Trouble Boys

Oops. Thank you to those who corrected me on "Trouble Boys", which I said was a Thin Lizzy song. It was covered by Thin Lizzy, but it was originally done by Dave Edmunds (lyrics here) in 1978 and was written by Rockpile guitarist Billy Bremmer (credited as "Billy Murray").

Replacements Article in SPIN; Mats on iTunes

In answer to several questions I've gotten from people about the availability of the Mats reissues on iTunes, they will be available, but not for several months. All of the reissues will go on iTunes at the same time, which will be after the Sire reissues are released in September.

The May issue of Spin includes an article on the reissues by Bob Mehr, for which he interviewed Paul, Tommy, Chris and Peter Jesperson. It's not available online, if you want to track down an issue, look for the one with My Morning Jacket on the cover. As noted in the Contributors section of the issue, Bob is working on a Mats biography, titled "Trouble Boys" (the title of a Thin Lizzy Dave Edmunds song that the Mats use to cover), so there's something to look forward to! A very few items of interest from an article chockful of them:

» "At 48, Westerberg has taken up hockey. He spends a couple hours each day at an outdoor rink nearby, skating himself ragged."

» "Westerberg says now that the chase for commercial success that dominated the band's latter years was ultimately what doomed them. 'The goal became simplistic and unrealistic, which was to have a hit', he says. 'And that's where we died. We weren't made of the stuff that makes popular music.'"

» Paul on his reaction to first hearing The Sex Pistols: "The song was barely over before I'd gone home and cut my hair off and smashed all my records...hearing Lydon's voice made me think 'Forget all these solos I've been trying to play - I'm gonna sing. I'm gonna lead a fucking band."

Mats Contest: Must Be A Winner

This was the most popular contest I've ever run on the site, with nearly 900 entries. And the lucky winner is:

John Lee, CA

Thanks to everyone for entering and I hope to be able to do this again when the Sire releases come out in September.