April 22 is Getting Closer: Replacement Reissues

Less than 2 weeks until the Mats issues (April 22), woo hoo. New episodes of BSG and 'new' Mats music, so I beg to differ with Mr, Eliot- April is not the cruelest month after all. Also coming in April is the May issue of SPIN, which will have a big story on the Mats and the reissues. Tommy, Paul, Chris and Peter Jesperson were all interviewed for the feature, so it should be very interesting. The issue should be hitting newsstands in the next week or so. As for the reissues themselves, I haven't seen the final versions yet but everyone who has mentions how fantastic the packaging is, so even more reason to look forward to them (in case the music wasn't enough).

Pitchfork has a nice preview of what's to come, with clips of three of the bonus tracks from the reissues: "If Only You Were Lonely", "Perfectly Lethal", and a cover of "Temptation Eyes" (originally done by The Grass Roots). There are little widgets that (ostensibly) would let you listen to the songs here, but Blogger doesn't seem to enjoy the coding of the embedded player and won't display it. So you can listen to the songs on the News page.

Rhino also has a Listneing Party available, where you can listen to a bunch of tracks from the reissues. All of the songs included here are remastered versions of previously released stuff, none of the bonus tracks are available, which may leave you...unsatisfied....but if you;re eager to hear what the remastered tracks sound like, here's your chance:

Listening Party Tracklist:
- I Will Dare - Let It Be
- Take Me Down to the Hospital - Hootenanny
- Kick Your Door Down - Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
- Dope Smokin' Moron - Stink
- Hootenanny - Hootenanny
- Johnny's Gonna Die - Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
- Sixteen Blue - Let It Be
- Kids Don't Follow - Stink
- Within Your Reach - Hootenanny
- Unsatisfied - Let It Be
- Shiftless When Idle - Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
- Stuck in the Middle - Stink

To get your listening party started in here, click on your desired party format:
QuickTime
WindowsMedia
RealPlayer

Punknews.org is giving away a full set of reissues, you can enter here. I'll be doing a contest too, just getting it sorted at the moment.

They're Coming Out - Replacements Reissues!

So much for my snarky comment about waiting since the Mesozoic era for the Mats reissues to actually come out - today comes the news that they are really and truly scheduled for release in April and October - of this year! No, seriously! Billboard says so: Long-Awaited Replacements Reissues Due In April. The highlights:

"The Replacements' first three albums and an EP will be reissued in remastered, expanded form this spring, completing a long awaited upgrade of the seminal band's early work. "Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash," "Stink," "Hootenanny" and "Let It Be" will arrive April 22 via Rhino, Billboard.com can reveal.

Originally released on the band's hometown label, Twin/Tone, the albums were prepped for reissue by Replacements manager Peter Jesperson, with involvement from the surviving band members."

Here is the bonus material for the Replacements reissues (previously unissued tracks marked with *):

"Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash":

"Raised in the City," live, 1980 - demo*

"Shutup," live, 1980 - demo*

"Don't Turn Me Down," live, 1980 - demo*

"Shape Up," live, 1980 - demo*

"You Ain't Gotta Dance," studio demo*

"Get on the Stick," studio demo*

"Oh Baby," studio demo*

"Like You," outtake*

"Get Lost," outtake*

"A Toe Needs a Shoe," outtake*

"Customer," alternate take*

"Basement Jam," rehearsal*

"If Only You Were Lonely"

"Stink":

"Staples in Her Stomach," outtake*

"Hey, Good Lookin'," outtake*

"(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock," outtake*

"You're Getting Married," solo home demo*

"Hootenanny":

"Lookin' for Ya"

"Junior's Got a Gun," outtake - rough mix*

"Ain't No Crime," outtake*

"Johnny Fast," outtake - rough mix*

"Treatment Bound," alternate version*

"Lovelines," alternate vocal*

"Bad Worker," solo home demo*

"Let It Be":

"20th Century Boy"

"Perfectly Lethal," outtake*

"Temptation Eyes," outtake*

"Answering Machine," solo home demo*

"Heartbeat -- It's a Lovebeat," outtake - rough mix*

"Sixteen Blue," outtake - alternate vocal*

The Sire reissues are coming out in October, no details on the bonus material yet, but based on this list, I'd say the Sire bonus material will be Kick. Ass. Can you ask for more than an 'official' Mats recording of "Heartbeat -- It's a Lovebeat"? No, you cannot.

Mats 3D?

Not much news happening lately. Seems like the best we can hope for in 2008 is the Mats reissues (with bonus material!) that are meant to be coming out later this year (of course, I have been hearing that they are coming out "this year" since the Mesozoic era, so I advise against the holding of one's breath). Til we have some real news, here are some links/items of interest for a dreary winter Sunday.

» An interview with Jim Walsh author of "The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting") from OregonLive.com.

» If you've never been able to get your hands on a copy of the bonus track "Wonderful Copenhagen", (from the EU version of SG), you can now but it on iTunes (not to pimp out iTunes, but it is a good place to find off-the-beaten path singles).

» Check out this clip from "At The Movies With Ebert And Roeper", with guest critic Michael Phillips sitting in for Ebert. They review "U2 3D" and Roeper refers tot hem as the best band of the past 25 years. Phillips says "I don't know about them being the best band of the past 25 years, what about the Replacements...there's a band I'd like to see in 3D".

Random PW Video from YouTube: PW being interviewed on the set of the "World Class Fad" video for MTV and then grabbing the mike to interview some random people on the set, including the director of the video, Zach Snyder (who later found fame and fortune as the director of "300").

More Westerberg Videos from "The Craft" show

Remember The Craft/PW show back in September? Video clips from the interview portion were posted back in October on the RRHOF site. But no performance videos have been posted. Thankfully, there is YouTube and more importantly, Mr. JimP who took a lot of video that night and has just posted a bunch of new clips from that show. And here they are:

World Class Fad


Dyslexic Heart


Can't Hardly Wait


Skyway

The Story of "Pleased To Meet Me"

Attention PTMM lovers: There's a fantastic new article about the making of the Mats best album (ok, ok, I mean, "what is arguably the Mats best album") up on Gibson's web site, "Torn and Frayed: The Story of the Replacements’ 1987 Classic Pleased to Meet Me". It features extensive recollections from Jim Dickinson and Tjohn Hampton, a longtime engineer at Ardent Studios in Memphis. There's a lot of great stories in the article and you'll also learn the truth about the apocryphal "vomit on the ceiling" story.

More on the Mats: City Pages published the Twin Cities Rock Atlas, a cool map of the rock and roll landmarks around the cities. A couple of Mats mention, as you probably guessed, including the 'Let It Be' house and the C.C. Club.

Happy Birthday Mr. Westerberg

Happy Birthday to Paul (born Dec. 31, 1959), who shares his birthday with an eclectic group including Henri Matisse, Anthony Hopkins, Simon Wiensenthal, John Denver, Val Kilmer and Donna Summer. Which reminds me that Donna Summer was nominated (though not voted in) for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. But that still makes her one step closer than the Mats, who were not even nominated. I firmly believe that John Denver will be voted into the HOF before the Mats will. It's a mean old world.

Boston Drafts Westerberg

Seems like a good time for another round up of links, lots of press for "All Over But The Shouting". Hope everyone is having a delightful holiday season and has remembered to ask Santy Claus for a new PW CD in 2008.

Read "Why The Replacements Saved My Life" by Jim Connelly on his blog, Medialoper.

Mr. Paul Westerberg tops the list of Minnesotans whom The Boston Globe thinks should relocate to Boston. Extra credit to the Globe for a "Nowhere Is My Home" reference.

Crawdaddy interview with Jim Walsh and book review. Includes a link to the infamous Shaved Eyebrows interview on YouTube.

Review of the Nov. 28 Mats Tribute show/Book launch party at First Ave in Mpls.

Dallas Observer "All Over But The Shouting" book review.

Austin Statesmen book review: "The Clash liked to call themselves the only band that mattered, and Johnny Rotten might have snarled "We don't care," but these four mess-ups from Minneapolis were truly the only band that mattered, and they truly didn't care."

Minnesota Public Radio feature on "All Over But The Shouting". Includes a slide show with some classic Mats images, including their star at First Ave and the band rehearsing in the Stinson basement.