90s Live Now #13 - Green Day

Okay, so it's been a minute.

FOUR YEARS?! What have I been doing?

I have a lot to catch up on, but for now, let's take a look at the most recent 90s-related event, Green Day at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

My history with Green Day is long, but not detailed. Like most 90s music fans I first heard them when "Longview" premiered on MTV. Being 14 or 15 at the time, I was totally into it. These guys are talking about masturbation! On TV! They get me!

By the time "Basket Case" in all of its pop glory came around, I was instantly hooked. Here was easily-digestible punk rock, safe for a suburban/rural kid to subscribe to without having to commit fully to a punk aesthetic. No piercings, tattoos, dyed hair, or TSOL shirts necessary.

Except... Green Day were never a punk rock band.

I'd always known this superficially, but I'll admit, it wasn't until this past weekend that I fully understood it.

Is this punk rock? Not at all.

But the real moment of reckoning came when Billie Joe started on a political diatribe, or what passes for one in his mind. He kept blaming "politicians" for dividing us, when all we need to do is unite.

This was a very familiar refrain. I'd heard it a lot 20 years ago. The politicians, man. They're all to blame.

Except... they're not. And this is a woefully simplistic view in our current political climate.

At one point in the show Billie Joe made the strongest political statement he would the entire night: "Fuck racism, fuck sexism, fuck homophobia, and most of all, fuck Nazis."

I agree with all of this. But then, to follow it up minutes later by blaming "politicians" does nothing to advance this agenda. There are a lot of people who hold political office that are fighting for those values constantly. To lump all politicians together is either incredibly naive or ignorant, and only serves to foster an attitude of "us" (the regular people) vs. "them" (politicians).

The main problem with which is THIS IS EXACTLY HOW WE GOT IN THIS MESS.

The main reason Donald Trump (mentioned by name only once all night, when Billie Joe says he travels a lot more than than him) was elected President is a long-held belief the government is not working for you, and only one of "us" can fix that. Nevermind that Trump is farthest thing from a Green Day fan you could find.

But, by not calling out Trump by name (even in Green Day's home state of California, the bluest in the country) the band doesn't alienate anyone. No one can boycott their shows if their diatribes are safely in the middle. The anti-Hollywood right can't complain about Green Day on FoxNews or Breitbart. They're innocuous. They pose no threat.

Which is fine, except it's not when you're calling yourselves "punk." Because while punk can be reduced down to a style of music, of which Green Day sometimes fall in to, it's also an attitude and a lifestyle and mostly, it poses a threat to the status quo. The was the whole idea in the first place. A fireworks show in a football stadium and a 10-minute medley of call-and-response hits like the Isley Brothers' "Shout" and "Hey Jude" does not pose a threat to the status quo at all. It only feeds it.

I remember an MTV News interview the Green Day did while on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour. The band used an old Bookmobile as a tour van (long before #1 hits and stadium shows), and said it was great because they weren't bothered in there. "No one reads anymore," was the quote from Billie Joe. Which is as empty and false a statement as "the politicians are the problem."

Ultimately, I walked away from that show with 2 realizations:

1) The Rose Bowl sucks and is a terrible place to see a concert or anything.
2) Green Day are phonies. And they always have been.

Anyway, here's the setlist:

Know Your Enemy
Bang Bang
Revolution Radio
Holiday
Letterbomb
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Longview
Youngblood
2000 Light Years Away
Armatage Shanks
Hitchin' a Ride
When I Come Around
Welcome to Paradise
Minority
Are We the Waiting
St. Jimmy
Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)
Basket Case
She
King For a Day
WEIRD MEDLEY (Careless Whisper/Shout/Always Look on the Bright Side of Life/Satisfaction/Hey Jude)
Still Breathing
Forever Now

ENCORE 1:
American Idiot
Jesus of Suburbia

ENCORE 2:
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

Remember This Song? #7. Hum - "Stars"

I heard a song in a Ralph's today-

(Ed. note: Ralph's is a California chain of grocery stores, in case you aren't a connoisseur of such places)

-that made me think of the band Hum.

(Ed. note: Hum is a Champaign, IL space-rock band that released 3 amazing albums before disbanding.)

Not because it sounded like them at all - just the opposite. This song, whatever it was, was so cookie-cutter and cliche, it felt like it might have been made by a computer. It probably was. Just a bunch of characteristics of popular songs fed into the Hit-O-Matic, slap an algorithm on it, and bam - instant hit. Maybe not hit, but at least something that sounds like it should be a hit because it sounds like all other hits have sounded. That's popular music now.

In 1995, simply-named Hum released their 2nd album, You'd Prefer an Astronaut, which spawned their only thing even resembling a hit, the similarly simply-titled "Stars." But to call the song a hit is being more than generous - it got some radio support and a decent amount of exposure on 120 Minutes and maybe even Alternative Nation if they were out of Chili Peppers videos. No matter, "Stars" did okay,  peaking at #11 on the Billboard Modern Rock/Alternative chart. To compare, the #11 slot is currently occupied by Mumford and Sons, one of the biggest groups on the planet right now and pretty much the closest thing the 2010s have to a Dave Matthews Band. So how did a very heavy, riff-based song with a monotone vocal get all the way to #11 in 1995, when the biggest neo-folk band in the biggest neo-folk time misses the Top 10?

Who wouldn't prefer an astronaut?

It all comes down to exposure. While bands today rely on blogs or licensing to commercials and TV shows for widespread exposure, terrestrial radio and MTV were the main sources for new music in 1995. And there were a hell of a lot more rock stations than there are now. Over the last 10 years, almost all modern rock stations have either altered their formats to include more commercial rock or have changed formats completely due to declining ratings, the most influential among them. WHFS in Washington, DC and WXRK in New York are only 2 of the many casualties the format suffered as alternative rock lost commercial viability. Even Orlando, the medium-sized city that I grew up in, had two modern rock stations in the mid-90s, only one of which is still a rock station today. And with most of these stations eschewing older and mainstream acts in 1995, program directors found themselves with more time for alternative than ever, which meant it was more likely that a song like "Stars" to have at least some success.

But more of what made "Stars" successful was the confluence of its mysterious lyrics, simple melody and insanely heavy guitar, even for the time. The song begins with four bars (two on the single version) of strummed clean electric guitar and singer Matt Talbot quietly singing the song's refrain before the pretty much HUGEST dropped-D chord you've ever heard hits just once, blowing out your speakers and fading out completely before another set of clean, strummed chords give way to the barreling two guitar attack that made Hum one of the most interesting groups of the 90s.

Besides the subject matter of their songs, Hum relied on all kinds of tricks that few other bands of the era employed. Melding space-rock, shoegaze and metal elements, "Stars" was one of their few songs with a distinguishable chorus as oftentimes walls of distorted, shimmering guitars gave way to Talbot's hypnotic, droning yet tender voice that focused more on structure than repetition. While this may sound unappealing to radio programmers of today, the 90s were one of the only times in rock history that this type of music could have been successful. Save perhaps for the early 70s, as Hum isn't terribly far from Led Zeppelin's more obtuse material like "Dazed and Confused". But without Robert Plant's histrionic vocals, would the average listener have been able to stomach something like "Dazed" or "Kashmir"?

What's more remarkable about Hum is that despite "Stars" and You'd Prefer An Astronaut being their biggest single and album, respectively, neither are their best or most polished work. That distinction belongs to their next album, 1998's Downward is Heavenward. Continuing with the prevalent theme of space that carried through so much of Astronaut (see? that's a space thing), Downward tells the story of a group of astronauts stuck in space, desperate to return home to Earth. Heady stuff, even for 1998. I'm not sure this album could even get made now, let alone be released on a major label and given video support, which Downward was, though history has been kind, as Pitchfork put it at #81 in their Top 100 Albums of the 90s and the album has 4.5 out of 5 stars on All Music.

Sadly, the band broke up shortly after that, but have gotten together a few times to play reunion shows in Chicago or whatever city they feel like playing. And each time, the venues are packed with fans who appreciated the band for what it was, and not those who stay for the hit and then leave.

More to come on Hum in this blog, as Downward was a hugely important album for me, but for now here's "Stars" in all it's glory, live on NATIONAL NETWORK TELEVISION! And the guys are wearing shorts - something that would never fly in these image-centric internetting times we live in.

Whatever.

Happy Birthday, Billy Corgan!

Little known fact: long before he was a professional wrestling promoter, Billy Corgan was once in a rock n roll combo named The Smashing Pumpkins. They never had the mega-success of say, a White Town or Baja Men, but they did alright.

WRONG THEY WERE THE GODDAMNED SMASHING PUMPKINS JUST ABOUT THE GREATEST BAND THAT EVER LIVED FOR A FEW ALBUMS.

Now, the Pumpkins live on with a kid for a drummer and none of its original members, save for Billy.

Let's ignore what they are now, and focus on their best song ever, "Cherub Rock"

Happy Birthday, Billy! May today be the greatest day you've ever known.

Whatever.

Sugar Ray Sinks Boat

As great as the 90s were for music, it's only a matter of time before we have to endure a terrible commercial on a Sunday afternoon advertising a watered down and overpriced Time Life compilation featuring nothing but "the best" of 90s alternative. No doubt, a man and woman dressed in some sort of flannel will speak directly to the camera (and you), reminding you of how great things were when you were young, and how easy it will be to feel that way again for 4 easy payments of $19.95 + S&H.

And this compilation will no doubt skip over the Nirvanas, Smashing Pumpkins and Radioheads of the world because their music still sells a good amount and doesn't need the licensing money that Time Life will offer them to put a 2nd or 3rd single on their box set.

Not only will those bands not be featured because they're too expensive, but also because the curators of this collection will try to get songs with the broadest appeal ("One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies will be on this hypothetical CD, I can guaran-damn-tee it), because let's face it - most people don't give a shit about music. Most people aren't interested in what made the Dandy Warhols different than Spacehog, because to most people it's the same shit and I just want to hear it and not think about it.

This is known in television as the "CBS Syndrome."

And it is because of the CBS Syndrome that Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth, the Gin Blossoms, the Spin Doctors and Marcy Playground will all appear on this compilation.

This is what people think of when they think of the 90s. Sugar Fucking Ray.

And because of this homogenization of the era's music, Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray was able to get the aforementioned bands together to tour.

Tour what? Arenas, with comfortable chairs and $10 parking? State fairs? Theme parks.

Nope. They're (going) on a boat.

To be precise, WERE going on a boat. Because as of 2 days ago, this Tragical History Tour was canceled.

Citing Carnival Cruise's Triumph disaster, in which an engine room fire let to looting and hall-pooping within presumably minutes, the planned cruise from Miami to the Bahamas has been canceled, leaving at least dozens of thirty-somethings desperate to get away from their kids (and relive the part of their lives that wasn't centered on a co-dependent 2'4" vomit machine) with nothing to do for 4 days and 5 nights in mid-October.

But don't fret fans of How I Met Your Mother, aka "No, Really, It's Not Like Big Bang Theory At All" (SPOILER ALERT: Yes, it fucking is.), for Mark McGrath and Co. have ditched the boat for the luxuries of charter tour buses and will be hitting the road this summer with a pretty much identical tour of Sugar Ray, the Gin Blossoms, Smash Mouth, Fastball and Vertical Horizon.

Vertical. Fucking. Horizon.

Whatever.

Stone Temple Pilots Terminates Scott Weiland

No doubt showing up naked and immediately stealing some bikers' clothes, the 3 members of Stone Temple Pilots that are not Scott Weiland have "terminated" Scott Weiland from the band just days before he is about to embark on a solo tour. A solo tour on which he will play Stone Temple Pilots songs. Without the rest of Stone Temple Pilots.

To further complicate things, Weiland claims that he hasn't been fired, and how could he, given that he "founded, fronted and co-wrote many of its biggest hits"?

Given that Weiland has made numerous bad decisions that have led to drugs, legal troubles, and being in Velvet Revolver, the fact that the DeLeos are moving on without him is hardly surprising. After all, they have done this before, when they formed Talk Show which lasted exactly one album before STP came back with No. 4 in late 1999.

Just so everyone remembers, here's STP with Weiland:

And here's STP without:

On second listen, maybe it doesn't matter if he's in the band or not. Just get that guy to put on a Weiland mask.

Whatever.

Happy Birthday, Kurt Cobain.

Had he not taken his own life, Kurt Cobain would have turned 46 today. As I've written before, the impact that Nirvana had on my life is immeasurable, and you can't hear their music today without wondering what might have been.

Here is one of my favorite Kurt interviews, from the beginning:

 

And another great one, from the end:

Wherever you are, I hope you've found peace. None of this would exist if it wasn't for you.

Whatever.

Happy Birthday, Billie Joe Armstrong!

A Happy 41st Birthday to Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, who is hopefully celebrating without drinking somewhere because of that whole breaking-down-at-a-giant-popfest-thing.

Wait, what the shit?! 41?! How is that possible?!

Good lord, it's been more than 20 years since this?

Incidentally, this is probably Green Day's best song. It's weird to think that there might be people reading this blog-

-Doubtful.

-Ahem. People reading this blog who are younger than that song. You see kids, a long time ago, back before the war(s), Green Day were an actual punk band that did ironic punk things, like tour in a bookmobile and throw mud at people on the biggest stage of their lives and curse on television and play a different song than they told the MTV people they were going to. Those rascals. Yes, believe it or not, they weren't always the corporate, polished, pretentious arena rockers they are today.

Uno, Dos and Tres? Seriously? C'mon guys. You couldn't cut those down to one album? There was one single between all three and it was T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E. "Oh, Love." THOSE WERE THE ONLY LYRICS! And you can't act like rock stations like KROQ wouldn't support it because they still play "When On I Come Around" on an HOURLY rotation like it was still goddamned 1995! KROQ, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER! YOU WERE ONCE AN IMPORTANT ROCK STATION! Now, you're playing that "$20 in my pocket" rap song. Just stop, already! And maybe ease up on the Sublime and Chili Peppers a little so I wouldn't be more inclined to listen to sports talk radio all day.

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Billie Joe. Please come back and excite me like you did when I was 15 and you were 23.

That sounds weird.

Whatever.