"New Wave" was a label invented by Sire records to market bands that had up till then been labeled as "Punk" because Sire was afraid to use a word associated with prison homosexuality. The term "Punk" itself originally referred to the garage bands of the late 60's but was adopted to describe the emerging and diverse…

But Leo, most British Punk and "New Wave" didn't make American radio either—Sure no Minutemen, but no Wire either (to make, I think, a viable comparison), and a lot of that had to do with the fellas at the freakin' FCC. I understand that X's complaint may have been scene specific—and I'd maintain that for example,…

Because there is no sure way to detect irony or sarcasm in pure text, xericwit, I am going to go ahead and say Rolling Stone is the Rock magazine that has tried the hardest to codify Rock history from a White middle class American Boomer perspective. In that typically nostalgic view, music history is linear and…

I must be the exception. I loved The Smiths as obsessively as anyone, but couldn't get into Morrissey's solo career past 'Viva Hate'.

'Primeval' has been on BBC America. I was not impressed.

Road Runner! Road Runner!

And even though he's apparently playing a tape—

It's also the title of a Rhino boxed set from that era:

Different music has different uses. There are certainly better tracks to work out to (these days I recommend The Cookie Crew or The Puppies), but does anybody really think Springsteen is responsible for any of them?

I find that "American bands are not represented on American radio" complaint is almost always disingenuous (and almost always discounts the contributions of African American artists). For example, here is a partial list of mainstream American bands heard all over the radio in '83 (Some are more worthwhile than…

At about the same time R.E.M. released their collaboration with KRS-One Sonic Youth put out 'Kool Thing' with a cameo-like contribution from Chuck D. More a contrast than a watershed moment in the history of Rock Rap (for that, see Anthrax's 'I'm the Man')—I remember at the time thinking that Sonic Youth knew their…

NOFX fills a niche. The Court of Juvenile Punk Rock Orthodoxy needs a jester, and when Screeching Weasel left the scene, NOFX stepped up.

What's also great about 'Instant Club Hit' is that the instrumental break uses a perfectly typical dance music arrangement to mimic the sound of a cartoon snore. That song is also an example of how The Dead Milkmen totally knew the mid to late 80's so-called alternative "scene". Only Camper Van Beethoven got as much…

I think it is overthinking the thing somewhat to carry the analogies in the write up so far—Cobain has some parallels to Lennon as alleged "voice of a generation" iconoclast taken too soon from his audience, but that's really the extent of it.

Despite all the computations
Alternately, there are some great songs about radio as a source of liberation or redemption—

I was just saying exactly this…
Matt Dillon has been making films since '79, has always been charismatic, physically buff, attractive, and has never been less than leading man material, yet has, for the most part, never made a mainstream action film.

"Silly Opinions"

Blank Slate—

I Netflixed 'Dark Star'
After reading about it (here, perhaps) and while I'm glad I saw it, and it had its moments, it sure took its time getting to the funny. If that was an intentional poke in Kubrick's eye, then I endorse it, but I would never sit through it again.

Dybbuk stops here.