The End Of The Century
BQ and I saw the Ramones doc. ystrday.
Really a lot of fun (especially when Dee Dee "tried" to communicate)
Wont ruin the best, or at least, my favorite parts, but I thouroughly enjoyed:
- the arguments / squabbling
- the stories / anecdotes from Legs Mcneil
- the performance footage
- Joey's eternal optimism
Quig and I retired to a sports bar afterwards and came to an agreement that while the DIY is a great and encouraging concept for anyone who loves music to seize the moment and start a band - that the same DIY has a downside of sending a message that anyone (and everyone without talent) can start a band, stay around for 20 years without any work and be a success. The DIY is good as a catalyst, but hard work and developing talent are prerequisites to keep the momentum going.
The lament here were the google of god-awful bands who thought that they too could be the ramones when they really should have been spending their extra time practicing or developing skills to be themselves if they want to be in a band.
The most recent Chunklet also comes to mind when they were cursing out Slint's Spiderland. a great album? No doubt... but without it imagine all the trite bands we wouldn't have to deal with...
Rich, which bands got the message that you could play for twenty years, not work, and be successful? Seems like a lot of hyperbole to me.
I know there is a degree of snottiness here, but the DIY thing is great as a catalyst, but to keep it goin, you need more.
BQ and I (I think at least) agreed that John Hyman and company had more than the popular notion of DIY....
Seriously, though, I tend to think that the Sex Pistols and the British stuff did more to spawn crummy DiY bands than the Ramones did, at least initially (though the Ramones were hugely inspirational to the first wave of Brit UK bands- the Clash, Sex Pistols, Damned, etc. etc.)