Comments on the article

5/4/01 11:19
From: Doug Petrilla (dpetrilla@hotmail.com)

Loved the article on eighties music. Those were my highschool years and I can clearly recall the ubiquity of bad pop music. What I did find curious was the lack of any mention of the early eighties punk rock scene. That is where I and many others retreated to to avoid the stangling banality of the Thompson Twins and Madonna.

Punk, unfortunately, was a scene defined more by what it was not than what it was. Punk could never become great music, because the fans and bands were against everything which the art rock and arena rock bands stood for. Since those things included originality and serious musicianship, punk was basically a self-limiting scene. Still, I think you would have to say that the punk scene had more lasting influence on music and culture than any of the transient elctro-pop acts of the '80s. The influence of punk music on the "alternative music" (I use the little quotes, since alternative has come to mean nothing accept that a band does not want to be called "pop".) is pretty straightforward. Nirvana could have opened for Black Flag and no one would have blinked. Limp Bizkit (Sp?) could have played on a bill with the Dead Kennedys and people would have just thought they were trying too hard.

4/29/01 6:43
From: G. Wilson (hippolytus5@hotmail.com)

Dear Erica,

That was a fun retrospective article. I enjoy your writing, and hear you also can hold a tune quite well! Which i'd love to see someday. Another retrospective view that I keep coming across in my ponderings is that of the similarity of Jambands nowadays, and Rolling Stone Magazine in the late 60's.

Nowadays Rolling Stone seems very comercial, without much spunk, but in the 60's it was a kick ass underground rock and roll newsletter, which it seems Jambands is today.

I just hope that people can keep open minds, and not get weighted down by money and prejudice, and keep on keepin' on! Which it seems they are doing, the form has changed, and that is all. Jambands is beautiful and kicks some serious ass!! Almost as much as the wonderful music that they report on month after month, thank you very much!

-gordon

4/17/01 13:34
From: Pat Buzby (pbuzby@surfnetcorp.com)

A pedantic note : "Cold As Ice" is from 1976, not 1985. You could substitute "I Want To Know what Love Is," which *was* from 1985, or somewhere around there.

- Pat

4/16/01 12:39
From: Kirk (kstonecipher@apcosigns.com)

While it's convenient to focus solely on the radio hits of the 1980's, some of the most influential artists are ignored. REM, for example, essentially created the alternative music scene (then it was labeled "college rock") through relentless touring and albums packed with original thoughts, music, and packaging. Moreover, the Pixies' greatest critical (and slight commercial) success occurred during the eighties with the release of "Surfer Rosa" and "Dolittle". Both of these groups were huge influences on the music of the early 90's, especially Nirvana, who often claimed that "Teen Spirit" was their attempt to write a "Pixies song". The "college rock" scene of the 1980's mirrors that of the current "jambands" genre, in that there are a number of bands working hard, flying under the radar, and having success (so long as MTV exposure or AOR radio-play isn't your basis for success).