Replacements question: is this story true?

[Matt]

This is an excerpt from the liner notes to the Replacements Warner Bros.-era compilation, "All For Nothing." It's from the section written by Bill Flanagan:

"My favorite Replacements story is that when compact discs started replacing records the band were appalled that Twin/Tone, their first label, was going to release their early albums on CD. So, they had a few drinks and stewed about it and had a few more drinks and then went over to Twin/Tone. They gave the receptionist some line about working on remixes, grabbed as many of the master tapes as they could find and threw them into the Mississippi. When the Replacements told me this story, they expressed the hope that Prince, who lived in a big purple hourse downriver, would see the tapes floating by like baby Moses, retrieve them, play them and reconsider his musical approach.

"I don't know how much of that is true (maybe more than you'd expect). I didn't choose to investigate too closely; it was the sort of story that you wanted to believe about the Replacements. They certainly stood for a cockeyed, Huck Finn integrity, even if they were sometimes taking aim at their own feet."

I'm especially curious in light of the Twin/Tone remasters that have been postponed indefinitely.

[Sckott]

The Replacements stories are mostly just that....stories.

However, the fact that many of their CDs, have not always been very easy to find. Last I saw, the Reprise/Sire stuff is still in print, like "Pleased To Meet Me", but there've been many times i've looked at ICE and Mojo, describing the difficulty on getting their early stuff released. Me thinks it's financial, nothing more.

Got "Inconcerated"? It's a very rare SIRE promo. Donno if I'm the only one I've met with the disc. It's a 5-track live promo with "Here Comes A Regular" basically meant as a promotional EP to promote Don't Tell A Soul.

I don't have any other Replacements titles, other than a promo LP of that record. I got saturated with the Replacements in college, as one of the college DJ's I chummed with hammered me with it until I was physically sick with them. It's since taken me almost 10 years to come around.

However, the Twin Tone stuff, some of it distributed by A&M, is still showing up in the used CD racks.

There was also "Don't Buy - It's Crap", etc... but I'm sure you know about that.

Okay, my memory seems to be foggy, but I think their complete output was going to be remastered, but that's been on hold over and over... Someone else with a better memory of the details might help?

[ December 20, 2001: Message edited by: Sckott ]

[Matt]

Thanks for the reply, Sckott.

To be honest, I'm not that into their earliest stuff. With the exception of "Let It Be" and the song "Within Your Reach," all of which is GREAT, there isn't much else from that time I like. Just too sloppy and amateurish to me.

Luckily, that stuff is still in print, but it would be great if they could do it in better sound.

[czeskleba]

The story is sort of true. The Replacements did check out some tapes and throw them in the Mississippi. They were not the master tapes for their first four albums, however, since those are still safe at Twintone. This comes from manager Peter Jesperson's mouth, in an interview with ICE. Missing tapes are not the reason for the delay in the remasters. The remasters of their first four albums are actually finished already, sitting on the shelf ready to be released. It's record company problems delaying their release.

[PsychFan]

Originally posted by Sckott:
Got "Inconcerated"? It's a very rare SIRE promo. Donno if I'm the only one I've met with the disc. It's a 5-track live promo with "Here Comes A Regular" basically meant as a promotional EP to promote Don't Tell A Soul.


I have this on CD. Got it for $2 or thereabouts in a used-CD shop in Scranton, PA (where I used to live ... ugh).

Yours is on LP, Sckott?

[ December 21, 2001: Message edited by: Jeff Partyka ]

[Sckott]

No, CD only. I think it has "Achin To Be" LP version at the end.

[czeskleba]

Originally posted by Sckott:
Got "Inconcerated"? It's a very rare SIRE promo. Donno if I'm the only one I've met with the disc. It's a 5-track live promo with "Here Comes A Regular" basically meant as a promotional EP to promote Don't Tell A Soul.

I've got it on both LP and CD. You can never have too much Replacements. In terms of rarities, "The **** Hits the Fans", their live cassette from 1984, is the thing to track down. One of the best live albums of all time...