Dramarama - "Anything, Anything(I'll Give You)", Classic or Dud?

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Hmmm, saw the video last night.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 15 November 2002 16:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Really pretty godlike but also damn near overkilled for me (I'm a huge Dramarama fan). Most of that first album is flawless, so if I had to big a lesser known favorite, "Scenario."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 15 November 2002 16:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Really pretty godlike but also damn near overkilled for me (I'm a huge Dramarama fan). Most of that first album is flawless, so if I had to pick a lesser known favorite, "Scenario."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 15 November 2002 16:40 (twenty-three years ago)

*hiccup*

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 15 November 2002 16:40 (twenty-three years ago)

thought this was going to be about itv's
'dramarama'..but no.
you wouldn't get that sort of thing these days.

― piscesboy, Friday, 15 November 2002 16:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Dud. Wanted to like it, as many people whose tastes I respected would rave about it, but I found it pretty whiney/whingey/cloying.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 15 November 2002 16:53 (twenty-three years ago)

I can't hear this song without a flood of images of MTV's cut-rate Bill Murray VJ Kevin Seal, so, dud.

― TMFTML (TMFTML), Friday, 15 November 2002 17:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Lead singer's mullet = Dud.
Gratuitous Edie Sedgwick footage = Dud.

― hstencil, Friday, 15 November 2002 17:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I always thought this song tried way, way too hard. Forced.

― mike a (mike a), Friday, 15 November 2002 17:47 (twenty-three years ago)

I'll say classic since everyone else is saying dud. Dramarama sounded like they weren't supposed to be as good as they were, and that's part of their appeal. Plus I have a long-standing crush on the state of New Jersey.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 15 November 2002 20:58 (twenty-three years ago)

No thanks, Amiri Baraka OWNZ me!

― The State of New Jersey, Friday, 15 November 2002 21:04 (twenty-three years ago)

I'll say classic since everyone else is saying dud.

AHEM.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 15 November 2002 21:12 (twenty-three years ago)

I prefer to listen to the Feelies, Yo La Tengo or Spent when remembering my beloved home state of New Jersey.

― mike a (mike a), Friday, 15 November 2002 21:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Forget not the Misfits!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 15 November 2002 22:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Classic, although I like Last Cigarette, Scenario, and a number of their songs better. I'm curious, what channel was playing a Dramarama video in 2003? That's almost mind-boggling to me. I'm pretty sure I didn't see this video when it was (somewhat) popular.

― Mark M, Saturday, 16 November 2002 03:36 (twenty-three years ago)

"i'll give you anything you want/$100 bills..." oh, the pain! i wish all love songs were this desperate. classic. terrific album too.

― angelo (angelo), Saturday, 16 November 2002 13:28 (twenty-three years ago)

I decided on the subway last night for no reason that the Misfits are the best band ever.

Oh, and I really like this song but I don't have anything to say about it.

― Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 16 November 2002 17:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Ally! I salute thee!

http://www.onethirtyeight.com/images/82_promo.gif

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 16 November 2002 17:55 (twenty-three years ago)

After seeing the video on VH1 classic a year ago, I have to say I thought it was pretty funny in a good way. Fine silly-angsty.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 16 November 2002 18:20 (twenty-three years ago)

dude, I don't care that I've gotten no sleep. I'm putting on the fucking Misfits RIGHT NOW. Thank you, Alex, for inspiring me with that picture.

― Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 16 November 2002 18:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Classic.
I can still remember listenting to it on the train when I was 16. definately a classic. so much so that i did this little Pink - Get The Party Started / Dramarama Mashup.

― dsico (dsico), Sunday, 17 November 2002 00:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Alex, I want to FAP with you! Come out of your coffin one of these nights with us, K?

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 17 November 2002 02:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, what the hell? You think I can't find a bar with Killing Joke on the jukebox? Let me tell you, I can. So now you must show, Alex. Otherwise we're going to come find you.

― Ally (mlescaut), Sunday, 17 November 2002 04:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Umm, being only exposed to this song on VH1 Classic, I can't really say how cool or sucky this band is, but from that one song I can say "Dud", just because that song was just really crappy. I know I probably shouldn't be partisan at this early point (for me) in the forum, but, uh, yeah. I saw the video a week ago and I kinda wanted to hit the singer in the teeth with a manhole cover. They should have fired the singer and hired Lee Ving, and then scrapped that song and covered "I Got Erection" by Turbonegro instead.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Sunday, 17 November 2002 06:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I know a few bars with Killing Joke in the jukebox....and I practically live in them. What's it mean to FAP anyway? Should I be concerned?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 17 November 2002 19:10 (twenty-three years ago)

The combination of post-punky rhythm guitar combined with climbing lead guitar lines that carry into the chorus remind me of "Shot By Both Sides".

― Curt (cgould), Sunday, 17 November 2002 19:53 (twenty-three years ago)

See? Then those are the bars for the next one. It's just a meet up you know, everyone stands around and drinks. I hate the word FAP but everyone else uses it so I should too.

― Ally (mlescaut), Sunday, 17 November 2002 19:54 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...

stupid song, and very overrated act. more proof for the proposition: anyone with a mullet SUCKS.

― Tad (llamasfur), Monday, 20 January 2003 06:40 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

REVIVEARAMA

Vh1Classic plays an awful lot of these guys, and I dislike them more and more with each airring.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

AWESOME song. I'm not sure how anyone could dislike it. I'll give you hundred dollar bills? Pills? Anything. It's just so desperate.

― mcd (mcd), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 15:58 (twenty years ago)

Dud. Modern-rock-by-numbers. "Last Cigarette" is much better.

I've always been confused by "Anything," though: It was supposedly this huge '80s hit, and I heard it for the first time in about 2002. Was it really a hit? Where? (We may have discussed this before.)

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 16:03 (twenty years ago)

"anything" was a pretty good song, a hit in new jersey and LA, i believe, but it might well have been nonexistent everywhere else. the band was completely dud, though, a strange mix of hook-less power-pop and groove-less third-generation stones rock.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)

Was it really a hit? Where?

Massive LA hit on KROQ, which sorta singlehandedly welded it into everyone's consciousness. And pretty much it was thanks to Rodney Bingenheimer, who played it into the ground.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 16:15 (twenty years ago)

And pretty much it was thanks to Rodney Bingenheimer, who played it into the ground.

Just watched Mayor Of Sunset Strip again a couple nights ago and not surprisingly Dramarama (and especially Chris Carter) figures into the story.

Once past the initial guitar riff, "Anything, Anything" loses it for me, but I'm sure that's because I've heard it 2452 times (and seen Dramarama twice - opening for other bands). My votes go to "Last Cigarette" and "What Are We Going To Do?"

― Gator Magoon (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 17:21 (twenty years ago)

this was played on the live 105 in the bay area incessantly. I love it. so, hit in SF as well.

― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 17:27 (twenty years ago)

This was played A LOT on NYC radio (Z-100) in the early/mid 90s. However, the DJ NEVER said who it was, and I never really found out until Google was invented. My best guess was that it was Ash, because I had seen their CD in the store and there was a song on it called "I'd give you anything."

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 17:28 (twenty years ago)

Edie: Classic
Dramarama: Dud

Still, it's 100 times better than The Cult's Edie song. At least the video has the real Edie.

thanks,
keith

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 18:06 (twenty years ago)

Edie-deification of any kind = dud. And i love the Cult.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 14 January 2005 03:37 (twenty years ago)

Was it really a hit? Where?

it went top 50 in Australia too, IIRC. i liked it at the time but i can't stand it now.

― the surface noise (slight return) (electricsound), Friday, 14 January 2005 05:13 (twenty years ago)

Vh1Classic plays an awful lot of these guys

Duuude, do they play that horrible "Earth Day" song? That song is on the soundtrack in my personal hell. It kills me.

― Garibaldianne (Garibaldianne), Friday, 14 January 2005 06:28 (twenty years ago)

They have done. And yes, it's painful.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 14 January 2005 06:37 (twenty years ago)

Oh sweet jesus, it lives. Triple shot that with "Walk of Life" and "Centerfield" and I'd cut off my own wang to blot out the sound.

― Garibaldianne (Garibaldianne), Friday, 14 January 2005 06:47 (twenty years ago)

That part where he goes "hundred dollar bills" is so laughable

― David Allen (David Allen), Friday, 14 January 2005 16:54 (twenty years ago)

That part where he goes "hundred dollar bills" is so laughable

I think that's the point. The protagonist is so far in over his head, and so desperate to hold on to the woman in his life, that he's become a caricature of himself. Been there, done that, worn the t-shirt, etc.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 14 January 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)

I've sincerely yet to hear a track by Dramarama that I've been able to sit through without scrambling for the remote. But "Anything, Anything" is especially irritating in that it makes me despise the protagonist (which, and I'm guessing, wasn't the desired effect). It's somewhat akin to Alex Cox's ham-fisted "Sid & Nancy". When Gary Oldman finally slams a blade into Chloe Web's abdomen, instead of it having the dramatic gravitas such an event would demand, I couldn't help thinking: "FINALLY! SHUT HER UP ALREADY!" In "Anything, Anything" I don't blame the object of Johnny Mullet's (whatever his name is) desire for shrugging him off, as he's an insufferably whiney, clingey, cloying, sychophantic asswipe.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 14 January 2005 18:01 (twenty years ago)

A finer rendering of this very same circumstance in song = "Does Everyone Stare" by the Police. Stewart Copeland's protagonist is hopeless and desperate and lost in a torrent of self-loathing, but you can still empathize with him (because he's not pathetic and irritating).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 14 January 2005 18:02 (twenty years ago)

When Gary Oldman finally slams a blade into Chloe Web's abdomen, instead of it having the dramatic gravitas such an event would demand, I couldn't help thinking: "FINALLY! SHUT HER UP ALREADY!" In "Anything, Anything" I don't blame the object of Johnny Mullet's (whatever his name is) desire for shrugging him off, as he's an insufferably whiney, clingey, cloying, sychophantic asswipe.

Alex, if you haven't already, go get Nick Kent's The Dark Stuff and read "Sid Vicious: The Exploding Dimwit". Apparently Sid & Nancy were just as insufferable in real life.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 14 January 2005 18:05 (twenty years ago)

Read it. Yes. It's great. Then again, Kent had a bit of a grudge against poor, hopeless Sid (the bike chain incident and all).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 14 January 2005 18:06 (twenty years ago)

Read it. Yes. It's great. Then again, Kent had a bit of a grudge against poor, hopeless Sid (the bike chain incident and all).

Kent was a bit of a lightning rod for negative attention from would-be punks, it seems. That whole book was an eyeopener for me, especially the Brian Wilson story (holy shit).

Anyway, to get back on track, I do quite like "Anything, Anything" but I think I benefit from having barely heard the song in its heyday. I heard it once or twice in high school, then never again until I chanced upon the CD at a dollar store while in college.

I do see how the song's protagonist could be viewed as a whiney prat, but having been said whiney prat more than once, I don't think this is necessarily a deal-breaker.

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 14 January 2005 18:14 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

i really don't like many "jersey" rock acts, and i am a lifelong NJ resident. i never had any use for dramarama, not to mention springsteen, bonjovi, or skid row -- and i can only stand the smithereens, yo la tengo, the fugees, and redman in small doses.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Sunday, 14 January 2007 12:03 (eighteen years ago)

Classic. And VH-1 still plays these guys a lot.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 14 January 2007 14:57 (eighteen years ago)

Dud.

― Tim Ellison = NUMBER ONE ADVOCATE OF YOU-KNOW-WHAT ON NU-ILX!!! (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 14 January 2007 17:43 (eighteen years ago)

seven months pass...

I was told that Ween was a good fix but this is even better. Not seeing the video makes you like it a lot better.

― humansuit, Friday, 31 August 2007 02:21 (eighteen years ago)

song is fucking classic.. its a dashboard slammer

― cutty, Friday, 31 August 2007 02:46 (eighteen years ago)

The funny thing is, I'd heard it so many times and always thought, 'one day I'll find out who that is.' It took me about 10 years to remember to look it up. I guess it's polarizing but I always thought it was so out of nowhere and original.

― humansuit, Friday, 31 August 2007 02:48 (eighteen years ago)

dear god fuck this wretched song

― electricsound, Friday, 31 August 2007 11:40 (eighteen years ago)

Holy crap the world and this board is full of absolutely worthless people. This song is an A-number one classic, and the people who don't like it are pathetic, particularly you, Alex in NYC. I can't imagine how awful "Sid & Nancy" would be if Chloe was a nice, pleasant person.

― My name is Kenny, Friday, 31 August 2007 13:07 (eighteen years ago)

This was the band led by the guy from the first season of The Real World, right?

― Andy K, Friday, 31 August 2007 14:07 (eighteen years ago)

Whining vocals. DUD

― Bill Magill, Friday, 31 August 2007 16:51 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

straight fucking classic. dislikers U RONG

(i usually hate kexp but man that just hit the spot)

― jergïns, Thursday, 25 October 2007 20:24 (eighteen years ago)

YESSSSSSS

― cutty, Thursday, 25 October 2007 20:28 (eighteen years ago)

wow i called this a DASHBOARD SLAMMER upthread

― cutty, Thursday, 25 October 2007 20:29 (eighteen years ago)

and you were not wrong

― jergïns, Thursday, 25 October 2007 20:29 (eighteen years ago)

Growing up in the 90s in Jersey 106.3 would play this like classic rock stations played the Beatles. Its good but I'd be glad to see any love for Scenerio.

― James, Thursday, 25 October 2007 22:45 (eighteen years ago)

Its good but I'd be glad to see any love for Scenerio.

You might want to read the first response to this thread, then.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 25 October 2007 22:46 (eighteen years ago)

Pretty dudly generic in retrospect. New Dream, Some Crazy Dame, Emerald City are OK.

― blunt, Saturday, 27 October 2007 20:04 (eighteen years ago)

two years pass...

Let it be said that "Last Cigarette" and "Steve and Edie" are great songs.

― filling the medicare donut hole with the semen of liberal (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 4 April 2010 02:11 (fifteen years ago)

fifteen years pass...

If Edie is Edie Sedgwick, then who is Steve?

― Eric Blore Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 26 December 2025 18:59 (one week ago)

Steve and Eydie Gourmet. John Easdale didn't have google when he wrote it, so he missed the strange spelling.

― kornrulez6969, Friday, 26 December 2025 20:35 (one week ago)

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