Yeah...that was kind of weird, especially considering the Bangs character was dancing round the radio studio to 'Raw Power'. I think it's a context thing: the same rage that fuelled the MC5 & Iggy & The Stooges to react with extreme sonic violence against the white-bread conformity of their culture, made that t-shirt a rebellious gesture. Sort of proto-punk, 1973-style "I'm So Bored With the USA" (remember Bangs toured with The Clash). Bangs, like Lou Reed & Iggy, was one of the first punks.
You'd have to ask Oscar-winner Cameron Crowe for the real lowdown, but that's my take. The shirt isn't anti-Detroit music or bands, but just the opposite: anti-society, anti-'roll over like a good puppy' consumerism, anti-mindless complaceny...the Bangs equivalent to "Search & Destroy." He's siding with Stooges in their war against normalcy. Bangs was a great rock writer, but not infallible. Has anyone ever read the notorious hatchet-job he did on Kraftwerk? I think he heard & saw the future & couldn't handle it. He started having nightmares about robots & technoid automatons taking over the world. Maybe the car-building robots of the Detroit auto factories haunted him & he saw The Stooge's maniacal rock 'n roll energy & gloriously undisciplined approach as the antidote to regimented beats. I mean, could you ever imagine Kraftwerk writing a song entitled "Loose"? Wes On Sun, 25 Mar 2001, The [Quad] wrote: > Wait a sec..!.. while I connect! > > > (just saw 'Almost Famous' & was inspired by the portrayal of > >Lester Bangs...now there was a man with integrity). > > >This has only a tangential relation to > >Detroit techno. > > ... me too... but can you ( or anyone else reading ) explain the significance > in the wearing of the > "Detroit Sucks" t-shirt..? > > n.p.: "Rockers" on da DVD, > J. E. v.F-B. B. > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >
