For The Record- 24. February. 2024

Let's get off this and get on with it

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Welcome to another edition of For The Record, the weekly newsletter that brings the world of music news straight to your inbox. Part essay, part good old-fashioned link drop, this is a benefit for paid supporters of On Repeat.

As a reminder, On Repeat is 100% reader-funded. And as always, there are 7-day trials for anyone looking to test the waters.

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This week, we’ve got news on The Beatles, Bleachers, Ministry, and Lionel Messi.

All that and a LOT more, including The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Hotel California, both Knowles sisters, and New Kids on the Block.

Let’s get to it!

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It’s deja vu all over again.

This week, I’m revisiting an essay I wrote a couple of years ago for several reasons.

First, history is repeating itself; in the article below, I’m referring to my oldest son, but my youngest is now in the same driver’s seat his big brother was a couple of years ago. A similar experience played out again in the car, sparked this time by my phone spontaneously connecting with the stereo. I still don’t know how that works, and I still don’t know a whole lot about what kind of music my son likes (more on that below), but he liked the Big Drill Car track that came on, and that was enough to make him my favorite son for at least the time it took to drive to the grocery store.

Also worth noting is that I’m a lot calmer of a passenger this time. Maybe it’s because he’s (so far) been more careful when driving. Maybe it’s because he’s less rash. It could also be that he’s been “practicing” for a while now. Driving a truck on the backside of the clock while doing snow removal will do that. Allegedly, of course.

Second, I also mention how my older son used to make music with a friend across town and how, while the mechanics behind that creation are a world away from what I knew 30+ years ago, the ethos is unchanged.

I had a chance to talk about this on Monday with

Jacqueline Rendell

for her Post-Post Modern Substack. In a wide-ranging chat, we talked about music (obvs), writing (also obvs), and a whole lot more, including whether or not my kids have caught the same vinyl bug we all have, Cocteau Twins, and what articles here have really resonated with everyone.

It was originally supposed to be 30 minutes, but we blew right through that like a 15-year-old at a stop sign. Jokes aside, it was incredibly fun, and I’m grateful to have been included. I can type all day, but I am also introverted, and getting me to talk is no easy feat. She also had me pick my 5 Desert Island discs. Please check out our talk and the rest of her work. She’s building a really cool space in her corner of the net.

Third, the collaboration and community ethos I mention below seems more relevant now than ever. I know I’ve beat that horse to death I bring it up a lot, but from my observer’s perch, it’s a topic worth revisiting early and often.

P.S. The driving school still uses my street as a practice space.

Onward.

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Being a passenger in your own car can be a weird feeling. I find myself there a lot lately as my son is learning to drive. I’m also now facing the consequences of telling him his entire life that the driver controls the radio.

Once in a while, though, we find common ground on the dial. So it was the other day when Alice In Chains came on. This was shortly after the death anniversaries of both Layne Staley and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, and he noted—not incorrectly— that the Seattle scene had seen more than its share of bad endings. It’s a fair point and is often what people think of first. But it’s also worth noting that one of the best things to come out of that era was the boom in creativity by Generation X.

Certainly, with music, but in many other forms too. People realized they could manage bands, set up “merch” businesses, or write about everything that was happening. Whatever you were doing, you were also cheering for everyone else.

In my experience, it led to new forms of collaboration. People who made shirts let bands play in their warehouses in exchange for using them as a vendor. Zines like Cometbus became an early way of boosting one’s “brand.”

And, of course, everyone was helping each other find places to stay while on the road or contact info for venues. All before the internet.

Put another way, most of this was what we’d today call “organic growth.”

After pondering this for a block or two, he-again, not incorrectly- noted that collaboration hasn’t ended, it’s just changed form. For his own music, he’s still working with other people; technology has just made it so they don’t have to be in the same place at the same time.

At their core, promotion and tie-ins are fundamentally the same; they’re just done via social media or platforms like SoundCloud instead of flyers and passing demo tapes out of one’s trunk. Building a fan base still works the same way; it’s just called “reach” now.

Meanwhile, the local driving school has decided that the curb in front of my house is a great place to teach parallel parking. I’m showing my age here, but I happen to think this is an underrated skill and find myself quietly rooting for the students as they try over and over to get it right. When they finally do, the kids in the car cheer. Itself a form of collaboration/support.

If they looked to their right, they might see me cheering for them too.

And now for some links: