The "Friends" record collection

[hurricaneE]

History shows us that as soon as Jon Landau promised to make them rock stars, they dumped Sinclair and the whole Trans-Love scene and made the wimpiest record of their career, complete with covers of '50s rock standards.

I'm not trying to be harsh on the 5- it's hard growing up and making mistakes in public (ever heard any old interviews of Pete Townshend?). They were one of the great American rock bands, but sometimes the mythology obscures the facts.

Thanks for the history listen (not sarcasm). I've gotta read those books. I'm a HUGE fan of Townshend, and have always been impressed by his willingness to hoist himself on his own petard when he thought he'd said something stupid in the past. -E

[marqueemoon]

I really don't understand what the fuss is about. Some stylist/image consultant types who get paid way too much to keep an "ear to the street" probably dressed their little paper dolls in those MC5 t-shirts.

Apparently the clowns who produce "Gilmore Girls" got ideas for bands to feature in their sountrack music by reading The Big Takeover.

It's not a private club. You do not need to know a secret password to buy an MC5 shirt. a magazine, or a record.

[thunderboy]

Man, don't they hire people to check for continuity anymore? An MC5 tee doesn't really fit in with that character's backstory.

sorry, just being an ass (engineer)...

jt

edit: wha...? jeez, yer little title changes every five posts...

[@?,*???&?]

MC5 = White Stripes. Detroit bands, gang, remember? The Stooges are having a resurgence now too.

As for Rachael (Aniston) having any sympathies for the MC5, I think nothing could be further from her character. A bad decision from the viewpoint of the show as she's ugly conservative to the core.

By the way, we recorded the 'Friends' theme back in April of 1995 at Master Control in Burbank. There were 8 lyric writers for that song. Like THAT was necessary! We were mixing the 'LP' disc for the Rembrandts when Warner Television wanted to do a full length version of the song because some radio station in Texas had looped the TV show theme. Danny and Phil did come up with a great bridge for the tune though. Long story short, the band tacked it on the end of their 'LP' CD without changing the artwork for the initial 40,000 copies. They put a sticker on the front that read "Contains the 'Friends' theme" and ended up selling platinum with that disc because Warner's took so long getting their soundtrack disc out. People bought it because it was the only place to get the song. I'll never forget Kevin Bright (the TV show producer) trying to take credit for having produced the guitar solo in the song...having that many TV people in a recording studio was a very, very foreign feeling.

[hurricaneE]

Man, don't they hire people to check for continuity anymore? An MC5 tee doesn't really fit in with that character's backstory.

God help me, that thought flashed through my brain, surfing just ahead of this inexplicable anger ... -E

[hurricaneE]

It's not a private club. You do not need to know a secret password to buy an MC5 shirt. a magazine, or a record.

I KNOW. Jesus fucking christ. I'd be thrilled if it'd been a Swervedriver shirt. (And los Swervies are big MC5 fans, too.)
-E

[concubine]

i have to agree that aniston wearing an mc5 shirt is not at all consistent with her friend's character, nor does it reflect the tastes or attitudes of the kind of muffie/trixie/marina-chick women in real life that jen's character is portraying.

but i guess what's truly disturbing is that it IS reducing mc5 to a meaningless fashion statement. it's every bit as disturbing as hearing Iggy's "Lust for Life" on a tv commercial for cruise ships. you've got this imagery that has nothing to do with the band or song, being forced to sit hand in hand with a song that, more likely than not, goes against whatever message or attitudes fueled the song in the first place. it's like taking a band or song that truly means something special to a lot of people, stripping it of its meaning, and then shitting all over it. and out comes a tv jingle, or some, easily identifiable advertising image.

you've got a lot of young, hip 20-somethings getting jobs with ad agencies who are just itching to put their favorite songs or favorite band imagery all over the product they're tryna sell. maybe they think they are being subtly subversive by doing this, but i think the irony goes over the general public's collective head.

as for mc5 being political, according to the documentary that recently came out, the rhythm section was about as political as a Tad look-alike at a tractor pull. apart from sinclair, seemed like Fred Smith, kramer, and tyner carried the torch, so to speak, but the rhythm section (forget their names) couldn't give a fuck about any of that. that seemed pretty clear from the documentary.

[marqueemoon]

It's not a private club. You do not need to know a secret password to buy an MC5 shirt. a magazine, or a record.

I KNOW. Jesus fucking christ. I'd be thrilled if it'd been a Swervedriver shirt. (And los Swervies are big MC5 fans, too.)
-E

Viva Swervedriver!

[soundguy]

From what I understand, while Landau might have promised to make them stars, they didnt exactly "dump" sinclair when that promise came around. The guy got arrested and hauled off to jail apparently days or weeks before they were to start back in the USA. They were stuck in a situation without a producer or really any guidance and took what was around. I dont know if this was before or after elektra had dropped them though. Either way, prep for Back In The USA had to be pretty messy any way you cut it, and the record's direction surely reflects that, the MC5 were not destined to be a pop sensation.

As for that record being "wimpy", it make have a weak mix with a ton of high end, but so far as performances are concerned, in my book it is one of the baddest if not THE baddest rock and roll record ever made. I cant off the top of my head think of another record that captures a band giving it %110 like that one does. The mix is surely not the full representation of what the MC5 did live, but that record is a major milestone.

If they were personally political folks or not, they were certainly persecuted as such by the public at the time. To the point at least where the establishment at the time never would have associated their prime time sensationalism with the image of the MC5, that is for certain.

Takes just 5 seconds...

dave

[wing]

who cares what these people do?

friends isn't THAT bad, it used to be better though. i think joey and chandler are pretty funny, chandler used to have some witty remarks. now it's just a boring show. but are we trying to discern if the show is cool enough for such things? who cares?

and besides, do you think the dudes in mc5 would be like "how dare her wear one of our shirts!"? i'd think it were pretty cool to see a shirt of my band on tv.

[markpar]

You know, I don't think I've ever seen a complete episode of that show.

-mark

[thunderboy]

Sure. I bet you never saw "Melrose Place" either. Care to take a polygraph?

jt

[wing]

oh, it gets worse... i remember when we were younger, mark would sit on the couch with his shirt off and peanut butter all over his face while watching beverly hills 90210, general hospital, and days of our lives... it was pretty disturbing.

[lobstman]

All I hear on "Back In The USA" is a band trying really, really hard to be something they're not. Not only did Landau utterly bollock the sound of the record, he encouraged them to be "professional"- short, concise songs, tighter playing, no personality at all. Compare the LP version of "Looking At You" with the single version the band recorded 3 years earlier- no contest, the single has balls, attitude, sex, excitement, danger, mystery... by comparison, the album version sounds bloodless and flat.

I've got a bootleg of the 5 from right after "USA" came out- and they rocked most rightiously that night. "High Time" absolutely rules. And it is true that, whatever their personal politics may have been, they paid the price for their revolutionary image. Don't forget though, Kramer's prison bid was earned for selling 11 ounces of coke to undercover cops, not revolutionary activity.

Somebody mentioned Swervedriver- somebody please tell me why "Ejector Seat Reservation" was never released in the US?

[bobbydj]

Someone mentioned they had 8 lyric writers for the theme song. Whoever it was can you pass on the following observation:

RE the line 'When it hasn't been your day, week or even your year.'

Well, duh! If it hasn't been your day wtf chance is there that 'it' will've been your week never mind your bloody year?

Tossers.


Fire all 8.