Well, I've held off burdening the whole list with this for a couple of
years now, although I have sent to a few folks I thought would enjoy it.
But since Dave Purcell brought it up, I'll post this behemoth against my
better judgment. I do think it's germane. And I also think that when Fulks
covers "Jet" he takes part in the tradition I talk about in the piece. At
some level, it's part of what puts the "alt" in his alt country
categorization (imho). Actually, I'd argue that it's a big part of what
puts the "alt" in alt-country generally. But I won't belabor that here. I
think it will make more sense if you read the thing.
As you'll see, I'd argue that at this point, it's impossible for Fulks'
actions not to be viewed as somewhat ironic by the audience. Nevertheless,
I view irony primarily as a shield in this context anyway (although it may
not be a shield Fulks himself needs anymore). A good pop song has the
power to touch us at the deepest emotional level, especially one from our
childhood before we knew all about hipness, etc. Unfortunately, many of us
from the post baby-boom generation forgot or have been too insecure to
admit this truth, especially in our late teens and twenties. So irony
helps create a space for us to safely be nostalgic about some rather
absurd times.
Anyway, sorry in advance for the length. I also hope the formatting isn't
too screwed up. I'm afraid I write in pretty long paragraphs sometimes.
This thing has never been published anywhere. Indeed, I'm not even sure
why I wrote it. I guess I just think about this stuff too much sometimes.
That's why I love this list. It's one of the few places where I've found
some kindred spirits.
Enjoy or delete.
JL
Sucking in the Seventies: Paul Westerberg, the Replacements,
and the Onset of the Ironic Cover Aesthetic in Rock and Roll
(It's Only Rock and Roll But I Like It)
By Jacob London, Copyright 1996 All Rights Reserved
A while back, my local "alternative" radio station began playing a
cover version of the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night" by the U.K. band
Ned's Atomic Dustbin. The first time I heard it, I didn't even think about
changing the station, even though the Rollers were one of the most
critically unhip bands of the 1970s. I just sat back and listened,
slightly amused, but mostly taking the whole experience for granted. Such
is the state of things now that the practice of "alternative" bands
covering "bad" songs from the 1970s has become so commonplace. If it isn't
Ned's Atomic Dustbin, it's Seaweed or Smashing Pumpkins doing some
Fleetwood Mac song like "Go Your Own Way" or "Landslide."
Few question the full-on embrace of 1970s popular culture anymore.
It's even got it's own "American Grafitti" film in Richard Linklater's
"Dazed and Confused." Linklater's take on the past is a little more
self-conscious and cynical than George Lucas's vision of the early 1960s
in "American Grafitti." But Linklater's remembrance of teen life in 1976
remains a warm one, especially in its unself-consciously reverant use of
the period's music. It pushes all the same buttons as Lucas's film,
although neither Linklater nor his audience would ever completely admit
it. For even as the residue of 1970s has reasserted itself in the American
cultural life of the 1990s, a lingering tinge of reticence remains, as
people continue to adjust to the idea that openly embracing the mainstream
culture of the 1970s no longer entails being instantly labeled a loser or
a philistine.
Back in the early 1980s, when I was starting college in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, things were a lot different. There was plenty of risk involved
in embracing the mainstream music of the 1970s, at least among the
community of rock and roll hipsters I hung out with. A friend later
summarized the stakes very well in a different context: "There's a lot on
the line when you tell other people what kind of music you like; people
know they'll be judged based on what they say. If they give the right
answer they'll be accepted. If they don't, people may look down on them."
This was true in Ann Arbor during that time as it has been
everywhere I've lived since. The rules determining inside and outside were
generally unwritten, but they weren't hard to figure out. Punk rock was
cool. Some New Wave was cool. David Bowie, he was pretty cool (his glam
rock was sort of New Wave and Punk before they were invented). Dylan, the
Beatles, the Byrds, the Stones, the Who, Motown, and the other classics of
1960s rock, that was cool too, as long as you weren't too much of a hippie
about it. But the mainstream music of the 1970s was not cool. Disco
sucked, including George Clinton and his P-Funk allies. Foreigner was not
cool. Lynyrd Skynyrd was not cool. Neither were Black Sabbath, Led
Zepplin, Peter Frampton, Foghat, Bad Company, Thin Lizzy, or Alice Cooper.
Black Oak Arkansas was not cool. Neither were Head East, R.E.O.
Speedwagon, the Michael Stanley
