Baron 'O' Boogie wrote:Loveless wrote:I will state as absolute fact that Warner's rejecting YHF was the best thing that ever happened to Tweedy and Wilco. And it couldn't have happened at a more crucial juncture. There isn't a press agent in the world that could have bought them such credibility, and hooray to all parties involved for playing that episode like fucking champs. Image counts for a lot these days, and this one little episode took them from being the Bo Deans/Jayhawks/Smithereens of late 90s-00s "alt-rock" (virtual extinction, in other words) to something far more attractive to a certain audience. We all need archetypes/heroes, and Wilco as tortured/misunderstood/daring/experimental underdogs - I can only imagine My Morning Jacket or the Flaming Lips kicking themselves. As with the Clash, the idea of a "band that matters" (however suddenly) is not to be scoffed at. I hear the next record - About A Headache - is going to be in black and white.
I think I like Wilco a lot more than Brother loveless, but this is about 95% fact.
They were extremely lucky to come out of the whole situation smiling, and no doubt they used it to their advantage (conciously or not), but I don't think it was a make-or-break point for Tweedy. Summerteeth was a big album (in small circles) and Yankee was eagerly anticipated, they already had a strong following by then and even now they're not
that big a band. Loveless mentioned Flaming Lips probably kicking themselves. Is he kidding? The F'Lips are huge now, played on the radio, 12-30 year olds going to their gigs. Much bigger than Wilco will ever be.
And they're not dogged with "that story" at every interview they give.
Loveless, could you maybe expand on "black and white" ??