Remembrance of Videos Past #5 (Part III of the Scott Trilogy)

Scott Jarzombek, the first rock snob I met (1988, when I was 12 years old), hated my taste in REM videos, but praised me for liking They Might Be Giants.

In 1989, Scott introduced me to a band. This was the first time an indie dude introduced me to a band. A song like this can be heard in malls throughout Long Island nowadays, but back then this was punk as fuck. I'm of course talking about "Punk Rock Girl" from the Dead Milkmen.

"Punk Rock Girl" was pop punk that was actually punk. It was also hilarious. During the first eleven seconds, you see what looks like a band member in the background reading a newspaper while the rest of the band is playing. And the name-dropping preceded MC Paul Barman by over 15 years.

References include:

* Philadelphia clothing store Zipperhead
* country comedienne Minnie Pearl
* The Beach Boys' cover of "California Dreamin'"
* Duke of Earl


And the most indie snob couplet I have ever heard in a rock song to date:

"You don't got Mojo Nixon
And your store could use some fixin'"


That particular couplet stuck with me for a while because I had no idea who Mojo Nixon was, so perhaps I could use some fixin'. Scott introduced me to The Dead Milkmen and The Dead Milkmen introduced me to Mojo Nixon.

There was no World Wide Web in 1989, so I relied on Rock and Roll comics to tell me who Mojo Nixon was. Rock and Roll comics were unauthorized comic book biographies of rock bands. The first issue was on Guns N' Roses. I lost that issue in a basement flood three years ago. GN'R's lawyer threatened to sue the publisher Todd Loren. No lawsuit happened. Mojo Nixon was the only supporter of Rock and Roll Comics; he loved the issue that covered him. That issue was impossible to find, so that's all I knew about Mojo. I found out more about him today.

On a sad note, publisher Todd Loren was murdered in 1992.

Mojo Nixon now hosts a political talk show called Lying Cocksuckers on Sirius.
Dead Milkmen broke up in 1995.

Scott became a librarian in Albany who plays in a punk/metal band called Burning Bridges.

I'm writing this blog post and still haven't married my punk rock girl.




(courtesy of Klause)