Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements

Color Me Obsessed was on my radar in its nascent Kickstarter phase, but sadly flew under the radar for me when it played for one night only last Winter at Bowery Electric. I was far from pleased, so when word came down that the doc would be part of the inaugural CBGB Festival, I stepped lively and got me a ticket. I was a little taken aback to see a less than capacity crowd for the official US release. The director, one Gorman Bechard, was there to introduce the film and do a Q&A that I bailed on afterward. Bechard mentioned in his introduction not to ask why there wasn't any music in the film, which did not bode well for the next two hours or so.

Color Me Obsessed covers the rise and fall of The Mats chronologically by record, courtesy of a gang of talking heads. Much like the recent Husker Du book, the participants are not nearly as conspicuous as those that are absent from the proceedings. None of the ex-Replacements appear in the film. Grant and Greg Husker do appear, yet no Mould. Tom Arnold does, however. No Peter Jesperson either, so it sure is an interesting perspective on the life of America's Best Ever Rock BandTM. I enjoyed the hell out of CMO and will definitely buy it when it becomes available, but those not already under the spell of The Replacements will definitely be wanting for something to latch on to.

Keep track of all things Color Me Obsessed here.

R

R.I.P: Jim Dickinson (1941-2009)

Man, legends are dropping like flies around these parts. Pour out a little liquor for Jim Dickinson, who passed from complications from heart surgery this morning. I didn't even know he was sick.

Like most people my age, I first learned about Dickinson when he recorded Pleased To Meet Me for the mighty Replacements, but he midwifed a million other great records, like Big Star's Third. There were a handful of solo records, as well as a raft of guest turns like the keys he played on Wild Horses. We can also kinda thank him for siring Luther and Cody of North Mississippi All Stars. Whether as an artist, engineer or genetic donor, the world of music would be 1000x worse than it already is without Jim Dickinson.

R

The Rhino Replacements Reissues - Installment #2: Pleased To Meet Me

Pleased To Meet Me is the record that had me falling head over heels in love with the boys from Minneapolis. Ryan Shadrin lent me a copy of the record in high school and from the buzz-saw guitar riff that opens I.O.U. , I was a believer. It's not the two records that preceded it, but Pleased To Meet Me is packed to the gills with great tracks: Valentine, Nightclub Jitters, Skyway, Can't Hardly Wait; I can almost guarantee that your favorite record does not have songs as good.

The big conundrum for me was Alex Chilton. While the Mats' song is a classic, Chilton and the rest of Big Star were way off my radar as a high schooler. This was also pre-Internet, so it's not like I could dash off to the computer and rapidly acquire some of the emporer's finest new clothes. I'm not sure when, although it was well past Pleased To Meet Me's release date, but I do remember hearing Big Star for the first time and being pretty confused that it wasn't Mats-approved rock. I figured Alex would be more of a Johnny Thunders character. While I didn't meet him until much later, it was hard to reconcile the bands adulation at that point, but I did surely want to be one of the millions who waited for Alex Chilton when he came round.

I saw The Mats twice on that tour. Once they were absolutely transcendent, the second time they couldn't have been shittier, musically or alcoholically. By that point, I'd read the Musician article that proclaimed them America's Finest Rock Band and had been filled-in about how the aforementioned 'ashtray floors, dirty clothes and filthy jokes' were much more of a lifestyle thing than rock and roll self-aggrandization. The fact that they were raging coke/speed addicts was still a mystery to me, but the picture of what it meant to be in a touring rock band was getting sharper and I was pretty sure I wanted a piece.

Pleased To Meet Me was recorded in Memphis, home of the aforementioned A. Chilton, with legendary producer Jim Dickinson. The sessions marked the formal departure (or booting, really) of Bob Stinson as well as Guru/Band Dad/Manager Peter Jesperson. Dad Dickinson had lobbied to get him in the sessions, as he had dealt with the likes of Chilton and Panther Burns previously, but sadly, it was a no-go. Allegedly, one Mat still managed to vomit on the ceiling at Ardent, but shenanigans were kept at bay for the most part. Paul handled the guitar parts admirably (see The Ledge, yowza!), save for the guitar solo he passed off to Dickinson's son Luther on Shooting Dirty Pool. Luther was but fifteen at that point, and a big Steve Vai fan, so don't tune in if you're looking for 'Clapton in the Roosters' type of guitar hero-ism, but it sure is pretty irritating that even Luther's quasi-embarassing early recordings ended up on a Replacements record. I hope he's thanked his Dad daily since for the opportunity.

For me, Pleased To Meet Me marked the beginning of the end. Soon Mars was booted from the band and, though we didn't know at the time, it moved closer and closer to solo record time for Paul and Tommy. Never underestimate the ability of label to totally negate any success a band has managed to build prior to signing.

The Rhino Replacements Reissues - Installment #1: Tim

If you've been keeping up with my ramblings, you know that Rhino is reissuing the four Replacements records from their Sire years. And there was much rejoicing. I had feared that it would be most of the stuff from the Nothing For All record tagged on to the end of pertinent releases. There is some rehashing, but also some bona fide vault stuff that even the most seasoned Net trawler would be interested in. Trust me, you want it.

The first of the re-issues, chronologically, is Tim. It's the last record with Bob and was produced by Tommy Ramone nee Erdelyi. The reissue fans the flames of the question that has haunted me for nigh on twenty years: Is Tim my favorite Replacements record or is it Let It Be? The two records, along with Pleased To Meet Me comprise the legendary holy trinity of Mats-dom. No band could remain unsigned after releasing a record as amazing as Let It Be. The boys did try admirably, of course, but even one of their drunkest CBs shows ever couldn't put Seymour Stein off the scent. Tim was released on Sire in October 1985 and the rest is history.

The first time I saw The Replacements was at the Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY. The Chance was the only oasis of smaller rock nearby, a bottle's throw from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center where I saw my first metal shows. I was too young to get into the Chance, which prompted me to fall back on the customary eventuality that occurred until my mid-thirties: Go with my Dad. My Dad is a great man and has great taste in music. As I recall, it didn't even take too much harassment to get him to agree. Either way, we turned up early and saw Agit-pop open (poorly). Little did I know how significant the band would prove fifteen or so years down the line, but that's a story for another day.

Agitpop wrapped up and roadies began to set up and line check the Mats gear. The lights dimmed and a roadie came out and placed three cases of Heineken in front of the drum riser. The band shuffled down the stairs from the dressing room looking a bit worse for wear. Tommy's green Rickenbacker was covered with Mr. Yuk anti-poison stickers while Paul sported his customary sunburst Jr. He shuffled up to the mike and said," Well, I guess we'll just play some" and kicked into Bastards Of Young. It was the first time I ever heard the song and honestly one of the most significant experiences in my life.

When I bought the record, I, of course started with Side Two, as Bastards Of Young led the flip-side off. When I finally bought Tim on cd, it always fucked with me, as I could never see why the band would open the record with Hold My Life, when side two was so obviously superior. Of course, flipping the order has the record closing with Swingin Party rather than Here Comes A Regular, a shuffling of cosmic proportions for many a Mats fan. I feel more than justified in my reshuffling.

Tim is truly a classic record, one unparalleled by any band since. The closing trio of Left Of The Dial, Little Mascara and Here Comes A Regular deals a death blow instantly to any potential rival. The reissue adds six bonus tracks: alternate versions of Waitress In The Sky and Regular, a demo of Kiss Me On The Bus and Can't Hardly Wait, plus Nowhere Is My Home, whose signature riff launched the mighty Superchunk. I couldn't be more grateful. Twenty-three years on, it's still wonderful to hear in my house. Now, if only it had Answering Machine on it.

Buy the reissue of Tim here. You need it. They are doing vinyl, too, dork.

R.I.P Steve Foley: 1960-2008

I'm real late in getting on this, but it's no less of a bummer, even more so that it pretty much nails the coffin lid on any sort of Mats reunion.

Steve Foley came in late in the Replacements game, but I probably saw more Mats shows with him than I did Chris. He chatted briefly with me and Scott Tienken outside the Palace Theatre in Albany back in my college days and seemed like a solid guy then and brief interactions at various Bash and Pop shows after that never really changed that notion. I always felt for him and Slim after the Mats hung it up. It must have been weird to see Tommy in Guns and Roses and have Paul writing songs for Sony cartoons. It was particularly heartbreaking to run into Slim at SXSW after he had resorted to sleeping in his car the night before. The night before I had grinned and taken a photo of his two rack mounted Marshall heads with the logos altered to say 'Mats' and 'Shall'.

Slim came off a total gem in All Over But The Shouting, but there wasn't so much in the way of insight about Foley save for the fact that he was a good guy and I believe actually lived across the street from Chris Mars during his tenure with the Mats. Evidently he had been working as a car salesman in recent years and had been sober for fifteen years. I read in a couple places that he was fighting anxiety issues and that sadly his death by overdose of prescription meds was actually an accident. It's a damn shame.

Even worse is that every fucking photo of the Mats that they have in the memorials is one with Chris in it, and most of the time Bob, too. Come on, assholes! Earn your fucking editorial gigs. The photo above is of the mighty Bash And Pop, the Tommy-led post-Replacements project that Steve also played in. Steve's holding the globe. 

Thanks for the good times, Steve!

R