the // skyway \\ the replacements mailing list issue #100 (november 24, 2016) info: www.theskyway.com www.facebook.com/thematsskyway send your submissions to [email protected] subscription info: you can send an email saying “subscribe skyway” (and hello) to [email protected] COLOR ME IMPRESSED 24 years later, issue #100. I'd say thank you for reading, but really I say thank you for writing. In the end, I have just collected and saved what everybody else has to say about the Replacements. I started because I wanted to hear what everyone else had to say and what memories they had of that band that I loved, from everywhere. So for this 100th issue, I asked 1024 Replacements fans all the questions you´d ask if you met for ten minutes and talked about their favorite band. People who hear the Replacements and just hear the sound of a loose, raucous bar band don't get why this group and its songs are held in such reverence in such a unique way. No matter which album you listen to, there is the spirit, the great songs, the guitar anthems, the colorful personalities, the legend itself of the band that could simultaneously be brilliant and a shambles and whose songs could make you simultaneously laugh and cry. The Replacements are a great story in how they failed at whatever hopes for mainstream success they pursued in a self- sabotaging way, only to reunite two decades later for a little over 30 shows only to become larger than ever and finally achieve the national acclaim they never had. But after so far reading 24 years´ worth of fans´ thoughts, stories and letters, I can sum up what I've seen why people love this band like no other: because when they listen to the Replacements, they feel understood. And if you're reading this, then I probably don't need to explain it any more. Even though I have heard every Replacements song enough times that I could recite them, this electric form of a fan ´zine is both about and is for the fans. And it continues because one of the most interesting things about the Replacements are the fans themselves. Color Me Obsessed didn´t need to interview a single member of the band to tell the story of why The Replacements were so great, and the stories in this issue show why. And if one day twenty years from now, some kid wants to know what it was like seeing the Replacements with Bob Stinson during the tour for Tim, there is a place where they can read about it, long after the memory had faded and maybe even after we have gone. So here are ninety thousand words: over a thousand fans´ first albums, favorite albums, favorite songs, stories of how they got into the band, when they saw them, and anything else they had to say. It´s the story of how the Replacements touched so many people that is just as interesting as the story of the band itself. After months putting this together, it has been like reading a page each from of a thousand life stories. Maybe that sounds silly, but see for yourself. m@. 2 This survey was open to any Replacements fan from August to November 2016. It was sent to all subscribers of the //Skyway\\ and posted in several places, including: The Paul Westerberg Page www.paulwesterberg.com Paul Westerberg & The Replacements Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/537792766296918 We Love The ´Mats Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/welovethemats Quick links to the different sections of the survey: THE SURVEY HOW DID YOU FIRST HEAR THE REPLACEMENTS? FAVORITE REPLACEMENTS ALBUM FAVORITE REPLACEMENTS SHOW ANYTHING ELSE LEFT TO SAY 3 THE SURVEY Answer Percent Count Let It Be 27.57% 282 Tim 20.33% 208 Pleased To Meet Me 19.26% 197 Don't Tell A Soul 10.17% 104 Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash 8.90% 91 Hootenanny 6.06% 62 All Shook Down 3.62% 37 Stink 3.52% 36 The Shit Hits The Fans 0.59% 6 Don't Buy or Sell, It's Crap 0.00% 0 Songs For Slim 0.00% 0 4 Only 36 votes separated Tim from Let It Be as the favorite Replacements album. Answer Percent Count Tim 33.63% 344 Let It Be 30.11% 308 Pleased To Meet Me 23.95% 245 Hootenanny 3.62% 37 Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash 3.23% 33 Don´t Tell A Soul 2.64% 27 All Shook Down 2.35% 24 The Shit Hits The Fans 0.29% 3 Stink 0.10% 1 Don't Buy or Sell, It's Crap 0.10% 1 Songs For Slim 0.00% 0 5 Of those who answered, out of 20 Replacements fans: 3 out of 20 saw the Replacements with Bob Stinson. (15.8%) 6 out of 20 had only seen them with Slim Dunlap before the reunion. (26.8%) 8 out of 20 never saw the Replacements before the reunion. (20.9%) 13 out of 20 saw the Replacements on the reunion shows (64.2%) 3 out of 20 still haven´t seen them live. (16.5%) 6 FAVORITE REPLACEMENTS SONG Replacements Song % # Left Of The Dial 38.46% 375 Bastards Of Young 32.62% 318 Unsatisfied 28.41% 277 Alex Chilton 28.13% 274 Can't Hardly Wait 26.67% 260 (Pleased To Meet Me version) Here Comes A Regular 23.82% 232 I Will Dare 21.85% 213 Answering Machine 19.92% 194 Color Me Impressed 16.92% 165 Skyway 16.41% 160 Can't Hardly Wait 14.56% 142 (Tim version) Little Mascara 13.44% 131 Achin' To Be 12.72% 124 Within Your Reach 10.87% 106 If Only You Were Lonely 10.46% 102 Hold My Life 8.72% 85 Favorite Thing 8.51% 83 I'll Be You 8.21% 80 Androgynous 7.90% 77 Sixteen Blue 7.90% 77 Valentine 7.79% 76 Kiss Me On The Bus 7.59% 74 Nowhere Is My Home 7.38% 72 I.O.U. 6.87% 67 Never Mind 6.87% 67 Swingin' Party 6.15% 60 The Ledge 5.74% 56 Talent Show 4.82% 47 Nobody 4.51% 44 Sadly Beautiful 3.28% 32 I'm In Trouble 3.28% 32 Waitress In The Sky 3.28% 32 Kids Don't Follow 2.97% 29 Customer 2.87% 28 Go 2.87% 28 Raised In The City 2.67% 26 7 Takin' A Ride 2.67% 26 Portland 2.56% 25 Heyday 2.36% 23 Merry Go Round 2.26% 22 Take Me Down To The Hospital 2.15% 21 Johnny's Gonna Die 2.15% 21 Seen Your Video 1.95% 19 Someone Take The Wheel 1.95% 19 Shiftless When Idle 1.95% 19 Beer For Breakfast 1.85% 18 I Don't Know 1.74% 17 Darlin' One 1.54% 15 Nightclub Jitters 1.44% 14 When It Began 1.44% 14 Treatment Bound 1.33% 13 I Hate Music 1.23% 12 We'll Inherit The Earth 1.23% 12 We're Comin' Out 1.23% 12 Lovelines 1.13% 11 All Shook Down 1.13% 11 Satellite 1.13% 11 Bent Out Of Shape 1.03% 10 They're Blind 1.03% 10 Birthday Gal 1.03% 10 One Wink At A Time 1.03% 10 Anywhere's Better Than Here 0.92% 9 Fuck School 0.92% 9 We Know The Night 0.92% 9 White And Lazy 0.92% 9 Asking Me Lies 0.82% 8 Rock & Roll Ghost 0.82% 8 Red, Red Wine 0.82% 8 Perfectly Lethal 0.72% 7 Attitude 0.72% 7 Don't Ask Why 0.72% 7 My Little Problem 0.72% 7 Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out 0.72% 7 Hangin' Downtown 0.62% 6 Date To Church 0.62% 6 Wake Up 0.62% 6 The Last 0.51% 5 Gary's Got A Boner 0.51% 5 8 Otto 0.41% 4 Kick Your Door Down 0.41% 4 Shooting Dirty Pool 0.41% 4 Buck Hill 0.41% 4 Willpower 0.41% 4 Happy Town 0.41% 4 Careless 0.41% 4 Run For The Country 0.31% 3 Don't Get Married 0.31% 3 Shutup 0.31% 3 God Damn Job 0.31% 3 All He Wants To Do Is Fish 0.31% 3 I Won't 0.31% 3 Rattlesnake 0.31% 3 Dose Of Thunder 0.21% 2 Till We're Nude 0.21% 2 Hootenanny 0.21% 2 Whole Foods Blues 0.21% 2 You Lose 0.21% 2 Dope Smokin' Moron 0.21% 2 I'll Buy 0.21% 2 Run It 0.21% 2 Love You Till Friday 0.21% 2 Mr. Whirly 0.21% 2 Stuck In The Middle 0.10% 1 Bad Worker 0.10% 1 Torture 0.10% 1 Election Day 0.10% 1 Who Knows 0.10% 1 I Bought A Headache 0.10% 1 Like You 0.10% 1 Lay It Down Clown 0.10% 1 Somethin To Du 0.10% 1 It's Hard To Wave In Handcuffs 0.10% 1 Kissing In Action 0.10% 1 Jungle Rock 0.00% 0 Message To The Boys 0.00% 0 Gimme Noise 0.00% 0 More Cigarettes 0.00% 0 Oughta Get Love 0.00% 0 Back To Back 0.00% 0 Shoot Me, Kill Me 0.00% 0 9 WHAT IS THE MOST POPULAR REPLACEMENTS SONG? According to the survey, the number one Replacements song listed by 38.5% (out of 975) fans surveyed is “Left of the Dial”.