______________________________________________________________________________ // // The \\kyway \\ // skyway@novia.net Issue #44 November 7th, 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 ______________________________________________________________________________ What you get: 0. Here Comes a Regular: Matt Tomich 1. New Regulars: Lisa, PJ, Nichole from Seattle, David, BSpyke, Cleo, Andy Synder, Sarah, Tim McNellis, Paulo Roberto Maciel Santos, Bob, Mark Bedillion, LargoMP 2. Westerberg shit: Jr. Mint, Charles Ford, Nick R., Rick George, Richard Griscom, James Dye, Renee Esquivil, Andy Smythe, Laura Keller, Magnus from Sweden, Lewisfer, Asif, Ross DePinto 3. Perfect shit: Adam Gimbel, Heather Chakiris 4. Horseshoes n' Old Me's: Mitch Harris, Daniel Sigelman 5. 'Mats shit: Darwyn Yoho, Request Magazine, Ken Feinleib 6. Don't Buy or Sell...It's Crap: Mike Monello, Mark Timmins, Superknot, Matt Grogan, Dave Olson, Dean Roe, Kevin Parker, Peebrain, Nathan Huff, Mike in Boston, John Sotak 7. Everything else: Bob, Scott Muhlbaier, Dave Armes _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Zero: Here Comes A Regular. Hey, since the last Skyway yours truly has become a working stiff. After the past year of car mishaps, temping, landscaping, camp counseling, and general entropy, I finally have a lease and a job. Can you believe it? Can it last? (Not on your life!) First off, an observation. Feel free to write in with your own theories because I've been mulling this over alot recently... I've been gradually making a survey of the post-college 20-something life of myself and friends and acquaintances...and I'm just blown away by how generally lonely so many people are. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that once you're out of college, it's just not as easy to hang around people 24-7 like it was in the dorm. Maybe it's because you can't hang out at the club until three a.m. because you gotta go to work in the morning. Maybe it's some sort of brain damaging reaction to having the same spatial companions (the ubiquitious 'co-workers') for over a third of your waking hours for 14 months straight. "I used to live at home Now I stay at the house." I know I've written this before in this exact same space, but this line makes more and more sense the older I get. And the picture on the fridge that's never stocked with food. And a big one for all the college buddies in Missouri who are drunk, lonely, married, bored, employed, or any combination thereof. But hey, of course, as per the Laws of Thermodynamics, my life situation couldn't remain static within the span of a single issue of the Skyway. I just found out yesterday that the position that I was temping 'into' that was going to be created for me when I went from temp-to-permanent at Duke didn't get approved by the financial red pen of the boss of my boss's boss, and so the dinero to pay my temp butt runs out next Monday. I can't say I got fired, and I can't say I got laid off...I guess I'm just getting un-temped. Hey, I seriously kinda liked the job...but I don't think that the Duke Endowment needs any charity. So hey, Tuesday I'll be lookin' for a new joint to call "work"! (Does this stuff even faze you anymore?) Faux pas of the week: I was voting for Prez today (and to help Jesse Helms collect an unemployment check)...and in the gym where I was voting, there was this huge table of food after the line of voting booths. Well, after turning in my ballot at the first table. And then I walked over to the next table of complimentary food and grabbed an apple and a cookie...and then these people who are working the election come running over and yell, "Hey! That's not free food, that's our dinner!" Whoops! Hey, they had it set up like it was the Red Cross or something...but I gave them their half-eaten Oreo back and put on my keen new "I Voted!" sticker. Administrative B.S.: Thanks to all those conscientious folks who wrote in regarding the size and frequency of the Skyway. Honestly, the Skyway comes out as often as I'm able to put it together...but to make it easier on some people out there, I'm going to start breaking up the mailings into smaller chunks so that some people's mail readers don't crash and burn. (Hey Nate, let me know if this sucker fits into SimpleText now.) Anybody out there let me know if you have a preference either way. Another thing is that because I spent all that time organizing the Westerberg shows issue, some of these messages have aged over a month. I know how when you write something you want to see it up and people's reactions ASAP, so sorry 'bout the space between sending that stuff in and seeing it here. (It's also what's prompted me to put out this issue less than a week after the last one.) Oh yeah, regarding Wsterberg shows, the pictures that I took at the Athens show really stunk! I was using this brand new Spectrum film that's supposed to be awesome and all my pictures came out really washed out, if at all. (However, the one of Stacey K. from Charlotte and Paul came out great and it'll be in the mail.) However, if people out there have pictures from the show...let me know! I'll get you hooked up with somebody with a scanner and I'll add your pictures to the //Skyway\\ web page. Speaking of last week, best Halloween costume that anybody wrote in about: "I went to a party as a Dope Smokin' Moron!" -- Joseph Donohue <76532.1653@CompuServe.COM> You win Joe! Send me a picture and I'll put it up on the web page and I'll find something cool to mail you on my last day of work! Send it to: Matt Tomich 311 S. LaSalle St. #43G Durham, NC 27705 USA Matt! P.S. Hey, if anybody out there has a copy of the October issue of _Seventeen_ magazine, check out the "School Zone" column where they went to Montclair High School in Montclair, NJ...look for the nutty kid in bellbottoms...I was that kid's counselor at camp! He was a laugh riot! (Thanks Jenny!) _____________________________________________________________________________ (People from the last issue asked "Hey! So how can I get this Bob thing?" Straight up from the editor-man, Bruce Davis, here it is:) From: BCD629@aol.com Date: Fri, 11 Oct 1996 19:29:16 -0400 The latest issue of The Bob magazine features Paul Westerberg on the cover, and an in-depth interview inside. Also included is a free flexi-disc of Paul performing the Mama Cass song "Make Your Own Kind of Music" in the studio. Also featured are interviews with Tommy Keene, the Wipers, the Raincoats, Ian Hunter, Giant Sand, and much more. Single issues can be ordered for $4 ppd. from: The Bob Magazine P.O. Box 7223 Wilmington, DE 19803 _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter One: ...new regulars... Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 16:17:38 -0500 (CDT) From: Citizen Arcane Subject: Why I went searching for this list Hi. My name is Lisa. I'm just your typical college student studying at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Starting to get into the "Mats'" but already hooked on Paul Westerberg's solo work (14 Songs and Eventually). Saw his show at Austin Music Hall (which if I was any closer to the stage I would have been *on* stage. He put on *the* best show I have ever seen of anybody in my life. From the second he got on stage.. to the second he finished his encore ...to the little over twenty mins or so I stayed around to get a autograph (which I usually never peruse). I knew I was officially hooked. So now I'm starting to "go back" and starting to get into the "'Mats" buying on CD no less (which if you know me is a major commitment). Well that's my story...I only wish I got into them *before*. If I hadn't bought my books for this sem, I would have the complete set by now. See ya Lisa aka Citizen Arcane @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ I try to comprehend you but I got a dyslexic heart - Paul Westerberg @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ From: wabn@naxs.com (WABN Radio) Subject: PJ's Life Story Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1996 21:18:14 -0400 Hi Friends, I've really enjoyed reading your 'Mats stories. Here's mine. My first month of college--University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1987--was pretty eye-opening. I had no idea how sheltered I'd been. Lots of partying, lots of different kinds of kids, I was ready to expand my horizons. This guy I knew asked me if I wanted to go see this band he loved on Saturday night. "Who the fuck are the Replacements?". If I hadn't heard of them, they must suck. But with my new commitment to open-mindedness, I told him I'd go. Friday night, we hung out in his room, listening to "Let It Be" on vinyl, over and over and over. All of these hip-looking, attractive girls kept passing by the room, poking their heads in, "Hey! Replacements, huh? You going tomorrow?". Girls like that, like this? Wow. I'd never been to a concert, so I was pretty fucking excited. I was also kinda drunk, so much of the concert was a haze for me, but I know that the band was much drunker than I was. The crowd was rabid, calling out names of songs. Paul kept coming up to the microphone between songs saying "Any requests?". People were screaming for "Gary's Got A Boner" & "Waitress In the Sky", but Paul would just say, "Nope, never heard of that" and launch into something from "Pleased To Meet Me". About 3/4's of the way through the show, after some intra-band arguing, right in the middle of a song, Paul stopped singing, looked at Tommy and started laughing. They both turned around and rushed Chris, knocking down his entire drum kit except for one cymbal, on which Chris kept the beat going. That night was the first I'd seen moshing, and was the first of many night that I did. I went out and bought "Let It Be" that week. I really connected with the desperate, daring tone of the music. Today I still keep that CD in my backpack at all times, the album changed the course of my music tastes irrevocably. Jump to '94. After a couple of moves, I land in SW Virginia, writing and directing low-budget TV commercials for an NBC affiliate. The area is pretty rural and radio really sucks. One day, on the way back from a shoot, the salesperson I'm with is scanning, looking for Rush Limbaugh (bleah!). ME: "Wait, go back! What station around here is cool enough to play this song?" (I wish I could tell you that it was "Left of the Dial", but it was Smashing Pumpkins "Disarm"). HIM: "That's WABN, they're my clients". ME: "Wow, if I were gonna work in radio, that's the kind of station I'd work for, and I'd play all the good music that never gets played around here, like the Replacements". HIM: "Who the fuck are the Replacements?" He told me they'd just had a bunch of people quit. Back at the TV station he called WABN, set up an interview for the next day. I interviewed on a Wednesday and on Thursday I was their new late night guy (they were desperate). My TV station boss told me, "Your contract does not allow you to have a part-time job, you'll have to quit". So I quit--the TV station. Two and a half years later, and I am still on the air, afternoons mostly. It's a top 40 station, a lot of Boyz II Men and that crap (but we did have "Love Untold" in rotation for awhile). The good news is that I wormed my way into creating an Alternative Show, late night, every night. I always work Paul Westerberg and the Replacements into my show. Twice a year--on my birthday and on my ex-girlfriend birthday--I do a full night of Replacements (there are a couple of guys in the Washington County Prison that really love this, they always send me fan mail after my Westerberg hour and tell me to play Alex Chilton for them). Because I'm now a music business weasel, I got free tickets to see Paul in Athens last week. He played a lot of stuff from "Let It Be" and I was so fucking happy. I'll spare you the details of my present life's trauma (this epic has been extremely self indulgent already) but there was this weird finality to that night. I'd come full circle, from sheltered loner with sheltered musical taste, to sheltered loner--in an empty room/booth spinning records--creating musical tastes, starting and ending with Paul Westerberg's music. I'm an hour and a half into typing this story, and I begin to wonder why I'm telling you this, what makes me think you'd be interested. I guess I feel a connection to the music and the type of alienation of which much of it speaks. And I figure you must, too. It was pretty wonderful singing "I Will Dare" and "Androgynous" with the crowd in Athens. So I guess it's all a stab at feeling not so alone. A funny move for a guy who's motto's been "It's all a bunch of shit". See Ya, PJ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 18:36:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Nichole Byrne Lau Subject: Replacements for life Hi Matt, I just subscribed to Skyway. Let me tell you what happened to me Sept. 10, 1996 at 11:45 p.m. Scene: Seattle, Pike Place Market. A tour bus is parked. A 36 year ex-lead singer is sitting in the stairwell of it. I walk up to him, about to swoon and tell him exactly what he has done to enhance the quality of life. I tell him that there is no-one like him in the world. I tell him that his music has always been there. I tell him......well, that's when I blacked out from anxiety. I didn't faint but basically couldn't speak. That's when Paul took over. I calmed down enough to hear him say that I was wearing a pretty dress..... Oh boy, I've been excited about it since. Unfortunately, no-one around here knows who Paul Westerberg is. It sort of sucks. Meanwhile I'm going to find that smile with my name on it..... Nichole From: Nichole Byrne Lau Date: Thu, 03 Oct 96 16:46:00 PDT I just got my first issue of Skyway. It's wonderful. Now that I have better e-mail (that doesn't cost me) I can tell you more about myself other than my meeting Paul story (which I'm still trying to remember). I just moved to Seattle from working in living in New York. There I was employed by a downsized and downsizing publishing company. The pay was rather low and the job thankless so I lit out west on my own. I landed in Seattle a couple of months ago and now I work in telecommunications. The one thing keeping my head together is the Replacements. I'm in this city where I don't know a soul and I found that their music is about all I can depend on. I discovered them back in the late eighties when I was attending high school. See, the place I went was this little strict Catholic girl's academy and things all sort of fell into neat little compartments in our boring little lives. I was that usual angst ridden teenager listening to the Smiths and the Cure thinking the emotional gravity of this planet was just too much for the delicate sensitive flower I thought was. I stuck out already as I was 6 foot at age 13. Being the smart teenager I was, I made it my game to stick out even more. So guys with oedipal complexes and unaggressive hormonal glands became very high on my top ten list. I heard the song "I'll be You" and the melody was so damn upbeat that of course I ignored the lyrics and thought, "Duuuh, what a silly concept for a song- I'll be you...". Then it hit me a few days later the true meaning of that song is in it's seemingly simpleness. It was this really happy sounding song about the flatness and banality of a relationship and ultimately, life. This was no weepy, wussy, overly sentimental crap that dragged you even deeper into the sad hole you came from. I've come to realize the Replacements don't have any pretensions, they don't have anyone to impress, they don't have any manifestos to finish. They are just band with damn fine song writing and an excellent sound. Meeting Paul is one of the most amazing things that ever happened to me. I'm glad I was able to tell him what a mark his and the Replacement's music made in my life. It's just too bad I almost fainted on him! I can't even tell you my favorite song but "Here Comes a Regular", "I Will Dare", "Alex Chilton", "Skyway", "Can't Hardly Wait", "On the Bus", "Aching to Be", "Love Untold", Time Flies Tomorrow", "Left of the Dial" and "Hold My Life" all come to mind. Till then, Nichole PS: Has anyone noticed the very funny re-working (well sorta) of "Talent Show" Paul does on this tour? The sense of humor of that guy......... Date: Sun, 29 Sep 1996 18:30:10 -0400 From: "David R. Donahue" Subject: Why did I join? You know how Paul feels about Alex Chilton and Big Star - "never go far without..." - that's how I feel about the Replacements. I listened to them so much that at one time, my wife said that I was "Satisfied". Problem was, she didn't really listen to the lyrics. I'm generally calm and "zen"-ish, but their music really moves me. That's about the extent of it. Hard to say which song gets me the most, but it would probably have to be "Within Your Reach", mainly from playing it on a college radio show I did back in the early '80's, but also for the snippet you hear in "Say Anything". Thanks for setting it up. Oh yeah - I drive an '85 Corolla myself... From: BSpyke7@aol.com Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 00:29:56 -0400 Subject: my first entry to skyway Hello! It's very late but I'm really excited about the Skyway so I thought I'd get started on my "introductory" entry. First I'll tell you how I got here...I've just got finished seeing Paul in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and every time I've seen Paul or the Replacements I'm thrown into a state of frenzy...one concert is not enough! Anyway, now I have an after-concert outlet...the new computer. So I've been rooting around and bumped into Skyway. So here I am! Lemmie see. I bought my first Replacements cassette in Toronto in 1985, it was 'Tim,' and I was 15. I had been looking for Replacements stuff for awhile before that, but was never able to find anything since I was from Ashtabula, Ohio (where?). At the time I was into Duran Duran (I guess I have to admit it), U2, Echo and the Bunnymen, and others along those lines. Anyway, from that day on, I have been a total Replacements/Westerberg addict. I would have to say that Tim has remained my steadfast favorite, although Let It Be and Pleased To Meet Me are up there. I am really impressed with Eventually, by the way. Ok, back to my past...my first live Replacements concert was in 1989 at the Cleveland Agora. I had REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to see them when they played at Kent State University in 1987, but I didn't have my drivers license (even though I was 17 -- I am lazy, what can I say?) and nobody I knew from Ashtab had ever heard of them. (My husband went to that show, but he says he didn't know much about them when he saw them at Kent State...the tragedy of it all!!) So, yes, the Agora show in '89 was amazing. My best memories of that show was 1) when Tommy was pulled into the audience. When he finally made it back to the stage, he didn't have any shoes on, the audience had stripped them off. So he started yelling "where are my fucking shoes?" It took awhile, but eventually they were thrown back on stage, and they played on, and 2) being up front in the "friendly mosh pit" everyone was so NICE about slamming into each other. It was great. I kept bouncing off a slightly chubby guy, and he'd say "excuse me" and we'd chuckle. I'm not kidding! Everyone was so polite! I have more memories from other concerts, but I'm getting lengthy so I'll stop for now. By the way, my e-mail address is my husbands, please direct any correspondence to shannon when using the address. Bye for now! From: PatraCatt@aol.com Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1996 18:06:31 -0400 Well hey there Skyway folks! First off let me thank you for being around...I had a tough time figuring out how to get to ya but persistence paid off...let me warn you that I am brandy new to this whole computer thang and this is the first "public" letter I've done...so I'll just ramble on trying to reveal a little about myself... I've been a fan of the 'Mats since 1985 when a friend of mine told me to check them out along with checking out X...at that time I was in graduate school here in N.J. for social work but had my heart partially in Vermont, where I went to college and did my share of partying. I have always been a music fanatic, and prided myself (still do) on my eclectic tastes and insatiable appetite for live music. Anyway what I recall is getting really turned on by TIM and the energy and spunk of the sound, I loved the mix of raucous guitar and original angst paired with wit and humor, great vocals and sweet tenderness...Here Comes a Regular, Bastards of Young, Little Mascara, Swingin Party...well I just think it's a great creative vital take on inner turmoil/ outright anger/a hell of a wild ride on things. I then got into Let It Be, which I think is magnificent, again with its take on many perspectives and emotions exploding around some of the best rhythms and melodies...full of life at its fullest...real spellbinding stuff which excited me. Anyway favorites...there, of course, are many I Will Dare, Favorite Thing, Tommy Tonsils, Androgynous, Unsatisfied, Answering Machine (yes, I've used it on my machine without most getting it, recently Ain't Got Me too) I really loved Pleased To Meet Me too, really the whole album (yes my age shows since I purchased it in vinyl...I resisted the CD thing for a good while pissed off that I was being imposed upon by the companies that be and forced into not buying vinyl.) Later on I checked more into Hootenanny and Ma, and although I certainly appreciate them for their 'purity' (ha!) and rawness, I tend to listen to the above three mentioned albums most. Don't Tell A Soul has it's gems and I enjoy it but it isn't pure 'Mats to me with all the changes happening with them around that time. I must acknowledge the sweet beat of Asking Me Lies though, hooks me every time... I do hope this isn't too boring for all, apologies if it is... I have a few live tapes, mostly gotten from my crazed collector buddy. I have picked up a few here and there, though I find good quality recordings hard to find. 'Inconcerated' is great, and I have a copy of 'Lucky's Revenge' which is great. I had the opportunity to see the 'Mats live a few times, some more stellar than others,but always unpredictable, amusing, entertaining, and somehow through their drunken madness they created that spark that when interconnected flew me off into that grand musical, magical, oblivion... they cracked me up while at the same time touched me and excited me to no end... As I continue to ramble...I thought the opening slot for Tom Petty was ridiculous, but quite enjoyed the Elvis Costello combo although that tour was more somber for Elvis and the match was off kilter. As for the more recent stuff; I enjoy the Westerberg albums but although I feel there are superb songs on them they have felt inconsistent to me and generally disappointing on the whole. (I'm being honest, and yes, that doesn't mean I'm not a true fan.) All Shook Down (I consider that a Westerberg album) has pure paul 'raspberries' writing all over it, even more so the 14 Songs and Eventually discs and as greatly pop-py as ever the songs on various movie soundtracks (I am not being sarcastic, I happen to love it when Paul skillfully develops such catchy and pop-py tunes)...anyway I still love it all just because its them. Don't get me wrong. I feel there are gems such as Sadly Beautiful, My Little Problem, Dice Behind Your Shades, Runaway Wind, World Class Fad, You've Had It With You, Love Untold, Trumpet Clip , Mamadaddydid (great) and the special 'Good Day' for obvious reasons...I really think live Paul shines much more than his albums show. Live his guitar work and continuously enhanced vocals (I think his vocals are getting even better and more expressive) along with the excellent bands he tours with really erupt joyously...unfortunately I missed him this tour since I was traveling (another of my passions) although I've heard alot about the shows and expect a recording shortly. I did catch him on Letterman and just the other night. On Leno, which I thought was great, Paul seemed more relaxed than on Letterman and having a great time/sounded good too... I have also been keeping up on Tommy's happenings. I happen to have liked Bash and Pop alot and saw them a few times and was really impressed with Tommy's playing and vocals and pure exuberance. Love his indulgence in life...the Perfect project seems along similar lines and am looking forward to more from it. I have PERFECT concert news for those in the NY/NJ area, Perfect is opening for Big Star at Tramps (51 West 21st St., 'tween 5th and 6th Ave., NYC) along with Yo La Tengo and Superdrag on November 15 & 16)...I also think the Chris Mars stuff is quite good. All and all makes one realize the talent that created the whole 'Mats experience (least not to forget Bob of course, very sad to me, ya know).... Since I work in a high school counseling kids (not a guidance counselor but personal counseling on anything and everything), music is a great connector and sometimes I even find a kid who knows the 'Mats. I use songs and lyrics with them all the time and believe me they know if my lust for the stuff is genuine...sometimes I find it hard to explain why I am so hooked particularly on them, especially to unknowing friends, there is just something about their rebellion, lustfulness, honesty, urgency, sense of nonsense that I can't seem to get enough of. (I have a bunch of articles on our 'Mats from the end of the eighties I seem to re-read alot). As I said way earlier, I have eclectic tastes in music. Others I love are Springsteen, Mould, Los Lobos, Afghan Whigs, The Sead, Elvis C., Lou Reed, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Nanci Griffith, to name a few...luv everything from folk to blues to 'grunge' to alter-whatever. I feel there is too much out there to limit oneself to only one type of music and I try to be open to mixes of stuff and creative forces. Hey, if it provides joy to whomever who am I to knock it but I do have my faves and the 'Mats and all connected to it are definitely priority... Thanks for listening and caring and such good taste...cleo Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1996 23:53:27 -0500 (CDT) From: donald andrew snyder Greetings fellow Mats fans, I've been meaning to do this for a while, but figured that I should wait until I settled in Chicago. I am at the University of Chicago Divinity School now and struggling to learn my way around town. It's quite a change from Montgomery, AL and even Atlanta (where I went to college), but it could be the place for me. I was rather excited when I found out that Paul was playing here on the Fourth and heard rumors that there was a Mats hour on the radio (can anyone verify this?). I took the Skyway here. I started listening to the Replacements when All Shook Down was released. Like so many others, I had a wonderful trip Down through the others-- finding solace, tears, a bit of teen angst, and enormous respect for songwriters. I started writing songs. Several years later I started playing guitar (special thanks to all of the guitar chords posters). Music is what keeps me happy. Some of my other favorites: Robyn Hitchcock, Big Star, REM, Beatles, Neil Young, Television, Rolling Stones, American Music Club, Randy Newman, Husker Du, Ry Cooder, Pere Ubu, Richard Thompson, The Kinks, Jayhawks, Bob Dylan, Pogues, Leonard Cohen, Buffalo Tom, Van Morrison, The Clash, and The Velvet Underground. I guess I've rambled enough. Please feel free to e-mail with musical suggestions, Chicago happenings, or anything else. Andy Snyder da-snyder@uchicago.edu From: SarahMc109@aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 21:27:31 -0400 Subject: The Mats I am still in shock. A Replacements web page! I knew that there must be other Mats fans out there in cyberspace, but just... wow. I got into the Mats after a friend made me a tape. I listened, and was instantly hooked. I thought they were the coolest band I'd ever heard, and 5 CD's later (still buying, I'm just kinda broke) I still think so. My fave song has got to be... let me think. This is really hard. I have several, actually. The Ledge, Skyway, Little Mascara, GO, Within Your Reach, etc. I love them all. It's so hard to find Mats fans, so this is that much cooler. That's all for now, I'm still in shock, but... THANK YOU! Date: Fri, 18 Oct 1996 22:29:25 GMT From: Tim McNelis Hello everybody! My name is Tim McNelis. I just subscribed to this thing. I'm 18 years old and more or less a biology major at Penn State Erie, though I'm from Pittsburgh, PA. I never really heard the Replacements until after All Shook Down was out. I listened to my brother's copy and thought it was pretty cool but I didn't really get into the band until about 3 or 4 years later. That was around 8th grade. I can never remember years, so I just go by grades. I'm a freshman in college now so you can do the math. To my dismay, I wasn't really into the Replacements until after they broke up. In the meantime my brother went to see them play with, I think it was the Connells, without me. Sometime about 4 or 5 years ago I got Don't Tell a Soul used. At this point I loved All Shook Down, my favorite song off the album probably being Bent Out of Shape. I got really into Don't Tell a Soul also and eventually got Pleased To Meet Me, Tim, and Hootenanny (my brother had Let It Be so I didn't have to buy it). I was never adventurous enough or had the money to get Sorry Ma...Tim and All Shook Down ended up being tied for my favorites, although, the two really can't be compared due to the musical differences and the band's situation at the time. As far as Tim goes, I don't know that I could pick a favorite song, but Bastards of Young still shakes me up really hard, along with many of the other songs on the album. Luckily all was not lost in my late fanship of the band. I got to see Paul at the Metropol in Pittsburgh in September 1996. The show was completely amazing. To my joy over half of the set was Replacements stuff along with Paul's best stuff. As for myself, I played drums in a band during high school called the Travoltas. We played a few gigs around but mainly just had a hell of a good time. I'm trying to get a band started at college playing the alto sax which I've been playing since the 4th grade. It should be interesting. My main musical influences (other than the Replacements) are bands such as Dramarama, Velocity Girl, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Morphine, (old) Lemonheads, and many others which I can't name right now due to attention span. I also got into Big Star due to the Replacements. Their later stuff (Third/Sister Lovers) is amazing. Another huge regret of mine is that I never got to see Dramarama. Oh well. Enough for now. Later. Tim McNelis Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 16:03:27 -0200 From: paulox@netway.com.br (Paulo Roberto Maciel Santos) Subject: A new member Hi everyone, My name is Paulo, I live in Brazil, 34 years old. I came across The Replacements' "Pleased to Meet Me" back in 1988 when the record was released here. The first thing that caught my attention was the album's cover: I thought it was great. I got almost hooked to the recording. After that, I bought "Don't Tell A Soul", which was subsequently released by BMG. Another great piece of work. Then the recording company gave up. The other album I got by them is "Sorry Ma..." on CD. I also own Paul's 14 Songs -- another masterpiece (hey, wait a minute, I think I'm preaching to the converted--sorry!). I always forget to order the rest of their CDs (shame on me!). I like several groups besides the Mats. I don't intend to bore you to death listing them all, therefore I'll mention only a few: Galaxie 500/Luna, Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/John Cale, 999, Gin Blossoms, The Triffids, Joy Division, Leonard Cohen, and so forth... Well, I think that's all for now. L8R, Paulo X (...) I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your bootsoles. You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood, Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop some where waiting for you Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself" Date: Thu, 7 Nov 1996 13:05:43 -0500 From: Brueso@aol.com Subject: initiation rites (put away that paddle!) I've been lurking for a month, and have not exactly been avoiding doing my intro letter, but trying to think of a way to get it all in without making it 20 pages long (and I don't know if I've been successful). But since I am online due to my work computer and I'm going to be leaving this job in mid-December, I guess I feel I want to get this in before I go, not knowing when I'll be able to check in with the Skyway again after that. I partly feel embarrassed it took me this long to "get" the mats. I had read Rolling Stone's entry on "Let it Be'" in their top 100 albums of all time, and I bought it, but am sorry to say while I loved "Unsatisfied" to death, and liked "I Will Dare" pretty much, the rest of the album kinda didn't do too much for me. A few years went by and I got the album again, can't remember why (it might've been from reading Gina Arnold's "Road to Nirvana" and her unabashed love of the mats and Paul), and I put "Unsatisfied" on a mixed tape because I loved it, but still didn't feel compelled to check out more of the bands stuff. I tend to be one of those people who lock in early on the songs I like, and often don't give things enough time to "grow" on me. And so I missed a lot of opportunities to see the mats; I presently live in New Orleans but lived in San Francisco from 84-95-- now I look at lists of shows the mats played and realize I could've seen them at least 5-6 times if I'd known what was going on. To think they were playing all that time (including in the Bob years) and I was less than a mile away from where they were and I didn't even know about it almost drives me crazy in hindsight. I was always listening to a lot of music and going to see a lot of shows (saw X in like 86, the Meat Puppets in 86, saw a bunch of Camper Van Beethoven shows beginning in 86, saw Superchunk way back, so it's not that I avoided "college radio" bands), but somehow no one I knew personally ever recommended the band (one friend now has told me he saw them a couple of times, why he didn't clue me in, I'm not sure, except that he's not the kinda guy to push anyone on someone. But in this case I woulda welcomed it. I, on the other hand, am TOTALLY the type to try to turn everyone on to a new band I like, will make multiple tapes, etc. - "You MUST hear this!!", etc. Luckily my friends tolerate my strangeness). I think also for me, graduating college when I did (1984), the mats hit bigger after, and once I wasn't in school anymore, I didn't listen to much radio so I missed their peak, however short it might have been. Well, I guess SOMETHING must been working in me- after all these years of hearing about the band, and knowing of their legendary status, I finally got myself out to see Paul here at the House of Blues. I walked into the club knowing maybe 2,3 'Mats songs and knowing some of the Eventually songs (I did buy that CD previously, but more on that later). Simply put, the show just blew me away! It was like the history of rock n roll with a twist, all in one. I've seen hundreds of rock shows- music has been a huge part of my life all of my life (beginning with the Beatles- one of my earliest memories was watching them on Ed Sullivan the second time they hit America- probably 65, because I remember seeing Paul do "Yesterday" (I was 4 at the time). I had a sister who was about 13 so she was the right age to buy all the Beatles records, etc, which I absorbed and scratched the hell out of, I'm sorry to say). At my present age (35), I thought it was unlikely I was going to ever "discover" a band and flip over them like I was in jr. high school again, but I'm happy to say I've totally had that feeling with the mats and Paul. I woke up at about 3 am from having seen Paul the night before and wrote a card to a friend who was more familar with them and said how much the show meant to me, it was the glory of rock'n roll and its power poured out in three minute bursts, and I said how it made me feel like when I was a kid listening to the American Top 40 when a three minute song could tell you that everything was going to be alright, all of it, every last thing. And I still feel that way. A couple of weeks after I saw Paul, I managed to get a copy of Paul's San Francisco broadcast from a friend and it sort of reminded me that "No, you didn't imagine it- you did see a fabulous show". I've now bought nearly all of the back catalogue, but there is an intensity in a lot of the live versions that make me prefer them sometimes more than the studio albums. It might be in some way the mats were like some other bands that did their best work live (maybe because of feeding off the energy of the crowd, maybe because the production got in the way sometimes in the studio) and the studio was where they were more controlled and some part of the magic wasn't there (the chaos in their live shows might have brought something out in them that the safety of the studio didn't. This is not to say that I don't think many of the studio cuts are outstanding, particularly "Unsatisfied"; I just prefer some of the tunes done live). I traded someone for a copy of "Shit Shower and Shave" and I have to say, even though the shows on it were during the Petty tour which sounds like it was a nightmare, plus obviously post Bob, I think that CD shows them in moments when they were the best band on the planet. They're having a ball (maybe by that time in the tour, they had totally given up dealing with the crowd and were just amusing themselves, I dunno) and ripping through so many great songs with hardly any clinkers (although they barely make it through "Nightclub Jitters" - but that also has its charm). Sometimes knowing the end of some of the songs is coming (like Another Girl Another Planet, Bastards of Young, Alex Chilton), it makes me think of an airplane trying to hit the runway without wheels- how are they possibly going to end this? Sometimes they barely do. And then contrast that with the poignant versions of "Within Your Reach", "Answering Machine" (I like this version better than the studio cut- less clutter)-- all filled with longing, desire- Paul's vocal nearly tears me apart, and it brings back what a lot of his tunes do for me, that feeling of "I've been there." When Paul says "The Stones are playing tonight in Philadelphia, but we're better, so Fuck 'Em!" - that night, and many others, he was right. It's a crime that Sire doesn't just copy "Shit Shower" as it is and release it- it deserves to be put up there with other great live rock'n roll albums like "Get Yer Yah Yahs Out" and "James Brown Live at the Apollo". So I'm sorry I arrived too late at the party to see the mats themselves, but I'm glad I got here at all. If Paul keeps doing shows like the one I saw, there will be alot for me to enjoy. But even if he doesn't, I have already gotten so much out of what I've heard. My take on Eventually is that it sounds like what it is, an album by a 36 year old guy who was in a crazy band for 11 years, is probably glad to have survived it, and may have exorcised some personal demons along the way. He may have lost some of his "edge" along the way, but if that edge came at the price of alcoholism, personal chaos and unhappiness, I'd say good for him. I saw a question in the survey to the effect of "Do you think Paul's best work is behind him" and I'd probably say if what you feel is best is the real raucous stuff, you may feel it is. But whether that is what is best depends on who you're asking. For me it would depend on what I want at the time; I like the raunch, but I also like the gentler stuff. If I want to hear the raunch, I know where it is, there are prior mats albums and tapes to listen to, etc (I'd like to acquire some videos either by trading others I have of other bands or 2:1 or purchase, if anyone could do that, please e-mail me- I've never even seen the Sat Nite Live appearances). If I want the stuff that's somewhat softer, there's Paul's newer stuff (plus obviously more ballad-type things that were ALSO on the mats albums. I think "Skyway" and "Achin to Be" and some others would have fit on Eventually and I like those tunes, too). If I need to hear a current band play in the frantic way the Replacements did in the 80s, there are bands around like that, and from what I saw from the show of Paul's that I saw this fall, he still puts out the energy doing covers like "John I'm Only Dancin", or some of the wilder old mats tunes like "I.O.U.". But I don't know if he will ever write any new songs like that again. I don't feel at this point he particularly needs to and, given what we've already gotten from the guy, I don't think he "owes" his fans anything. I will say that I think the Eventually songs live had an additional spark that they didn't have on the album, and this might come from playing them live with a band for a few months vs doing them basically alone. I'd be curious as to whether Paul would have recorded any of "Eventually" differently now that he has road tested some of the tunes a while. The debate over what an artist does or what he owes his audiance reminds me of a scene from the recent movie "Basquiat" about the painter Jean Michel Basquiat, who asks a friend about what it must be like to be famous. His friend says "You have to do your work all the time, and you have to do it over and over again the same way, even after you get sick of it or when it's become boring to you, or people will get mad at you, which they will anyway". The screenplay was written by an artist who has had some fame, so I think he knows from whence he speaks. So I don't blame Paul for changing his style somewhat if he felt like it, because trying to do what other people want you to do can be a bottomless, unsatisfying hole. Thanks for your patience if you've made it this far (no, I haven't been paid by the word here)- just a final note: words can barely express how appreciative I am of Kathy's page and the Skyway as a tool to educate myself about the mats and also to share thoughts with other fans. I love hearing people's stories about how they came to know the band, (even though I get envious when I hear the "I was 15, my brother played em a lot in 84, I saw 20 shows" stories) and the continuing adventures of Matt. This is a great example I think of how the Internet can bring together people scattered over the country (and the world!) joined in a common interest who both get to find out more about that interest and also more about their fellow humans. I printed out all the old Skyways at my job and had that mixed feeling of wanting to read them as fast as possible, but also wanting to slow down to extend the pleasure. I spend a lot of time reading the AOL folder on the band, and enjoy that a lot, too. Unfortunately, as I stated, I'm leaving this job in mid-December, and I don't know when I'll be able to check in again, but the Skyway will be my first stop if a friend lets me use their computer or (could it be possible?) if I get a computer of my own. Thanks again to you all, and I hope this swingin party continues on. Bob Date: Wed, 6 Nov 1996 20:24:54 -0500 (EST) From: Mark David Bedillion Subject: Story of My Life Hey Everybody, My name's Mark and I'm a student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, majoring in mechanical engineering. Born down the road in Washington, PA, hoping to get the hell out of this goddamn state. One of these days... Anyway, I discovered the Replacements only about a year and a half ago. My friend and I used to get drunk about twice a week, and one song that he always played while I was in a stupor kind of stuck with me. Here Comes a Regular became one of my favorite songs seemingly overnight. But I was sure the Replacements as a band sucked; I'd heard their stuff, back when I was thirteen and liked the Dead Milkmen, and hated it. Then one day as I was on a road trip with my girlfriend, she popped in Tim and I gave it a listen. I thought most of the songs were decent, but much preferred my Smiths and Stone Roses(I did buy the album though.) Then I brought the album up to school to play this awesome drinkin' song for my roommate, but this time found myself listening to every song in a new way. I don't know when it happened exactly, but all of a sudden my cd changer had nothing but Replacements and Paul in it, and nothing else has made it in since. I converted my roommate rather quickly, and now people hate us because we listen to 10 albums over and over and nothing else. Well, that's pretty much it for me. If anyone can give me info on getting the I'm in Trouble single, Pleased to Meet Paul Westerberg, or any other rarity, drop me a line. I'm constantly on the lookout for that stuff. Later, Mark From: LargoMP@aol.com Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 11:38:17 -0400 you guys are the best. ______________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Two: St. Paul Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 22:38:18 -0500 (CDT) From: Donna S Cook Hey, I just went to go see paul in Houston at numbers. It was SO cool. He even played mine and my brother's requests: Men Without Ties, and I'm In Trouble. God, It just RULED!!!!! Well, SOMEBODY WRITE ME BACK PLEASE!!!! -Junior Mint From: cford@vnet.ibm.com (Charles Ford) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: PW/Leno Date: Fri, 04 Oct 1996 14:39:26 GMT I thought he looked a little more relaxed than the Letterman appearance. Or was it just the beard? However, when Paul sat in Leno's guest chair at the end he looked like he was about to hyper-ventilate. It was all he could do to say 'thank you.' Other than that Paul appeared to have nothing to say to Leno, even though the producers probably wanted them to look like old pals. The performance of "Ain't Got Me" was fine. It was good to have the full band with him. There was actually a 'bonus' performance included in the show if you watched carefully. Right before one of the commercials they showed about 4 seconds of what looked like Westerberg's sound check. I make that conclusion because the band was wearing different clothes -- Paul was wearing a polka-dot shirt rather than the usual coat and tie. Unfortunately, the 'bonus' performance was televised using the Tonight Show band as a soundtrack rather than Paul's song (whatever that was). It looked like a rocker, anyway. Charles From: Nick R. Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: A couple of Leno off camera observations Date: 4 Oct 1996 16:08:03 -0700 After the song and they went to commercial, Paul took off his guitar and sauntered over to the guest seat, but not before downing one or two chocolates from his pocket. He had on white/beige socks, which kinda looked good with that hepcat suit he had on. He took a good swig from his water mug. I wondered how he knew that it was his and not sloppy seconds from Michael Douglas. Backstage in the dressing room, Paul looked pretty satisfied, surrounded by a number of folks. I waved over to him on my way out. Still never got an answer on the tribute tape, although Charles got close over in Tejas. Oh well. Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 20:41:48 -0700 From: reeesh@ix.netcom.com (richard george) Subject: homicide i just thought that it was sort of funny that paul was going to be on "homicide". after i saw paul in columbus (OH) my friends and i were discussing paul's new look w/ this album. one of my friends said that he looked like richard belzer. after thinking about it, we also agreed. so, i just thought it was funny that of all the shows for paul to be on, he would be on the one w/ his look-a-like. turns out he wasn't on anyways. rick From: Richard Griscom Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1996 21:08:35 -0500 (EDT) Here's the transcript of PW's appearance on World Cafe. Use and abuse as you see fit! Best wishes, Richard Griscom ----------------------------- PAUL WESTERBERG INTERVIEWED BY DAVID DYE on Public Radio International's "World Cafe," recorded in the studios of WXPN Philadelphia and broadcast on 20 September 1996 David Dye (INTRO): Paul Westerberg is here to play live for us today. Even though Westerberg started making solo albums after the breakup of the Replacements, he is not your cliched acoustic-guitar-toting songwriter. In fact, Paul is somewhat uncomfortable playing alone without a backbeat. We'll make him as comfortable as possible in just a bit, and talk about the latest album, "Eventually," how he responds to critical acclaim and finger-pointing and all other aspects of his career. Paul Westerberg, our guest today.... [About 75 minutes into the program:] DD: Paul Westerberg is our guest on the cafe today, and he's got a cup of coffee, which is highly unusual. PW: For me? DD: No, for us. [laughs] PW: Oh, yes, why is that? No one drinks coffee here? DD: We rarely, uh, you know, have the full cafe ambiance going but ... PW: Well, it's about time ... DD: I know PW: ... by gum. DD: Thanks for doing it. PW: Thank you. DD: And thanks for playing. You didn't really play so much acoustic in a lot of these sessions you've done before. PW: No, in fact I never really have, and, uh, I ... you know, I'm a rocker, and I play ... I perform and sort of do what I do with bass and drums, and, you know, I've sat around forever with an acoustic in my bedroom, but I really do like having that rhythm, and, uh, so, I'll take a wild stab at it, but uh DD: Right. Well, the acoustics on the records, they're there, but they're not in front of the mix. PW: No. I mean, the tunes are usually written on acoustic and I'm stomping my foot and that's the way they're born and then I use that as, you know, the seed of the tune, kind of. DD: Yeah. Well, you were warming up on one of my favorite songs on the new one, "MammaDaddyDid." PW: "MammaDaddy," yeah? DD: Yeah? PW: Well, we can give that a try. Old Archie's [a guitar tech accompanying PW in the studio] never played it before, but .. DD: That won't stop him. [laughs] PW: Hey, he's a trooper. Shall we give that a whirl? DD: Sure. PW: Okay. [counts off] [live performance of "MammaDaddyDid" with PW on 6-string acoustic and "Archie" on 12-string acoustic] DD: All right. Archie's 12-string debut on "MammaDaddyDid." PW: [says some unintelligible words of praise, and Archie replies "Thank you."] DD: One other reason you can tell these were written as rock songs is 'cause they all have great riffs, you know ... PW: Yeah. DD: ... circular chord patterns that you come back to. PW: Oh, oh, musician talk! DD: I don't know, that's how I see them. PW: Yeah, you know, yeah, it's the same chords as, you know, "Your Cheatin' Heart" and every, you know, "Wild Thing," you know. DD: Right, right. If it can't be played with three chords, well ... PW: Pretty much. I mean, I take that philosophy, like, you know, a few primary colors in a lot of music I hear, that there seems to be almost superflous changes, and I really like standard, simple things. To me, simple is always better. DD: Yeah, strip it down. Uh, well, you know, "MammaDaddyDid" talks about mixed up kids and all that, but I've heard that you thought your childhood was pretty normal. PW: It was. It was okay. I mean, you know, it is just a song, and to read too much into it ... I mean, my mom actually heard this song and is like, you know, wants the explanation. It's like, "Hey Ma," it's "I write songs and this is a tune and, you know don't take it all to heart." But, uh, it's there if you want to really listen to it. DD: I've been kind of following along on this leg of the tour, a bunch of different reviews. And, it's funny, you can tell me, because you've probably read more of them than I have. PW: I haven't read any ... DD: Oh, well good. Well, let me tell you what they say, Paul. They're all exactly the same. They all say: Really good show from Paul Westerberg. It was workmanlike, and it sounded great ... PW: Umm. DD: ... but it wasn't the Replacements. PW: Yeah. DD: And there's a myth that must at some point start to feel like baggage to you. PW: Um, yeah, that's why I don't listen to them any more. The people who actually pay the money, you know, have had fun every night, and I've had fun, and, you know, the guys ... most of them had probably never seen the Replacements. It's something they think they have to talk about. DD: Yeah, they never ... they don't really say anything bad about the show. PW: I mean, if they would prefer, I could just get up there and tune and fall down for an hour and a half and you'd feel cheated, and you know, if that gives someone a thrill, then that's, whatever, but ... DD: Right. The other thing I've been noticing is that every review I've, not review, but every interview I've seen with you, you seemed really centered in every one of them. You seem to know where you're coming from, um, which speaks well. PW: I think so. I know what I do, and I know how good I am, and my standards are very high, and if I please myself, then that's good, because many a time, like, the audience loves it and there's a great review, and I thought, "Ah, it could've been better," and you know, sometimes I could be hard on the musicians with me, but I don't ever want them ever to forget that it's for the people, you know, we're not just playing for ourselves, because you can do that in your basement. DD: Right. Well, you're playing with Tommy Keene on guitar ... PW: Yeah. DD: ... on this tour. PW: [slurps coffee] DD: Uh, I guess you had to find somebody, because you play all the guitar parts on the records. PW: Right, uh, Tommy's, you know, Tommy's a friend of mine, and I ... actually I saw him play a month ago in Toronto, and I went backstage and asked who he thought would be a good guitar player, and he went, "Hmmmmm." And then, you know, a few weeks later, I called him up, and he was game to come out. DD: Well, that's cool. Uh, I'm not sure what to ask for. Something strummy that will work well acoustically, or ... PW: Uh, we could try, uh. Well, I've been doing "Sadly Beautiful," it was a song from ... what record was that? "All Shook Down," I think. And, uh, let's swap guitars here Arch. This is very impromptu. Archie is actually the guy who's been, like, taking care of my guitars and tuning them. DD: See, these are the guys ... they're always in bands, and they always, you know, put out a record two years from now. PW: Well, they can always play better than the guys on stage. DD: [laughs] Right. PW: It's just ... I don't know. So let's try this and see what happens. [live performance of "Sadly Beautiful," with PW on the 12-string and Archie fumbling a bit on the 6-string] DD: That's a great song, "Sadly Beautiful." PW: Thanks. DD: Paul Westerberg doing a solo version of that one today, with Archie on the 6-string that time around. There's one of your solo songs that hasn't been on either of your solo records, which is the one that was in "Singles," actually there are two in that. "Dyslexic Heart" I was thinking about. PW: Yeah. DD: Um, how did that come about being in "Singles"? I don't know the story of that. PW: I almost forget myself, because I've been lying for so long, it's ... I can't remember whether I wrote the song for them. I think I had the song written--kinda--for this girl who was in a band, that I was writing it either about her or for her, slips my mind [said somewhat tongue in cheek] ... DD: You know when you lie, you gotta remember your lies. PW: I know. I can't keep them straight. Anyway, it was inspired by her, and I was going to give it to her, but I never finished it, and then Cameron, you know, showed me his movie, and I was to score the movie, and he said, "Well, do you have a song that will work as the theme?" And I thought, "Hmmm. You know I've got this little mixed up country song." And he said he wanted something kinda like "Love Me Do," so we sort of worked from there, and I went back to the hotel and, you know, added another verse to it, and brought him what is "Dyslexic Heart," and he loved it, and so that sort of became the theme of the two main characters. DD: Yeah. It's a great song. It's not something you could do? PW: I could try a stab of it. I haven't done it in so long. [Begins live performance "Dyslexic Heart." Tries to find the opening two chords on 12-string; finds them; hums to find the opening pitch; plays two bars intro. Sings: "You shoot some glances and they're so hard to read."] PW: That's all I remember. [laughs] DD: [Laughs] We'll play it from the movie. PW: Cool. DD: From "Singles," this is Paul Westerberg's "Dyslexic Heart." [Spins "Dyslexic Heart" off "Singles" soundtrack] DD: "Dyslexic Heart," is ... is from the film, the song that Paul Westerberg doesn't remember. PW: See, the "Na na na," they made ... he told me that had to be like forty-six seconds long to go with the credits. See, I wanted it to go like once around and then dump it, but we was like, "No, we need this timing for the 'Best Grip Key Boy' credit." DD: [laughs] Exactly. Grip the key boy. Anyway, Paul Westerberg is here with us today in the cafe. We're kinda in an informal session. Do you wanna do, I was wondering, something from "14 Songs." That's a pretty strum-filled thing. PW: Oooooo. You know, I don't know, uh ... DD: Oh, uh oh. Well, then let's, uh, I want to find out some more about some songs from this, because ... PW: I could try a little bit of "Love Untold." DD: Okay. PW: In the improper key. Let's see if that works. DD: OK. [live performance of "Love Untold" with PW on the 12-string and Archie playing little more than the bass line on the 6-string, entering at the second verse and pretty much dropping out after he misses the chord change at the bridge. The song ends prematurely and quietly with the line "Never came to be, I'm told," without proceeding to "Does anyone recall, the saddest love of all," etc.] DD: "Love Untold," uh, two sides of the story, from Paul Westerberg. PW: That's the way it should have ended. DD: They never meet. Good song. Now that's one of the songs that you co-produced with Brendan O'Brien ... PW: Um hmm. DD: ... on the record. DD: How did that work out? Why were some one way and some the other? PW: Yeah, he's a real rocker, and the bulk of my material at the time was undefined. I had yet to write, I think, "Good Day" or "MammaDaddy," and the material he was touting as my A stuff I didn't think was--I mean "Love Untold" I thought was great, but I had a lot of sort of noisy rock and roll that I didn't think was, you know, maybe as good as something like "MommaDaddy," so we argued a little on that, and, uh, I just went home to write more music and by then he had, you know, moved on to, you know, Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots to work on their records, so I figured I'd continue without him and produce it myself. DD: Um, I wanted to play one from the record, I don't know if we need to know that much about. Not sure quite what it's about, but "Ain't Got Me" was a really good rocker on the record. PW: Yeah. DD: Um. Any enlightenment? PW: I don't know what it's about either. I think it's just a general, one of those, sort of mildly-disgusted-but-feelin'-all-right songs. It's kind of a T. Rex cop, you know, T. Rex bein' my fave as a, as a, you know, a teen, and, uh, I liked that kind of glam rock. That was really the thing that made me want to play rock and roll, so I still listen to that, so I still try to imitate it. DD: That must be why I like this one. This is "Ain't Got Me." [Spins "Ain't Got Me" off "Eventually"] DD: "Ain't Got Me" from "Eventually." Paul Westerberg is here with us today. A T. Rex fan, yeah, those, um ... the way those records were produced were wild, too. PW: Yeah. DD: Little string sections come in. PW: You get the feeling that they cut the tune in like ten minutes and then, you know, they put the strings on that afternoon, and it was done. You know ... DD: Right. PW: ... It was a hit the next week. DD: [laughs] Just a ... Yeah, it's interesting, I wouldn't necessarily have picked out that was one of your influences, but ... I'm mostly interested in what you read. It's funny. The last album had, you know, the book of your lyrics you were reading on the cover ... PW: Um hmm. DD: ... which I guess was a way of saying "I'm a songwriter," but PW: Um yeah, it was ... I was in desperate need of something to grasp on because I had been a band leader for thirteen years, and my band was suddenly gone, and I think I felt the need to trumpet myself as a writer. And I'm more comfortable with, uh ... Hey, I can get another band ... Hey, it's like, hey, I'm a guitar player and a singer and a songwriter, and, you know, a performer and all that junk. So, I don't, uh ... I maybe even went overboard trying to tell people that I was a writer. But the irony was it was supposed to be the book that was blank, meaning that I write songs not stories. These are not to be read, and I never include the lyrics, you know, that would be ... You close your eyes and you listen, and that's what it is. DD: Right, right. What about reading? Do ... PW: What do I read? DD: Yeah. PW: You know, lately I haven't read anything. I read a couple of biographies, uh, one on Elia [pronounces it "ih-ligh'-uh"] Kazan. Is that how you pronounce it? DD: Uh, Elia ["ihl'-ee-a] Kazan. PW: Elia Kazan, yeah. And I found that very interesting, you know. I like theater, and, uh, I like books on old Hollywood, like 20s, that kind of, shady, I mean ... it's ... You know I've read everything about rock and roll, and I'm not in a fiction mode. I was for years, I read I think everything by Tennessee Williams, and I'm not ... I'm in a lighter mood now where I like sort of entertaining, uh ... DD: Right. PW: ... fodder. DD: What happens to you on tour? Do you have time to do anything, or is your time pretty much ... PW: You know, not really? DD: Yeah. PW: I mean, we've got the regime down, where we, you know, you show up, and it's time to take a bath and eat, and maybe, I mean I watch, I watch the "Flintstones" every day. No matter what time I turn it on I can find the "Flintstones." Which is a comfort because I used to do it when I was 11, and it's like, here I am, I'm grown up, and it's like nothing has changed. DD: [laughs] Except you're in a different city. PW: Pretty much. DD: Yeah, boy. Well, thanks a lot for playing live. PW: Sure. DD: We really appreciate it. PW: Thank you very much. DD: A lot of fun. "Eventually" is the new one, and you'll be out on tour through the end of the year, or ... PW: I think so. We'll probably be, uh, we'll be, down the West Coast and maybe we'll make a run back through the Midwest, South, and East, yeah. DD: Cool. Well, thanks a lot. PW: Thank you. DD: Paul Westerberg, our guest today on the cafe. Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 20:09:51 -0400 (EDT) From: James Dye Subject: World Cafe If anyone at Skyway is looking for a copy of Paul on the World Cafe program, I recorded it on a Maxwell II cassette. I only recorded the second hour of the two hour program (Paul isn't in the first) with the interview. cheers, James Dyej@TCNJ.edu Date: 25 Sep 96 21:52:09 EDT From: Renee Esquivil <76053.3123@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Westerberg live broadcast Hi Matt, If anyone is interested I taped Paul Westerberg on KFOG 104.5 last Monday. (First broadcast 9/12, the night before the show at the Fillmore.) From: DROIDWH4@aol.com Date: Mon, 30 Sep 1996 08:36:03 -0400 Hello Fellow Skywegians, I was watching this new show Sept. 28th on ABC (Saturdays @ 10PM) called "Relativity." It's about a young man & woman who meet in Rome on holiday. They have a brief affair. When they get back home to L.A., they realize they're in love with each other, but she's engaged and he has a fairly dysfunctional family. It's pretty well written, by the same folks who brought you Thirty-Something. Anyway, this couple are making out on the sofa and guess what artist pops out on the soundtrack? Paul Westerberg, singing "Time Flies Tomorrow!" Needless to say I got quite excited and almost spilled my beer. They producers played quite a bit of the song - about half of it, well more than a snippet. I looked for a credit to PW at the end of the show, but the station cut the credits short for "the upcoming local news." Now if I were going to do some necking with a woman (it's been a while), that song would definitely be on the list. ciao, Andy Smythe "come on I'll help you burn them to the ground" Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 14:24:52 +0100 (BST) From: Laura Keller Subject: belated paul interview greetings, fellow matsoids! Yesterday, in an attempt to procrastinate the day away, I was going through a large stack of magazines that I've had packed away for a while and found an interview with Paul that I haven't seen posted here yet. It's from an Irish music mag/newspaper called the Hot Press. I'm not too sure of the issue, but I know I bought it around the time eventually came, out so say April. The Cranberries -- you're fave band and mine! -- are on the cover. Here's some food for thought (hope I didn't make too many typos, but this thing is long!): Irreplaceable... Former Replacement Paul Westerberg has survived the death of a band-mate and his own appetite for self-destruction, to carve out an increasingly confident and rewarding solo career. Nick Kelly meets the cult heroes' cult hero. "I'm almost at the point where I don't have to list the bands who I listen to, I just have to list the bands who sound like me." Of course, you don't have to be a Mastermind contestant specializing in Great Cult Rock Heroes Of The Eighties to know that Paul Westerberg passed that point many eclipsed moons ago. Just turn on and tune in to any college radio station worth its license or pull up a barstool in any local joint where 'pub' and 'rock' are still on intimate terms and you're likely to hear a whole kegful of bands under the influence of his former band, the Replacements. From the raw punk-driven rush of early records like Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash and Stink through the more distilled, rounded mid-period masterpiece Pleased To Meet Me to their star-laden swan-song All Shook Down (which featured everyone from John Cale to Abe Lincoln), the Replacements' back catalogue is a classic case of a rock'n'roll band growing up in public, the initial fuck-you-I-won't-do-what-you-tell-me hurrah gradually transmuting into a refrain which hid discernably darker undertones and which bore the scars of a sensibility which was even more battered than the guitars on which it was wrung out. Along the way, however, lead guitarist Bobby Stinson was forced to leave the band due to a combination of factors, not least a spiraling drug habit that had got out of hand and a drink problem of Fr Jack Hackett proportions. Sadly, these took their toll and it was a consequence of Stinson's untimely death last year that Westerberg began to re-evaluate his own attitude to life, the results of which are to be found on his new solo album, Eventually. The most direct reference to his late friend is on 'Good Day', a deepfelt eulogy addressed to Bobby's brother, Tommy, the Replacements' bass player until they split at the start of this decade, and in which a fragile Westerberg wistfully notes that "a good day is any day that you're alive". "I had worked on the melody and the chords for about a year," he explains, "but none of the lyrics I had at the time suited it. I knew that it needed something passionate and real and when Bob died, I more or less went straight to the piano and it just came flooding out. And though it's inspired by Bob, it's as much for his brother and myself: we're still here." Did you feel that what happened to Bobby could just as easily have happened to yourself? "Yeah. When I met Tommy for the first time in months at Bob's funeral, it was an incredibly strange moment because we both knew that that day would come and there it was and we both felt very vulnerable. And I don't know if we've fully recovered from it yet. I think he and I both feel that a piece of us is gone forever and maybe it makes us cling to life a little bit more dearly." Had you remained in contact with him? "The last time I saw him was about six months before he died. I was going up to the video store and he was on his way to the liquor store at about 11 in the morning... And we stood underneath a tree and we talked for about a half an hour. And I remember after he died, I went back up to that spot where I last saw him." What kind of shape was he in? "He was OK," said Westerberg, "he was happy and the best thing was we talked about music: we talked about guitars and amps and we talked about Tommy and what he was doing. So he was still full of life then and I don't know in the six months thereafter what happened." Had he been ill for long? "He was gearing up for it the day I met him! He lived a hard life. He was raised in a broken family and he was in reform school - that's where he learned to play guitar - and he had trouble with the law and he had psychological problems that he tried to medicate with alcohol and drugs. The coroner's report said that he just wore himself out." That must have put an incredible amount of pressure on the band when you were trying to make a go of it in the early days, not that the rest of you were exactly avid anti-drugs campaigners yourselves? "Our drug use was bad but his was getting to the point where he was maybe taking money from the group," he avers, "and once or twice, he didn't show up to a gig or was late and that was inexcusable." With the second anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death just passed, do you see parallels between his and Bobby's fate? "I think there's always the kind of person who's extremely sensitive, who is creative, an artist or a writer, who will give and give of themselves until one day they realize it's empty and there's nothing left to give anymore. So you try to fill it up with little powders and pills and liquids. It's no fucking good. You need someone with you. It may sound corny but love is what you need. "If you can control it and it's more or less a social thing, that's altogether different, but Cobain and Bob were those kinds of people that needed more attention than most people. And they thought they could get it by doing what people expected them to do. "And it's hard; it's the coward's way out. It takes a little bravery to do what you know is right for yourself in the face of everyone saying 'aw, you're not what you used to be'. And it's like, 'fucking right I'm not'." Are you totally clean now yourself? "Yeah. For five or six years I haven't taken drugs or drank. I'm smoking a little cigar now; a cup of coffee is as far as I get!" While his first solo album 14 Songs, released in 1993, was, Westerberg admits, a somewhat patchy affair, Eventually is a welcome return to form, containing his most assured and confident work since the demise of the Replacements. The bulk of the album was produced by Westerberg himself in LA after a recording session in Atlanta with hip studio boffin Brendan O'Brien (who's previously worked with the likes of Matthew Sweet, Pearl Jam, Neil Young and, ahem, Stone Temple Pilots) that didn't go as well as expected. "He was very rock'n'roll about the whole thing," opines Westerberg, "in the sense that you go in there, bash it out a couple of times and then it's done. That works really well if you've got a tight rock'n'roll band but instead what I had was a pick-up drummer and he was playing bass and there wasn't that ten-years-on-the-road fluidness that musicians need to have to record that way, so I thought I'd do it on my own without him. But we got a good track or two out of him, though." Other players included Prince's drummer, Michael Bland; Davey Faragher and Michael Urbano who've previously provided the rhythm section for Cracker and John Hiatt; and even Tommy Stinson, who plays trombone on 'Trumpet Clip'. "Well, he put it to his lips. Whether you could say he played it or not is another matter!" he laughs. "Yeah, he played bass and trombone and that was really fun. One of the highlights of the entire session was when we said 'let's rent some horns!' and I played sax and the drummer grabbed a trumpet and, of course, none of us could play the instruments! Though surprisingly enough, we actually made a little bit of near harmony," he jokes. Though he is the godfather of modesty, Westerberg is justifiably proud of his new platter and reckons it's a genuine leap forward from its predecessor (14 Songs) which, though flawed, played a necessary role in helping him to come to terms with his newfound post-Replacements status. "I need a peg to hang my hat on after I split up the group," he explains. "I could no longer look on myself as a band leader or a front man, which I had been for an entire decade, so I accentuated the fact that I was a songwriter and under that guise, I was able to put many different songs on a record that didn't necessarily make it flow very well. "This time out, I really went and tried to make an album, something that has continuity. I hate to call it a concept album, but there is a thread, lyrically and even musically, running throughout the record. It's very much of the moment, moreso than any other record I've ever made, as the opening song 'These Are The Days' illustrates - that's the key to the whole record." Indeed, that song's 'seize the day' philosophy, delivered with Westerberg's customary blend of adolescent exuberance and seasoned vulnerability over a gloriously Byrdsian guitar riff, sets the tone for the rest of an album that shows the Minneapolis maestro to be a wiser, but not wizened man. Are the sentiments expressed on 'There Are The Days' also a response to Bob Stinson's premature death? "The irony was that the song had already been written before he died," he replies, "and it only underlined it for me and made it stronger. I knew I was onto something and then when he died, I even clung to the thought and the music more. Bob was the antithesis of what I was talking about, which was to embrace life." Given your desire to live in the present, do you see the legacy of the Replacements as a hindrance to what you're trying to do now? "No. I mean, I was a part of it; I could have walked away years ago. I never knew how famous we would be but I knew that we wouldn't be soon forgotten and I'm proud of the things we did." "Though, obviously, I've made a new record now and I want people to hear it. If I had a record come out that wasn't so good, I'd come out and tell you. But this one is good! I don't carry around a bunch of hooligans with me anymore. I think I've gotten better at what I do well. To be honest, I haven't branched out much but..." But you've perfected what you can do? "Well, close. Once you perfect rock'n'roll, you've ruined it. I stopped just before that," he chortles. "My favorite take is usually the one just before the band knows the song and that's the one we go with." In 1993, the Velvet Underground and Big Star, two of Westerberg's kindred rock'n'roll spirits, undertook reunion tours. Now with safety pins at the ready, the Sex Pistols have decided to shamelessly flog the sacred cow that was punk. What does he make of it, at all? "I think that's fine," asserts Westerberg, "as long as no one takes it too seriously. I mean, the Pistols were all about money to begin with anyway. The pretension of destroying rock'n'roll was suddenly dropped and the main idea is to make as much cash as you can and get out! I'm sure they'll have things thrown at them. It's a hell of a way to make a living when you're over forty but I hope they don't get hurt." Yet a lot of people over here feel that by reforming, the Pistols have betrayed the very ideal by which they lived in the first place. "Well, that's probably more of an issue this side of the Atlantic than in America," he replies, "either because we were too thick to understand the politics or we just enjoyed the beat. I was a fan of the Pistols mainly because of Steve Jones. And Lydon's voice; I didn't care what he was saying. I just liked the fact that he had a teenage voice and I had one too. That's what it meant to me. But, yeah, good luck to 'em." However, Westerberg seems rather less well disposed to the current Britpop crop judging by a line in one of the songs on the new album, 'You've Had It With You', where he growls "I'm fading faster than a UK pop star". Who precisely have you got in mind there? "The funny thing is the version that appeared on the record is the only one where I sang that. On the other takes, I was singing 'had it with my shitty old red guitar'. I think we had lunch and the boys had MTV on, and I don't remember who the band was, but on the very next take the UK pop star line came up." So you're not naming names? "Ha, every fucking on of 'em!" he bellows mischievously. Even Oasis? "I think they're quite good," he confesses. "Once you have two brothers in a band, the potential of spontaneous combustion is always there. I know that first-hand! But they seem to have the guts and the voice and the songs. But it's all a question of whether or not the audience tire of what they do. I don't know if they're magicians, if they can suddenly make a new record that's completely different from their last one. "You know, it's pretty much the same no matter who you are; you get your three records worth and you lose the bulk of your audience unless you come up with something else. People don't want their heroes to last forever." Do you feel that the pressure's off you now, given that maybe people aren't expecting as much from you as they once did? "Certain people are," he counters, "my peers - other songwriters and musicians expect the world of me. It's just the pop press don't expect much of me which in a way makes it more of a challenge for me to show them." Just one last question. Speaking of your contemporaries, there's a (rather special) band over here called the Revenants who actually dedicated their album to you. Are you aware of them at all? "I've got one of their records which someone sent to me. I thought it was really good. I remember the last time I played here, they wanted to play on the bill and - I didn't even know about this - but the manager I had at the time wouldn't let them play and he hired some other godawful showband! I've fired that wanker since, so don't worry!" There's a recent picture of Paul (the suit, the shades, looking contemplative...) and an old one of the Mats (I'd say from around '84). this article aside, to those of you in the States who've gotten to see Paul on this new tour, I'm dead jealous (Bill -- how many times now?). Who knows if he'll make it out to England, but here's hoping! See ya, Laura From: mfg@dkab.owell.se Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 9:48:44 +0100 So Paul has gone nice nowadays ? I know a guy who saw him in Stockholm on the 14 songs tour and he walked up to him after the show wanting him to sign his much beloved Sorry Ma and Stink LPs. Guess what, he breaks both of them over his leg and tell's them to piss off. Blame it on the booze huh? And do you know that Mats is a pretty common name in Sweden? Must be the ideal name for a die-hard fans new born baby boy ... There's also a pretty famous Swedish journalist/Replacements fan called Mats Olsson who said that Paul was pretty stoked by his name when he met him years ago. This Olsson guy made a book last year called "The Lonely Boys" in which he thanks Paul Westerberg for the inspiration. Magnus From: Lewisifer9@aol.com Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 01:39:32 -0400 [This letter was sent in during the infamous quadruple send of the last issue of the Skyway where the issue would miraculously end in the beginning of the concert reviews section where it fatefully said "And then things got weird..." - M@] Did I miss the LA concert reviews? Someone else had to have been there. The set list pretty much was the same as the other shows. In general it was a pretty brilliant show with the sole flaw for me being the number of industry weasel tickets that seem to have been given out. A good third of the audience seemed to be people who were there on freebie tickets, intent on taking their dates out to prove how important they are in the music industry. It made it tough to jump around much. However I am 90 percent sure that we saw Tommy lurking around--either that or there are two people with really complicated, interesting hair walking around Los Angeles. I was also really impressed to see a guy who could have been Paul Westerberg's stunt double. Seeing that guy all but wiped out the horror of some of the other audience members: "I'll trade you my promotional Weezer Cd for backstage passes to Nada Surf...Have you heard this new album, well Sony is backing it--its like a cross between surf and ska and MTV is giving the video a lot of air play..." and so forth. An interesting trivia note is that Josh Freese also plays on some of Possum Dixon's albums which are completely different that Paul's, but are also really interesting and worth checking out. [I can personally vouch that Possum Dixon is a treat in the live setting. Don't settle for less than the full Madonna medley! - M@] From: CLICHED@delphi.com Date: Tue, 08 Oct 1996 16:32:23 -0500 (EST) Subject: shitty submission to skyway Dear Skyway People: Well, it's been a long time since I wrote anything for Skyway. I was just perusing through the first five or so issues of Skyway on the web, and was amazed that I'd written so much. Brought back a lot of memories and meeting lots of cool people. Kind of fell out of the whole Mats thing for a while, while I moved from state to state. I picked up the "Eventually" CD, was kind of disappointed at Paul, but thought, hell, I'd go see him anyway. Finally picked up "Shit, Shower and Shave" and totally fell in love with it and that finally brought me back full circle to what an unbelievably incredible band the Replacements were. I've tried to get tons of people into them, but without exception every single one of my friends either loathes them or feigns indifference. One person called their music "lightweight." It's very depressing, cus I've never been able to share my Mats experience with ANYONE ever (except for the occasional issue of Skyway way back three years ago). Anyway, I just wanted to share my 1996 Westerberg experience: (1) The closest place to Amherst, MA (where I lived until the end of summer) that Paul was playing was in Providence, RI. So I buy two tickets for the show, hoping I can convince one of my Mats-loathing acquaintances to accompany me on the 2 hour drive there. The day of the show, I'm excited, I listen to "Eventually" a few times. I figure I'll show up around 9:30. Well, around 7 p.m. I call the place in Providence to get directions, find out that Paul is gonna start playing in an hour. Unfortunately it takes me two hours to get there. The club wants to have their regular "dance night" after Paul's show. I'm so upset by this train of events, I just say "fuck it" and go see some shitty local band. (2) I move to Philadelphia in September. I hear Paul's swinging around to Pittsburgh in late September. I buy two tickets. Get to Pittsburgh that weekend. One of my Mats-hating friends decides she will deign to go to the show with me. I figure the show will get off to a start around 9:30. I look at the ticket again. Says that show starts at 7:00. I wake my Mats-hating friend up (she was taking a nap). By the time we get there, Paul's been on stage (at the Metropol) for half an hour. I'm completely crushed. I stand at the back not having the emotional strength anymore to move to the front. My Mats-hating friend stands behind me smoking cigarettes blandly looking off to the side, no doubt wondering how quickly she can get the fuck out of there and go home and listen to some kick-butt rock n roll like Soundgarden or Nine Inch Nails. The remaining part of the show seems lackluster. One hundred feet from the stage there seems to be absolutely no energy whatsoever. I hate the crowd. They all look like they walked out of a frat house and probably listen to Dave Matthews. I start remembering my three Mats shows. How wonderful those crowds were. The show ends. I come home and forced to listen to some more unbearable Alice In Chains (at my Mats-hating friend's house). They didn't even sell beer at the Metropol. Couldn't even drown my sorrows. (3) I heard that Paul will be on the tonight show with Leno. I make plans to see it. I leave my TV on NBC. It's 10 p.m. The phone rings. An college friend of mine from Texas. We get into an idiotic argument. I forget to look over at the TV. After I hang up, I realize that the tonight show is over. Well, anyway, so much for that. I still love the Replacements. I still search in vain for vinyl copies of the "Pleased To Meet Me" 45's so I can get a good copy of "Election Day" etc. (Speaking of, if any one has a good recording of Election Day, Tossin'n' Turnin', Jungle Rock, Route 66, Nowhere Is My Home, Cool Water, and If Only You Were Lonely, please contact me. My old scratchy vinyl versions are seriously degraded at this point...please? I can send a tape...) Here's hoping one day they figure out that a Mats box set is way overdue... See ya Asif Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 14:05:31 -0400 (EDT) From: "ROSS M. DEPINTO" I've been a huge Mats fan since 1982, and think that Paul is the closest thing to John Lennon we've got to hold onto. Please keep me posted on what you are doing and if you need any help. I saw Paul on the last tour in Raleigh, NC in December of 1993, and actually saw the Mats at Center Stage in Atlanta in May of 1991, about 8 weeks before they bagged it. Both shows were the best rock shows I'd ever went to. As a musician and songwriter, I can relate to the fact that talent and honesty is no guarantee for success and longevity in the biz.... but Paul gives those of us slugging it out in the clubs every week a "glimmer of light" that a musician doesn't have to sell out their integrity to their music and themselves in order to be heard. Sorry for the short rant .... Thanks .... see you 'left of the dial' ..... Ross DePinto _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Three: Perfect Date: Thu, 19 Sep 96 17:48 PDT From: dumyhead@millennianet.com (Adam Gimbel) I think I've already mentioned how much I enjoy reading "Skyway" even though I'm really not that well versed in 'Mats related issues. I loved your recent account of your PW encounter. I'm sure you've probably thought of a million things you coulda shoulda woulda said. Personally (God, I hate it when people tell you what you SHOULD'VE done, but here I go anyways...) I would've waited until everyone left to tell him more about it. It's a tactic I've used to some deal of success. I can't remember if I posted this, but, I saw Perfect's second gig ever in LA and I was talking to Tommy, Peter Jespersen (sp?), and a guy I know who used to work at 1st Ave. Peter had heard that Rod Stewart was planning on doing an album of Paul Westerberg songs. Somehow Tom Jones came up and I said how I wanna see him in Las Vegas and NO other place. Tommy said he'd just seen him at Universal Amphitheater and loved it. He then mentioned how he didn't have a car and had been taking the bus to practice. Could you imagine Tommy sitting at a bus stop? Peter's wife said she saw him once and almost picked him up. Could you fucking imagine? I also ran into Perfect's bass player at another show. He was super nice. Adam (The Artist Formerly Known As Dumyhead) ______ |. .| Visit: | > | "Adam & Summer Are Dummyheads" |____| http://millennianet.com/dumyhead/ _\_______|________ home of: / | /\\ "Joining A Fanpage:Jellyfish Tales" | \_/ "Picture Yourself In A Vote On The Beatles" | / \ CD for the day (I bring one to work everyday, / \ alphabetically, starting last November) _/ \_ Paul McCartney-McCartney His first solo album done entirely by himself along with veteran session musician virtuoso Linda McCartney. I think this album originally had liner notes with him interviewing himself and talking about the Beatles breakup. Am I wrong? Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 20:07:23 GMT From: hlc2@psu.edu (Heather L. Chakiris) Subject: Perfect interview Hey, Matt! As promised, here's the interview I did with Tommy Stinson for the latest issue of Oculus magazine. Reprinted with my permission. **start** PERFECT by Heather Chakiris I have a rock 'n roll fantasy starring former Replacement Tommy Stinson: The place is CBGB's and I'm playing in a one-off band with Stinson, Matt Cameron of Soundgarden, Johnny Marr of the defunct Smiths. We're covering The Pretenders' "Bad Boys Get Spanked." It's fast 'n hard, the crowd is apoplectic, and Stinson and I look over at each other and grin. I pick Stinson for a few reasons, not the least of which is simply that he gets it. He knows what the right song can do---where it can take you. He's been in the game for more than 15 years, since quitting school at 13 to be a full-time Replacement with his big brother Bob and two other drop-outs named Westerberg and Mars. It was a move that would change his life forever. It was a band that would change a lot of lives period. When The Replacements (The Mats) split for good six years ago, no one knew what would happen to Tommy Stinson. Estranged from his family, including brother Bob (who died suddenly after years of self-abuse in February 1995), on the outs with Mars, and in the dust of Westerberg, Stinson could have easily become a casualty in the aftermath. Like his former bandmates, his substance abuse battles and personal demons were legendary. Instead, he put together a new band (Bash & Pop) and wrote perhaps the best record of 1993, _Friday Night Is Killing Me_ (Sire/Reprise). Three years later, Bash & Pop is a memory, and Stinson is staring down the barrel of 30 with all hopes invested in his new band, Perfect, and their new EP, _When Squirrels Play Chicken_ (Restless). He's traded Minneapolis for Los Angeles, where he lives with his girlfriend and hangs out with his bandmates who he describes as his best friends. When I called him this summer, he said he had spent the night before staring at the ceiling and thinking about how lucky he is. In his voice was the same boyishly unbridled enthusiasm he had the first time we met, when we were both 17. I decided to start where I was most curious: What the hell happened to Bash & Pop, and how did he get from there to Perfect? "I moved to Los Angeles three years ago with Steve Foley [drummer for Bash & Pop as well as for the final Replacements tour]," explains Stinson. "Warner Brothers had dropped us and we went to L.A. to put together a real band with people who wanted to play music and not make a quick buck." Not exactly a small task. "It was a real slow process. Steve hated L.A., so he went back to Minneapolis. I said I'd call him when things with the band came together." The call never came. "I started to put new demos together with a new drummer," Stinson confesses, "and when I did, Bash & Pop didn't fit anymore. We were actually writing everything together---it was a lot different than Bash & Pop." (The aforementioned drummer, Gersh, is now one fourth of Perfect, along with Stinson, bassist Robert Cooper, and guitarist Marc Solomon.) But, I offer, _Friday Night Is Killing Me_ is an excellent record. It runs rings around Westerberg's _14 Songs_ and has greater pounce for the ounce than any Chris Mars solo record. "Friday Night didn't rock enough for me on the road. We'd kick into something live and there'd be nothing there. This new stuff rocks." Stinson is Perfect's best promoter. Ask him what bands he's listening to these days, and he'll tell you quite frankly he's only listening to his own. (Although if you prod him enough, he'll "implore" you to pick up Geraldine Fibbers.) Admit there's a chance you might miss seeing the band live, and he'll give you 15 reasons in 12 seconds why you have to be there. (And you'll go.) Perfect is what Stinson's been waiting for since 1985, when The Mats were recording and touring behind the brilliant _Tim_. "_Tim_ was The Mats' best record," boasts Stinson. "We were at the height of great songs and spirit. With my band now, we have a chemistry---an intrinsic quality of a new band. It's more fun now that I'm back in a van with a group of guys, rather than in a tour bus. Taking The Mats out of a van and into a tour bus only allowed us to stay further apart. Now I'm having such a good time, it's a pleasure." Stinson and company have racked up plenty of van miles since completing their debut EP. After a brief tour with prophetic mechanic Jack Logan (who also provided the EP's cover art), working out the kinks at venues such as the famed South x Southwest, the band flew solo for a three-week West Coast stint. By all accounts, the mini-tour was a success. "Everything snapped into place," says Stinson. "We became more of a band after the tour. Hopefully we'll record our next album live to tap into that chemistry. The EP got the ball rolling for us, but it doesn't really capture the band." I tell Stinson it's good to hear him excited about being out there again. It was something that was in him in 1985, but by the end of The Mats in 1990 the thrill, as they say, was gone. "The Replacements were emotionally unstable---very unhappy people. We just didn't care," he admits. "After Warner Brothers dropped me, I was courted by other labels but got tired of waiting around. At the same time, I was getting back into a relationship with Peter Jesperson (former Replacements producer and arch enemy, now heading Medium Cool/Restless Records). Since then, my level of confidence has increased." How so? "To have Peter in our corner is a big push. Between my publishing company and Restless, we've got major backing, which is cool. The Mats accepted low treatment from record companies for so long. Why do that when you can have this?" I ask Stinson to explain, if he can and is willing, what a band called The Replacements means to him. "I'm glad to have been a part of a band that meant so much to people. I'm proud of what we did." When I counter with the observation that Paul Westerberg and Chris Mars seem to want to distance themselves from the whole thing, Stinson's boyishly unbridled enthusiasm cracks slightly under the weight of having been there. "Chris and Paul distance themselves because they're bitter about some parts of it and embarrassed about others. I think what we did was cool." Knowing that Stinson and Mars have yet to reconcile their differences, I steer the conversation down a safer, Westerbergian road. Both men released their first post-Mats projects in 1993, and now both have released their second stabs within weeks of each other. They keep in regular contact; Westerberg even brought Stinson in to play on his new record. "Paul needs a band," Stinson states matter-of-factly. "He does records now that are too polished and nice. He's a moody guy, and he only captures that when he plays live. He needs to record himself live more often." It's not surprising to hear such criticism. Westerberg and Stinson were the 1980s Jagger and Richards, respectively. While one's a little bit poppy, the other's a hell of a lot of rock 'n roll. On more than one drunken backstage occasion Stinson ribbed Westerberg by calling him James Taylor, while Westerberg---and many old-school Matsheads---have drawn comparisons between Stinson and tragic comic Johnny Thunders (soul of 70s bastions The Heartbreakers, who died of an overdose destitute and alone in New Orleans). Westerberg, like Taylor, successfully battled addiction and continues to channel his demons into song. For the moment, Stinson is riding high. It comes across clearly through 3,000 miles of phone line and clearer still during a July gig at Upstairs at Nick's in Philadelphia. Perfect tore the roof off the sucka with a set that included EP tracks, new stuff, and stripped-down 'n gassed-up versions of The Dave Clark Five's "Glad All Over" and Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" (which is also a hidden track on the EP). Disappointingly, there was no nod to Bash & Pop. Tommy Stinson has turned another corner. **end** _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Four: Slim n' Chris Date: Wed, 02 Oct 1996 23:44:37 +0000 From: Mitch Harris Subject: Chris Mars - Anonymous Botch Chris Mars' new album, Anonymous Botch, is bar-none his best (no pun intended). It twists and spins from the magical to the meaningful, that is, if you can decipher the lyrics. He's really figured out his technology toys on this one, and it's so different from anything I've heard that I can hardly even fathom this guy playing for the Mats. Don't get me wrong, I love the Mats -- anyone who's read my introductory PAGES would understand that's beyond argument, and yet this album stands out in a surprising way. I'll tell you three things about it. 1. - It's not as raw in the rock and roll sense as the more guitar driven stuff on his first two. Nothing much like "No Bands" or "Popular Creeps" on this one, but more along the lines of "Midnight Carnival" and "No More Mud". Lyrically, I also believe he's exploring even more, but it's hard to tell without a translation. My Mumblelandish isn't so good. It's also loads better than Tenterhooks, but aside from a couple of tracks, I didn't like it much anyway. 2. - He's like Oingo Boingo stirred roughly with glass, razor blades, and that scary guy who talks to himself down on the street corner. And I mean that in a good way. His songs are like his paintings in the sense that his paintings are only disturbing because they're real enough to see the world through. Those guys in his paintings are guys you've seen, maybe even known. Heck, you probably recognize family members. They don't appear as they are, but as your mind tricks them to be. Perhaps I have that backwards, but that only makes it more true. 3. - It's almost worthy of a news group in itself. I'd start one if I had a life capable of adding commitment to. It's all up in the air. But my point is, the Mats are raw, fueled and honest rock. They're sincere without sacrificing their toughness. They're fucking cool. Paul has kept that. Tommy has slid farther to the left. Slim slid down to a mellower and more smoke filled place. Chris isn't even on the planet anymore. It's official. He's fucking gone. That's the hot and cold, back and forth, and long and short of it. There's a lot more cool shit to this guy than I thought when he sat behind Paul. He's a true artist, portraying life as he sees it. I'd buy a pair of whatever glasses he sees the world through if I found them, but they're probably beneath some lava flow or smashed up against a satellite (no wonder the picture is coming in fuzzy). Either way, if you're enchanted with being enchanted, pick this up. If you're all Paul, I don't know how much you'll like it. If you're Paul during the week, but disappear almost completely on the weekends, literally or figuratively, pick up Chris Mars, you won't be disappointed -- and if you are, another one of these guys will be as happy as I was to find it used. --Mitch Harris - msh2@dana.ucc.nau.edu --Mitch _________ _______ ____ _______ THE ___ ___/ _ ___/ /__ __ / _ ___/ /__ Mitchell __ / ___/__ ___/__ / ___/__ ___/ Harris _ / / __ `/ / __ `/ / // / __/ / / __________ __ \___/ /_/ / / /_/ / / // /(__ )/ / -creativity made- _______\__,_/ /\__,_/_/___ /____// / -simple- __ / ____/ http://www.primenet.com/~maddog2 Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 18:36:28 -0600 (CST) From: Daniel S Sigelman Subject: Slim! Hey Matthew! My name is Danny Sigelman and I have been getting Skyway for a couple of years now but haven't contributed much. I guess living in Minneapolis I have a million Replacements stories that I have never felt were anything that extraordinary. It's just that chance encounters or seeing one of the guys at a bar hasn't changed my life in such a way that I need to tell everyone. But I do appreciate hearing other people's stories. But anyway, I thought I'd let you and anybody in my area know that Slim Dunlap is going to be performing live on my radio show, "Off The Record", on Radio K here in Minneapolis November 8 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. We are 770 on the AM dial. "Off The Record" is a weekly show that features a different live performance, usually of which are local bands. (We released a boss-ass two disk set of the "best of" last spring on Twin/Tone you should check out called "Stuck On AM: Off The Record in Minneapolis") Slim is playing in town that night to celebrate the release of his new record. Hope you had a great Halloween. =) Danny. sige0003@gold.tc.umn.edu www.cee.umn.edu/radiok _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Five: The Mighty 'Mats From: Darwyn_Yoho@ATK.COM (Darwyn Yoho) Date: Wed, 02 Oct 1996 16:36:00 -0500 Subject: 'Mats tidbits Hi Matt - I have reading the "Skyway" for a while and just wanted to drop a line on some 'Mats stuff. 1) I was watching that new show 'Relativity' the other night (10/01/96) and I heard some thing familiar in the background - Paul's tune "Time Flies Tomorrow" in the background. It was only on for a second, but long enough to get the main riff of the song in. Go Paul. 2) I live in the Minneapolis area and a few weekends back the "good" (really good, actually) local alt. music station (REV 105) had a tribute to the 'Mats show. It followed the band from the inception to the demise with all the stops in between. It was interspersed with album cuts, short interviews with ex-members, RARE STUFF, and general nostalgia. Peter Jesperson did a good deal of leg work getting it together. This radio station can be difficult to receive depending on your location, and I could not record it. It would be cool if anyone on the //Skyway\\ living in the Minneapolis has it and we could get connected. The show was on a Sunday night at the very end September (or August - I have trouble remembering everything) and it was Kevin Cole's program. Thanks for the //Skyway\\, Dar Yoho dyoho@atk.com From: Request Magazine Online Newsgroups: alt.music.alternative Subject: 'MATS REUNION ONLINE! Placing Parody... Date: Mon, 30 Sep 1996 02:04:12 -0500 For Immediate Release: OCTOBER 1, 1996: Minneapolis Legendary rock band the Replacements have a virtual reunion at a parody website that asserts: "Your CDs define you as someone who is actually a nobody. You are so uncool it's not even funny." PLACING, DISPLACING SET THE STAGE FOR THE HOTTEST NEW PARODY ON THE BLOCK: REPLACING It all started with Carl Steadman, one of the entrepreneurial whiz-kids behind Wired's celebrated media site SUCK (http://www.suck.com. When he founded the highly provocative new website PLACING (http://www.placing.com) a month ago, heads turned. It's a clever and elegant little story, chained together by product placements. Steadman's idea was to synthesize advertising with a microfictional storyline. For example, "H" is for Ho-Hos, and Steadman's writes, i opened her freezer. there were no ice cubes. instead, it was filled with boxes and boxes of twinkies and hohos. i looked at her. "can i have one?" i asked. "sure," she said. "take one out for me, too." i handed her a hoho. she unwrapped it and put it in her mouth. "you eat them frozen?" i asked. "they're best when they're stiff," she said. Hot on the heels of PLACING came an in-house parody by Suck senior editor Ana Marie Cox. DISPLACING (http://www.displacing.com) took Steadman's idea and turned it on its head, giving the acrostic product placements a decidedly negative tone. Cox's installment for "H" is dedicated to "Home Run Pies" and reports the following dialogue: "The pies at the other store are 3 for a dollar." "Oh." "Did I ever tell you about the guy that tried to steal my pie?" "No." "I was walking down the street, I had just eaten my third pie, and this guy tried to grab my bag." "Oh." "I got it back from him, tho." Finally, Hans Eisenbeis, editor of Request magazine's website REQUEST LINE (http://www.requestline.com) and a regular contributor to Suck, produced REPLACING (http://www.wrequestline.com/replacing), taking both Placing and Displacing and reconfiguring the whole mess as the story of two lovers, diehard fans of the legendary Minneapolis rock group the Replacements whose every dialogue refers to a 'Mats album, song, or factoid. At Replacing, "H" is for "Hey Good Lookin'," a rare Replacements single. The people in the next car over, a red convertible, asked them to keep it down, they couldn't hear the movie. "It was backed with 'I Will Dare' and it was a 12-inch," he shouted in a hoarse whisper. "Seven inch. Seven, Seven, Seven!" She screamed, dousing his stunned face with her large diet cola. "I just wanted to have some fun with it, so every little vignette is supposed to be hilarious and pathetic at the same time," says Eisenbeis. "I didn't really know if people would get it -- most don't, unless they're hip to what Carl and Ana Marie are doing, and if they're music obsessives to boot. It helps if you're from Minneapolis as well." Are we talking about a tiny demographic here? "Well, I don't know," says Eisenbeis. "I mean, rock 'n' roll is the single largest affinity group online. And anybody who knows rock n' roll had better know the Replacements, or they just aren't as cool as they'd like to be." Carl Steadman, the man who started it all, is an example of this super-hip demographic, says Eisenbeis. "Besides, he's a native Minnesotan," he says with a broad grin. "The whole thing is starting to look like a fourth-generation Xerox," says Owen Thomas, copy editor at Suck. "Yeah," responds Eisenbeis. "In the future, everyone will be famous for five minutes, and the subject of a parody for ten." From: Kenneth_Feinleib_at_fifthave-po3@riasmtp.riatax.com Date: Wed, 23 Oct 96 14:47:28 EST Subject: palookaville Just saw a print ad for the film "Palookaville," which carries the tagline, "One foot in the door. The other one in the gutter." _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter Six: Don't Buy Or Sell...It's Crap! From: mikem@magicnet.net (Mike M.) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: New Mats Boot CD out! Date: 25 Sep 1996 05:00:40 GMT Organization: Me, organized? HA HA HA HA HA I was in New York City last week and found a new Mats bootleg CD. Here's my review: The Replacements - "Beat Girl" - Third Eye (no catalog number) First off, the packaging is top notch. It looks like the soundtrack to one of those lurid 60's era JD films, with the phrase "THIS COULD BE YOUR TEENAGE DAUGHTER!" Emblazed across the top. "Beat Girl" is a compilation of b-sides and promo-only tracks. Here they are in order of appearance: 1 Kissing in Action 2 Ought to Get Love 3 Satellite 4 Like A Rolling Pin 5 Can't Hardly Wait (from Shit Hits The Fans) 6 Date To Church 7 If Only You Were Lonely 8 Nowhere Is My Home 9 Route 66 10 Election Day 11 Tossin' and Turnin' 12 Jungle Rock 13 Cool Water 14 Cruella DeVille 15 20th Century Boy Nothing that hardcore collectors won't already have, but I was thrilled to get them all on one handy CD...until I listened to it! Everything goes okay until track 5, which repeats songs 1-4 and THEN plays Can't Hardly Wait. If Only You Were Lonely (track 7) is taken from scratchy vinyl, and the beginning of Nowhere Is My Home (track 8) is clipped. Tracks 9 - 15 are slightly slow and muffled sounding. Overall, a terrible disappointment. Why the hell would anyone go through the trouble of producing a boot, and then not doing something as simple as mastering it properly. While the packaging is cool, I can't recommend spending any money on this one. --Mike M. From: MRTimmins@aol.com Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 22:20:55 -0500 Subject: New (?) CD of Replacements B-Sides Hey, all: The other day I came across one of those "gray market" import CDs (you know the ones) featuring an hour's worth of Replacements B-sides. It's put out by a "label" calling itself The Third Eye, and it's entitled _Beat Girl_. It's packaged to make it look like an Elvis soundtrack album from 35+ (!) years ago, with pictures of sock hop kids on the cover, and copy reading "the greatest rock'n'roll music played by the biggest rock'n'roll group this side of heaven" and "featuring the hits that made them famous" and other such silliness. There is, however, no information about how to get another copy of this or any other CD put out by this 'label.' Does anyone know anything else about this? I'm not sure if it represents a complete set of their "officially released" non-album stuff, but everything on there I have previously heard before, and believe was put out on vinyl at one point (other more diehard collectors would know better if this is correct). Anyone, it contains the following tracks: Kissing in Action / Ought to Get Love / Satellite / Like a Rolling Pin / Can't Hardly Wait (supposedly from _The Shit Hits the Fans_, although on my CD, it's just "Kissing in Action" again) / Date to Church / If Only You Were Lonely / Nowhere is My Home / Route 66 / Election Day / Tossin' and Turnin' / Jungle Rock / Cool Water / Cruella DeVille / 20th Century Boy. It's kinda nice to have all these collected onto one CD, but frankly the sound quality is no better than the (n+1)th generation tape I've made from the various dubs I've received from numerous people on the list. -Mark Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 10:12:08 -0400 (EDT) From: superknot@iwaynet.net (Superknot) Subject: Westerberg '96 shows Hi everyone, I'm new to the list, just discovered it actually. But I've been a fan since the Let it Be days. This is a shameless grovel for a tape of one of Paul's '96 shows. My Mats/Westerberg collection is pretty much non-existent. But I have plenty of other stuff to trade. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Trace Date: Fri, 04 Oct 1996 12:30:45 EST From: "GROGAN, MATTHEW STEPHEN" i just merged onto the skyway and wanted to ask, first of all if there is any video footage out there of the mats and/or paul. i've got husker du to trade and one mats bootleg. i also have the 9/25 show here in athens on tape. thanks, matt grogan Date: Fri, 4 Oct 1996 19:57:49 -0500 From: Dave Olson Subject: Re: trading or selling/buying... I am looking for 2 different recordings. One is when "The Mats" played on Saturday Night Live - this was in the middle 80's (maybe 84-87), it slips my mind. [January 1986 - M@]. I'm looking for a copy of this. The next I think alot of people want after reading the review in your page. It is the DC show. This one sounded like it ROCKED!!! I saw the show in MN and it was so nice to see Mr. Westerberg singing and playing the guitar SO WELL...if anyone can help out here I am willing to trade. I have (I think?) lots to trade, rare b-sides, a video, albums and other CDs and live recordings. From: roex0006@gold.tc.umn.edu (Dean T Roe) Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: new Westerberg boot CD Date: 5 Oct 1996 10:49:37 -0500 Hey all, I was at a record convention today and saw a new (to me anyway) Paul Westerberg boot CD. It looks like it was rushed out, but it sounds great. The title is "Paul Westerberg and his Paid Companions." It features his Grant Park performance + some other (fairly) recent stuff. Here's a track list (no date/place means it is part of the Grant Park show): Waiting For Somebody (Grant Park, Chicago, 7/4/96) World Class Fad Valentine Once Around The Weekend These Are The Days Kiss Me On The Bus Ain't Got Me Century MommaDaddyDid Merry Go Round Love Untold Can't Hardly Wait Daydream Believer Alex Chilton Left Of The Dial (Hollywood - 7/93) Another Girl, Another Planet (Hollywood - 7/93) First Glimmer (MTV 120 Minutes - 8/15/93) Knockin' On Mine (Saturday Night Live - 12/4/93) Can't Hardly Wait (Saturday Night Live - 12/4/93) Love Untold (Late Show w/ David Letterman - 7/18/96) As I said before, it looks like this was rushed (or maybe locally done?). The CD sleeve is a plain orange color with the above info printed on it. There is no record label, and the only catalog number given is "MATS 002." Dean From: "PARKER, KEVIN M" Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 16:04:43 +0000 Subject: PW boots Hi everyone, I'm looking for any Paul boots from the latest tour. I have a bunch of Mats/Paul stuff to trade and a lot of Bob Mould/Huskers/Sugar stuff too. Also, if anyone has the full length video of the quicktime movies on the Twin Tone site that Brandon mentioned, I would also love to get a copy. The tour reports were great. It's too bad that Paul won't be making it back East because I would have loved to see a couple more shows. Thanks. Kevin E-mail me at FA09@Iona.edu Date: Sun, 6 Oct 1996 01:48:17 -0500 (CDT) From: pbrain@webworldinc.com Subject: Willing to swap pieces of Westerberg's dentist's tombstone for boots Willing to swap shitty photocopies of Willpower for these here boots: --Marvin Center, GWU, DC, 2-5-86 --Ritz, NYC, 6-86 --Bayou, DC, Summer 87 --Lisner Auditorium, GWU, DC, 11-18-87 or so [Willpower is a Replacements fanzine from 1983-1985 (?) that was put out by Bill Callahan, who is now in the infamous indie gloom band "Smog". - M@] Date: Thu, 10 Oct 96 19:19:54 -0700 From: jmhuff@plix.com (Huff, J Michael,) Looking for a taped copy of Westerberg's performance on Leno! Sincerely, Nathan Huff jmhuff@plix.com From: Mcpierre@aol.com Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 16:56:02 -0400 Subject: Requests and Comments Matt, My brother in California said that one of the LA stations did a live show called "Live at the Troubador" recently for PW. Can you solicit any tapes for your readers on the East Coast, I am anxious to hear some of the shows from this tour. Also: there is a great article on the history of Minneapolis punk in a magazine called Alternative Guitar on newsstands now. It is a reprint from Guitar magazine a few months back but some of the Skyway people might want to know about it. Good content and quotes from PW, Slim, and Peter Jesperson, plus a funny picture of the band. Also: some guy in the band Archers of Loaf, a band I know very little about, was quoted in the Boston Phoenix, in response to their Replacements influence, said "At least we're trying to sound like a good band like the Replacements." He went on to say that bands like Dishwalla really suck and tend to dilute for young fans the importance that the Mats hold in today's alterna-mainstream scene. Also: Counting Crows thank the Replacements in the CD jacket on their new disc, "Recovering the Satellites". Is there a connection between these bands, or is it just a tip of the cap? Not that I really mind, more bands should be so respectful. "Angels of the Silences" has a great Soul Asylum kick to it. Mike in Boston. Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 08:52:28 -0400 (EDT) From: "John M. Sotak" Subject: SHTF cassette insert question Really enjoy Skyway; thanks!!! I was wondering if you had a color scan of the entire SHTF cassette insert (including text, Iowa photo, etc.)? If so, I sure would appreciate a copy of the file. I've got a fancy color laser printer at the office and would make a cassette jacket for my copy. Tic. [I don't have one...but if somebody's up to the task, I'd love to put it up on the web page! - M@] _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7: This stuff doesn't really fit anywhere else. From: Brueso@aol.com Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 11:49:37 -0500 Subject: Gina Is Just Alright With Me Was happy to read in the latest Skyway the Gina Arnold article on seeing Paul at the Fillmore, but was a little irritated with Troy's comments along the way about what she was saying. I lived in the Bay Area for 11 years, and my friends and I always loved Gina's articles and later the Road to Nirvana book she wrote (and no, we never met her, so it's not a "don't kick my buddy" thing). I haven't always necessarily agreed with her call on bands, but I always admired her unabashed enthusiasm which she put right out front, even if it meant some people (Troy as an example in his posting) were going to say "There, there, Gina". Gina is a true fan, and a shameless one, and it would be great I think if we were all as willing to express our feelings without checking them because it's cooler, "less is more", etc. etc. It's in part because of her book I investigated Paul and the mats further, and for that, and much more, I'm glad Gina Arnold is out there calling them as she sees them (her not wanting Bon Jovi even near Paul is so like her), the fan we all are or why would we even be reading things like the Skyway. Bob Date: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 21:25:17 -0500 From: Scott Muhlbaier Subject: INCREDIBLE DYLAN HICKS' CD...PAUL "REBORN" Kathy...As a favor to Paul fans out there please post this as a review on your page if you can and respond personally to me if you can: I'm Speechless. Blown away. If you haven't heard of this guy, have I got a treat for you. Being a huge Replacements fan, Dylan Hicks' new disc "Won" on Twin Tone/TRG/No Alternative sends shivers up my spine and tears my eye as to how good it is! This truly looks to be the next Paul--and I think he may be only SEVENTEEN years old! Same MN area, same orig label, even co-mixed by Stark. Best part, he has the old great spunky Westerberg wit. Bottom line: DROP EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING AND FIND THIS DISC AT ALL COST!! MY CHOICE AS TOP ROCK DISC OF THE YEAR. I am astounded by the similarities between the two. This disc sounds like Twin-Tone era Replacements right down to the recording. His voice is same raspy, raggedly, perfect Westerberg voice. EVERY song out of the 12 I love (ranging from all out rock to gentle harmonizing pop and even mariachi)--there's no filler here. He has maybe even MORE range than Paul in that some of his songs incorporate big band sound! Horns, great banjos (in my fave D.I.F.M.), and saxes show up here and there--but bottom line is the dead-on immistakable Westerberg sound. There's even an ultra cool tribute to the session drummer Hal Blaine complete with 'Be My Baby' samples. Outstanding! It's only a matter of time before this guy breaks through. Check out the TRG web page at and see what everyone is saying. Rating: stunning TEN performance, 8.5 sound. Raggedy perfect. Comments encouraged: scottm@gte.net From: "D.S. Armes" Matt, A personal note to you. Don't know if you remember, but I'm the English guy who wrote a horrible, stupid sounding intro note. A friend pointed out it might have upset people, especially as I wrote 'damn Yanks' or something. This is honestly just my stupid English (and particularly Northern) sense of humour which just means you affectionately take the piss out of people. Call me a 'whiny Limey scumsucker' all you like - I'll understand. I'm really really sorry if I offended anyone - none of what I wrote was thought out, I wasn't in a good way when I wrote it anyway and I wish I could take it back. I was just so stupid and didn't think about the effect. So sorry. Most of it was totally inappropriate to this wonderful Skyway. Thank you, Dave Armes [Hey Dave, if it makes your conscience feel any better, here it is in the Skyway. But I didn't think anything of your remarks other than the ravings of another full-blown 'Mats fan! No apologies needed here! - M@] fin. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The //Skyway\\: The Replacements Mailing List (digest only) To subscribe, send a letter saying "subscribe skyway" to "majordomo@novia.net" http://www.novia.net/~matt/sky/skyway.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "When someone compliments your parents, there's like nothing to say. It's like a stun gun to your brain." -- Angela Chase (Claire Danes), "My So-Called Life"