"Big Fucking Shit"

The Minuteman never fail to astonish me. Astonish is a strong word, yet I feel no other would suffice.

A band needs to work hard to become great. Two that come to mind, other than the Minutemen, are The Beatles and The Clash. (My computer reads Beatles as a misspelling still?) They worked very hard to get where they are, and they were committed to the music above all else.

The Minutemen jammed ECONO. Who else jammed econo? The Beatles and The Clash.

It doesn't take a lot of money to make great music. This seems like an, Uh, DUH! type of remark, but I think that these days people forget this; or assume it untrue; or just don't understand what real MUSIC is made of. When the most popular music in the nation generates from and is a result of a contest that rewards people with a monetary prize before said artist sells any music or generates any real praise for their work is proof that people don't realize that music made on the cheap is usually better and more truthful than music that is a result of the nature of consumer culture.

I think that truly great artists and musicians feel that they shouldn't be spending money on recording something because it don't matter. The music will speak for itself - and usually recordings benefit from cheap production. I think they sound cooler.

Great production for money: Obviously there are exceptions; TUSK (Fleetwood Mac) comes to mind, which cost a million plus to make. Money begets money, in the fact that money usually leads to more money, whether it be spent, lost or made. The quality of the music doesn't factor in the equation. Money can sometimes make a bad band more interesting - what a shitty word, interesting. But it can.

As I pause to turn over the first side of Double Nickels On The Dime, I must wonder, When jamming on the econo, how could the Minutemen produce four sides of fabulously creative and expertly played music ? The answer is, It wasn't money. It was the drive to make music that they cared about. Money may sometimes effect how music turns out, but it is never what makes the music good. That's hard work, inspiration, drive, and the desire to see something changed, even it is only how one person listens.

"let's say I got a number's 50,000 that's 10% of 500,000"

Thanks DBoon. You will forever be missed, right along Joe Strummer, John Lennon, and George Harrison. Work hard in heaven, bros!