having some lakes in it. From what I hear, there’s like, ten thousand of them or something… You may also have assumed that due to it’s position, tucked between the Dakotas on the west and Wisconsin to the east that the state is generally devoid of any kind of pop music history, save for some swinging polka bands…On that score my friend, you couldn’t be more mistaken.
Don’t get me wrong, ain’t no polka like a Minnesota polka ‘cause a Minnesota polka don’t stop, but there’s plenty of other sonic goodness to be found in the North Star State as well.
You know by now however, that here at The Dance we’re not ALL about the music, we’re about mostly erroneous state ‘factoids’ as well! So let’s get makin’ with the Wiki shall we?
- Minnesota is a Dakota Native American word meaning sideways devil hat. Seriously, if you wore Minnesota sideways on your head you would look like you had horns. You would also so totally be crushed under the weight of wearing a state on your head.
- A small expanse of Minnesota’s land mass found in the Lake of the Woods known as the Northwest Angle is the only portion of the lower 48 states that rests above the earth’s 49th parallel, making Minnesota second only to Alaska… ERRR… Iceland… as the northernmost state in the union…
- I earlier inferred on the Maine post that the state of Washington held this distinction. While I am willing to admit I was incorrect, check out a map some time… Minnesota SO doesn’t deserve that little wafer of Canada they’ve claimed as their own… As a matter of fact, I think even ACKNOWLEDGING that portion of Minnesota is part of the US could stir an international incident. So go ahead and claim I’m mistaken if you must, but when Canada invades, it’s on your head…
- Having Canada on your head would crush you even faster than wearing Minnesota.
- Unrelated to Minnesota, AC/DC’s Malcolm Young is celebrating a birthday today…
I’m sure his brother Angus will get him a pair of schoolboy shorts, and Brian Johnson will likely present him with a slightly used Scottish derby…- Related to Minnesota, the Wikipedia picture of AC/DC was taken from a concert in St. Paul, Minnesota. That’s effing CREEPY…
- This post was SUPPOSED to hit on 01/06/09, but I am both lazy and useless... Lazless? Either way, there is no longer cause for an AC/DC birthday celebration, but at least now you have the better part of a year to plan for 2010's event...
- Unrelated to AC/DC, Minnesota has the nation’s largest population of timber wolves outside of Alaska. Timber wolves
are known for their bulky two-layered coats, and their keen ability to play basketball.- OK, no… Minnesota doesn’t mean sideways devil hat. It roughly translates to ‘somewhat clouded water’. Yeah, now isn’t sideways devil hat WAY cooler?
- Richard Dean ‘MacGyver’ Anderson is originally from Minnesota before he used a ball of twine and some chewing gum to build a Stargate…
- The Coen Brothers are from Minneapolis, Minnesota, not Fargo, North Dakota
- The only American-born ‘Python’, and acclaimed film maker Terry Gilliam is from
Minnesota, not Brazil…- Brazil is in THE Americas, besides, it’s just a subtle play on words anyhow. Drop it already. Sheesh…
- Paul Bunyan and Betty Crocker are both from Minnesota, as are their illegitimate children the Jolly Green Giant and the Pillsbury Doughboy.
- 90's wonder band Soul Asylum was formed in Minnesota, and it pains me to mention it here, and not lower. Alas, lest I be branded a slave to the 90’s the boys of SA lost out on their home state to a more influential pick, and the purveyors of what I consider to be one of the world’s greatest modern rock songs. We shall discuss below…
The Selections:
Solo Artist: Bob Dylan
No offense to His Purpleness, who we will cover in depth below, but I really don’t see this one as much of a contest. You may recall in the post that started this whole madcap scheme the original by-state listers The Phoenix let their readers decide the ultimate representative from the great state of Minnesota via an online poll. Currently, the internets have it right, with Bobby D outpacing the once-and-former-artist-known-as-‘ding’ by almost two votes to one. Good on the whole of the nation, but I’m not down with letting others take the heat for me. I dig me some When Doves Cry, and I NEVER let the elevator get me down, but c’mon, Prince is NO Bob Dylan…
There’s a parallel between Robert Allen ‘Bob Dylan’ Zimmerman and Prince Rodgers Nelson that goes beyond their obvious Minnesota roots. While Prince used the role of music producer to allow him to experiment with different musical styles (as we will discuss below), Dylan just blew with the wind. He set out on his career, as he would note in his high school year book, to ‘join Little Richard’, one of the mass of young Americans lured by the siren song of Rock & Roll during it’s 1950’s inception. Upon entering the University of Minnesota in 1959, Dylan's interests turned from Rock & Roll to American folk music, specifically the works of Woody Guthrie, whom Dylan dropped out of school to visit as he was dying in Greystoke Psychiatric Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, eventually succumbing to Huntington’s Disease.
It was through folk music that Robert Zimmerman truly became Bob Dylan. Tapped as the leader of a youth movement toward equal rights and common sense, a position he had never sought, or wanted to fill, Dylan championed those less fortunate than himself not out of some desire to change the world, but out of a firm sense that it was simply the right thing to do. Once he felt he’d done the right thing for long enough, he shocked his closest supporters by returning to his old love of Rock & Roll.
When Dylan went electric in 1965, the re-emergence of the folk music scene was shook to it’s very core. What Bob bringith, Bob taketh away on the back of one of the greatest folk/rock/jazz fusion recordings of all time, Subterranean Homesick Blues.
As the 60's ended, so did Bob's grip on sanity. He spent the 70's kicking around some new musical concepts, eventually turning to Christianity before eventually returning to music as his main source for inspiration rather than any specific organized religion. Bob's 2006 Modern Times earned him a Grammy, well, recording sound on a CD whilst being over the age of 60 earned him the Grammy, but that doesn't mean the tunes aren't good...
Band: The Replacements
The last thing I want to do is agree with the Boston blowhards over at TP, but try as I might I cannot bring myself to take the under-appreciated, under-sold, and under-known Husker Du over alt-rock pioneers The Replacements. Either would be a fine choice, but at the end of the day The ‘Mats had Paul Westerberg, and he sang a song on the Singles soundtrack, and everything I do, I do for Cameron Crowe films…
Admittedly, for a self-proclaimed rock snob, my Replacements knowledge is woefully lacking. While the Mats were tearing up Minnesota and turning on better-informed listeners of college rock stations I was still cutting my teeth of the Duran Duran and Depeche Modes of the world, but now that I'm older, wiser, and constantly in search of the tunes I've missed while re-listening to Mr. Costello's My Aim Is True album for the three thousandth time, I have discovered that The Replacements are the rock and roll equivalent of fine art. If U2 or The Rolling Stones represent Picasso, selling their wares whilst still in the prime of their lives, The Replacements, and bands like them, are rock's Van Gogh's, never achieving their due notoriety at the time they recorded, but eventually being given the praise they deserve after their demise.
'Mats leader Paul Westerberg has repeatedly claimed that a reunion is in the offing, but the unfortunate passing of original guitarist Bob Stinson in 1995 renders a true reforming of the classic lineup impossible. However, Stinson's replacement Replacement, Slim Dunlap is still performing and if Westerberg can con Chris Mars out of retirement, the 'Mats may rise again.
Until that time, we will have to be content listening to a killer alternative anthem that may be about the best bridge from new wave to alt-rock not recorded by REM.
Honorable Mention: Prince
I would be remiss to not mention the so-genius-he’s-gone-slightly-mad Prince in a post about the North Star State. All the dude has done is crank out exceptionally listenable hit tunes and so-cheesy-their-hilarious feature films, not to manage despite his lack of ability to stick to a single name, he still rocks that pencil-thin molester ‘stache without looking better-inform-your-neighbors-you-live-here creepy… You’ve GOT to respect that.
From the late 70's Soft and Wet, Prince proved he had no fear of pushing the sex/funk envelope to new levels, but he really hit his stride when he mixed rock standards and his sick guitar skills into the mix from 1983 through 1987 scoring hits with 1999, Little Red Corvette, When Doves cry, Let's Go Crazy, Purple Rain, I Would Die 4 U, Raspberry Beret, Pop Life, Kiss, and You Got the Look; However, the impressive recording catalog is only half the Prince story.
Unlike Dylan, Prince slowly transitioned from his R&B/Funk roots through Rock into Dance music while using his own production company, a condition of his original album deal, to explore deeper stylized versions of the genres he Incorporated into his own success. Prince associated acts include Morris Day, Sheila E., Carmen Electra, and Apollonia 6. In addition, Prince wrote songs , collaborated with, or produced albums for other already established artists like The Bangles (penning their hit Manic Monday with lead singer Susanna Hoffs), Sheena Easton (who sang backing vocal on Prince's U Got the Look), Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, and Martika.
In recent years, Prince has become embroiled in all manner of legal squabbles surrounding copyright laws. I tend to feel that sharing music is the absolute best form of advertising an artist can possibly ask for, and have likely spent more money on purchasing music than any other form of entertainment throughout my life time. I continue to purchase music, as often as possible, direct from the artist, even though I know that much of it can be found for free online. Long story short, there's no Prince link here because he doesn't want you to hear his music unless you pay for it. It's his prerogative, regardless how short sighted it may be. No, that wasn't a height joke aimed at the velvet clad diminutive one...
Instead, here's a link to Soul Asylum's Somebody To Shove, since they got beat by the Replacements but DO want you to hear their music...
I'm losing a little steam on the whole state list front, so I may take a hiatus before posting Mississippi, so join me next time when I post something that's not related to a state, or their musicians...
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