Point One: Screeching Weasel were one of the most influential bands of the nineties.
Point Two: Ben Weasel's cowardly attack on two women in Austin in March of 2011 and his subsequent semi-apology and follow-up screed (which combined the self-aggrandizement of Charlie Sheen and the sense of victimization of Sarah Palin) have damaged his band's reputation, possibly forever.
As for point one, I'll still keep listening to my old SW records. But in light of point two, I will not support Ben "Weasel" Foster until he takes personal responsibility, rather then blaming others for the fall-out of his act, and stops hiding behind this mentally unstable idea that he's just playing a 'character'. I do believe the man can sort his shit out, he's overcome some serious problems in his life and he's done a lot of good things for people.
So in remembrance of the mightiness of Screeching Weasel the band, here in one of their primes with Dan Panic on drums, Johnny Personality on bass plus Jughead and Danny Vapid on guitar, is a live radio broadcast from 1993. The set-list, shows the band, and Weasel always needed strong back-up, leaning heavily on the then-new album Wiggle (on Lookout Records - more HERE) and giving those songs an edge that was missing in the recording studio.
1 Intro
2 I'm not in love
3 Second Floor East
4 One Step Beyond
5 Jenny's Got A Problem With Her Uterus
6 Achtung (Authority cover)
7 Automatic Rejector
8 Joanie Loves Johnny
9 Radioblast
10 27 Things I Wanna Do To You
11 Slow Motion
12 The Girl Next Door
13 Sad Little Girl
14 Ain't Got No Sense
15 Cindy's On Methadone
16 Danny Is A Wimp
17 Murder In The Brady House
18 Crying In My Beer / Interview
So do you care less about this Ben Weasel fracas? Is it old news or an open wound? Does it change your view of Screeching Weasel, the band? Do we need another post to talk more about the MUSIC? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find Live on WZRD).
So do you care less about this Ben Weasel fracas? Is it old news or an open wound? Does it change your view of Screeching Weasel, the band? Do we need another post to talk more about the MUSIC?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ch1sjamaan1yq36
Thanks for this. The SXSW debacle definitely made my feelings towards Ben Weasel more complicated. It gets harder and harder to overlook his antics and his personal politics enough to still enjoy listening to his music. But, like you, I can't give up the earlier albums that shaped me so much back in the 90's.
ReplyDeleteYeah it's complicated relationship, isn't it?
DeleteHard to respect anyone who acts like he did, but there were a lot of other dudes in Screeching Weasel and they were doing good fucking things in '93. I would certainly never pay to see him play nowadays, though.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for this radio session!
Cheers,
Zen
inthezenarcade.blogspot.com
Yeah I wouldn't pay to see the man right now either but I'm still watching how this story plays out...
DeleteIn my experience Ben Weasel was always a bit of a prickly personality. My buddy and I released a few SW records in the early 90s. After doing a label for a few years, I found it necessary to divorce the musician from the music. In so doing, I could enjoy one without bothering with the other. SW has been irrelevant for about 15 years. Ben Weasel's Army, as I prefer to think of them, are just a sad shell of what the band used to be. Ben Weasel, sadly enough, cannot really do any further damage to himself in my eyes. Hitting women, while deplorable, is not something that surprises me. Still though, from the late 80s to mid 90s SW did release some great music despite Ben Weasel.
ReplyDeleteWhat were the SW things your label released?
DeleteBy the way, the hundred of ruined relationships Ben has left in his wake, is really damning.
Nothing surprises me about Ben - never has and never will. I've got some experience with him outside of music, and "tad prickly" puts it mildly. But he was part of a soundtrack that kept me going at a very rough time in my life and I won't ever forget that.
ReplyDeleteThere's that split between love for the music and distaste for the man.
DeleteOther than My Brain Hurts, I was never that impressed with Screeching Weasel. I liked reading Ben Weasel's columns in Maximum RocknRoll when I was in high school and always thought he wasn't trying very hard on most of his albums (or trying TOO hard to be dumb when he was obviously pretty intelligent). The SXSW thing didn't do anything to elevate him in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, the drums on My Brain Hurts are my favorite punk rock drums by anyone who isn't named John Wright, so I'm looking forward to this radio broadcast. Thanks.
yeah the way Ben alienates every musician he's ever worked with has harmed him a lot.
Deletedoes it rock or does it not rock? divorce the action from the band- if yer gonna get into woman beaters or assholes, start with chuck berry, john lennon, etc.
ReplyDeletenazz nomad
bleedinout.blogspot.com
But by punching a woman ON STAGE and then stating that his reaction to the fall-out is just a part of his ON-STAGE character, Ben has made it extremely different to keep the man and the rock separate.
DeleteIt's punk rock. He punched a drunk fan in the face. That's hilarious. What? The fan was a woman. Oh no, how terrible.
ReplyDeleteWell if it's just a case of 'it's punk rock', then he should've been okay with that woman spitting on him!
DeleteLove love love Screeching Weasel. They were a central part of the soundtrack of my life at the time. That said I do find Ben's track record of alienating those around him (read: every label he's been on and most of his past bandmates) somewhat disquieting, to say nothing of his politics and the aftermath of SXSW. It is very much a case of separating the artist from the art.
ReplyDelete