Synopses & Reviews
“I think mystery is far, far better than to splash it out in front of ’em, and show ’em exactly what the band looks like.”
—Paul Westerberg, interview with Jim Walsh for SPIN, 1987 The Replacements could be the world’s best rock ’n’ roll band or a complete shambles. Their sets could reach otherworldly heights and plummet to extraordinarily ordinary lows, often in the course of the same gig. The always heartfelt, raw, and fevered ’Mats juxtaposed influences ranging from ’70s AM schlock to the unimpeachable giants of punk and pop. They surfed a wave of their own making that captured a moment in time and that still resonates with serious music lovers to this day.
Culled from the archives of photographers around the country, here are 150 rare photos (most previously unpublished) made for alt-weeklies, fanzines, glossies, record labels, and personal consumption during a pre-Internet age when music fans still discovered and learned about bands through hard work, good fortune, and cassette tapes with hand-scribbled labels. From the Replacements’ first photo shoot in 1980 with Greg Helgeson to their rooftop and elevator sessions with Daniel Corrigan to images created by rock-photo greats like Jay Blakesberg, Robert Matheu, Marty Perez, and Charles Peterson, this is the first book to showcase photography of the band onstage and off in Minneapolis and across the nation.
These shots are complemented by commentary from many of the contributing photographers, as well as images of gig flyers, ticket stubs, vinyl sleeves, and other ’Mats memorabilia—not to mention new essays in which Jim Walsh, longtime Minneapolis music journalist and frequent eyewitness to the shenanigans, reflects on the era and the band’s lasting hold on pop culture.
Never has such an unpredictable band earned such fierce loyalty from fans and critics alike. Here, finally, is the visual celebration the Replacements deserve . . . whether they want it or not. Jim Walsh (www.jimwalshmpls.com) is the author of Voyageur Press’ The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting: An Oral History. From 1990 to 1993, he served as the music editor at Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages before joining the daily St. Paul Pioneer Press as pop music columnist. In 2002, he left to study at Stanford on a John S. Knight Fellowship. Currently, Jim is a creative writing instructor at the Loft Literary Center, a columnist at the Southwest Journal, and a regular contributor to MinnPost and the Star Tribune. He performs and records as his musical alter ego, the Mad Ripple, and since 2006 has served as organizer and instigator of the freewheeling songwriter collective the Mad Ripple Hootenanny. Jim lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two children. Dennis Pernu is an editor and freelance writer. He and his wife live in Minneapolis with their two sons.
Review
“As Westerberg sings in “Favorite Thing,” “I think big, once in a while.” The book captures the ‘Mats in these moments, when they’re at their best, thinking biggest—cheerfully disruptive, prodigiously talented.” -
PasteMagazine.com“…a feast for fan’s eyes” - Spin.com
Synopsis
This illustrated look at the Replacements, whom many consider the greatest band of the 1980s, features rare candid and off-stage photos taken across the U.S. from 1979 to 1991.
Synopsis
The Replacements were the darlings of 1980s rock critics and, by all accounts, would have been much more commercially successful if not for their penchant for self-sabotage. As a result, the legend of this late and great Minneapolis, Minnesota-based band has grown more since they disbanded in 1991 than it ever did during the ten-plus years of their career. Following the critical acclaim of Voyageur Press' The Replacements: All Over but the Shouting: An Oral History (2007) comes this visual look back at the band that many have labeled the best of the 1980s. Gathering rare candid and performance photographs taken of the band across the country from 1979 to 1991, The Replacements: Waxed-Up Hair and Painted Shoes: The Photographic History offers a rich repository of images snapped for alt-weeklies, fanzines, and college newspapers and which, in a pre-Internet age, never saw the light of day outside of the cities in which they were shot. In addition to rare gems of the band at their self-deprecating, adolescent, booze-fueled best, this book features the classic images of the band without which no Replacements book would be complete, as well as a selection of gig flyers, record label promo items, backstage passes, and other memorabilia gathered from collectors around the country. Arranged chronologically, each chapter includes a brief essay by noted Minneapolis rock scribe Jim Walsh, making this the most complete, informed and only illustrated history of the band ever produced.
About the Author
Jim Walsh spent several years singing in Twin Cities bands before turning to rock journalism. In 1990 he became the music editor at City Pages, an alternative weekly in Minneapolis. Three years later, he joined the St. Paul Pioneer Press as the pop music columnist and as a feature writer, and in 2002 he left Minnesota to study at Stanford University on a John S. Knight Fellowship. Walsh returned to Minneapolis in 2003, where he lives with his wife and two children, and performs and records as his musical alter ego, The Mad Ripple (www.myspace.com/themadripple and www.myspace.com/madripplemusic).Jim Walsh (www.jimwalshmpls.com) is the author of Voyageur Press'