Country Bluegrass & Blues

I just glanced at one of those magazines full of celebrity gossip in the checkout line at my grocery store. Hey, the guy was taking forever! Anyway, I flipped right to a page where some new,  young television heartthrob that I've never heard of was being interviewed. I didn't read the article I just glanced at his photo. He was draped over the back of a chair wearing slightly torn jeans, not the kind that look like they've been around for a decade, but the kind that come pre-torn from a factory in Southeast Asia. He was also wearing a CBGB shirt. He couldn't have been over eighteen years old! For some reason, I just didn't buy his getup. It seemed like he was wearing a uniform.

During college I saw plenty of spikey-haired frat boys wearing CBGB shirts. I used to go out of my way to engage them in conversation. I was curious to know which bands from New York's renowned Bowery club these young fellas were interested in. I was aware that several trendy shops in the mall, and every mall across the US for that matter, were then stocking CBGB shirts. I suppose you could say I was generally sarcastic and rude, yet as I clearly knew what I was talking about I was never called on it.

I would say things like: "Do you like Marquee Moon or Adventure better?" Or, "I wish I could have seen The Heads in the early days when they were cutting songs like "Sugar On My Tongue", You know?" I tried to come up with things that they had no chance of understanding like, "You ever listen to Radio Ethiopia?" Then I'd ease back and hope for a look of bewilderment or fear. What can I say? Generally they responded that they didn't know what it meant, they just thought it was a cool shirt or that a friend had one and they liked it!

I just couldn't help myself. There was such a unique assortment of well-thought-out classic proto- and post-punk bands that sweated and gyrated on that stage and left an indelible mark on the world of music. Several of them made a major impact on me growing up too. I just couldn't let it go unnoticed.

The big three for me would have to be Television, Talking Heads and Patti Smith. Television didn't sound all that different, yet no one else ever sounded like them. Talking Heads had so many different sounds. On their second album they covered an Al Green song, "Take Me to the River". That is a tough job for anybody, let alone a scraggly mix of New York art-rockers! And Patti Smith just didn't give a damn what people thought about how she sounded, though it was as unique a sound as the underground music world had known to date!

It just cheapens the history of such an American musical landmark to see myriad chuckleheads walking around wearing something they don't even understand. They just grab a black shirt that they think looks tough off the rack at some 'mall theme shop' and make sure it's a size too small to ensure that their muscles can contend for space in the sleeves.

Levi Strauss never intended for his invention to become the symbol of the American badboy either, but this is totally different. I guess what I'm saying is: If you're going to wear something to make a statement, make sure you know what the statement is!