Been in Chicago for about a month now. It's had it's ups and downs, and I still can't find a decent burrito but I just need to give things time to settle in. Anyway, here's some shit that's been on me mind.
A few weeks at was in the Urban Outfitter in Wicker Park looking at home furnishings to decorate the naked walls of our apartment with when I stumbled upon some framed concert posters I thought looked cool. One of them happened to be for a Ramones show in 1980 and it featured a grainy picture of the band, that after looking at for about half a second made me realise that it was fake. The line up in the photo featured C.J. who replaced Dee Dee who quit in 1987, 7 years after this alleged concert was to have taken place. I don't know what pissed me off more, the fact that they were making fake poster to satisfy yuppie pseudo hipsters rock chic needs or the fact that who ever made the poster obviously didn't know that much about the band and figured any picture of 4 guys with long hair and leather jackets would do the job.
I guess the Ramones are THE biggest victim of faux rocker shirt display (the wearing of a band shirt by some one who isn't a fan for fashion purposes) being that that have a classic logo and are probably the epitome of what rock and roll music really is; fast, simple, fun. I guess the trend really started the beginning of the 21st century when Johnny Knoxville began appearing on tv, wearing the Ramones and CBGB's shirts he'd probably been wearing for years while becoming a celebrity who was both nihilistic and cute which eventually was picked up by other celebrities and can now be purchased at Target.
The thing that bothers me the most about the whole thing, besides the fact that the Ramones have probably sold more t shirts in the past 5 years that records during their 22 year career is the fact that their music is still mostly unknown to most Americans when it's some of the most fun, hooky and anthematic music ever and should be destined for greatness in our modern era of short attention spans where hits are written to be ring tones or commercials. America claims it wants Rock n Roll, well the Ramoes ARE Rock n Roll. Their songs are catchy as hell yet simple and even safe enough to play for your kids who you've bundled up into a CBGB's onesie. But you're more likely to hear Blitzkrieg Bop on a Verizon commercial than on the radio or coming from a soccer mom's SUV, and goddammit that's the irony that is modern, consumerist America. They don't want the best there is, they just want what the man has to offer and not matter how bad it really tastes they're eat it up and pay top dollar for more.
A few weeks at was in the Urban Outfitter in Wicker Park looking at home furnishings to decorate the naked walls of our apartment with when I stumbled upon some framed concert posters I thought looked cool. One of them happened to be for a Ramones show in 1980 and it featured a grainy picture of the band, that after looking at for about half a second made me realise that it was fake. The line up in the photo featured C.J. who replaced Dee Dee who quit in 1987, 7 years after this alleged concert was to have taken place. I don't know what pissed me off more, the fact that they were making fake poster to satisfy yuppie pseudo hipsters rock chic needs or the fact that who ever made the poster obviously didn't know that much about the band and figured any picture of 4 guys with long hair and leather jackets would do the job.
I guess the Ramones are THE biggest victim of faux rocker shirt display (the wearing of a band shirt by some one who isn't a fan for fashion purposes) being that that have a classic logo and are probably the epitome of what rock and roll music really is; fast, simple, fun. I guess the trend really started the beginning of the 21st century when Johnny Knoxville began appearing on tv, wearing the Ramones and CBGB's shirts he'd probably been wearing for years while becoming a celebrity who was both nihilistic and cute which eventually was picked up by other celebrities and can now be purchased at Target.
The thing that bothers me the most about the whole thing, besides the fact that the Ramones have probably sold more t shirts in the past 5 years that records during their 22 year career is the fact that their music is still mostly unknown to most Americans when it's some of the most fun, hooky and anthematic music ever and should be destined for greatness in our modern era of short attention spans where hits are written to be ring tones or commercials. America claims it wants Rock n Roll, well the Ramoes ARE Rock n Roll. Their songs are catchy as hell yet simple and even safe enough to play for your kids who you've bundled up into a CBGB's onesie. But you're more likely to hear Blitzkrieg Bop on a Verizon commercial than on the radio or coming from a soccer mom's SUV, and goddammit that's the irony that is modern, consumerist America. They don't want the best there is, they just want what the man has to offer and not matter how bad it really tastes they're eat it up and pay top dollar for more.
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