Tommy Stinson - The George Harrison of The Replacements by Colin G.

Tommy Stinson's Cowboys in the Campfire will be performing at Used Kids Records Monday March 26th, 7 pm. He will also be taping a Big Room segment with Brian Phillips on CD1025 airtime TBA. This story was originally published in the past. 

It's Replacements week here at Pencilstorm. Along with my Watershed pals - Hitless Wonder author Joe Oestreich and the living literary legend, "Biggie" - I have been invited to St. Paul, Minnesota, to witness The Replacements' homecoming show on Saturday September 13th at Midway Stadium in St. Paul, MN. In honor of this we decided to knock out some 'Mats-related material for your enjoyment. - Colin G.  Click here for previous Mats' story.

Here are three facts about Tommy Stinson:

1) He joined one of the most notoriously dysfunctional bands in rock history just as he was entering puberty. Even as his older brother was kicked out of the band and eventually died of alcoholism-related complications, and as the Replacements fell apart, he emerged from the mess as a completely functional adult as if he was raised in a New England boarding school.

2) He is the only person never to have been fired from Guns n Roses by Axl Rose.

3) Tommy Stinson always looks like a rock star.

On the merits of those three facts alone, I think one could argue that Tommy Stinson deserves admission into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. But you know what hardly anybody mentions when they talk about Tommy Stinson? He is an amazing musician who makes GREAT solo records. 

In fact, I think if you put Tommy's post-Mats' solo output head-to-head against Paul Westerberg's, Tommy has a higher percentage of great songs. No knock on Paul, he is on the Mt. Rushmore of great rock songwriters, but Tommy - simply put - doesn't release sub-par albums. Unlike Paul at times, it obvious Tommy he puts everything he has into each of his records.

His three full-length records in the past twenty years are: Bash n Pop - Friday Night is Killing Me, Tommy Stinson - Village Gorilla Head and Tommy Stinson - One Man Mutiny. Perfect is good as well, but we will stick to the full-lengths.(* Author's note: Since this story was published, Tommy released the record Anything Could Happen with his band Bash and Pop. I think it's his best record yet. )

These records all age well and there isn't a weak track in the bunch. More so, a number of tracks are as good as the best of any Replacements records. If Paul is the Lennon/McCartney of the 'Mats, Tommy Stinson is the George Harrison.

The funny thing is, nobody listens to Tommy Stinson records. Especially Replacements fans, it seems. Hell, even I took over a year to press one single button on my phone so I could check out One Man Mutiny. I don't know why it took so long. It just didn't seem important. Then, within the first thirty seconds of the the opening track that familiar light- bulb went off, "Oh yeah, I forgot, I fucking love Tommy Stinson. Why did I wait so long to play this?"

I have since played One Man Mutiny about 100 times and loved every spin. Great songs. Great vocals. Great sound. You know what would be really cool? If somehow the "new" Replacements could let Tommy slide over to center stage every night a-la Keith and do a couple of solo songs. I think that after all Tommy Stinson has lived through, survived and meant to rock and roll, he deserves a little glory all to himself. - Colin Gawel

Colin Gawel plays in the band Watershed and was once kissed on the lips by Tommy Stinson onstage for covering a Kinks songs at Stache's in Columbus,OH. You can read about that and whole bunch more in the best-selling book "Hitless Wonder- A Life in Minor League Rock n Roll" by Joe Oestreich   

Secret Bonus Track. A Tommy Stinson Primer.

Click here for a massive Tommy Stinson playlist some maniac put together on youtube. Songs, videos, and interviews. Below are some of my picks.

Tommy Stinson - One Man Mutiny

Listen to This! "All This Way For Nothing"     

Watch this! "It's a Drag"  

Listen to This!  "Meant To Be"     

Listen to this! "Destroy Me" 

Tommy Stinson - Village Gorilla Head

Listen to This! "Without a View" (opening track on record)  

Watch this! "Someday" (fan video with a bunch of cool pics)  

Listen to this! "Not a Moment Too Soon" 

Bash n Pop - Friday Night is Killing Me 

Listen to this! "Friday Night is Killing Me"

Listen to this! "Tiny Pieces"

Watch this! 'Bash n Pop' on Letterman                                                                    

FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.

Record Store Day 2016 Wrap-Up - by Scott Carr

Record Store Day 2016 is officially in the books. Saturday April 16 was one of the biggest shopping days for the record buying community and vinyl fans were out in full force. On a normal Saturday when you walk into a local indie record shop you will find people calmly milling around digging through bins of records looking for a lost gem and discussing why Pink Floyd's records with Syd Barrett are the only ones that matter. The scene is a little different on Record Store Day. On RSD shops open bright and early and typically have a long line of customers waiting in line to come in and snatch up exclusive limited edition albums released specifically for the event. Some people wait in line all night long. Once the doors open there is a constant stream of people coming through the door all day long. Most shops add additional staff for the day and offer extended hours to handle the additional business.

By all accounts this years RSD was the most successful yet. Local shops reported having huge lines all day long and record sales. 

So, you are probably wondering what all the fuss is about surrounding RSD exclusive releases. I have compiled a list of titles that came out on RSD that I think are some of the best. Keep in mind there were probably around 400 releases that were released on RSD and these are just a few that I think are among the best.....

Cheap Trick - At Budokan - The Complete Concert.

Finally available on vinyl for the first time! Cheap Trick's classic Budokan concert in its entirety. This is a release that I have been hoping would happen for awhile now. I actually told someone a few years back that this would be a perfect RSD release and here it is. The Record Store Day Gods were listening, now maybe we will see an official release of the Wicked Lester demos. If you love the original At Budokan, this one is twice as good.

Note - Cheap Trick also released a limited edition 10" record for Record Store Day this year called Found New Parts which is sort of a sequel to their 1980 Found All The Parts. The new ep features songs from the band's latest record Bang Zoom Crazy...Hello along with one exclusive track called "Arabesque." Not as exciting as the Budokan release or even 1980's Found All The Parts, but a must for Cheap Trick fanatics..

Fleetwood Mac - The Alternate Tusk

Just as the title implies, this release is an alternate version of the entire Tusk album from Fleetwood Mac. Previously only available as part of the deluxe box set of Tusk, this is the first stand-alone vinyl version of the alternate version of the album. Of all the Buckingham/Nicks era Fleetwood Mac albums Tusk is without a doubt my favorite and is often considered their masterpiece. 

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - Kiss My Amps Vol. 2

RSD exclusive release featuring deep cuts, hits, and handpicked covers from Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Recorded during their 2013 tour and sounds as good as ever. This release is a follow-up to Petty's 2011 RSD Black Friday release Kiss My Amps Vol. 1 that was recorded during The Heartbreakers 2010 Mojo tour. 

Note - Record Store Day also saw a release from Petty's band Mudcrutch. A limited edition single featuring two songs from a new Mudcrutch album that will be released later in the year. 

Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers - Vive La Revolution: Live Paris 1977 At The Bataclan

Tom Petty's Heartbreakers weren't the only ones with a limited edition release for Record Store Day. Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers see the first official release on vinyl of show that was recorded at the last date of their 1977 European tour. The show was to be the soundtrack of a film but the film never got produced. Terry Chimes of The Clash fills in on drums as drummer Jerry Nolan had left The Heartbreakers prior to this show. 

(editor's note: The 1970's were definitely the last decade that you could have TWO major bands in the same genre of music with the same name and the situation got settled without lawsuits.  You've gotta kinda love that fact.)

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Sinner

Joan's 2006 Bob Rock-produced album Sinner released on vinyl for the very first time. Limited edition clear vinyl with a download card featuring bonus material. Most of the songs on this record originally appeared on Joan's Japan-only release Naked in 2004, but many are different mixes. Joan delivers some of her strongest original material in some time and Sinner also features excellent covers of Sweet's "AC/DC" and The Replacements "Androgynous." Joan has done several Record Store Day releases in the past and Sinner is one of her best.

Those are just a few of the official RSD releases that caught my eye this year. It's also worth noting that local Columbus artists were well represented with their own RSD releases, including two new singles on the Lost Weekend Records label from The Electric Hand and Mr. Tiger, and Pat Dull's Break Up Records released their third installment of the Columbus Blood compilation series featuring exclusive tracks from some of the best bands in the city.  There was also a new single from The Girls. 

Lydia Loveless also made an appearance on a new RSD release. The 12" single for a song called One Voice brings Lydia together with Norah Jones, Aimee Mann, Suzanna Hoffs, Neko Case and Brian May. The song is from an animal welfare documentary called A Dog Named Gucci. Yes, you read that correctly: Lydia Loveless is on a record with Brian May from Queen. That's pretty cool.

Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH  bands Radio Tramps andReturning April.  Scott is also an avid collector of vinyl records and works at Lost Weekend Records. So...if you are looking for Scott....you'll either find him in a dimly lit bar playing his guitar or in a record store digging for the holy grail.

Chris goes through many of this year's Record Store Day exclusives.

Provided to YouTube by Sony Music Entertainment Come On, Come On (Live At Budokan: The Complete Concert) · Cheap Trick / 廉價把戲合唱團 BUDOKAN! (30th Anniversary) ℗ 1978 Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment Released on: 2008-11-11 Associated Performer, Producer: Cheap Trick / 廉價把戲合唱團 Guitar: Rick Nielsen Composer, Lyricist: R.

Tusk is the 12th album by the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Released in 1979, it is considered experimental, primarily due to Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of punk rock and New Wave on his production techniques.

Official video for Androgynous. by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts http://www.joanjett.com http://www.facebook.comjoanjettandtheblackhearts https://twitter.com/joanjett Buy on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/joan-jett-the-blackhearts/id916203

Ricki C.'s Rock & Roll Videos You Oughta See, part the third: The Neighborhoods / "Real Stories"

(Ricki C.'s Rock & Roll Videos You Oughta See will be a continuing feature in pencilstorm, at least until Ricki gets bored or the readership finds a way to make him stop.  Videos will be mainly little-seen or off-the-beaten-rock-&-roll-path.  

They're not exactly my answer/reply to Wal Ozello's Top Ten Rock Vocalists, but they all ARE rock & roll songs.  None of them are show tunes.    

Ricki will provide an intro to the videos of not-more-than-500 words, because we all know it’s impossible for Ricki to try to tell a simple story without going off into 10 different tangents and then forgetting altogether what he’s talking about.)

"Hey," you might be saying to yourself right now, "isn't the lead singer in today's video the guy I saw playing lead guitar last summer in the reconstituted Replacements?"  Yes, astute pencilstorm readers, today's video features David Minehan of Boston's late-70's to early 90's favorite sons - The Neighborhoods - appearing at The Channel Club in their rockin' heyday of 1982.  It's eminently possible I was in the audience at the show presented here.

From 1980 to 1984 I was working at Ross Laboratories, making a shitload of money, was newly divorced and occasionally flew to Boston on weekends just to see rock & roll bands.  (This was made possible by the existence of People's Express Airlines, a bargain-basement airline that was EXACTLY like a Greyhound Bus that flew. The round-trip fare to Boston ON THE WEEKEND was $76.  Admittedly it wasn’t exactly luxury travel, People's Express didn't even have chairs in their boarding area, you just had to sit on the floor or lean against the wall.  Even Greyhound has chairs in their terminals, though you might not necessarily want to actually SIT on them.  One Friday night, and I swear to God I am not joking or making this up, a gentleman of middle-eastern persuasion tried to bring a live chicken on the plane.  After much animated discussion - not very much of which was conducted in English - he was dissuaded.  He left the waiting area, went out to the parking garage for about two minutes, returned sans chicken and boarded the flight.  I have no idea what happened to that animal that evening and I don’t want to know.)

The Neighborhoods soldier on to this day in 2014, playing occasional shows around the Northeast, and remain a fearsome live unit.  In that circumstance, they share more than a little with their Columbus rock & roll brethren Watershed - a trio of rockers pounding out great rock & roll tunes to the faithful and winning new converts in their second century of playing the rock & roll.  

Reasons They Never Made It In America - I fully admit, here I'm mystified, I thought The Neighborhoods had it all.  They were just Kiss enough, but not TOO Kiss.  They played great, they looked great, Minehan wrote TREMENDOUS pop-punk songs and possessed every single rock-star trait except fame.  And, given that they were contemporaries of REM and The Replacements in the early 80's, I can't even say they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I'm frankly baffled how they weren't huge.  Were The Neighborhoods one of the five best live bands I ever saw?  Yes, they were, and I've seen a fuckload of bands in my 61 years on the planet.  

Optional Extra-Credit Additional Viewing - Enter "The Neighborhoods" plus "Arrogance" plus "1979" and "The Neighborhoods" plus "Cultured Pearls" plus "2008" on YouTube for a thirty-year span of quality rock & roll.