Fuck Boston! And Aerosmith too while we're at it! Fuck them, to hell with New Kids on the Block, The Lemonheads can blow me, and don't even get me started on their Celtic punk bands ('cause I actually enjoy them quite a bit). The Boston music scene has thrived for years, whether shilling to drunk folks of Irish ancestry or fawning over the latest college rock wonder they have always had a rich musical history. With my beloved Yankees heading into to town once again it seems like as good a time as any to countdown the 10 greatest bands in Boston's history. Obviously I'm biased, but feel free to argue in the comments as you usually do! And I leave you this fine Thursday with my opening statement...Fuck Boston! Go Yankees!10. Swirlies; Along with My Bloody Valentine, the Swirlies helped to pioneer the world of shoegaze music. They weren't quite as loud and powerful as MBV and they don't get the credit they deserve, but they were a fucking awesome band.
Swirlies - "Pancake"
9. Throwing Muses; Throwing Muses are almost as important for all the bands they've spawned as they are for their own band, but the combination of Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly was pretty impressive. Together they fronted a surreal and innovative band during the early days of college rock and are among the bigger influences for the bands we all listen to these days.
Throwing Muses - "Rosetta Stone"
8. J. Geils Band; A band that was a really big success on AM radio in the 70's and somehow managed to make a successful crossover to the MTV world when it came around, the J. Geils Band were pretty fucking awesome in their heyday. If all you know from them is "Centerfold" you should dig a bit deeper into your parent's record collection.
J. Geils Band - "Night Time"
7. The Cars; The Cars were one of the bands that helped define what New Wave music was in the late 70's and early 80's. They got huge because of it, but they never really strayed from their style and their sound. That's pretty impressive, especially when you consider the paths taken by a lot of other Boston based bands who experienced success and sold out immediately.
The Cars - "Magic"
6. The Breeders; Take #9 and #1 on this list, put them together, add a twin sister and you have one of the best (mostly) girl rock bands ever, if not the best. Forget about the mostly girl thing and just listen to the music they've made, it flat out rocks compared with anyone else regardless of sex. The Breeders rock.
The Breeders - "Bang On"
5. Sebadoh; Lou Barlow's other band is next on the list, but it's kind of amazing how much of an impact he has had on the indie rock scene throughout his life. He's been in two of the most influential bands from the genre and has had a fairly successful solo career as well. Yet I bet almost no one could pick the man out of lineup. It's weird how that works out.
Sebadoh - "The Freed Pig"
4. Dinosaur Jr.; With J. Macis as their guitarist there really is no way to overlook Dinosaur Jr., not that Lou Barlow or Murph are anything less then spectacular. It's just that Macis puts them above the crowd. They could have been any noisy rock act coming out of the 80's but the way Macis infused the music with his melodic guitar solos was really the difference between them and everyone else and it remains so today.
Dinosaur Jr. - "Over It"
3. Mission of Burma; It's kind of crazy to think of Mission of Burma as a band that is still going. After retiring because of Roger Miller's debilitating tinnitus most people thought they'd never hear from the band again and at the time their recorded output was pretty minuscule. But now, three comeback albums later, the band are still proving they are one of the most innovative and important bands ever to grace indie rock.
Mission of Burma - "1, 2, 3, Party!"
2. The Magnetic Fields; Led by Stephen Merritt The Magnetic Fields have made some truly fantastic records and some pretty damn good ones, but the band wouldn't be at #2 if they hadn't made 69 Love Songs one of the best and most outlandish albums ever created. It was close between them and Mission of Burma, but that record and it's three discs put them over the top.
The Magnetic Fields - "Too Drunk To Dream"
1. Pixies; When it came to #1 for this list it was pretty much a no-brainer. I'm sure some folks might like to argue for Aerosmith or Boston or even NKOTB, but no band from Boston has ever been like the Pixies and no band ever will be again these. These guys are legends, makers of some of my favorite music ever, and hands down the best band ever from Red Sox Nation.
Pixies - "Here Comes Your Man"
7 comments:
look, you have good reason to be a Yankees fan and after the last four games in New York you can feel better about your team. But for context let's remember the first eight games this year and I'm still glowing about 2004. I never say the Yankees suck cause they are a great team with a great history, but the Sox rock.
let's check back in October. in the meantime, thanks for all the great work you do on PTST, much appreciated.
Your lucky J doesn't see this, because he always insists the band is from Amherst, not Boston
Throwing Muses, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr and the Breeders aren't from Boston. Maybe you can give one of the open slots to the Lemonheads.
I went based on their wikipedia pages and they all had Boston as their home towns. Now I know wikipedia's not 100% but it's probably close enough. Oh, and Lemonheads suck balls.
Well, you could have used those slots for the Lyres, the Modern Lovers, the Real Kids or Volcano Suns.
Or Le Peste, the Classic Ruins, Big Dipper or the Girls.
the wikipedia pages don't say they're from boston. maybe you should change the title to 'bands that formed in massachusetts'.
Dear Fine and Gentle People of Pop Tarts blog:
Tough to argue with any of your picks, however, if I may, I do humbly suggest that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones were not just the Greatest Live Band in America from 1989 to 1999, they're a top ten band of all time from Boston. I'm a NYC guy. I live for New Orleans brass band music. But you must, I dare say, must make room on your list for Dicky B and his Bosstones. (Perhaps at the expense of the Cars? I mean...The Cars? Really? I graduated high school (in Rochester, NY) in '86. I know from the Cars. At the time they were considered at best a One Hit Wonder (a two hit wonder if you count Paulina Porizkova).
And if you choose to go for top 20, Bim Skala Bim's gotta be in there.
Further, Berrence Whitfield and the Savages deserve a nod somewhere, somehow. Yes, he and his band are a "Bar Band" but they are a bar band in the way that the Stones are a bar band, which, if you will, is to say that they are so much more than a bar band. Better, they are the ne plus ultra of bar bands!
Thank you for your kind and respectful forum.
I remain,
Dirty Waterly,
KMH
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