I was in Memphis when Alex Chilton died. Most of what I knew of Alex Chilton started with Paul Westerberg and the Replacements. Before Westerberg was called upon to eulogize Chilton, he testified about him in song, supposing interstellar lineage as the proper explanation for his unique brand of coolness. This song arrived one album after an ill-fated attempt to have Chilton produce the Replacements’ major label debut, giving Westerberg the opportunity–and, in the opinion of the music journalists who were paying attention to this underappreciated corner of the sonic landscape, the obligation–to speak at length about the thwarted opportunity … Continue reading One for Friday: Paul Westerberg, “Trumpet Clip”

I never felt cool enough to like The Mekons. By the late eighties, when I arrived at the college radio station, they already had a fairly daunting array of records on their discography, and there were very few people or publications capable of stepping up and helping to sort them out. In college radio at that time, it was practically a prerequisite to have a working understanding of the collective works of R.E.M., but a band like the Mekons was a murky mystery. They were great. I somehow knew they were great. Others confirmed their cool quotient, but no one … Continue reading One for Friday: The Mekons, “Memphis Egypt”