O'Brien and Lou Giordano. And he played with Tommy Stinson again! These things is not so important. The key point is "taste of himself," "taste of mature husky voice," and "taste of dear clumsy..." He would go to his own way, he does not make a good job of life, although we can see his way of life with Rock'n'Roll music very clearly. by Shino Okamura From: srae@ix.netcom.com (Shannon Compton) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Date: 18 May 1996 14:38:02 GMT This is from today's Courier Journal, the local paper here in Louisville. The guy who wrote it is apparently a pretty huge Mats fan, anything that ever shows up about them in this paper is written by him. Eventually by Jeffrey Lee Puckett Every Paul Westerberg fan wants the next Paul Westerberg song to change his or her life. And why not? It has happened before, plenty of times. Just about every serious rock fan between 25 and 35 has been has been wiped out by a song Westerberg wrote, whether during his days with the Replacements or as a solo artist. For some, "Unsatisfied" is hallowed ground and always will be. All of which makes for extraordinary hopefulness whenever Westerberg makes a record. While Westerberg was finishing up "Eventually," his second solo album since the Replacements split, a Rolling Stone reporter gushed that it was a masterpiece after hearing only a few songs. He wanted to believe. "Eventually" is not that masterpiece--Westerberg will probably never write the album to meet those expectations--but it is very good, especially if you realize that Westerberg will never again be 21 and struggling mightily with everything life is throwing his way. Now, he's dealing with life's cyclical nature, subject matter that lacks the emotional immediacy of those initial explosions, and that immediacy is what we all locked into 15 years ago. Explosions aren't Westerberg's strength these days, though he can't quite give up on the idea. His strengths are pop songs and ballads, with his rockers stumbling along on blustery attitude and semi-clever wordplay ("You've Had It With You" being this album's textbook example). But songs like "Love Untold," "MamadaddyDid," "Good Day," "Once Around the Weekend" and "Angels Walk" are in Westerberg's comfort zone -- melodic, reflective pop with a melancholy wash and a lushness only occasionally evident in his past work. Ironically, one of the album's best songs, "Hide N Seekin'," also points out its chief weakness. "Hide N Seekin'" sounds unpolished, unfinished and completely fresh, boasting the same feeling of basement experimentation that made songs like "Answering Machine" so good. "Hide" is sparse, moody and one of Westerberg's few recent songs in which he doesn't seem worried about filling every second with production values. That said, it's hard to argue with "Love Untold," a meticulously produced midtempo ballad that cuts much deeper than it should. It's a tired idea: a blind date never happens, leaving Westerberg to wonder, in his role of philosopher king-observer, what might have been. The song rises above because it has a classic Westerberg vocal and melody and some tossed-off lines that dig in if you let them, especially the one about the "stupid things they say in their prayers." One of the interesting aspects of "Eventually" is how several songs serve as second acts to earlier material. Thematically, "Love Untold" echoes "Skyway" from the Replacements' "Pleased To Meet Me" album, but from a greater distance. "Ain't Got Me" updates "Answering Machine," with Westerberg moaning about someone's call waiting as opposed to their answering machine. The most meaningful echo is "Good Day," a song about the Replacements' original guitarist, Bob Stinson, who drank and drugged himself to death a few years after being booted from the Mats. In it, Westerberg refers back to "Hold My Life," one of the last songs on which Stinson played; it's all part of that cyclical thing. "Good Day" flirts with sentimentality, but it's also undeniably moving. Maintaining that balance has always been one of Westerberg's gifts, and he hasn't lost his touch. Hey, maybe he does have that masterpiece in him. Could be only wishful thinking, but sometimes that's the best kind. So there it is. Forgive any typos. It's hard to type that many quotation marks all the time!! :) Shannon From: MRTimmins@aol.com Date: Thu, 9 May 1996 22:05:57 -0400 Here's a review taken from my hometown newspaper, the _Berkshire Eagle_. Their rock critic Seth Rogovoy had the following to say (transcribed without permission, yadda yadda yadda): Paul Westerberg, _Eventually_ The title refers to the three years since we last heard from the former leader of The Replacements, the seminal post-punk band that pretty much singlehandedly midwifed "alternative rock." It was definitely worth the wait, as Westerberg has given us another eloquent self-portrait of a survivor. Like his role model Ray Davies of the Kinks, Westerberg ages with grace, intelligence and naked emotion without succumbing to self-pity or self-parody. And at this point, no one can match his ability to execute successfully that most oxymoronic of creatures: the rock ballad. (Pretty brief, I know, and what's with the bit about Ray Davies? That comparison is new to me, although it's not without merit. Hell, in his latter years, Ray Davies began to rip himself off, too ("Paranoia" and "All Day and All of the Night" are even more alike than "You Had it With You" and "Down Love"!)) Date: Sun, 26 May 1996 22:52:57 +0900 From: piyopiyo@ing.alacarte.co.jp (Mutsuko Nagai) Subject: Review! I'm sending a review of Eventually. I recived it from my sister who is living in LONDON. Eventually review from TIME OUT magazine in UK Humanity has been guilty of far greater crimes than a failure to shower Paul Westerberg with money, bouquets and kudos...but not that many. Westerberg for those joining us late, is arguably the most underrated human being alive, a man whose long decade in front of the Replacements not only yielded some of the greatest albums in the rock canon but quietly provided inspiration for every hairy young American who has worn a cheeked shirl and wielded a noisy guitar all the way to the bank via the Grammy awards over the last few years. When Westerberg first emerged and his own name, he did so with the underwhelming "14 Songs" collection. Like many who have done something wonderful, he seemed bafflingly determined to do something different regardless of whether it was half as good. It wasn't "Eventually", however, finds Westerberg realising that a gift for fashioning frayed rock'n'roll songs with deliciously world weary lyrics and singing them with a voice like some kind of hungover sage is no great burden. "Eventually" could have been recorded between the Replacements "Pleased To Meet Me" and "Don't Tell A Soul"and is therefore entirely wonderful. It being so good to have him back, I'm even preparcd to suggest that "Angels Walk" and "Once Around The Weekend" are two of the five best things he's ever written. If you know what he can do, you already know what they sound like. If you don't, you should,and you could do worse than start here. -Andrew Mueller- Love, Mutsuko [From some 'zine I found in Virginia Beach, Virgina.] Paul Westerberg: EVENTUALLY If you are waiting for Paul Westerberg to stop sounding like an older Mat, don't bother. He's starting to. Face it, the days of "If Only You Were Lonely", Stink, Let it Be, and Tim are over. And Bob, who was barely, if at all, audible in the dying years, is forever gone. But half the fun of waiting for 14 Songs, and now Eventually, was knowing that it was coming from a man who wrote simplistic great lyrics like "playing make-up and wearing guitar" and "the words I thought I brought I left behind, so never mind". But there is no argument on the fact that Westerberg wrote gut wrenching songs on ten out of the ten Replacements records and has now given in to a majority of sappy ballads and twist-and-shake rock and roll. But he's the last bastion of rock and roll. The first single, "Love Untold" and "Once Around the Weekend" are surely acoustic friendly and the piano ballad "Good Day" shrugs nowhere near the lyrical self pity evident in many of the stateman's earlier records, solo or otherwise. The acoustic numbers, however, that also include "Once Around the Weekend" and "Time Flies Tomorrow" are some of the best, bringing out Westerberg's nicotine-stained throat and memories of long-necks, Jack and Coke. While the song "World Class Fad", off the first official Westerberg solo 14 Songs, was believed to be a warning to Kury Cobain - the man who named his major label debut after a Replacements song - "Good Day" is proof of Westerberg's new outlook by taking more heart than gut to sing "a good day is any day that you're alive." Paul's music may not have the horsepower of his earlier works with Tommy, Chris, Bob, and Slim, but he's still capable of elevating the soul and getting hyge appreciation from those who know. Check out "Angels Walk". God rest his guts. -- Bonn Garrett From: MRTimmins@aol.com Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 21:29:54 -0400 If no one else has sent you this, here's the review of _Eventually_ from _The Boston Globe_ for //Skyway\\ readers. Yet another 'professional' critic checks in with a lukewarm and uninspired review of _Eventually_, this time Paul Robicheau from _The Boston Globe_. The Recordings section in the May 23, 1996, Calendar supplement bears the headline: "Mould, Westerberg on mark; reggae Dead on." The first review is a dual review of the Mould and Westerberg discs: "Growing up as footnotes to Husker Du and the Replacements has surely been cause for frustration by both those bands' ex-frontmen, Bob Mould and Paul Westerberg. It's tough to honor your maturity _and_ still be appreciated by kids and critics. But the post-punk Minneapolis rockers go their own way on concurrent new CDs....(talks about Bob's first)....Westerberg is not as musically meaty or moodily monochromatic. Even when he snarls "I've had it with a friend who uses me, to open doors like I was skeleton key," there's a brighter sense of resolve. He's reflective, given old bandmate Bob Stinson's death, in "Hide N Seekin'" (which nods to alcoholism) and Good Day, crooning "A good day is any day that you're alive" over his own piano. Only the horn-smattered "Trumpet Clip" evokes the spontaneity of old, though "Love Untold" resonates among modest pop tunes." -Mark Date: Fri, 10 May 1996 01:19:03 -0400 From: "Elizabeth S." Here 'tis. Enjoy...the tone of this interview, done for the radio trade, is quite a switch from what he's been doing lately. Album Network, April 26, 1996 (The album cover shot is the cover photo of this issue.) "Love Untold" is #60 with an up arrow, 579 plays this week, 343 last week, 42 the previous week. The record is listed as #5 in the retail rock best sellers among items on this playlist. The stats: Currently on - 56 stations Average plays per week - 12 Station adds this week - 7 "Spikes" at 15 stations distributed rather evenly around mid-size markets, with "+xx" figures, whatever that means...and heavy play at WAVF Charleston and WIQB Ann Arbor The interview is by Jeff Silberman, who is not listed as a staffer on the masthead of this publication. There are a million ways to describe an artist's creative growth or maturity, beginning with cliches on the level of "like a fine wine..." Paul Westerberg depicts his creative growth like a house settling - "it's always creakin' and movin'." That may not be the most glamorous depiction of artistic maturity, but it perfectly illustrates Westerberg's career. As the main singer/songwriter of the legendary Minneapolis band, the Replacements, he and his cohorts exemplified the "anyone can play" ethos of the time. Cases-in-point; their second release was called The Replacements Stink. On the title cut of the album Hootenanny, an intoxicated-sounding Westerberg warbles the lyrics while playing some of the worst drums ever recorded (the entire band played each other's instruments for that song). Their live shows were unpredictable, unforgettable musical chaos. Yet what exalted the band to mythic stature were the facts that 1) the band, when they wanted to, could rock as well as anyone; and 2) Westerberg himself was a truly gifted songwriter, who could turn a lyrical phrase as cleverly as Elvis Costello or Ray Davies. Critical faves on an independent label, the band reached a turning point between music growth and the devil-may-care, wise-ass 'tude . Finally, the 'Mats signed to Sire, but their over-the-top attitude was taking a toll. Guitarist Bob Stinson had major "consumption problems" and was replaced. Yet their growing creative maturity was increasingly overshadowed by their legendary rep as misfits. It was inevitable that Westerberg would opt for a solo career. While on his first solo album, 14 Songs, and the new Eventually, he still shows flashes of edgy guitar rock, what really shines through now is his considerable songwriting skills. Mellowed? Aging gracefully? As Westerberg will soon point out, call it what you like. From his perspective, "I'm the best Paul Westerberg there is." Q: When you went in to do this album, were you trying to make some sort of statement as to where you are right now? A: I was determined to make this one hold together better than 14 Songs. I went as far as I could without turning it into a "concept," but I wanted the songs to flow together a little better than the last record. As it turned out, that was already done before I went in because I had written a lot of the songs in the same time frame and frame of mind, so I think it worked. Q: Where were you at this point in your career? A: One phase of my life is over, which is even more obvious on this record than on 14 Songs. On 14 Songs, I felt I had something to prove because suddenly my band of 13 years was taken away, and I had to step up to the plate as a songwriter. Q: Do you feel that you're maturing as a songwriter and an artist? A: Yeah, I think that's a fair statement. That word has always been like an enemy of rock n' roll. People have always said that rock n' roll is an immature form of music and it should never grow up. I disagree; I think it can grow and change. Personally, I don't feel older. I feel younger than I have in years. I'm relaxed and happy. When you turn 30, you get this feeling that you have to either act older or younger than you are to fit in somewhere, but I'm very comfortable where I'm at - and you hear that in the lyrics. Q: Do you still experiment musically with your songs or are you satisfied with a "Paul Westerberg sound"? A: I do me good; I'm the best in the world at it. My sound gets me off. I mean, I occasionally play around with jazzier chords on the piano and stuff, and I'll try to let it progress a little bit, but as soon as as I start feeling that, "Hey, this isn't me anymore," I go back to what I do best. To me, it 's a challenge to use the same chords and similar melodies that I've always used, then refine them and make them even simpler. This record has probably the simplest lyrics I've ever used, and if anybody thinks that that means it's the easiest to write... the opposite is true. Q: Yet when you sing in "Time Flies Tomorrow," "Break like a whitecap/In the sand you shiver/With eyes like two hubcaps/At the bottom of the river," that just doesn't sound like a simple turn of a phrase. A: It's the way I think. That has a down side, too. To say one simple thing, like "I love you," and stop right there, is incredibly hard for me. It's like I have to give and take. As a friend told me, "I draw with one hand and erase with the other," but that's kind of the way my brain works, so I don't question it. Some of the lyrics from that song were lines that I've had for years. I do that a lot; go back to things that I've been living with for years. Some things kind of have to mellow and age a little before I let 'em out. Q: "These Are The Days" also sounds like an artist who has reconciled with his age. A: Actually, it's probably the longest-running song I've ever had. I meant for it to be on (the Replacements' album) Don't Tell A Soul. I've never been able to finish it and find the right record for it. I've been writing it on and off for almost eight years. It got to the point where I just forgot about it for three years then, lo and behold, one day - that perfect day - the rest of the lyrics just sort of fell from the sky. I'd always had that melody, but the 12-string guitar helps. If it wants to sound like the Byrds or Tom Petty, then I let it do that rather than mask it behind wah-wah pedals or something else. It's essential that a song dictates what it wants to sound like. You either can sort of heed that or fight it, and I definitely, like, let it flow this time. Q: Exactly when do you know that a song is finally done? A: Well, I've learned that the song that you write on Tuesday and love on Wednesday is sometimes not the best song...and in six months, you may be embarassed by it. So I like to live with them a while. There are exceptions. "Love Untold" was written in a half hour. I felt, at the moment I had finished it, that this is a very good song that will stand the test of time. Q: Considering your stature as a songwriter, are you ever worried that people will take your lyrics too literally? For instance, on "MamaDaddyDid", people could conclude that you had such a tough childhood that you don't want to have kids. A: The key to that song is the words "just like." "Just like MamaDaddyDid." There's probably three different ways you can take it, but those are the key words, so it isn't necessarily saying that I'm not ever going to have kids. It says that if I do, I won't raise them just like MamaDaddyDid, so there's more than one level to that song. Q: Are you really conscious of what's going on in terms of the current music scene, or do you make a point to distance yourself from whatever the trends are? A: I don't have to try to distance myself. I've always been a fan of the voice, of vocalists, and when one comes around who grabs my attention and can give me goosebumps, then I will listen. To be honest, I really haven't heard one lately. I've kind of stopped listening to popular radio in general, which isn't a new thing for me. Over the last six or seven years, I've been more drawn toward other types of music. It's the old thing, where I like to listen to stuff that I myself couldn't play. I usually listen to stuff that's beyond my grasp, like jazz or classical. Q: So you never look at your music or records and see where it fits in with the music scene? A: Oh, I don't even know if it does fit in. I've relaxed that whole notion of trying to fit in. In fact, I feel more comfortable when I don't fit in because I most certainly didn't fit in the day we started with the 'Mats, and it has been a long career. You know, it goes up and down. I was at a lull at the end of the '80s. I probably had a down period, but now it's coming back up. Yet, whether I fit in or not is irrelevant, as long as I'm 'the best Paul Westerberg there is'. There is an audience for that. Whether it's a big audience, a small one or somewhere in between, that fluctuates, but my thing never really changes. Q: Do you look at your career now in terms of a historical perspective? A: No, I really don't. Anyone who knows me knows that I'd be the last person to look at it that way. I have a vague notion of what I used to do, but I never saw the Replacements play. I was always standing on stage, facing the crowd, and I heard this racket behind me, so you're all one up on me. I never actually saw us. To me, it's still the same - I've been standing at the mic, playing the guitar and singing since I was 19. That's my constant; that hasn't changed at all. Q: A lot of artists, after breaking up with their original band, don't want to talk about it for awhile. Then they seem to reach a point where they can look back and appreciate what they've accomplished. Have you gone through that at all? A: Yeah, although I never had that bitter weirdness where I couldn't look back. I've always been able to look back; it never bothered me to talk about the band. The only time where I get a little miffed with it is when someone simply wants to talk about the legend and the tragedy and all of the jokes and humor, and forgets to talk about the fact that Bob Stinson was a really wild rock 'n roll guitar player and the songs were pretty good in some instances. Things like our fashion sense and all that, those are things that were interesting to me. The fact that we threw up in an ice bucket makes a nice story, but I don't really need to drag that around with me. Q: So there was no one turning point that made you appreciate the Replacements legacy? A: It was a gradual thing. You look back at the things you did 10 or 15 years ago and you can see them in a clearer light. You realize the real reasons you did what you did as opposed to what you pretended to do at the time. We were young, we had fun. Our main goal back then was to create a stink, you know, whatever that took. Whether it meant playing music or not playing music, we did it, but I'm less interested with the publicity-hound attitude that we had and I'm more into the music we were playing. I mean, I still like to have fun, but I know that what I do best is write music. Being 36, I don't think anyone wants to see me, like, fall off the stage anymore. Q: One last thing; is there any significance to the album title, Eventually? A: I didn't want to give the record a title and I got tired of telling the people it didn't have a title and hearing the questions, "When's it going to come out?" So I called it Eventually to kill two birds with one stone. From: MarlenaLS@aol.com Date: Wed, 8 May 1996 10:10:09 -0400 Subject: Re:Transcript of Paul live on AOL Matt, In case you haven't received this yet, here's a transcript of Paul on AOL in a live chat. Marlena OnlineHost: PWestrbg has entered the room. AOLiveMC11: Welcome, Paul! PWestrbg: You're welcome. AOLiveMC11: Here's our first question from the audience. Question: Is it true that the Replacements invented the "grunge" look? PWestrbg: No. Question: Hi Paul, greetings from Minnesota. Did you grow up in Minneapolis? PWestrbg: Yes. Question: How long did the group play together before making it big? PWestrbg: Making it big is a matter of opinion. We played for 3 months before we signed our first record deal. It took us 2 years before we left the State. So I would say we made it big about 15 minutes after we met each other. Question: I heard that the group was known by other names. What were they and why the name change? PWestrbg: The Impediments was our name for our first performance. We were asked to leave before we played one note and the owner threatened to blacklist us for being unruly and intoxicated. So we changed the name the next day. Question: How old were you when you began playing guitar? PWestrbg: 13. Question: Did you write all the songs for the Replacements? PWestrbg: Pretty much, yes. Question: Do you agree that "Let it Be" was a critical turning point in the Replacement's career? PWestrbg: It was our finest record with the original line up. Question: What advice would you offer young people hoping for success in the music industry? PWestrbg: GET UP FROM WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW and GO FOR A WALK. Question: How is "Eventually" doing? PWestrbg: Fine. Question: Why did your music change? Was it due to natural maturing? PWestrbg: I'm not sure that it has. Just as I've changed my clothes today, doesn't necessarily mean that I've changed inside. Question: What inspired the songs you wrote? PWestrbg: Women and nature. Question: What type of guitar do you prefer? PWestrbrg: Wooden. Question: Did you make a video for "Eventually"? PWestrbg: No, obviously not. Question: How old are you. Are you married and do you have a family? PWestrbg: 36, sort of but not really. Question: Why are drugs so common in the music business? PWestrbg: They are common everywhere. It depends where your attention is focused. Sports, for instance. Question: What do you think of the Goo Goo Dolls? (I know, I know... you've been asked HOW MANY TIMES??) PWestrbg: To quote my friend, Steve Lillywhite, "I think they're quite good." Question: Will you be traveling to promote your new album? PWestrbg: No. I'm at home in my room now and I shan't ever leave it. Question: Do you have your back-up band already? Looking for anyone? PWestrbg: I need a guitar player. Sort of. Send any inquiries to: Busterjo@aol.com AOLiveMC11: Paul Westerberg is answering YOUR questions! OnlineHost: To send your question to the speaker, click on the Interact icon, then use the Ask a Question option. Question: I haven't heard new album yet? What are some of the songs and did you write them? PWestrbg: Next. Question: What station and show is Paul on right now? PWestrbg: MuchMusic in Canada Question: Dear Paul, You've always seemed rather ambivalent about success. What are your feelings these days about the possibility of being a "big hit?" PWestrbg: I'm a big hit with my mom. Question: Will you be touring? Coming to Boston? If yes to both, who's in the band? PWestrbg: Yes I will. Yes we will be coming the middle of the summer. Drummer will be Michael Bland, Ken is on bass, and still looking for that guitar person. Question: What are "indie" bands? PWestrbg: You're asking ME? Question: WHAT KIND OF COMPUTER DO YOU HAVE? PWestrbg: I don't have one and don't plan on getting one -- ever. The computer affects my life and art in the same manner the radio affected Picasso. Question: What influenced you to become a band member? PWestrbg: Inability to function in normal society. Question: What other instruments can you play beside the guitar? PWestrbg: I can play anything....poorly. Question: Is it true that there are more stupid people in this world than there should be? PWestrbg: Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh. Question: I know Philadelphia isn't exactly your favorite place, will you be doing any shows in this area? PWestrbg: I have no problem with Philly at all. Don't believe what you read. Yes I will be playing shows there. Question: It was probably out of your control, but why such a crowded release day for "Eventually"? PWestrbg: I had nothing to do with the release date. Question: Paul, did you ever call those guys who gave you the pack of cigarettes in Orlando a couple of years ago? PWestrbg: Probably. Question: I heard you had producer problems with the new album. Can you tell us about that? PWestrbg: Once I decided to produce it myself , there was NO PROBLEM. Question: On the new album, you sing "I'm the last of a dying breed". Can you explain what you meant by that, if anything? PWestrbg: One day, perhaps. Question: Did you guys ever really take lessons? PWestrbg: No. Question: What is the background of the song 'Answering Machine? PWestrbg: Pots & pans & spoons. Question: Tell us about the Tom Petty Replacements tour. Were you asked to leave the tour? PWestrbg: No. We were asked to leave their wives alone. Question: What are some of the promising acts you have seen lately? PWestrbg: I haven't been out much lately. Perhaps tonight. Question: Paul, did you ever smash pumpkins when you were a kid? PWestrbg: I think so. Question: Does it upset you when you are constantly asked about The Replacements? PWestrbg: **** NO! Question: What's your own favorite on Eventually? PWestrbg: "These Are The Days". Question: Is it any different scoring a movie (like Singles) as writing a regular song? PWestrbg: It's the opposite of writing a song. The visual is already "written" and you're not supposed to get in the way of anything. Question: Would you consider the Mats a punk band? PWestrbg: We were a garage band. Question: Paul, do you remember signing my Chicago Cubs hat about 3 years ago in Champaign, IL? PWestrbg: But, of course. Question: What do you think of Bob Mould's new LP? PWestrbg: I haven't heard it. Question: Will you be working with Tommy S. more? PWestrbg: Playing perhaps. We've never worked a day in our lives. Question: When are you going to play N.Y.C. PWestrbg: Summer. Question: What's your favorite Mats tune? Least? PWestrbg: Hootenanney Hootienannie Question: What is the REAL dirt behind you and Brendan O'Brien? PWestrbg: His hair was too long. Question: How many fingers am I holding up? PWestrbg: Your middle one? Question: I was going to see you on the 13 songs tour but the show got canceled. It was in Milwaukee what happened? PWestrbg: I was hospitalized briefly with a bad back. Question: How many tracks were left off the new record? PWestrbg: Seven. Question: Who's your pick to win the Stanley Cup this year? PWestrbg: Detroit. Question: What do you think of Oasis? PWestrbg: Cute. Question: Will there be any singles released with B-sides that did not make the album? PWestrbg: I think so. Question: Do you plan on doing any shows in L.A.? PWestrbg: Yes I do. Question: Do you think in today's alternative music popularity that the Mats would have achieved more popularity? PWestrbg: If the Replacements were around today, I'm sure we'd be playing something other than what masquerades as alternative music. Question: When will tour dates be announced? PWestrbg: June-ish. Question: I found it interesting that you still play Mat songs live. Why? PWestrbg: I find it interesting that everyone but me considers them Mat songs. To me they're my songs. AOLiveMC11: Unfortunately, we're running out of time. We just have time for one more question. . Question: Will you ever play Unsatisfied again? PWestrbg: No. AOLiveMC11: Thanks for joining us today, Paul Westerberg!!! HUTCH45120: Thanks, Paul! PWestrbg: Later. AOLiveMC11: Good-bye, everyone! From: weiland@uclink2.berkeley.edu (Troy McClure) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Date: 11 May 1996 01:28:46 GMT Here is an occasionally asanine interview with Paul from the San Francisco Chronicle, May 5. Reprinted without permission -- somebody post bail if they catch me. The end is interesting though! Q and A with Paul Westerberg, by Susan Whitall. As former lead singer and songwriter of the Replacements, Paul Westerberg labors under particularly burdensome expectations. His second solo album, "Eventually," released last month on Reprise, folows 1993's critically lauded "14 Songs." But fans of the Minneapolis-based Replacements still hope the band will reunite, even though founding member Bob Stinson died last year. [ed. note: not me!] At the turn of the '80s, the Replacements invented a thrashy, pop-punk style that owed equal debt to the Rolling Stones, glam rock, punk, and the Beatles. The one constant was that the Replacements played with heart. And Westerberg's talent for classic pop songwriting, coupled with his deeply vulnerable voice, ensured that the band was recognized as one of the most influential groups of the 80s. Sadly, the band's no-holds-barred style extended to its members' lives. While Westerberg embraced sobriety at least five years ago, guitarist Stinson continued down a self-destructive path that ended in his death in February 1995. On "Eventually," Westerberg included a song about Stinson, "Good Day," which includes the line: "A good day is any day that you're alive." Q: It's been 3 years since "14 Songs." Did you intend to leave that long a gap between albums? A: Well, there's no sense in strking when the iron is cold. [ed. note: you said it paul!] I wrote a lot of tunes. I'd planned for it to be out last summer and that just didn't work out. I was in the process of buying a house and moving. That slowed it down by 3 months. Then, lo and behold, suddenly it was a year later than I thought. Nothing held it up. (Record company executives) said they weren't in a hurry. And that last tour kind of took a lot out of me. I took a lot of time to rest. Q: Is it true that you're going to tour, but that you really don't want to? A: No, I'm not going to do anything I don't want to do. I didn't want to make a record in 2 years, and I didn't. I don't mind touring. I just mind excessively long periods of touring, coming back to the same city so many times. Twice in every town, that's it for me. The third time, what can you possibly do that you didn't do the first 2 times? I'll probably go out by the end of June. Q: What's the last album you bought? A: The Osmond Brothers. Truly, it's the last thing I bought. It brings me back to my youth. What else? I got one armload the last time I was at the record store. Ben Webster, the Bobby Sherman record with "Hey Little Woman" on it, some bluegrassy stuff. Q: Aren't you a Burt Bacharach fan? A: I always have liked those songs... that style of writing. There's a Burt Bacharach thing now where he's considered cool. I don't know how cool he is, but those are great melodies he wrote. Q: So many bands today -- the Goo Goo Dolls and Wilco, to name 2 -- sound derivative of the Replacements. Do you think you receive proper credit? A: Yeah, I've read where those two bands have cited myself and the Replacements as an influence. I can ask no more from them. I can't expect them to make their fans go out and buy our records. It disturbs me a little that someone may hear one of those bands and think I'm imitating them. But I don't think that's going to happen. Q: When Bob Stinson died, you said it was "a sad end to a sad life." Was it inevitable? A: Yeah, I think so. He lived very hard all his life. No one who knew him was surprised. Q: But sometimes when people live hard for so long, it still surprises some people when they die, doesn't it? A: Well, some people live just long enough for a bunch of fools to think, "Hmm, perhaps this is a lifestyle option for me, too." I mean, one of these days Keith Richards *will* die, although he's not supposed to. [ed. note: HA!] He'll be 99, of course. But what if he dropped dead next year? There'll be those fools who'll say, "Yeah, but the way he lived, he had a full life in that time." Sure, but who wouldn't prefer 20 more years? Q: How long have you been sober? A: I don't exactly know, which is a good sign. Six, seven years? Five years? I don't know. [ed. note: I thought it was a bit more than 5.] Q: Is punk dead? [ed. note: Whoa!] A: I suppose it pretty much died when the Sex Pistols did. Rock n' roll -- what flavor is it this week? Has Blur overtaken Oasis yet? Q: Can you be too old for rock n' roll? A: No. I think we can be too old for pop music and pop culture. I couldn't name you one song by Blur. But for actual rock'n'roll, rhythm-and-blues based, swing-influenced music -- no. And I still love that music. Q: [ed. note: here comes the question of the century...] "Love Untold" on the new album is so sad, including the lines "Does anyone recall the saddest love of all, the one that lets you fall, with nothing to hold...It's the love untold." Why are sad songs so compelling? A: They seem to touch people more. Speaking as a fan of sad songs, they tend to stick with me longer. I don't know why that is. Maybe there's catharsis there. The feeling that, when somebody puts it in words, it makes us all feel a little better. Q: Some critics think you sound very depressed on this album. Do you? A: I get that too, but I have to wash my hands of it. No matter what I do, they'll say that. I think it's the tone of my voice, truly, the way I sing. There's a little melancholy in my voice. All I can say is, I wasn't feeling that way. On "Good Day," yes ultra sad; and on "Hide and Seek" [sic] maybe. But the other ones I wrote feeling very up, and I wanted it to come across. Ah, but I guess I'm never gong to been as the happy songster. Q: Am I nuts, or is that the Unabomber you're singing about in "Trumpet Clip"? A: Yes to both questions. -- courtesy of Troy McClure From: kelly@voicenet.com (Kelly Richmond) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: associated press article Date: Mon, 13 May 1996 23:10:14 GMT Here's an upcoming AP article about our boy Paul: For Release Weekend Editions May 17-19 and Thereafter AP WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS For Ex-Replacements Leader, Solo Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry By DADE HAYES, Associated Press Writer MINNEAPOLIS -- Beneath the wry smile of Paul Westerberg lies the truth his fans long have feared. "I never even liked punk music," he says, poking a straw into the ice in his ginger ale. "I liked pop music and rock n' roll. We combined the two. The fact we were sort of louts made it authentic." As the drunken legend of the Replacements swirled around him, Westerberg gamely played along, ripping off slurred Hank Williams covers and adolescent anthems drenched in feedback. But the sensitive singer-songwriter in him was struggling to emerge. At 36, Westerberg finally has made peace with a reputation earned by fronting the 'Mats, as the seminal 1980s Minneapolis band came to be known. Critics still marvel at the club gigs the foursome turned into alcoholic spectacles and the sweet lyricism they blended with their self-described "power trash" style. 'Mats fans may stew over the former symbol of ripped-jeans rebellion awaking at dawn, rhapsodizing about trees and writing songs about parenthood, but he takes obvious delight in this new chapter. The old way is foreign now. "I've grown accustomed to the opposite of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle," Westerberg says. "I wake up every morning and I know where I am." Westerberg's second solo album, "Eventually," has just come out. He's smoking cigarillos and nibbling bread in the booth of a tony restaurant overlooking one of his hometown's many lakes. Talk centers on the stripped- down feel of the new record, which he largely produced himself. "I go with sort of an old-fashioned motto and creed that it's either simple or it's impossible," he says. "If it doesn't come easy, and if it doesn't come fast, then it's usually wrong." [Paul's either a Taoist or lazy. - M@] Several of the album's 12 tracks derive from first or second takes, including "Good Day," a piano-based ballad partly inspired by the death last year of former Replacements guitarist Bob Stinson. Late in the tune, its chorus, "A good day is any day that you're alive," is paired ironically with a classic 'Mats line, "Hold my life one last time." Westerberg hasn't lost the gift for coupling a winning lyric with a seductive melody. "You've got a voice like the last day of Catholic school," he sings in his craggy tenor in "You Ain't Got Me." He dots the ambling album-closer "Time Flies Tomorrow" with images of hearts breaking "like a pinata" and "eyes like two hubcaps at the bottom of a river." "I like picturesque words," he says. "I like a line that you can visualize, and if it makes you smile. ... I mean, 'Pin the tail on Demi Moore,' (from 'Trumpet Clip') what does it mean? I'm not sure, but it's an interesting thought." One thought that doesn't make him smile is the common perception that since he quit drinking several years ago, Westerberg has traveled the familiar solo artist's road to sober but uninspired self-interest. Cynics point to his inert 1993 solo album, "14 Songs," and recent contributions to soundtracks for television's "Friends" and "Melrose Place" as proof that a dry Paul is, well, dry. Westerberg stiffens at the suggestion. "People are preoccupied with what they see as being sort of a landmark in someone's life or changing their music. There are so many little things that they never see. I can hear when I got a good acoustic guitar, when my songs started to sound different, or when I bought a new instrument or when I stopped wearing a certain kind of clothes. It's a little more ordinary things than you would imagine." The issue is more than just sobriety. Some songwriters struggle, too, with finally getting total control over an album after maturing within a collaborative band setting. Peter Jesperson, who signed the Replacements to their first record deal and managed the group for years until his acrimonious firing, believes Westerberg's music has declined. "He's lost without a band," Jesperson said in a interview from Los Angeles, where he produced ex-'Mats bassist Tommy Stinson's new band, Perfect. "He just writes songs that are half-good." [Note: 'Within' Your Reach' and 'If Only You Were Lonely' were recorded solely by Westerberg, just to name two. - M@] To hear Westerberg tell it, though, he was born to go solo. "It's better to go in and record, I think, without a band," he says. With a barely suppressed grin, he adds: "You're always getting more of me than you probably want. But there's less of anyone else's input on this record than ever." These days, when he's not lounging in the suburban house he shares with girlfriend Laurie Lindeen (former leader of the Twin Cities band Zuzu's Petals), Westerberg is auditioning guitarists for an upcoming tour. Michael Bland, who played drums for Prince's New Power Generation until being laid off with the rest of the group several weeks ago, already has signed on. There is relief in the voice that used to sing with "the next Rolling Stones" as many critics anointed the Replacements. He's no longer "the next big thing." He has admirers and detractors and can take or leave them both Ä a thought that never occurred to Paul Westerberg until recently. "What I do can be art and it's mine," he says. "But when it's time to go do it, it is business. You can't just pretend it isn't. When somebody pays some money and wants to look up to you like you're something special, it's almost your responsibility to be like, 'Hey, for tonight I'll be your little star. But I don't have to bring this home with me.'" [I don't remember where I found this. If somebody sent it in, please write in so I can give you credit! -- M@] "These Are the Days" Former Replacements leader Paul Westerberg trades in his garage-punk outfit for a more polished appearance with Eventually By Bob Gulla Wednesday, May 8, 1996 Paul Westerberg is very happy with the suit he's wearing. "It's checked black and brown and green, and it matches my tie," he says without irony. "If I walk down Madison Avenue right now, the other suits look at me and go, 'Hey, he's one of . . . wait a minute. He's not one of us!' And the punks in the Village look at me and scratch their heads: 'He's not one us either!'" Finding himself might be the last thing one would expect the thirty-six-year-old Westerberg would be doing today. But the former leader of The Replacements--perhaps the most critically acclaimed band of the eighties not to "make it"--is still coming to grips with his past and his present, the punks and the suits. "There was a time when The Replacements wanted to wear dresses, so we did. And you'd be surprised at how many women you can pull by wearing a dress," he says with a laugh. "But that's over with. Right now, I'm just concentrating on being who I truly am." Today, Paul Westerberg is a songwriter, one who has, on his second solo set, Eventually, begun to come to terms with who he is both as an artist and as a person. It was a time-consuming process of self-discovery. Aside from scattered soundtrack contributions, it's his first album in three years. "I feel that sometimes you can do too much," he admits. "Why overdo it when one song can say how I'm feeling for an entire year?" In the meantime, Westerberg used those soundtrack opportunities as substitutes for singles. "Eh, what the hell, let's put it out there," he says. "That's why I gave Reprise "Stain Yer Blood," which would have been on Eventually, but I wanted to get it out. I couldn't wait. So they stuck it on that Friends thing." Eventually is the kind of record that once and for all files those angry, besotted, and beloved days of the 'Mats into a yearbook of bittersweet memories. With terse and tasteful arrangements and soulful and hummable melodies, Westerberg has crafted a very adult recording bearing only a touch of his former grit and defiance. "Young bands these days are all bluster," Westerberg complains. "They can't pull off the simple stuff, so it's all riffs and solos and pounding away, kind of like what we used to do." Ah, what The Replacements used to do: four untamed kids, three reckless chords, and a complete disregard for doing things the "right" way. The Replacements on tour was about drunken nights, forgetting the words to songs, and slugging it out on-stage in frat-boy melees. "Here we were, getting all kinds of acclaim for our songwriting on Let It Be," Westerberg recalls, "and we'd come out for encores in drag and just play cards on-stage, or we'd just pose for pictures for fifteen minutes, or we'd do a whole night of Hank Williams covers. No one was doing that back then." From Westerberg's point of view, his band's behavior was a genuine declaration of non-conformity. "I think if The Replacements had formed today we would have chosen a style that was unacceptable, something like bluegrass. We chose the glam garage thing because it wasn't hard-core and it wasn't Journey." As standard bearers of audacity, Westerberg and The Replacements did indeed clear the way for hordes of juvenile, cocky bands to follow. So does this trailblazer harbor any bitterness toward these enterprising outfits? "You mean because they make more money than we ever did? That's how it is with anyone who clears the way. We blazed the trail to make it easier for others to follow behind us, but the first ones down the path never win." Paul Westerberg/Replacements Retrospective Copyright 1996 Starwave Corporation. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form. [you can't sue the broke.] Here Comes a Regular Paul Westerberg and The Replacements never really made it, but they influenced a lot of today's alternative superstars just by trying. By Erik Flannigan Question: What do U2, R.E.M., and The Replacements have in common? Answer: They were, arguably, the three most influential bands of the eighties. Unlike U2 and R.E.M., though, the 'Mats--as The Replacements were affectionately known among fans--never reached a mass audience. Still, the band developed an intensely loyal cult following, and leader Paul Westerberg earned critical plaudits as one of rock's most talented tunesmiths. Since the breakup of his band, Westerberg's reputation has been cemented by the reception given his two solo albums, 14 Songs and the just-released Eventually. What's perhaps most remarkable about his critical success, however, is that someone now considered a "songwriter's songwriter" actually began his career as a self-described dork leading a sophomoric, nearly incapable punk band. Over the course of a decade, Westerberg found a songwriting voice that was sensitive and insightful, but he never let his punk spirit die. In doing so, he may have lost the chance at superstardom, but his best work is the kind that dedicated fans will never let go. The Replacements: The Twin/Tone Years 1981-1984 Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash (1981): It's a wonder anyone saw much promise in The Replacements' debut, a poorly recorded, third-rate punk record that doesn't hold a candle to hard-core giants of the day like Black Flag. But though it's sloppy and packs little sonic punch, Sorry Ma still earns points for humor and sheer audacity, as Westerberg's off-the-top-of-his-head lyrics are ridiculous and entertaining: "Customer" is nothing more than a series of goofy questions asked of a store clerk ("How about cigarettes?/I'll take sugarless/You sell waterbeds?/I'm a customer"), while "I Bought a Headache" tells the tale of a bad concert at the St. Paul Civic Center ("Smoking marijuana and it's comin' out of my ears/A long-haired girl shakin' way past her years"). Stink (1982): This short, eight-song E.P. sounds better than Sorry Ma, but shows only a marginal improvement in musicianship. Still, a full-fledged commitment to snottiness is in evidence in songs like "Dope Smokin' Moron," "God Damn Job," and the anthemic "Fuck School." Curiously, the best song from the band's early days didn't appear on either this release or the preceding album; Westerberg's touching if slightly embarrassing "If Only You Were Lonely" turns up as the B-side to Sorry Ma's only single, "I'm in Trouble." Hootenanny (1983): The meaningful phase of The Replacements' career really begins with Hootenanny. It marks a dramatic improvement in the band's playing, and suggests, in tracks like "Color Me Impressed," how their reckless abandon could drive home Westerberg's emerging lyrical insight. Even throwaways like "Take Me Down to the Hospital" and "Run It" bounce along with vigor and purpose, honed well beyond their predecessors on the first two records. The suggestion that Westerberg was The Replacements begins here with his solo performance of "Within Your Reach," a guitar and synthesizer number that shows just how far ahead of the rest of the band he was in terms of sheer talent. Let It Be (1984): A frequent choice as one of the Top Ten albums of the eighties, Let It Be has some staggering moments: the songwriting skills hinted at in "Within Your Reach" explode in "Androgynous," a compassionate look at sexual identities; the aching "Unsatisfied," easily Westerberg's best vocal performance to date; the yearning, almost country-tinged "Sixteen Blue"; and the bitter album closer, "Answering Machine." But Westerberg is not the sole reason for Let It Be's success: his band stops and starts with newfound authority on "Favorite Thing"; they find a true swing groove for the middle of "We're Comin' Out"; and "I Will Dare" is a lilting, irresistible single aided by a guitar solo from R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, one of their early supporters. Even absurdly juvenile cuts like "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out" and "Gary's Got a Boner" are played with admirable skill. Somewhere in the contrast between such ridiculous rave-ups and the album's heartfelt moments lies what makes Let It Be so memorable. From: thcure7@aol.com (Thcure7) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: Paul on MRL Transcription Date: 23 May 1996 18:13:48 -0400 [Comments in <--ed.> are from the author. - M@] The following transcription omits the first four to five minutes of the actual interview... my apologies--I was not the person who taped it. Paul Westerberg Interview on Modern Rock Live 5/19/96 Interviewer: You had a decision to make: well, should I maybe just stand on the side, or did you definitely want to be front-and-center? Paul: (long pause) Uhhh... one more time? (mumbling) I don't understand wha... I: In other words...well, you're saying you'd rather play the guitar, did it ever come to the point where you're saying "well, if I'm in a band, do I really have to be a lead singer at that point?" P: Oh, no way... I mean I... I: No? Okay. P: I mean I hate guys who just play the guitar... I: (forced laugh) Okay... that's what I was getting at! Paul Westerberg... P: (mumbling) No, go ahead... I: Paul Westerberg is here with us in Minneapolis on Modern Rock Live. Here's another track from the CD, this is called "Angels Walk" on Modern Rock Live. I: On Modern Rock Live, it's Paul Westerberg and "Angels Walk." Paul is with us live from our studios in Minneapolis and our busy phones are ringing off the hook including this one from Austin in Grenbee, CT listening to Modern Rock Live on Radio 104. Hey, Austin. Caller: Hi. Um, I want to know what kind of guitar you play. P: Uhh... I gotta whole bunch of 'em... uhhh... that song there I was playing--actually it was Brendan (O'Brien)'s guitar--it was a Trin Lopez hollowbody, about the uncoolest guitar in the world, but it sounds great... I usually use... I like old, old Gibsons, like, uh, I got an old SG Junior from '62 or something. That's generally the sound, uh, on the records over the years I've used. I: (pause) mmm... thanks, Austin, for your phone call from Grenbee, CT. To Turtle Creek, PA, we talk to Lindsay on 104.7 the Revolution. Lindsay, you're on with Paul Westerberg. Caller: Hi, um, I was wondering... is songwriting difficult for you or does it just come easily? P: Um, it comes easily, but good songs don't. Ya know...sounds obvious, but it's true that the really good ones are hard work and they take a while, but yeah, I'm always kinda writin' one in my head, and I'm always scratching a word down and there's melodies floatin' around but... that wasn't the way at first. It's kinda from doing it you learn how to do it better. It's like anything you practice, I guess, it gets... it gets easier. I: (yet another long pause) Was there one song that you wrote, whether solo or with the band, that just totally surprised you when it came out and when you played it live, that just totally blew you away, the response? P: (pause) (chuckling) No... (interviewer laughs) Usually the opposite... you know, I have high hopes for a song, and then you get done, and there's dead silence... uhh... I: Give us an example. P: Oh boy. Starting alphabetical order? I: (laughing) You could. P: Uhh... "Answering Machine." Umm... yeah. No, I think... (whispering) I dunno. The, the... "no" is the answer to that, I just, uhh... I: Okay. P: I just forgot the question. I: That's all right. No problem... I was just... P: (inaudible) I: (without a trace of humor or irony) Oh, forget it. (laughs, uncomfortably) I don't wanna put you on the spot. Steven, in Collarsville, TN, on 96X in Memphis. Steven, you're on with Paul Westerberg on Modern Rock Live. Caller: Um, yes, are you gonna ever release an album of B-sides? And I read somewhere that you were afraid of some songs and I was wondering what songs and why you were afraid of em? P: Uhh... (sigh) First of all: the B-sides, that's the kind of thing that's not up to the artist, it's just the kind of thing the record company does when the artist goes bye-bye. So yeah, you can expect that one day. I: (laughs obediently) P: Just *kidding*, Howie. Let's see, the other thing... afraid? I'm not afraid of the songs... there are some I prefer, to like, uh... they sort of "come out," it's an emotion you have to deal with when you write the tune and then it's not something you wanna carry with you night after night on stage. It's something that you sort of leave, like a letter you write, and you don't wanna read it over and over again. And there are some like that, like "Good Day," for instance, is not one that I want to do (pause) again. "Unsatisfied" is also another that I never wanna... I never wanted to do it ten years ago, but people liked it, so unfortunately you, you have to do 'em sometimes if people wanna hear 'em... but, uh... I hope I answered that. I: (mumbling) Yeah, Wes...Thank you. Thanks, Steven, good question. Jan in Walwark, NJ on Z100 in New York City. Jan, you're on Paul Westerberg (sic). Caller: Hi. I was just wondering where you got the idea for your lyrics for your song "Love Untold" cause it's just like a true-to-life incident? P: I don't know. I kinda just closed my eyes and made it up and I probably stole it from someone. (laughs) <"The Long and Winding Road?"--ed.> I'm always suspicious when it comes from nowhere and uh, I don't have an honest answer. Part of that is something I can relate to, and I just, I just made it up. What do I say? I: There you go, Jan, thanks for your phone call. Hey Paul, thanks so much for spending time with us tonight, and uh, love the record. I can't wait for you guys to hit the road and we appreciate you coming on the show. P: (mumbles inaudibly) I: It really means a lot. P: (resignedly) Sure. I: Paul Westerberg is with us on Modern Rock Live---thanks again Paul-- here's a track from his CD, this is "Century." I: On Modern Rock Live, it's called "Century," from Paul Westerberg's brand-new CD called "Eventually" on Reprise Records and thanks again for Paul Westerberg for coming on tonight, and as he mentioned, he will be going on tour *very* soon once they find another guitar player. This is the first time I've heard an interviewer have to slow down so Paul could catch up... it should be the other way around, but Paul was really out of it... it sounded like they just woke him from a nap... somewhat incoherent, listless, and complacent. Sounded like he didn't especially want to be there but instead of using his contrariness to his advantage in irony or wicked humor, he just went through the motions and sounded very much like a washed-up old rocker. Sad... Tim Date: 09 May 96 01:07:05 EDT From: richard esquivil <76053.3123@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Eventually's first week sales Not as many as Hootie (258,000 records), probably more than Van Morrison... Eventually entered the Billboard charts at No. 50, with first-week sales of 20,000. That's great compared to Pleased To Meet Me (peaked at 131) or the Replacements highest charting single, "I'll Be You" (51). Even better news: A friend in my first period class saw my Eventually CD and asked, "Wasn't Paul Westerberg the lead singer for the Replacements?" I was very proud of him. Renee From: thesarge@mail.utexas.edu (thesarge) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: EVENTUALLY website Date: 20 May 1996 23:17:52 GMT Saw an ad for it in the latest ROLLING STONE: http://www.RepriseRec.com/Paul Westerberg Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 02:11:52 +0900 From: piyopiyo@ing.alacarte.co.jp (Mutsuko Nagai) Subject: Japanese version "Eventually" Hello there! I tell you about Japanese version of "Eventually." At first, "Eventually" is selling so well in my store! (I'm a manager of record store in Osaka, Japan.) Maybe everybody knows Japanese version of "Eventually" has a bonus track "MAKE YOUR OWN KIND MUSIC" and lyrics. (English and Japanese both!) The song will be on B-side of "Love Untold" EURO CD single. If you would like to get it, please let me know. I think it must be good for your collections. And also I don't care of make copy of it if you want. Please don't be reserved! I'm going to see Paul Westerberg's show in NY, Boston, and two more cities in this summer! If you will find two Japanese women (my sister and me) in some venue, please "SAY HELLO!" to us! I would meet to Skywayers! from distance with love Mutsuko. P.S. I'm sending the lyrics of "MAKE YOUR OWN KIND MUSIC." MAKE YOUR OWN KIND MUSIC (Mann/Weil) Nobody can tell ya There's only one song worth singing They may try and sell ya Cause it hangs them up To see someone like you You gotta make your own kind of music Sing your own special song Make your own kind music Even if nobody else sings along It can't be nowhere The loneliest kind of lonely It may be Just to do your thing is the hardest things to do You gotta make your own kind of music Sing your own special song Make your own kind music Even if nobody else sings along And if you will not take my hand Then I must be going, I'll understand You gotta make your own kind of music Sing your own special song Make your own kind music Even if nobody else sings along You gotta make your own kind of music Sing your own special song Make your own kind music Even if nobody else sings along You gotta make your own kind of music Sing your own special song Make your own kind music Even if nobody else sings along No no no no Even if nobody else sings along If nobody else sings along Paul! I sing along! ABSOLUTELY! And you?? Mutsuko. From: Maxsilent@aol.com Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 12:56:40 -0400 Subject: Westerberg news Just got off the phone with a good friend who is a longtime friend of the manager of Tower Records in Seattle and he reports to me that: His friend had lunch with Westerberg two weeks ago in Seattle (not just him and Paul, it was a bunch of suits from the label, and other retailers at a long table). The short of it is that the tour will definitely begin in June, and it will be in *clubs* (not sheds as had been rumored). Also of note, while in town, Paul asked the label if they could get him tickets to the Gin Blossoms show (they did, he went), and if they knew of anyone who would be interested in going with him since he didn't know anyone out there. He ended up going alone apparently. The Tower manager was told this by Warner execs after Paul had already left town. Ouch. Still no actual dates available (I called Warner/Reprise after I got off the phone with my friend), but it can't be long now... Best, John From: Kathms@aol.com Date: Mon, 27 May 1996 09:04:18 -0400 Hi fellow Skywayers, For those of you who don't know, I have a Paul Westerberg page on the Web (http://members.aol.com/paulspage/main.htm). I'll put the latest tour info up there as it comes in. I want to invite anyone who feels so inclined to write up a review of any Paul shows you see and email it to me and I'll post it on the Web page - you can email me at kathms@aol.com. RE: Eventually...What to say? I found it disappointing, lyrically at least. I like the production and Paul's in great voice, but there weren't many stellar lyrics. However, it is great to hear Paul on the radio again :) Love Untold is getting alot of ariplay here in Boston and I think "Ain't Got Me" could be a good single too. I got a copy of the Japanese version of Eventually (thanks Mutsuko!) which has a bonus track "Make Your Own Kind of Music". True to Paul form, he left one of the best tracks off the album. I know he said in the interview on 120 Minutes it's just coincidence that the bonus tracks are often the best ones (Seein Her, Men Without Ties) but one has to wonder! For all you collectors out there, you might want to check out Goldmine on the Web - it's a cool site (http://www.krause.com/goldmine), with lots of ads. Has anyone gotten this new "Garage Days" CD? Later, Kathy ============================================== The Paul Westerberg Page http://members.aol.com/paulspage/main.htm email: kathms@aol.com "I'll be home when I'm sleeping......"I can't hardly wait" ============================================== From: jmhuff@plix.com (Huff, J Michael) Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 16:35:08 -0700 Did anyone else notice that in the video for "Love Untold" there is a poster from "All Shook Down." It is close to the end of the video and it is on the grungy-looking kid's wall. Just thought I would pass that along. Best Wishes for Paul, Nathan Huff JMH Date: 31 May 96 23:06:09 EDT From: richard esquivil <76053.3123@CompuServe.COM> Just heard that Paul Westerberg is going to be on the Week In Rock next Friday on MTV. He was supposed to be on last week, I think. Renee Date: Wed, 8 May 1996 15:43:26 -0500 (CDT) From: Scott Hudson Alumni To: Matthew Tomich Five days before Eventually was released, I hosted a listening party at our local live music venue. It was a happy hour type thing with our magazine giving away free beer. I do these types of things about once a month or so. Anyway, shortly after playing the disc, a contingent from our local classic schlock/AOR station showed up. The music director immediately searched me out and asked if I had played the disc yet. "Sorry, bud. I just finished it." Claiming he was a big fan of Westerberg (although their station has never played Paul or the 'mats), he just "had" to hear it. So I put it on again. My friends certainly didn't mind, and those there only for the free beer didn't notice. As I was loading the disc, the music director started complaining how the record company only sent them the single. Having said that, he tried to get me to say that "Love Untold" wasn't that good. My responce was that I didn't like it at first, but now think it's a pretty good pop song. At this point he walked away to play darts. When "Love Untold" came on, he once again came over and tried to get me to admit it sucks. "If the Goo Goo Dolls can make it by copying Paul, then Paul deserves all the attention this song could possibly get," was my responce. He replied that he thought people would get sick of it right away, and that "Paul will do just fine without our help." Fuck you, I thought. Instead I just complained about how all three times I tuned into their station I heard that stupid new Hootie song. Talk about a band that will do fine without their help! Of course he loved Hootie, and didn't understand that when I called Hootie the "Boston of the 90's" it was an insult. Finally he walked away. So here's what I'd like us Skyway-ers to do. Call this dreaded station (800-TRY-1037) and bitch them out for not playing it. The music director is on during the mid-afternoon, so that's a good time to call. Scott ______________________________________________________________________________ III. PERFECT From: gondola@deltanet.com (Gondola Bob) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: Perfect EP Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 15:07:07 -0700 Hey folks, Well, I finally listened to my advance disk of Perfect's "When Squirrels Play Chicken" EP. [Official release date: July 9th.] Shorthand review: Shrug.... Unlike Bash & Pop, it definitely has that gutsy, Replacements rock 'n' roll spirit. Unfortunately, Tommy is a poor singer (I kept thinking of a teenaged, immature Ian Hunter) and he shows little knack for melody. The lyrics may be decent (especially on "Alternative Monkey"), but his strained, wheezy singing is hard to decipher and undercuts the resonance of the words. Short comments about the five songs: "Makes Me Happy" and "Sometimes": Unmemorable rock 'n' roll thunder. Whatever.... "Alternative Monkey": Almost a great song, but the melody hook isn't strong enough, and (again) the bitter, possibly intriguing lyrics are too difficult to understand. Screeched key line: "I wish to God I'd known this." "Miss Self-Esteem": The Sensitive Song, but it doesn't quite come off. Sort of a soft & loud thing, but the melody and lyrics are dull. Westerberg's vocal influence is VERY obvious during the soft parts. "Don't Need To Know Where": The one track I'd like to hear again. Churning pop-rock, and by FAR the best melody on the disk. Also (and this is no minor point), Gersh's drumming is FANTASTIC. Definitely the highlight, and the most Replacementsy song here (particulary the chorus). Anyway, that's about it. If Perfect is performing full sets all over the country (I haven't seen the band yet, sorry), I wonder why the group recorded only an EP. It's hard to get excited about five rough little tunes totalling just 15 minutes. Oh well, I don't need to own the final product myself. If you're one of those who thinks the world begins and ends with scruffy, white-boy college rock (and I know a few of you), you'll wanna grab this one the day it comes out. Otherwise, ehhh, buy something else. And buy the new Wrens album Secaucus, damn it! It's lots better than either this disk OR Eventually. :P G.B. [The Wrens are downright incredible en concierto. Go go go! - M@] From: Matsfann@aol.com Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 02:28:38 -0400 I just brought the new perfect cd-ep home tonight from work. It is called "When Squirrels Play Chicken." The five songs on the EP are: 1. Makes me Happy 2. Sometimes 3. Alternative Monkey 4. Miss Self-Esteem 5. Don't Need to Know Where My favorite song after one listen is the last one, but the whole disc is really good, very similar to Bash n' Pop, which of course was a really good Replacements knockoff. The disc is scheduled to be released on Medium Cool Records (owned by Twin/Tone. Slim's was released on Medium Cool and so was the Dashboard Savior's first album) on July 9. My buddy at work gave it to me and he likes it a lot too. Marc Solomon plays left guitar and sings, Robert Cooper plays bass and sings and Gersh plays drums. Tommy plays right guitar and sings leads. I have heard that his shows aren't very good but I am seeing him on Saturday night in San Jose at the Cactus Club, a great venue for club bands. Chuck From: Matsfann@aol.com Date: Thu, 30 May 1996 02:47:00 -0400 Subject: Re: [SKYWAY] First PW tour dates! Here are Tommy's Perfect dates in the near future: 5/30 Long Beach, CA - The Foothill 5/31 Hollywood - The Dragonfly 6/1 San Jose - Cactus Club 6/2 San Francisco - Bottom of the Hill 6/4 Vancouver - Town Pump 6/5 Seattle - Moe 6/6 Portland - EJ's 6/8 Berkeley - Berkeley Square I will update the Paul dates for you at the end of the week. Chuck ______________________________________________________________________________ IV. FIESTAS Date: Mon, 13 May 96 15:51:17 -0500 From: egatz@slingshot.com (Ron Egatz) New York City-area Skyway Folks I'm now collecting info for a list of Skywayers interested in meeting one night at a Manhattan bar. Date, time and place will be announced once the list gives us an accurate idea of the number of drunks who will be screaming "Valentine" at the top of their lungs. Carpools are welcome. If you want to show up from far away, we can try to arrange places to crash. Likewise, if you're willing to let someone sleep on your floor or puke in your toilet, let us know. All those interested, email Ron Egatz: egatz@slingshot.com. I got my hands in my pockets and I'm waitin' for the day to come. Best, Ron ______________________________________________________________________________ V. BOOTLEGS, TRADES, DEMOS, MARKETPLACE, STUFF LIKE THAT Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 23:21:48 -0400 From: mikem@magicnet.net (Mike Monello) Subject: Demos Update Hello all, Just a note to let everyone know I've updated the demos page. The new tunes are: Like You - Outtake from SORRY MA... You're Getting Married - PAUL SOLO demo from HOOTENANNY era Wake Up - Outtake from DON'T TELL A SOUL There's also a new animated .gif (this one's in color)! Plus, you can preview my next page, devoted to my totally useless collection of Wacky Packages (you had to grow up in the seventies to remember these). Enjoy! MikeM oh yeah, the URL: http://www.magicnet.net/~mikem P.S. I think I've changed my mind on EVENTUALLY, and now find it kind of boring. Does that make me a waffler? Sincerely, Mike M. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Replacements Demos and Rarities Page! http://www.magicnet.net/~mikem -------------------------------------------------------------------- Florida Film Festival Online! http://www.enzian.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 14 May 96 21:59:13 PDT From: bruef@madison.tdsnet.com Subject: Free Mats Tape I had an idea not too long ago to put together a couple of compilation tapes - one with all the Mats originals that don't appear on any of the official releases or on any of the rarities / B-sides tapes that are floating around - the other with all the songs from Mats boots that have gone unidentified (usually credited as "?"). When I actually set to work on this, I found that they all fit on one 100 min tape. I'm now turning to all of you to help me I.D. this stuff. So here's the deal. All you have to do is send me one blank 100 minute tape, and I'll send it back to you with the compilation on it. The only catch is that if you can identify any of the songs, you have to let me know. The tape has songs I'm pretty sure are Mats originals and am sure of the titles (Jesperson actually mentioned some of these in the Goldmine article), songs I'm pretty sure of the title of but don't know whether they're covers or originals (or who did the original version in the case of covers), and songs I have absolutely no idea what the hell's going on with. This is a really neat compilation because it spans their entire career (although it leans real heavily on the early years), and has a lot of real good songs that you may not have known about. Anyone who's interested in getting a copy, send one blank 100 min tape and return postage to: Bill Ruef PO Box 251 New Glarus, WI 53574 Just remember - if you can confirm or correct a title, or you can confirm whether any of the songs are originals or covers, or you can give the original artist (and any other interesting info about the song), let me know. Also... I've recently been working on trying to put together a semi-definitive list of songs the Mats covered fairly regularly in concert (I know - I need to get a freakin' hobby!) The list is massive so far (over 150 songs!) and still growing the more I work on it. There's a lot of songs I'm not familiar with and am not sure whether they're covers or originals (see free tape article). There is also a handful of songs I'm either familiar with, or for one reason or another just know are covers, but don't know the original artist of. So I'm turning to you, the highly intelligent residents of this mailing list, to help me figure some of these out. Please email me if you know who is responsible for any of the following: Mirror Go Round (from Shit Hits the Fans) Borstal Breakout Bring It On Home (I know this is an old folk / blues song, but I don't know who to credit it to) Good Thing (or I've Been Your Good thing) - This is a kind of doo-woppy 6/8 song they did frequently on the last tour - it's not the old Paul Revere song and I don't think it's a Fine Young Cannibals song) Left Here In The Dark Mr. Big - ("put it in - pull it out - stick it in - all about - MR. BIG" - or something like that) Seek & Destroy She's A Goer Who Got My Natural Comb - (Not sure about the title - phrase heard at end of "Tossin' and Turnin' B-side) Yeah Yeah Yeah There's a few others I'm not sure of the title on. One is commonly referred to as "1977", but is NOT the Clash song of the same name. Another is sometimes referred to as "Submission" but is NOT the Pistols song. There's a couple more I think are covers but am not sure about the titles - one sometimes called "Sidewinder", and another called "Lift Her Skirt". Let me know if you can help out here kids. I'll send in the complete list when I'm done with the project. Thanx! Bill A. Ruef bruef@waun.tdsnet.com "I'm a bad worker - My father would be ashamed Yes I'm a bad worker - I'll give you minimum effort for a minimum wage" - Author Unknown From: TrytmntBnd@aol.com Date: Sun, 12 May 1996 19:15:09 -0400 Available for trade, cassette copies of : "Goodbye Bozos" a 2 disc boot. Disc 1 is "live in Dixie, 1989" and Disc 2 is "live in Chicago, 1991" "Shit, Shower, and Shave" single disc boot consisting of tracks from 3 separate Mats performances; 8-31-89 Ct., 6-89 Wi, and 8-28-89 Mass. I'm not a serious collector, I just happened upon these and impulsively bought them. I'd like to trade cassette copies of the above for GOOD quality audio or video of the Replacements/Paul Westerburg. Kind of wondering what else is out there. Thanks ! Trytmntbnd@aol.com From: Pierre Hellqvist Petter Swartzgatan 8 602 35 NORRKOPING, SWEDEN (^ umlats over this O) Date: 14 Apr 96 Tape traders! This is what I can offer: CD's ---- The Replacements: Shit, Shower, and Shave (1989) It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Roadies Play (July 4th, 1991 - last gig) Paul Westerberg: Lucky's Revenge (July 1993, Whiskey A-Go Go, Los Angeles CA) Gravel Pit (1993, Stone Pony, Ashbury Park NJ) LP's/tapes ---------- The Replacements: In Heaven There's No Beer (from double vinyl, G.S. Vigs in Wisconsin, 8 Nov 1984) Live and Drunk (from double vinyl, CBGB's, NYC, 1984) Live at Lingerie, "Substitute" (from CD, Lingerie Club, Los Angeles, CA, Oct 1984) Paul Westerberg: Live at the Whiskey A-Go Go (July 1993, the night before Lucky's Revenge) Thanks! Pierre From: ABLOINK@emuvax.emich.edu Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 19:06:40 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Ann Arbor, MI Feb. 14, 1991 If anyone knows where I can get a copy of the Feb. 14, 1991 show in Ann Arbor, MI, Please E-mail me. That was the one and only time I saw the Replacements, and I'll be forever grateful if someone can find me a copy of the show. abloink@emuvax.emich.edu Date: 23 May 96 18:18:49 EDT From: Jeff Lake WANTED: The 'Mats on SNL. I am not sure of the year, but I remember that Harry Dean Stanton was the host and they performed "Bastards Of Young," and one other song. If anyone has it and would like to send a copy my way, drop me a line at the address below. Happy Trails, Jeff. JLake@DCafe.com P.S. Does anybody know a mail order service for 'Mats live shows? Or any stores in So. Cal that carry any??? ______________________________________________________________________________ VI. BANDS FROM THE //SKYWAY\\ TAPE From: MRTimmins@aol.com Date: Tue, 28 May 1996 21:58:40 -0400 Subject: Tentative _Fans Hit Back II_ song list and final call for submissions Well, it's been a while since anyone has sent me submissions or promises of submissions for _The Fans Hit Back II_, so consider this a last solicitation to speak now or forever hold your piece. ;-) Given what I've received to date, this is approximately what the playlist will look like. The songs are not listed in order of how they will appear on the tape, but rather are clumped by artist. If you have an objection to which of your songs I have chosen (or if I've guessed the title wrong because I misplaced your biographical info), or you take offense at my characterization of your style, let me know. Later, -Mark P.S. I don't think what's here will fill a C-90, so if you still wanna send me something, go for it! Jeff Hart & The Ruins (country-tinged pop rock) Met Your Sister If You Don't Want Me Now (I Don't Want You Ever) She's Your Girl The Malchicks (post-grunge) Natural Suicicde Killing Sun A Central Infinity (Defined) The Sovines (chicken-fried rock) Hole in Me Drinks Before Church Whiskey Bottle Now Duncan Young (straight-ahead rock) Who's to Say Elaine Pan (acoustic folk) Coming Home You Don't Understand Roller & The Poptarts (proto-punk) Monster Waves Pretty Girls Go Little Slot Car Mr. Bill (Whatever Happened To) The Johnny Volume Meltdown (industrial-flavored postpunk) SP.ED Pope Mahone (socially inept suburbanites) Badass Landlord Three-Piece Adversary Set (garage rock) Pop Quiz Little Bohemia (progressive rock) Got Me Burned User Friendly Minnesota King Alcohol (whine sellers) Sinless Man Another Wasted Day Outside Squid Vicious (surf-punk) (tape in the mail) ______________________________________________________________________________ (generic signature file below this line) --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- Matthew Tomich The //Skyway\\: The Replacements Mailing List 2407 Chapel Hill Road ---------------------------------------------- Durham, NC 27707 To subscribe, send "subscribe skyway" in the (919)-419-0808 body of a letter to "majordomo@novia.net" --==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==-- "Hey Gabe, give me a quote for this thing." "About 13 grand." -- conversation between me and my housemate fifteen seconds ago