Waiting To Be Forgotten the riley rock report

Big fat media blip for the Replacements, a band with a casual brilliance that chafed hard against success. Make sure to read Bob Mehr’s pungent book (Trouble Boys) and crank up the Ed Stasium remaster. I caught a smashing Boston Opera House gig in 1988 when we were still scratching our heads about Bob Stinson’s replacement, but it remains a golden favorite, especially for “B******s of Young” and “Alex Chilton.” The next year they opened for Tom Petty as if to make his sturdy Heartbreakers sound shopworn. Track 10 from Disc 4 here features a “Strawberry Fields Forever” intro to “Mr. Whirly,” from a bleary set at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago that visits both “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Nowhere Man,” belying the band’s willful half-assery. Ironically Shook makes a better finale than the twilight shade of Don’t Tell A Soul. And in another groove-jumping move, drummer Chris Mars’s Horseshoes and Hand Grenades (Smash, 1992), not yet streaming, made for a whiplash coda.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rileyrockreport.substack.com