December 12, 2009
#13: 1996
THE NINETIES-IST
Welcome to another edition of Brook Pridemore’s The Nineties-ist. This edition discusses 1996, Mr. Pridemore personally insulting a Monkee, the fuck-ups involving the 1996 Lollapalooza festival, and the torture and slaying of animals at Marilyn Manson concerts. For earlier installments, go here.
In July of 1996, I called Mickey Dolenz a fucking liar. Waiting in line for an autograph of the Monkees’ Greatest Hits CD I’d just purchased, I became incensed over a soundbite I’d heard from Dolenz a few years previous. Dolenz (in my memory) had said something like, “I don’t understand all the hoopla about the Monkees. The Monkees were talentless.” As I approached the Prefab Four’s drummer that evening, I brought up the soundbite (which, admittedly, may have been a product of my imagination) and told him I thought he’d belied the catalog of songs in the band’s repertoire and the Monkees’ cultural staying power through the years.
I was the oldest fan in attendance, who wasn’t a parent ushering in sons and daughters. When Dolenz denied having said such a thing, I said, “You’re a fucking liar,” grabbed my newly-autographed CD, and stomped off, leaving at least a couple of bewildered kids and one washed up pop star in my wake.
I take little pride (besides the anecdote) in having wrecked Mickey Dolenz’s evening, and no satisfaction at all in having ruined the night for anyone seeking autographs. And while my borderline-Trekkie rebuking of Dolenz’ offhandedly delivered callous comment doesn’t really fit into the greater cultural landscape of 1996, it seems important to let the reader know that your narrator’s manic obsession with twelve tones arranged in varying patterns runs deeper than Lake Superior.
Possibly a greater crime committed against seventeen year old rock fans across the country was the 1996 Lollapalooza Festival. The traveling “alternative” rock festival, which had served an unhip suburban kid like me his first exposure to bands like the Coctails and Brainiac only a year before, had lost their founder, Perry Farrell, to other projects. Not surprisingly (though still disappointing), the festival’s new organizers eschewed a lot of its’ grassroots leanings, scuttling past eclectic lineups for the likes of the mainstream Metallica, Soundgarden, the Ramones and Rancid.
More on #13: 1996
Weekly Review
The loathing, the vitriol, the wrath…haven’t we all had enough of the hipster-hating already? I mean, really. Let’s acknowledge the fact that some people like to wear ironic tees and drink PBR and then get on with it. Seriously, people, there are many more useful things we could be doing with our time. Take Mariah Carey and Eminem, for example, who have taken to writing songs/shooting videos just to dis one another. Or Marilyn Manson, who has vowed to track down every last journalist who writes something false about him. Or Pearl Jam, who has scattered pieces of their new album artwork all over the web! Now, these are people doing something productive with their time.
Admittedly, I did just come across a story published earlier this week, which may in fact warrant a little hipster-hate. Way to fuel the fire(y furnaces). I wonder which one of them will purchase these to wear to their silent-record release.
by Elana Jacobs
Psych-Rockers Dr. Dog Signs to ANTI-; Announce Tour, New LP in 2010 [Brooklyn Vegan]
Swedish Twee-Cutie El Perro Del Mar Announces Third Album, Love Is Not Pop; Released October 20 [Brooklyn Vegan]
The Perfect Gift For That Friend Who Has Everything: MC Hammer’s Parachute Pants Are Being Auctioned Off [Idolator]
Echo and the Bunnymen Tour, Announce New Album The Fountain; Released October 12 [NME]
David Byrne Calls Out U2 For The High Cost of Their New Stage…In Their Defense, U2 Really Thought They Were Finally Going To Own Their Own Claw Game, And Just Ran With It [Spin]
Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke Says Bloc Party May Never Record Another Album; After 2008’s Intimacy, I Say Good Call [NME]
Pearl Jam Has Scattered Pieces of Their New Album’s Artwork, Backspacer, Around The Internet; Artwork Not Worth A Scavenger Hunt, Nor Really Worth Viewing [Stereogum]
Bruce Springsteen To Play Entirety of the Legendary Born To Run In Chicago On September 20 – Everyone Way Psyched [Prefix]
Marilyn Manson Threatens To Kill All Music Journalists Who Publish Falsities About Him. In Related News, Marilyn Manson Actually Found To Be Over 4,000 Years Old (I Dare You, Marilyn) [NME]
Deerhunter Frontman Bradford Cox’s Solo Project Atlas Sound Announce Tour With Broadcast; New Atlas Sound LP, Logos, Released October 20 [Stereogum]
compiled by Max Sebela
Strokes Singer Julian Casablancas To Sing About Ludlow Street on Solo Album [SPIN]
Check Out the IFC Music Movie Nights: “Film and the Folk/Punk Connection” [The Tripwire]
Today’s Piece of Bizarre News: Harry Potter‘s Emma Watson to Star in Marilyn Manson Musical [IMDb]
One Week Only! The Dodos Streaming New Album, Time To Die, Online [NME]
The Dead Weather Playing at Jack White’s Third Man Record Store This Thursday in NYC [Prefix]
Wavves Broke His Wrist Skateboarding, But Still Playing Skateboard Benefit Show [Brooklyn Vegan]
New York Times Company Sells Radio Station WQXR to WNYC Radio [New York Times]
Black Keys Drummer Goes For The Obvious, Starts Side Project Called Drummer [Tiny Mix Tapes]
EMI Cutting Costs, Cutting Off Independent Record Stores [Prefix]
compiled by Erin Sheehy
Alison Mosshart (of The Kills) Did NOT Mess With Jack White [NME]
The REALLY BIG Summer Tours [Rolling Stone]
The Late Show Does Love Its Independent Brooklyn Bands – Featured White Rabbits Last Night [Stereogum]
Who Will Pay for Dylan’s Pre-Pubescent Poem? [NME]
Ponytail Guitarist’s Premiere Solo Album [The Tripwire]
Akon/T-Pain Protege Murdered Monday in L.A. [SPIN]
Jane’s Addiction Using Teleprompters on Tour [Prefix]
The Pirate Bay to Launch DDo$ Attack [Tiny Mix Tapes]
Disturbing Manson-Related Incident in Louisiana [The Tripwire]
compiled by Elana Jacobs
