Replacement Reunion It Isn't...But A Replacement Documentary It Is

There’s lots of rumbling today about a Replacements “reunion,” of which a covers album featuring Paul and Tommy does not make.

And don’t even think about suggesting that Slim Dunlop was anything more than a hired gun, meant to give Reprise a better return on their investment. It was their last chance at turning Westerberg into the singer/songwriter genius that he was, but didn’t ask for.

God, I miss the Mats. I really do.

But I don’t like the idea of selling me something that isn’t, especially when Paul seemed to be doing quite fine on his own, at least from a creative standpoint.

So the reports that the band is getting back together doesn’t shake me as much as this documentary about one of the Twin Cities trifecta of great bands (Huskers and, yes, Soul Asylum are the others) slated for release in November.

Collective “Aw” please, as you ready the spiel.

Color Me Obsessed, the first documentary about famed 80's indie-rock band The Replacements,will be released in a two-disc DVD set (with 6 hours of extras) on November 20 via MVD Entertainment Group.

Told through the eyes of fans, friends, and contemporaries, Color Me Obsessed breaks from the traditional music documentary format of music and performances. Not looking to make a VH1/where-are-they-now style documentary, director Gorman Bechard took a unique approach, "I decided to present the band in a more iconic way," he explains. "I thought, people believe in God without seeing or hearing him but rather through the passion, faith, and stories of others. After watching Color Me Obsessed, I'm pretty sure music fans will believe in The Replacements in much the same way." Telling the band's story was a project close to the heart for Bechard. Like many who were weaned on punk music he latched onto this brash young Minneapolis band with fervor. Dubbed "the last best band" by Spin Magazine, their live shows could be miraculous or downright disasters. Their fans, unwaveringly faithful. As critic's darlings, their albums were wrought with angry guitars and passionate well-written lyrics that hinted at potential commercial success.

Yet, somehow, the band managed to continually shoot themselves in the foot. Their relative obscurity was a motivating factor in presenting their story on film. "The Replacements should have been the next Rolling Stones," Bechard says, "And to the people who loved them, I think they were." Combining over 140 interviews with rockers (Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, Craig Finn of The Hold Steady, Tommy Ramone, Grant Hart and Greg Norton of Husker Du, all three members of Goo Goo Dolls), journalists (Robert Christgau, Legs McNeil, Ira Robbins, Greg Kot, Jim DeRogatis), and fans both famous (Tom Arnold, Dave Foley, George Wendt) and not, Bechard delivers the obsessive tale of the most influential band you've never heard of, The Replacements. And though containing not one note of their music, Color Me Obsessed is a documentary that really rocks.

Sugar - Copper Blue

Merge Records is re-releasing Sugar’s debut album, Copper Blue, with a bunch of bonus material and mix that was supposed to correct some Dolby error where Thomas Dolby actually came into the mixing sessions and made the right channel a tad bit louder than the left because Tom was blinded with science.

Regardless of the issue, and regardless of the desire of fans’ need to run out and acquire this re-issue, I do what I normally do in these instances: check out my copy to see if there is any inherent need for me to purchase the same shit twice.

For me, there wasn’t. The left and right channels play just fine for this untrained ear and Copper Blue was exactly as I remembered it. And if there are any novices looking to examine Bob Mould’s first band project outside of Husker Du, I would suggest visiting the local used record store (if you have anything local) because I remember seeing multiple used copies of this, Beaster and File Under Easy Listening in nearly every used record store that I visited during the 90’s.

I like Copper Blue. It brought me back to Mould after his pair of “adult” solo records which did nothing for me except declare Grant Hart the winner of the post-Husker solo record war. Sugar found him back in his element of a band unit, albeit one where he was the sole creative force and one where he could properly take advantage of the grunge era darlings in much the same way they took advantage of the Husker’s formula.

It’s glossy, but it’s filled with wall-to-wall guitars to the point where Mould’s vocals are impeccably places right between the distortion, strangely treated a bit to sound like they’re sung through a humbucker pick up.

Maybe that’s just the Dolby issue talkin.

Side one, to use the parlance of the original release date, is the stronger of the two sides with no evidence of a dud from start to finish. I remember dropping my guitar strings down to “D” and playing along with “The Act We Act” with the line “the confusion that persists/the decisions that you guessed” striking a reactionary chord inside of me for some reason.

But wasn’t this a record for the novices? The latecomers who weren’t around to care or notice every single song of brutal beauty that the Huskers laid forth previously? I say this because there’s nothing on Copper Blue that sways my heart away from “Celebrated Summer” or any number of tunes in the Husker’s cannon that spoke louder and clearer than anything since. While there’s nothing as good as the original thing, Copper Blue does an admirable job of bringing more people to the Bob Mould camp than anything since his time with a certain little power trio from Minneapolis.

And if it points them to the direction of his previous band, then Copper Blue is successful all the way around.

Husker Du Live In London 1985

Check out the first song, "Every Everything," where it looks like Greg broke his bass strap and someone is physically holding the bottom of the bass for him. The song charges ahead and with a deep breath, they kick out "Makes No Sense At All."
As powerful as the band was on record, they delivered similar results on stage.

Two interesting observations:
1.) Mould doesn't look like he's wearing any hearing protection (having seen Husker Du live, I can attest that this is a very bad decision).
2.) This is professionally shot footage and it would be great if cleaner copies were made commercially available. Husker Du is a band who's legacy is going underserved with a lack of posthumous material.

Grant Hart In Des Moines

My money was on Grant Hart after Husker Du broke up. He wrote some of the Husker’s best songs and may have even been a bit more consistent than campadre Bob Mould.
And then-within months, it seemed-he released the acoustic song “2541,” as in 2541 Nicolette Avenue, Minneapolis. As in the Husker’s rehearsal space. And it seemed a heartbreaking account of the band breaking up under the guise of a couple moving out of an apartment and moving away from each other. The line “things are so much different now/I guess the situation’s reversed/And it will probably not be the last time I have to be out by the 1st” ranks as good as anything that Mould ever wrote, but it’s Bob that gets all the critical accolades.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Bob too. In fact, I remember a fight I had with my ex-wife once after she called Mould a “sellout” upon learning that he was writing story episodes for WCW wrestling.
But Hart was completely off the radar; there were no verbal volleys about him, because he seemed to drop off the face of the Earth after Nova Mob’s The Last Days Of Pompeii.
I remember occasionally hearing stories about him, how he looked like he was struggling with addiction.
And there was little music to counteract those rumors.
Grant Hart recently made his way back to Iowa and visited Des Moines with a set. Our man in the D.M. reports, “He played my requests of “2541” and “Sorry Somehow.” That was cool.”
But damn if the dude don’t look haggard. And you would think the hipsters in the Twin Cities could add a buck to a fishbowl and chip in to buy him a leather jacket.
What’s with the getup? Did Hendrix’s “If 6 Was 9” inspire it? Someone needs to call Robyn Hitchcock and tell him that we’ve found the jacket from his Fegmania tour.
For real, those All Tomorrow’s Parties folks need to waive a shitload of money in front of Mould and Hart and get Husker Du back together for a reunion show.
If Greg Norton plays hardball, just threaten his food joint with endless surprise visits from the health inspector or something.
And he had better still have that handlebar mustache too.
Getting back to Grant: he has a new record called Hot Wax, which will probably sell as many copies as the Husker’s first single.

We're Getting The Band Back Together: 2007 Reunion Tours

2007 seems to be the year of reuniting, since it feels so good, and with it comes the obligatory discussion concerning the merits of said reformation.

The awful truth about reunions is that they're often the result of greed and ego: a quick lift in the player's bank accounts and self-worth. There are examples of bands coming together again for the sake of unfinished business (Celtic Frost, Dinosaur Jr., and a few others come to mind) but Father-time typically doesn't prove to be on the side of aging rockers.

Van Halen-As discussed here.

The Stooges-Look, as much as I'm excited about this, I'm also a realist. Thirty-three fucking years have past since Raw Power and none of the surviving members are spring chickens. Hell, they're not even Popeye's Fried Chicken. But this is The Stooges we're talking about; a band so mired in destruction that we're blessed that Iggy and the Ashtons are even alive. And at the end of the day, don't we owe it to them to pay tribute for being able to wake up in the morning? The Live In Detroit dvd is riddled with equal parts tear-inducing nostalgia and ear-hurting embarassment. And "My Idea Of Fun" from their upcoming The Weirdness is a decent Iggy track but nowhere near the brilliance of The Stooges past glories. We'll see if the rest of the album is better, but time and reality are certainly against them.

The Police-This will be the moneymaker of the year….And with ticket prices ranging from $60-$225 (“packages” are even higher) this tour has got me considering a financial boycott. I’m not sure of the financial status of Stewart or Andy, but I know Sting isn’t hurting for cash, even though his last few solo efforts have stiffed. Regardless, explain to me why I’m required to get fucked up the ass so that Sting doesn’t slip into obscurity? The Police have never really qualified as a “punk” band, but it would have been very punk if they’d leveraged their reunion tour with reasonable financial restraint.
I’m secretly hoping this tour absolutely fails and the blame is placed solely on the outrageous ticket prices. Serves ‘em right. I’m also secretly hoping that a pair of tickets magically appear on my doorstep because (losing credibility here perhaps) I’d really like to see this one.

Smashing Pumpkins-Note to Billy Corgan: nobody gives a shit. If the Pumpkins were your “dreams” then why did you form Zwan? I doubt that anyone would have noticed James or D’Arcy missing from the Pumpkins line-up if you chose to carry on the moniker. In Totale’s world, you released two great albums (Gish and Siamese Dream) before succumbing to a pattern of elitism and pretentiousness. Keep your ego in check, Corgan: you may sell out a few theatres but don’t expect a lot of hero worship to upgrade your reunion to the arenas.

Rage Against The Machine-Not a fan, so no real excitement here. I will say that we really could’ve used a ton more lefty-leaning rock outfits during the Bush II Evil Empire (get it?) instead of fucking Audioslave.

Genesis-My dick might get a little hard if Gabriel were in the line-up, but no, it’s Phil Fucking Collins Genesis, to which I’m reminded of some truly horrible shit from the 80’s and into the 90’s. To be honest, by 1988 I couldn’t tell what was Phil Collins solo and a Genesis track, so I’m not the dude to ask if these fuckers could fill a state fair stadium. The last Genesis album I bought was Duke and I remember liking Abacab and a few tracks from their ’83 eponymous album. None of those albums mean that I would be caught dead at a Genesis concert.

Dinosaur Jr.-I’d totally see this one. When I missed them in the original line-up tours, I heard that they were loud as fuck and very inconsistent. I’d like to believe that getting older would help out in the latter department, but would hate to see a reduction in the volume. After all, that’s part of the thing that made You’re Living All Over Me and Bug so enjoyable: Mascis’ amplifier meltings were a thing of beauty. From reviews I’ve read about the reunion so far (which includes an album), they haven’t lost much.

Sebadoh-Really? I didn’t even know they broke up. I’m willing to bet that other people didn’t know this either.

Did I get ‘em all?

Now for the list of dream reunions. These are the bands that I would definitely consider seeing if they ever decided to reunite.

Spacemen 3-I’m sure that Jason Pierce is the only thing that’s holding this one up. And I’m sure that he’s making enough from Spiritualized to not even consider re-teaming with Sonic Boom again. But if he did, and even if they only played one chord together for 45 minutes, I’d want to be at the foot of the stage paying homage to these dudes. Check it:

The Smiths-Rumor has it that they were offered millions for a one-off that was systematically rejected. Hell, I’d even salivate if Morrissey/Marr teamed up under a different moniker. A full-fledged reunion seems unlikely since bassist Andy Rourke really hosed them in court for back royalties.

Husker Du-Saw ‘em in ’87 when they were on the downward spiral, and the show was so intense that I’d gladly see ‘em again. From what I understand, Grant Hart and Bob Mould dislike each other so much that the idea of a reunion would never get off the ground. I also don’t think the band has enough notable legacy to pay them what they’re deserved. And what they deserve is a hundred times more than what fucking Genesis will make from their reunion shenanigans.

The Stone Roses-Betcha these guys could absolutely kill in their heyday. Like that quote from the movie "Shaun Of The Dead" says: Second Coming wasn’t that bad of an album. I think they only substantially toured the states in support of that album (which I missed) and time has made me miss them immensely. I guess I’m not the only one since there are two Stone Roses tribute bands currently cashing in around England: The Complete Stone Roses and The Clone Roses.

Pink Floyd-It’s cheesy, I know, but I’d totally be psyched for a reunited Waters/Gilmour thing. I saw the Floyd Water-less and it was painfully apparent that he was gone. Live 8 fueled the fire that they were on better terms, but I don’t see this happening. First of all, Waters is completely book for a solo tour throughout this summer and none of the members really need the cash. Gilmour has hinted that working with Waters is like pulling teeth and that Gilmour already has more money than a hundred dentists. Which is funny, especially if you’ve ever seen pictures of Rodger Waters’ teeth circa ’73.

Feel free to comment on what bands you’d like to see reunite.