 |
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Thursday, August 30, 2001
Punk Rock Changed Our Lives
Neumu's Jim Connelly writes: "Our band could be your life," the man said. Well, yes and no. I've never thought that was really the key line in The Minutemen's "History Lesson, Pt II." To me, the key line is "Punk rock changed our lives." The song is the story of fans, rock 'n' roll fans caught up in the brand new world of indie rock in the 1980s. People just like me. And you. The best thing about the 1980s indie-rock underground wasn't just the bands — some of which were among the greatest of all — but the fact that those bands were made up of people just like you and me. Fucking corndogs, as opposed to inaccessible rock gods.
In a world that was post-punk, pre-Internet, and virtually free of corporate subsidies, dozens, maybe hundreds of scenes sprang up simultaneously around college radio stations; risk-taking "clubs" (in Fresno, Calif., where I lived, that included the local Knights of Columbus hall); typewritten and hand-stapled fanzines; hole-in-the-wall record stores and safe houses where people could crash. And of course, the hundreds, maybe thousands of bands formed by fans fueled by the "hey, I can do that" spirit. Not all of these bands were "punk" bands, of course, but nearly every single person in them had their lives changed by punk rock, whether they realized it or not.
I was one of those fans who ended up in a band; a college radio DJ and zine editor who haunted the local clubs and eventually taught myself to play drums. And while I was never a hardcore punk (too many rules), I loved how the punk ethos punched holes in the wall between "musician" and "fan." The line was never totally erased, of course: the bands got laid, got free booze and drugs, places to stay, and sometimes even careers, just because they played music. But it never seemed like the musicians were better human beings just because they made that music — no matter how great it was. Not when there were bands right down the street full of people who worked at the local record store, also making great music.
Best of all, that accessibility made for great stories. Surreptitiously taping R.E.M.'s soundcheck because the local AOR station forced us to go down to the club with a tape recorder to get an interview instead of doing the interview in-studio. Staying up all night talking to the guys from A Western Front and realizing that there were people in other towns who had essentially the same taste in everything. Lifelong Mets fan Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo demanding to see the field at Fresno High School where Tom Seaver pitched as a teenager.
Camper Van Beethoven playing a house party just for the hell of it. Driving all night just to support my friends the Miss Alans in their first gig in San Francisco. Seeing the police break up a Dead Kennedys show in a barn while we tried (in vain) to get Jello Biafra to come back to the radio station for an on-air interview about what went down. The Violent Femmes creating a campfire-like sing-along in a hotel lobby. Paul Westerberg telling me the words that ended the second verse of "Answering Machine."
All of those things happened to me, or to people I know. More importantly, those kinda moments happened to tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people, all of whom now have their own stories about bands famous, infamous and never famous. And there you begin to get the full story of indie rock in the 1980s.
The InsiderOne Daily
Report appears weekdays at 9 AM PST, except when it doesn't.
by Michael Goldberg
|
|
|
