The Femmes set up on Aug. 23, 1981, outside the Oriental Theatre in their hometown of Milwaukee, hoping to attract the attention of fans as they gathered for a show by the Pretenders. Instead, the Violent Femmes ended up as the opening act when the late Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott stumbled onto their sidewalk performance.
"We had to play in the streets because no one wanted us to play in the clubs," Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie told Spin in 2015. "I would say the thing about the Pretenders that was inspiring at the time was that these great international touring musicians recognized that we were interesting, whereas the people in Milwaukee thought we were losers. We knew that our music was great."
Ken had never heard "Born to Run"? I imagine he's heard the singles, but even deep cuts like "Meeting Across the River" have worked their way into mainstream listening.
As for the Dylan, "Freewheelin' " is a great choice, but if you want the Dylan that sounds almost "normal," it's gotta be "Nashville Skyline." Though it's not as good an album.
It’s very easy for Chris to pitch an album for me to listen to because historically I haven’t listened to many albums. Obviously well aware of the singles but I don’t think I’d ever heard meeting across the river!
Some great choices and, when I got to the top albums I immediately agreed that the deserved their rankings.
One way to connect the Violent Femmes' debut with Brown's road album is through the story of how the Femmes got their first break: https://diffuser.fm/violent-femmes-pretenders/
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The Femmes set up on Aug. 23, 1981, outside the Oriental Theatre in their hometown of Milwaukee, hoping to attract the attention of fans as they gathered for a show by the Pretenders. Instead, the Violent Femmes ended up as the opening act when the late Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott stumbled onto their sidewalk performance.
"We had to play in the streets because no one wanted us to play in the clubs," Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie told Spin in 2015. "I would say the thing about the Pretenders that was inspiring at the time was that these great international touring musicians recognized that we were interesting, whereas the people in Milwaukee thought we were losers. We knew that our music was great."
Ken had never heard "Born to Run"? I imagine he's heard the singles, but even deep cuts like "Meeting Across the River" have worked their way into mainstream listening.
As for the Dylan, "Freewheelin' " is a great choice, but if you want the Dylan that sounds almost "normal," it's gotta be "Nashville Skyline." Though it's not as good an album.
It’s very easy for Chris to pitch an album for me to listen to because historically I haven’t listened to many albums. Obviously well aware of the singles but I don’t think I’d ever heard meeting across the river!