stinkrock

so I'm trying to figure out what the hell to do with this here blog in 2007. I haven't written (or attempted to anything as good as Waved Rumor's last post in a long time, and probably won't. It's easy and fun to get bombarded by content and struggle to find any voice to say something without fear of being repetitive, 'cos the kids like it shiny and new. I think I unwittingly assigned myself a 'what does stinkrock mean to me in 2007?' homework assignment.

I'll admit I've lost steam on making music. There's so much good music being made, and better yet there's so much good music that has been made. Fatigue has definitely rounded the square edges in my brain, but on a much greater scale I've encountered songcraft and sound that's helped shape my life. I've always assumed there'd be a point I'd reach where I'd eventually stop playing so much and listen more to other voices. Music, after all, is communication, and other voices are stronger and readier than mine.

Then today I got this email:

-------------------------------
Hi,
I want to know who stinkrock is....I wanted to use that name as a
handle...I have 2 cats, Rocky & Stinker.............Do you really want
this name? Please write.
-------------------------------

It's a friendly note, but there was something about that phrase "do you really want this name?" that got to me.
So I wrote, and I realized I didn't want to relinquish the Stinkrock handle or the Stinkrock music or the Stinkrock idea just yet. Here's what I wrote:

I'm afraid I'm a bit married to it and have a lot of subscriptions coming through it, so I'm going to hold onto it. What does it mean to me?

Stinkrock is a musical genre that describes rock bands who ignore slickness and scaleability for viscera and experience, 'warts and all' as they say. It's named after the second release by the legendary Minneapolis bar band The Replacements, which was called 'Stink' (released 25 years ago; jeez I'm getting old). To me it describes the devil-may-care-but-doesn't attitude that I find to be the quintessential ingredient in what makes the music in my life and times pure. Sure, I got into bands in college to meet girls, but then you get the bug, and you stick with it for something more.

But Stinkrock is an attitude, not just a sound. I don't know how well you know your rock 'n' roll history, but back in the '60s being in a rock band was hard. You could get a deal from a record label pretty easily but you were still scorned. Frank Sinatra's Reprise label put out rock'n'roll records but do you know what Ol' Blue Eyes said about rock and roll? He said, " Rock 'n Roll is the most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my misfortune to hear." And you know what? He was right. rock and roll *is* brutal, ugly, desperate and vicious.

Or at least it's supposed to be. In recent years it's been tied into fashion and really gone off the tracks. So for me, holding onto the name is a wisp of a notion that the spirit of rock and roll hasn't completely disappeared. I hope you can understand.

Sorry if I prattled on too long, it's an unseasonably warm day in New York City and I found my way into a drinking establishment a little earlier than I'd care to. Anyway, Stinker and Rocky (particularly Stinker) are great cat names, and I hope you can find a suitable combining alternative. Have you considered rockstink? Or stinkerrock?

Thanks for listening. Send pix of your cats if you have them, I like animals.
------------------------------------------

In retrospect, it's a pretty annoying response, and I don't expect to hear back from Name Withheld. But that's my peripatetic brain at work.

So I'm going another year. And if I get pictures of those cats, you'll be the first to know.