Saturday 14 July 1:30PM
Location: Humanities 1-14,
The University of Alberta All-Ages, All-Welcome
Money for Nothing and the Chicks for Free: Diet-Grunge and Punk-Lite
After punk broke into the mainstream via Seattle, the city reversed a trend that had held true since Ray Charles left the region for a record deal in Los Angeles: instead of leaving, bands started coming to the Pacific Northwest to further their music careers. Rather than trying to sound like the latest hair metal band, imitators were latching on to the sonic characteristics of punk bands…and wearing lots of flannel.
This week we will trace the legacy of punk since 1991, and the bands that cashed in on the angsty grievances of a generation. Not all the musicians that became successful were doing it just to get on MTV though, so we’ll examine milieu participants that stuck to their ideals, and the punk attitude, as they navigated their way from community hall shows to Top 40 rotation. The hardest part, of course, will be telling the difference between authentic punks and the marketable pretenders. So we’d better bring food to share, be prepared to sit outside and the sun, and let the debate begin.
Readings:
This is Not For You: The Rise and Fall of Music Milieux in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, 1950s -1990s, pp. 167-180.
That Tom-Tom Club bought all the Wack Slacks, Fuzz, Plats and Kickers!
In Defense of Nickelback or: How I learned to stop worrying about having credibility
Playlist:
The Offspring -“Jennifer Lost the War” live on public access 1988
The Offspring – “Days Go By”
Green Day – “Disappearing Boy”
Green Day – “When I come Around”
Rancid “The War’s End”
NOFX – “Bob”
Bad Religion – “Stranger than Fiction”
Pennywise – “Fight Till You Die”
Good Charlotte – “The River”Avril Lavigne – “Sk8er Boi”
Simple Plan – “I’m Just a Kid”