Yeah , exactly. I'm not saying everything Childish did was shit , but , he was the "Garage " act that people who know nothing about this music gravitated toward in the 90's , in particular. A couple of carefully curated comps , like the one Sub Pop did , might cast him in a better light , but he did more records than Frank Zappa 20 years ago.
Chesterfield Kings , I liked to a point. They were always inconsistent , live. They could be great, or terrible. I never bought any of their records , except a bootleg from the first tour i saw them on , in '88. Fuzztones , I still like. Maybe not everything , but "Salt For Zombies" was probably the best thing they ever did. It's never been cool to like The Fuzztones , which kind of makes me like them , more. There's very GOOD FOOTAGE On YOU tUBE of their recent gig in Italy. I kind of felt I was being put on with The Mummies , tho' I can take a joke. People take them seriously , now. When I saw The Gories , in 1990 , opening for The Gibson Bros. , I was the only person standing in front of the stage . Everyone else was in the rear of the club.... I knew they were on to something , but their legend loomed larger in death. Now that they have reformed , they're playing to hundreds of people a throw, many too young to have seen them the first time around. And , they were kind enough to ask me to open for them , two years ago. I sort of felt like they must have , in 1990 , but , WE WERE ALL THERE TO HAVE FUN. There's still this innocence about The Gories. They are not Rock Stars , and they do not have a master plan. "It's Rock'n'Roll , and the message is DO IT ! TO IT !".
dave said:
Can't stand the Fuzztones or Chesterfield Kings, in fact most 80s 'garage bands' just make me cringe. Didn't like new stuff 'til the Mummies/Gories for the most part.
Oh, and John, I'm with ya about the Childish thang. You could prolly make about 4 compilation LPs of related stuff, but jeez, enuff!