The Week's Best Quote From a Book I'm Reading

I'm reading Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, which I'm sure you dirtbags got to way before me. An excellent look at indie rock music from 81-91, with chapters focusing on Black Flag, the Minutemen, Minor Threat, Husker Du, Dinosaur jr., the Replacements, Sonic Youth, Big Black, Beat Happening, Mudhoney, Butthole Surfers, Fugazi and a couple more. In all, it tells a fairly cogent tale of how indy labels and indy bands created a national 'scene' whereby touring and distribution on a national level became a reality for local bands. Excellent stuff, especially for those of us who have actually 'toured' and 'rocked'. I was amazed about how low rent some of these bands were, especially considering that some of them to me were like Journey or Foreigner to some other asshole. For instance, when I got into Black Flag, I thought of them as a huge band, when in reality they were playing most nights to 30 people or so. One of my favorite chapters, of course, is on the Replacements. My favorite quote has to do with the young Tommy Stinson:

Tommy dropped out of tenth grade to go on tour; Mrs. Stinson appointed Jesperson Tommy's legal guardian while he was on the road. Before that, when the band would play clubs, they'd have to hide Tommy until just before show time. "They wouldn't let him play the pinball machines or nothin'," Bob recalled. "And you know, he'd cry."

Priceless. Here's a clip of the 'Mats back in 81 playing 'Careless' in Minneapolis. Check out tiny Tommy and picture him crying over pinball. Great stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd4jBbm553k&search=replacements