Color Me Obsessed; A film about The Replacements
So of course I had to watch it.
It took me back to the mid 1980s. In the mid '80s, at the top of a long list of my favorite music, were three bands; R.E.M., Husker Du, and of course, The Replacements. For me, The Replacements epitomized the whole "teenage experience." They could be snot nosed brats, out of place misfits one minute, and then turn around and play the most heartfelt ballad, bring you to tears...almost... and do it all with an "I don't care what you think ... Fuck You... attitude." This was a big influence on me both musically and personally. Whether that's good or bad, I don't know, but they definitely influenced me in not caring about what other people think and in doing your own thing. That whole, "Yeah, it's good enough" attitude.
I was lucky enough to see The Replacements a number of times, (Unfortunately without Bob}, and each one was memorable. Here are a few half remembered snippets... on my way to class and walking past where they were to be playing..getting to my classroom and turning around walking back and buying a ticket. Seeing Tommy come out of the bus and deciding not to say anything to him because I'd heard he was obnoxious... Paul and Slim's smoke break during the middle of "I Don't Know"...Tommy knocking over his mic stand on purpose so the roadie would come out and stand it up...only to do it again...doing a presentation on Punk Rock Music in grad school and playing "Fuck School" as an example...my theme song while in grad school being "Anywhere's Better Than Here." Seeing them open for Elvis Costello, and thinking that the 'Mats blew Costello away.
Ticket stubs and other memorbilia (Didn't feel like getting the t-shirts out of the attic)
Anyway, enough of memory lane, here are some videos.
Bastards of Young - the classic video
Talent Show - Paul's comment at the start just about sums it up. I remember seeing this live, and thinking the same thing. Notice that the station cuts out "Feeling good from the pills we took", so listen to what they sing at the end.
I hate Music from 1981 - some great footage from this period
Color Me Impressed
There's a theory that I have, I didn't come up with it, and I'm not sure where I got it, but it's that in bands, one person lives the life, and one person writes about it, an example would be the Beach Boys, Dennis lived it, Brian wrote it. Or maybe the Stones, Keith lived it, Mick wrote it. In the Replacements, I would say that Tommy and Bob lived it, and Paul wrote it. After they broke up, they individually haven't been able to acheive the success, limited as it was, that they acheived together. Okay don't say that Tommy playing for Guns and Roses is a success...
One last thing, since I like when bands mess up, and since that's part of the appeal of the 'Mats, track down a copy of "When The Shit Hits The Fans" to see what all the fuss is about.
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