We're Not Who You Think We Are
Album: Dead Man’s Pop
Year: 1989
. . .
“Feeling good from the pills we took”
“Talent Show” just might be the greatest song Paul Westerberg has ever written.
Out of all of his “state of the Replacements” missives, it has the most breadth and the most depth, capturing the essence of the cockiness needed to go on that stage and play your songs as well as the insecurity that it all might go to shit.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #1900: The Replacements – “Talent Show (Milwaukee, 1989)”
Album: Dead Man’s Pop
Year: 1989
. . .
You’re life’s a joke so tell me, ain’t it?
Sometimes a live version of a song that you’re lukewarm on can reveal its hidden treasures.
On Don’t Tell a Soul, “Anywhere’s Better Than Here” was a weird beast, a song with a great beginning — that scream! — and a great ending, but not a whole lot in between, as it lurched around without ever settling down.
Maybe that was the mix, maybe it was the performance, as even the Dead Man’s Pop version failed to revive it for me.
Album: Dead Man’s Pop
Year: 1989
. . .
Take your honor fast
When “Date to Church” first surfaced as the b-side of “I’ll Be You,” I really didn’t think that much of it.
I believe that we knew that Tom Waits was on it, but outside of the prominent Hammond B-3 — a right and proper sound on a gospel tune — there didn’t seem to that much Waits on it.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #1898: The Replacements – “Date to Church (Matt Wallace Remix)”
Album: Dead Man’s Pop
Year: 1989
. . .
The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting drunk
The third and fourth times I saw The Replacement were a couple of days apart in May, 1989. The fourth time was the first time I ever hit the road to see them: a drive up to a club in Santa Clara called One Step Beyond with Doc, Mike and Nikki, and the ‘Mats were really really great, of course, as a glance at the setlist would show. But otherwise uneventful.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #1897: The Replacements – “Asking Me Lies (Matt Wallace Mix)”
Album: Dead Man’s Pop
Year: 1989
. . .
Your time has come
“Darlin’ One” was the final track on Don’t Tell a Soul, but for the Dead Man’s Pop remix, Matt Wallace moved it to just after “Achin’ To Be,” and so shall we.
That said, when Don’t Tell a Soul originally came out, I actually liked “Darlin’ One” at the end of the album, even though it forced me to listen to “Rock ‘n’ Roll Ghost,” a song that I’ve never liked, either musically or melodically, an admission I’m no doubt gonna get flagellated for.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #1896: The Replacements – “Darlin’ One (Matt Wallace Mix)”
Album: Dead Man’s Pop
Year: 1989
. . .
What comes out a mystery
I know, this is all very confusing.
Before we got to the Don’t Tell a Soul / Dead Man’s Pop, it was probably relatively easy to understand the order in which I was doing these: chronological by album and within the album, first track to last track. Even worse, after declaring that I definitively like the Dead Man’s Pop mixes better, I immediately launch into the original version of “I’ll Be You.”
And where the hell is “Talent Show?” Is a question someone else might be asking. Asking me lies.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #1895: The Replacements – “Achin’ To Be (Matt Wallace Mix)”
Album: Nothing For All
Year: 1988
. . .
It’s too late to turn back, here we go
Near the end of their 1987 tour, the Replacements played a gig in Portland, Oregon with the Young Fresh Fellows that was so drunken and debauched even by their standards, Paul Westerberg felt compelled to write an apology song about it.
Naturally, the song was acoustic and mellow, the other side to “Wake Up” in a strange, but also featured a melody line so strong that when the decided not to record it for the second round of sessions for Don’t Tell a Soul, he repurposed the chorus for the outro of “Talent Show.”
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #1893: The Replacements – “Portland”