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Ever wanted to play bass in Dinosaur Jr? In 1991, you could have applied for the job via fax
09.26.2017
09:34 am
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Finding new (like-minded) band members can be really hard. I mean, have you ever taken a look at the insane “Musician Wanted” fliers that people post at Guitar Center? Craigslist is even worse. What other options are there? Well, perhaps you could try national television.

If you dig deep into a lifetime of unnecessary pop culture references, you may recall the laughable, once-upon-a time reality series from 2005, Rock Star: INXS. After losing founder and vocalist Michael Hutchence to a potentially accidental, autoerotic asphyxiation death in 1997, the Australian rock group auditioned an oblivious group of starry-eyed randos in front of the entire world in hopes of “discovering” their new frontman. Competition winner JD Fortune really did become the new face of INXS for a number of years, and the group even recorded their eleventh studio album Switch with him. Fortune was eventually kicked out of the group (twice), in true rockstar fashion, all thanks to his newfound drug addiction.
 

INXS with their new replacement singer, JD Fortune
 
While an attention-seeking stunt like this may seem absurd to you, let’s take a moment to admire the time Dinosaur Jr. was a guest on MTV’s alternative music program 120 Minutes in 1991. The scenario was simple: vocalist / guitarist J. Mascis and drummer Murph joined VJ and series creator Dave Kendall on air to promote their newly-released fourth album, Green Mind. Not only was it their first to be released on a major label (Sire), but it was essentially a J Mascis solo album with him playing nearly every instrument on the record. Original bassist Lou Barlow had departed from the group years prior, in 1989, due to internal tension and they hadn’t quite replaced him in time for this major milestone.
 

 
Discontent and lacking a bass player for touring purposes, J and Murph utilized their MTV appearance as a humorous opportunity to round out their dynamic three-piece. After much withstanding and sarcastic deflection of Kendall’s prototypical interview questions in true Dino Jr. fashion, show producers flashed a fax number where one can reach out to try out for the band. According to the interview, the only requirements of the applicant was that they “had to rock” and, of course, all band members had to get along. I’m not sure if this was how replacement bassist Mike Johnson got the part later that year, but I would like to imagine Mascis choosing his application among the stacks of papers rolling out of their fax machine. The band eventually disintegrated in 1997, only to reform with the original lineup of Mascis, Murph, and Barlow in 2005.
 
Watch Dinosaur Jr.‘s hilariously awkward appearance on ‘120 Minutes’ below:
 

 

Dinosaur Jr. perform “Raisins” on MTV Europe’s edition of ‘120 Minutes’ in 1994
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
27 years of MTV’s ‘120 Minutes’ has been recreated online
Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, & more: 1991 comp CD accurately predicted ‘90s indie rock
Dear Boy: Advice column for ‘Sassy’ teenagers from Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis

Posted by Bennett Kogon
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09.26.2017
09:34 am
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27 years of MTV’s ‘120 Minutes’ has been recreated online
02.04.2016
10:20 am
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On April 27, 1986, on what was the fourth episode ever of MTV’s 120 Minutes, the first video was Lou Reed’s “No Money Down,” off of Mistrial, which was released in May of the same year. The video was directed by former 10cc stalwarts Godley and Creme, and it featured a crude animatronic version of Lou Reed that gets dismantled by the time the video ends. That episode of 120 Minutes also featured videos by the Hoodoo Gurus, the Art of Noise, Oingo Boingo, and Laurie Anderson

How do I know any of this? Because of the website, created by one Tyler C., a.k.a. tylerc, called The 120 Minutes Archive, which is in the process of achieving a massive undertaking, namely providing all the information you would ever know about 120 Minutes and the related replacement show that ran from 2003 to 2011, Subterranean, which includes (where available) host and guest information for each episode, track listings for each episode, and links to the full videos on YouTube. It’s incomplete, but a great many people have put in a lot of work to make the site a reality.

If you were a Generation X slacker baby like me, which would make you a teenager for much of the early part of the 120 Minutes run, then this website will provide hours of entertainment, as you relive the joys of getting high to Fields of the Nephilim videos and (perhaps) trying to make out with someone with similar tastes. (But maybe you’ve moved on since then?)

Here’s that April 27, 1986, edition of the show, although it’s been cut up a bit—the Lou Reed video has been edited out, but e.g. “Modern Times” by Latin Quarter is included, don’t know why. The host was J.J. Jackson, one of the “original 5” VJs who passed away in 2004.

 
via AV Club

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
The Dead Milkmen don’t know what they’re doing on MTV’s ‘120 Minutes’ but they don’t like Morrissey

Posted by Martin Schneider
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02.04.2016
10:20 am
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The Dead Milkmen don’t know what they’re doing on MTV’s ‘120 Minutes’ but they don’t like Morrissey
02.06.2015
12:36 pm
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A dedicated alt-rock fan on YouTube recently uploaded some choice clips from 120 Minutes, and the best find in the bunch is most likely this extended clip with Philadelphia indie rock mainstays the Dead Milkmen, in which they played one quite rare cut and one track they almost certainly only played during this appearance.

In early 1989 the Dead Milkmen were riding high indeed, thanks to the biggest commercial success they’d ever have, the well-nigh irresistible “Punk Rock Girl,” which had become a major crossover hit off of 1988’s Beelzebubba. This clip lasts nearly 22 minutes, skillfully editing out all of the videos and commercials and leaving just several solid minutes of vintage Dead Milkmen banter as well as two striking live performances. The second song they played was called “The Puking Song,” which eventually ended up as one of the miscellaneous tracks on the Smokin’ Banana Peels EP, which was released a year later. Host Kevin Seal makes a big deal about that “The Puking Song” is “unavailable in any store” so it’s my supposition that they may have written it for this appearance. In any case, it’s gross and funny in a way that only the Dead Milkmen did so entertainingly and so often.
 

 
The other song is billed as “Save the Rainforest,” but that title is pretty clearly a bit of sneaky subterfuge because—the song is actually about not wanting to appear on 120 Minutes! I’ve seen this song listed on Dead Milkmen forums and stuff as “Save the Rainforest,” but that’s sheer silliness, that is not the title of the song. The true title of the song is (if anything) “We Don’t Want to Be Here.” Actually, judge for yourself, here are the lyrics, which I believe you won’t find anywhere else on the Internet.
 

We don’t know what we’re doing here!
Trapped inside of your TV
Forced to host 120 Minutes
For some free publicity
There’s no Debbie Gibson or Tiffany
But you might have to sit through some Morrissey
We don’t want to be here
We don’t want to be here
We’d rather be at home!

Stick your head into the toil of tomorrow
Become one with the cosmic head
Stay up late, call in sick
Tune in, turn on, drop dead!
You won’t have to look at much Kevin Seal tonight
But you’ll have to look at us instead!
We don’t want to be here
We don’t want to be here
We’d rather be in bed!

[guitar/whistling solo]

There’s no Debbie Gibson or Tiffany
But you might have to see the Cowboy Junkies
We don’t want to be here
We don’t want to be here
But it’s better than drinking alone! (several times)

 
Of course, the title could be “Save the Rainforest” if you accept that the subterfuge is part of the song or something like that. As far as I can tell, this track, which obviously makes sense only if you’re actually performing it at MTV for a taping of 120 Minutes, doesn’t appear on any Dead Milkmen albums or EPs. As you can see (or hear) for yourself, they went out of their way to make fun of Morrissey in the song, but they weren’t done with His Holy Pompadour just yet.

During one of the interview segments, after Joe Genaro had finished demonstrating a drum-playing panda toy to everyone, Rodney Linderman tells a story about walking into a bar and seeing a guy eating a steak, drinking beer, and punching a guy in the face and then stealing his best gal, with the punchline being that it was Morrissey, who clearly “eats steaks, drinks beer, and chases women,” har har.

Just for bookkeeping’s sake, Kevin Seal mentions that they’ll be playing videos from Lou Reed, the Beatnigs, the Smiths, Thelonious Monster, Elvis Costello, Hugo Largo, XTC, the Wonder Stuff, Depeche Mode, the Pursuit of Happiness, Thrashing Doves, and Throwing Muses. We also see part of a Jane’s Addiction video. They also spend a good chunk of time discussing the Plimsouls. The episode must have taped in late March of 1989, because according to a crawl late in the clip, the Dead Milkmen had gigs at D.C.‘s 9:30 Club, Chapel Hill’s Cat’s Cradle, and Atlanta’s Cotton Club in early April.
 

 
via Slicing Up Eyeballs
 

Posted by Martin Schneider
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02.06.2015
12:36 pm
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