interview with Bob Mehr, author of Trouble Boys: The True Story of The Replacements: Three Chord Monte with Joe Belock

Listener comments!

12:02pm Cheri Pi:

nice! Heya JB

12:02pm coelacanth:

Great song!
Howdy Joe and others

12:02pm Joe B:

Greetings everyone! Coming up at 1 pm today, we will be chatting with Bob Mehr, author of the great new Replacements bio Trouble Boys!

12:03pm JP from KC:

It's been a criminally long time since I heard this track. Great start, Joe!

12:03pm common:

love this tune! hey joe and all!

12:03pm doctorjazz:

Great start! Great song, great version!

12:03pm Kneel Peart:

Keep my ears open for this episode, Joe!

12:03pm MD:

3 CHORDS NO STOPIN'!!!

12:03pm SmokinJ:

Sounds like fun! Howdy jb!

12:05pm Uncle Michael:

Joe, will Bob be live with you? Phone or studio?

12:06pm KP:

A friend was just telling me a story about Ian McLagan and Bob Dylan.

12:06pm madman:

HEY JOE, I HEARD YOU SHOT YOUR OLD LADY?

12:07pm Mike East:

Hey Ho, Let's Joe!
Been a while since I've caught yer fine program. Excited to be here...great start!

12:07pm Joe B:

UM, phone

12:08pm BillyD:

Gotta take a kid home from a play date here at 6 ( we're in Dublin) but will check back on archives for that interview .. Thx! Kids and me rocking to the show now!

12:09pm Uncle Michael:

Cool.

12:09pm pb183max:

forget the swans

12:10pm coelacanth:

from the other room with water running i thought this was Graham Parker.

12:10pm V Priceless:

hey Joe and peeps

12:11pm Dr. Goot:

Good Afternoon!

12:11pm madman:

GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE

12:13pm Dominick:

HeyO

12:15pm ?:

2016 Song of the Year, so far. Hey Joe

12:18pm Uncle Michael:

The Above record is so good.

12:18pm Hackensack Slim:

2016 Song of the Year, so far. Hey Joe (Didn't mean to be anonymous)

12:19pm Marc Francis:

Howdy Joe! Howdy Madman! Howdy all!

12:19pm madman:

JOE'S GOT A GUN IN HIS HAND

12:21pm madman:

@ MARC FRANCIS HOWWWWWDYYYY

12:22pm Marc Francis:

This is a really great album!

12:22pm Cecile:

I was nervous about reading Trouble Boys due to my own ambivalence about the Replacements (embittered former super-fan). But it sounds like it's unflinching, so that might be good.

12:24pm Jeffy Jazz:

Wouldn't it be great if Alice Cooper, KISS, David Cassidy, et al, got together to do an album of Mats covers?

12:24pm Joe B:

embittered super fan - that describes me and I'm sure many others!

12:25pm Jeffy Jazz:

@Cecile: Did you happen to read the Mats book that came out around 2007-08? I never did and I was wondering if it was any good or not.

👻

12:30pm Ken From Hyde Park:

Imaginary thing: The Revelons on tour, sponsored by Revlon!

12:30pm johnk77:

Ian McLagan's
All the Rage is one of
the greatest music books ever:>

12:31pm Woo:

Chris Bolger has a Richie Furay quality to his voice. That's a good quality.

12:32pm Joe B:

great call Woo!

yes John!

ha good one Ken!

👻

12:34pm ChrisB.:

I am liking everything I hear from Chris Bolger.

12:35pm Bill in W.O.:

The On and Ons record is by far the best record of 2015 that I didn't hear until 2016. And maybe anyway.

12:36pm Cecile:

Jeffy Jazz, I didn't because it was just interviews with the fans. The author didn't get the band to cooperate. Being an embittered ex-super-fan, I really didn't need to see all that again.

12:37pm Jeffy Jazz:

Thanks for the heads up @Cecile! btw: I've been an embittered super fan, too, since the first time I saw them. They opened for the DBs at City Gardens in Dec. of '84. It was a (relatively) sober show and they were great.

12:38pm coelacanth:

hey, Joe, did you not play your "theme song"? (did i not hear it somehow?)

12:38pm Cecile:

That Dave Edmunds album changed my life.

12:38pm Joe B:

not played, forgot

12:39pm coelacanth:

-i GUESS we'll be alright....
(!)

12:41pm Cecile:

I think I have this as a b-side of a british single.

12:41pm doctorjazz:

Cover set, cool!

12:42pm Amy:

"Embittered super fan" is a good way to put it. I'm also annoyed at the book because I only get a passing mention in the story of That Show in Houston, and not even an individual one.

12:43pm Cecile:

They tended to kind of step on people's hands on their way up.

12:43pm Amy:

(I meant "embittered EX-super fan," of course.)

12:44pm Jeffy Jazz:

@Amy: Was it the infamous Lawndale Art Annex show??

12:45pm Cecile:

One of my favorite 'mats albums is Pleased to Meet Me because it's so bilious.

I think in a lot of ways the 'mats were like the Chance the Gardner of rock. They were blanks in a lot of ways, we projected a lot of things that weren't there on them.

👻

12:45pm Ken From Hyde Park:

An idea just occurred to me. On Memorial Day, maybe an hour or two (11AM - 1PM, for example) of an overlapping "Joe vs. Joe Throwdown Special" with Joe McGasko. Clay & Fabio did that once or twice.

12:46pm Jeffy Jazz:

I didn't see that one, but I saw them in 1987 at Cafe Mode, which actually had a different name by then, I think. All very hazy memories...

12:46pm Cecile:

"I owe you nothing"

I guess so.

12:46pm Amy:

@Jeffy Jazz, that's the one. I was in the wading pool with Paul and Tommy.

12:46pm coelacanth:

i was never a super fan and i was never embittered; i just really liked some of the material and didn't so much like other. i never heard about their socio-politics.
-i still play them though, including in the bar on the jukebox. (last night i played "lost highway", but that's because it didn't have the mekons' version.)

12:47pm Cecile:

Well, I envy you. I felt like in a lot of ways they broke my heart.

12:48pm Jeffy Jazz:

@Amy: Ha ha! That's great! Damn, I wish I could've been there. I was still living in PA.

12:48pm Cecile:

I am still a big Chris Mars homer though. Great artist. And his departure happened at a good time.

12:49pm Amy:

I've put off finishing the book because going back to that time makes me feel weird.

12:49pm coelacanth:

oh, Cecile. that's sad. i've felt that way with a few bands.

12:50pm Cecile:

Yeah, I can understand Amy. I have a few stories I'm not going to share anymore, because it just makes me sad.

12:50pm Jeffy Jazz:

@Amy: Yeah, it feels like at least 3 lifetimes ago for me.

👻

12:51pm ChrisB.:

Saw them in '86 at The Stone Pony. Slim Dunlap had just joined the band. Not super drunk, but I remember the set list was a mess.

12:51pm madman:

@ AMY WHAT YOU GONNA DO! (PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE)

12:51pm Amy:

Glad you guys get what I was trying to say, @Cecile and @Jeffy Jazz.

12:55pm Cecile:

I can't even read interviews or go to reunion shows. They talked so much shit about the fans who didn't like the limp last couple of albums, that I was all "ok, fine. Go on without me." They were like a charismatic bad boyfriend.

12:57pm Amy:

Ha, that's brilliant, Cecile. The ultimate charismatic bad boyfriend.

12:57pm Cecile:

exactly.

1:01pm Cecile:

Bob, how did you get their cooperation?

1:01pm Cecile:

Also, how many times was your heart broken during the writing of the book?

1:05pm Cecile:

tracks on wax iv!

1:05pm Jeffy Jazz:

@Cecile: You should be sitting in on
this interview!

1:08pm Amy:

Like Bob being a huge fan of Yes and other prog crap.

1:09pm Stevel:

Hey, Bob Mehr! Great seeing you on Saturday in Chicago! The book is great.

1:09pm Cecile:

And Paul not really like that much punk rock.

1:10pm Michael 98145:

( RIP Ian McLagan 12 May 1945 – 3 December 2014)

1:11pm Amy:

My burning question for Bob is, Are you still a fan?

1:12pm Cecile:

sanitized perspective, too.

1:12pm Cecile:

what Amy said.

1:16pm Dave Wright:

Joe...How about the City Gardens story where Stinson goes out drinking with 2 fans , come back and are drinking in the parking lot when one of the fans says Isnt that you guys playing onstage right now?!?! Led to Stinsons 1986 onstage firing , not sure if that's covered in the book , gotta get it !

1:16pm Cecile:

Well, that's a good thing. I'm glad to hear that.

1:17pm Amy:

Just thinking about Bob makes me sad. He was a gentle soul who didn't get a great hand dealt to him in life.

1:17pm Cecile:

I know that there was a similar story in Ann Arbor. A former acquaintance of mine hopped onstage and did a couple of songs until Bob came back.

1:18pm Charley:

Bob, what was the most difficult part of the whole writing process?

1:19pm Amy:

Interesting. I knew their backgrounds pretty thoroughly for years, but it didn't affect my fandom.

1:22pm Cecile:

and Lorne Michaels is a control freak in good and bad years.

1:22pm Uncle Michael:

I haven't read the book yet. Was Peter Jesperson interviewed for it?

1:23pm Cecile:

yeah, he sure was. There's big section on Amazon.

1:23pm drr:

hmmm....best SNL performance has to be The Specials

1:24pm Amy:

Yup. I haven't read the part about Peter's firing yet, though. Talk about painful...

1:24pm KP:

I saw them when Bob was still there at a weird club on top of a hill in Oyster Bay, LI. They did the Alice Cooper hangman stunt routine.

1:25pm Stevel:

Peter Jesperson was a really nice guy. I didn't really know any of the band, but I'd talk with Peter when they came through. I'd bring him pictures from the last time I'd seen them. Some of them survived over the years, which was cool.

1:25pm johnk77:

https://books.google.com/books?id=UbvCAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA356&lpg=PA356&dq=russ+gary+manager+replacements+del+fuegos&source=bl&ots=gtjxHOTZYH&sig=GN6d4r2eZHHQQMqd44AFqpwm-Aw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjnr4e51_DMAhUFPT4KHUevDboQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=russ%20gary%20manager%20replacements%20del%20fuegos&f=false

chapter 55

1:25pm Cecile:

that's something Paul has done a lot in his past, dismissive/grateful.

1:25pm Jeffy Jazz:

@drr: And Elvis doing Radio, Radio!

1:26pm Amy:

Peter is one of my favorite people on earth. And Paul can minimize his contribution now, but he used to ring Peter's doorbell and leave before he answered, and Peter would find a demo or a home recording on his doormat. They revered him.

1:27pm johnk77:

reegster and beebster
were good guys
when i worked with them
earlier

1:28pm Stevel:

Peter was so excited when Paul got to solo open for Yorma Kaulkadan (sp?), which is mentioned in the book. He really believed in Paul's songwriting and overall abilities.

1:28pm johnk77:

jorma is still
a god

1:29pm Amy:

There's a recording of that show floating around. It's amazing.

1:29pm Stevel:

I'd love to hear that!

1:33pm johnk77:

producer searches
should be a subject

1:33pm mary:

r.i.p. Tim Carr

1:34pm Amy:

Amen.

1:34pm Stevel:

Brag: My pics in Bob's book, from around 1983, all in Madison, WI. So much fun to see that band. So much energy.

www.instagram.com...

1:35pm Amy:

Awesome, SteveI!

1:35pm Cecile:

so cool!

1:37pm Uncle Michael:

Excellent, Steve!

1:38pm Stevel:

First saw them open for The Damned (I've told this story before.) I was really looking forward to The Damned, who were fine, but the Replacements blew them off the stage. Tommy seemed to never stop jumping. It was awesome.

1:38pm Amy:

Was that at O'Cayz?

1:38pm Cecile:

I think the horns worked great on Pleased to Meet me.

1:39pm Amy:

Me too, Cecile.

1:39pm Cecile:

they didn't feel it, and when they didn't feel it you knew it.

1:40pm paul b:

My freshman year at Maryland (fall 1982), as I was getting to know people in my dorm the guy across the hall from me whispered conspiratorialy "I have a rock band living in my basement" I instantly pictured some "it puts the lotion on its skin" scenario -- which was odd because that movie hadn't come out yet. Turns out it was a band I hadn't heard of called the Replacements who were playing at the 9:30 club. Latter that day we met over at the WMUC record library and he played Sorry Ma and Stink for me. I don't think that moment ever left me.

1:40pm Stevel:

They usually played at Merlyns (RIP). O'Cayz wasn't as busy at that point.

1:40pm Amy:

I hated it when people talked about wanting to see one of the crappy drunk shows. Those shows were exactly not the point of the replacements.

1:42pm Cecile:

Yeah. the point was what are they going to do, and what are you going to take away from it. I saw some tight shows that were full of fire, and some that were rote.

1:42pm Jeffy Jazz:

Joe, if you were at the City Gardens show in Dec. of '84, I believe it was the end of that part of the tour with the DBs. They might have been a little ragged. But my 20 year old self really dug it.

1:42pm Stevel:

Paul B: that could be hard on a basement!

1:43pm Cecile:

YES

1:45pm Lou:

The Beacon '87 show was the best!

1:46pm Stevel:

They played two nights running one week. The first night was pretty limp. Even I thought so. The next night, Peter had Paul play/not play (who remembers) guitar, and they just blew the roof off. At the end of the last set, the slam-dancing crowd was actually shouting "encore!" Paul cocked his head, paused at the mike and said his most sarcastic "plueease", and walked off. Priceless.

1:50pm Stevel:

FYI, having listened to most of Bob's presentation in Chicago on Saturday, I'm hearing new stories and thoughts today. Very worth getting out to see him.

1:51pm Amy:

Good to know, SteveI. Thanks.

1:52pm Cecile:

I also see there being a little bit of jealousy on Paul's part - Chris had more irons in the fire than he did.

2:01pm coelacanth:

'got to step out early. Excellent interview! Thanks Joe and Thanks Bob Mehr.
i'll return for the rest.
ciao.

2:01pm Amy:

I'm not jealous that Bob had hours and hours of correspondence with Paul, but I'm jealous as hell of anyone who's friends with Greg Cartwright.

2:02pm Stevel:

Echo the shout out for the Nots!

2:02pm Mike East:

great chat, Joe and Bob!

2:02pm Kneel Peart:

Great conversation, Joe!

2:02pm Bill in W.O.:

Great interview, Joe.

👻

2:02pm Hoboken Jack:

Tremendous longform interview, Joe, and i look forward to reading the book! Only saw the Replacements once, 1989 in Pittsburgh (w/ The Pursuit of Happiness opening).

2:04pm Amy:

Great interview and perfect follow-up song, Joe.

2:04pm Cheri Pi:

that was a great interview, thank you!

2:04pm Bluesman:

Well that kept my attention (i.e. distracted me form work). Great interview!

2:09pm Mike East:

hehe @Bluesman - same here

2:13pm Joe B:

thanks everyboy. sorry i couldn't keep track of the comments and questions. damn could have filled the whole show with Mats and related

2:13pm john:

great interview, joe! thanks!

2:14pm johnk77:

@joe well done sir
@mikeeast
are they doing the red press set-up
today?

2:18pm Mike East:

@jk77 - looks like its close to done.

2:19pm johnk77:

carroll rocks;>

2:23pm Cecile:

excellent interview, joe

2:24pm Mike East:

sometimes yes, sometimes not so much, John

2:30pm Amy:

Didn't Traffic do this song? (I'm So Glad)

2:30pm KP:

I'm So Glad somebody covered this.

2:31pm Glynis GirlGroupGirl:

totally diggin' this set Joe!!

2:32pm Michael 98145:

@Amy, Cream, of course.

2:32pm Amy:

Oh, duh. Thanks, Michael 98145.

2:32pm doctorjazz:

Cream, Jack Bruce must have had a fit!

2:33pm johnk77:

Deal: You could open up CMJ and there was this little picture of the country, and you could look at the college stations, ’cause college stations, that’s all there was to listen to. Well, there were modern-rock stations that played the Cure, the Fixx, Siouxsie and the Banshees. But if you wanted to hear Hüsker Dü or the Replacements or anything like that, you had to listen to college radio.

from
http://www.spin.com/2013/06/life-to-the-pixies/

2:33pm Michael 98145:

guess i had forgotten it was a Skip James song

2:35pm johnk77:

rip steve mackay;<

2:41pm doctorjazz:

It's easy to forget, sounds so little like the Skip James version when Cream (or The Scot Richard Case)did it.

2:46pm Sissophonic Cheryl:

Great job, Joe!

2:50pm Michael 98145:

kept our minds off this being a Monday

2:51pm Bluesman:

Hey Sissophonic!

2:55pm Joe B:

thanks Cheryl! thanks everybody for tuning in and chiming in! appreciate it!

7:47am KP:

Morning Meghan

Artist	Title	Album	Label	Year	Comments	Approx. start time
The Replacements	Can't Hardly Wait (the Tim Version)	All for Nothing, Nothing for All	Reprise	1985/1997		0:00:00 Pop-up)
Faces	Miss Judy's Farm (live BBC)	Five Guys Walk Into a Bar ...	Rhino	1971/2004		0:02:42 Pop-up)
Sonny Vincent & Spite	Not the Same	Spiteful	Ultramafic	2014	wasn't aware that Bob Stinson played with Sonny after the Replacements	0:06:37 Pop-up)
The Bo-Weevils	Head Full	s/t 2 CD comp	Off the Hip			0:09:58 Pop-up)
The Above	You Look Unwell	There is a Reason	Hidden Volume	2016		0:13:48 Pop-up)

The Britemores	I'm Sick of You	s/t	Jett Plastic	2016		0:21:22 Pop-up)
The Revelons	Lover's Dilemma	Anthology	Sepia Tone	1978/2004		0:24:54 Pop-up)
Chris Bolger	Tear That Cabin Down	No Promises		2016	jersey's own!	0:28:28 Pop-up)
The On and Ons	Hard To Say Goodbye	It's the On and Ons Calling ...	Citadel	2015		0:32:36 Pop-up)

The Replacements	Trouble Boys			1981	thanks to Bad Guy Zero for posting this!	0:37:34 Pop-up)
The Replacements	Route 66				from a record of dubious legal distinction	0:39:51 Pop-up)
The Replacements	I.O.U.	Pleased To Meet Me	Sire	1987		0:42:56 Pop-up)
The Replacements	Achin' To Be	Don't Tell a Soul	Sire	1989	Author Bob Mehr coming up at 1 pm to discuss Trouble Boys, his new Replacements bio!	0:45:38 Pop-up)
The Replacements	Like a Rolling Pin	All for Nothing, Nothing for All	Reprise	1989/1997	Bob Mehr at Little City Books in Hoboken June 4 and Strand bookstore in NYC on June 8	0:49:15 Pop-up)
The Replacements	I Don't Know	Pleased To Meet Me	Sire	1987		0:52:18 Pop-up)

The Replacements	Color Me Impressed					0:57:03 Pop-up)
Bob Mehr	interview					1:03:02 Pop-up)
The Replacements	Left of the Dial
Drunken Prayer	Brazil	Into the Missionfield	Fluff & Gravy	2012
Bobby Rydell	When I See That Girl of Mine	various - Kinked! Kinks Songs & Sessions 1964-1971	Ace	1965/2016	originally a Capitol 45
Glenn Morrow's Cry For Help	The Wild One			2016	playing June 4 at the Replacements book event at Little City Books

Mike Waggoner & the Bops	Little Pig	The Kings Of Minnesota Rock'n'Roll	Norton			2:19:24 Pop-up)
Los Pepes	El Sonador	s/t	Vinilisssimo	1966/2016		2:21:48 Pop-up)
Los Aguilas Reales	La Ruina	various - Algo Salvaje: Untamed Beat and Garage Nuggets from Spain Vol. 2	Munster	2016		2:24:11 Pop-up)
The In Crowd	Finger Poppin'	various - Keep Lookin': 80 More Mod, Soul & Freakbeat Nuggets	RPM	1966/2014	Steve Howe of Yes, guess we'll send this out to Bob Stinson	2:26:47 Pop-up)
The Scot Richard Case	I'm So Glad	various - A-Square (Of Course)		1967		2:29:09 Pop-up)
Sonny Hall	Poor Planet Earth	various - Never Ever Land: 83 Texan Nuggets From International Artst Records	Charly	1969/2008		2:32:17 Pop-up)
The Fox Sisters	Another Girl	Under the Stars		2015	rochester ny	2:34:31 Pop-up)
Barrence Whitfield & the Savages	I'm a Good Man	Under The Savage Sky	Bloodshot	2015		2:36:40 Pop-up)

Twin Guns	Fugitive	The last Picture Show	Hound Gawd!	2015		2:44:39 Pop-up)
Kid Congo and The Pink Monkey Birds	Ricky Ticky Tocky	La Araña Es La Vida	In the Red	2016		2:48:45 Pop-up)
The Dagoes	Somehow	Supreme	Sinister Torch	2015		2:52:58 Pop-up)
The Traditional Fools	Milkman	Fools Gold	In the Red	2016		2:56:20 Pop-up)

May 23, 2016

Listener comments!