People You Suspect Are Frighteningly Underrated But Don't Knw Enough to Say So?

My answer: Alan Wilder.

Okay, now that I've said that, I'll say this: if you're talking about Lol Tolhurst up until the point where he was handed a tambourine and asked to stand off to the side where no one could see him -- as in, first three or four records Tolhurst, I'm completely with you. And since no one ever reminisces about how great Tolhurst was during that period, okay. Okay, actually, yes, I completely agree with you.

But you must admit that he is now humiliated on like a cottage-cheese level. I mean, that little post-booting record of his? His sad, sad showing in the Great Cure Legal Battle? I mean, when you try to convince people that Smith is a fat drunken lout and they completely believe you but still think you're worse -- something bad is happening.

It's kind of sad seeing someone lose it so profoundly. His steep decline has caused people to forget that he used to be fucking great (and, in the right circumstances, which would not be the five months after being kicked out of the group, he could be fucking great again).

But on the other hand, I've barely listened to anything post- Disintegration, and my ownership of the back catalog isn't that complete either. I was into the Cure at that early age where owning two of a band's records and listening to them constantly still constituted some kind of "obsession."

That legal battle, though ... hilarious!

Lol: I'd like the record to reflect that Fat Bob is a dictatorial drunkard who can't even play his own songs, and when he plays the wrong chord he just plays it again later so it sounds intentional.

Bob: I'd like the record to reflect that while Lol is both twice as drunk and twice as pudgy as I am, he hasn't actually played an instrument in approximately four years. For the "Catch" video, we just handed him a violin and said, "Here, pretend you're actually contributing to this music."

I'm in favor of an Easy Cure reunion, but I get the feeling it'd be more likely that Bob calls up Smashing Pumpkins and asks to replace Billy. Which only Ned would be interested in. :)

I have a feeling Dan is glad for the same reason, but would have gone ahead and done it anyway if he wasn't in Minnesota. ;-)

I'm in favor of an Easy Cure reunion, but I get the feeling it'd be more likely that Bob calls up Smashing Pumpkins and asks to replace Billy. Which only Ned would be interested in. :)

YES I WOULD BE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ;-)

Eeewwww. Have interviewed said group twice and found it initially daunting, but R. Smith was nice to me and plied me with loads of alcohol once we finished up. Then took my friend Josie the Flapper (biggest Cure fan going) to meet him at Earl's Court and she melted when he started doing toddler dancing with his 4 year old niece.

I am purposely not reacting to your statements about interviewing The Cure because I don't want to implode into a seething ball of jealousy and awe.

Minneapolis record store culture saved my life; I knew those people because of Michelle Strauss, who was Punk Princess and saved me from being ripped to shreds by Future Teen Pregnancy Stats-type mall rat girls at school. Michelle was ace and introduced me to Replacements/ Hüskers/Babes types as soon as I was 'old' enough to hop a 12 downtown (I was never an Uptown punka, though, due to skateboard/flannel phobia). And got 'scenester discount' starting on my 16th birthday, but I did stalk the import shipment faithfully each week, and it was the end of my world if the damn thing was held up at Customs. Whenever I go back it's weird because the people who worked there now run other shops and are, with a few cool exceptions, weird and resentful about my escape.

What is it about Nettwerk Records and people (well, guys) from the outer Mpls. burbs? My friends and I had this joke about guys from Plymouth/Blaine/Robbinsdale who got into Dep Mode as their Industrial Starter Band and months later it was all "I hate Depeche Mode" even though they were loading the Puppy records into CD players in Daddy's SAAB and shopping for baggy linen In-Wear in the downtown Dayton's rather than getting into hand-to-hand thrift combat with me at Ragstock warehouse.

See, it's great that you had a bus that could get you into Minneapolis. There was a bus stop in Hastings that allegedly could get you to St. Paul, but I never saw a bus there in 16 years, plus we lived so far outsideof town that it was a 15 minute drive to get to that bus stop, at which point you might as well drive the remaining 30 minutes to the Cities. Add to this never owning a car and strict parents who were wary of letting me out of their sight up until I left for college. My first concert (without my parents) occured at age 18. (Urban Dance Squad & Living Colour, which was AWESOME.)

That you interviewed Rob S., Suzy, also fills me with seething discontent. But as I have had the chance to intervi ew Kevin Shields, I really can't complain. ;-)

Is this supposed to be a criticism?

RICH BOY

wow totally thought this was an ilm thread

Iris DeMent
Christina Hendricks
Jennifer Lien
Christine Taylor
Julie Gonzalo
Katheryn Winnick
Imran Khan
Edward Kucinich
George Galloway

ek

Myself.

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