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A friend of mine says to me, "Go to FNAC, they have the first Stooges for 5.99." Damn, my cassette got demagnetized in '96, I never bought the vinyl because of the insane prices, so I rush to FNAC: I go in, and there's Lady Crap blasting away. The thing is: okay, it’s pop, okay, it needs to sell, but it’s objectively terrible. I mean, even Madonna is (was) pop and had to (needed to) sell, but there are some of Ciccone's songs that I remember fondly and I’ve even whistled them in the past. Yes, I’m not ashamed of that. This one really sucks, where are the songs? So, I grabbed the Asheton brothers and ran away. Fuck this.

How are you? I won’t hide a bit of concern. You always seem too alien and too “out there.” Maybe you need more tranquility. More routine (what an awful word). Anyway, I care about you. Screw those who hate flattery.

no,no,NO! Enough with the bluffs. Enough with those who can at most shine the shoes of the usual suspects (Waits?). This has been a pain in the ass for a while now...

perhaps the greatest, in Italy. Pinhead, I love you.

So: @PRETAZZO: HC doesn't make sense to me anymore, as it was brought up again today, precisely because it is too tied to the political, social, and cultural issues from which it originated...even punk '77 and everything else had its own substratum, as you rightly say, but it wasn't as defining as American HC, just think of bands like MDC...then, frankly, aside from those 4-5 names, the rest wasn't that great musically. The interesting thing was the movement itself, the true and first American youth countercultural phenomenon, more than the music. As for Italian HC: of course they copied, but they did it well, just think about how certain bands were regarded even abroad...the fact that they arrived in '86, when everything was ending in the USA, is just the usual story of the cultural lag we experience compared to America.

big page, this one. You guys are amazing. 5 out of 5.

I’d like to insert a thought that I hope might pique your curiosity: hardcore (HC), both Italian and otherwise, as Blush writes eloquently in his seminal book "American Hardcore," is a musical phenomenon that, due to its historical and social peculiarities, is born, grows, and dies in the 80s (1980-1986, to be precise). Therefore, it is impossible to replicate and equally impossible to perpetuate. Ian McKaye, a superb musician and an intelligent person, understood this right away, and indeed he brilliantly continued his career by forming Fugazi (which contained hardcore elements but had already moved beyond it) after Minor Threat disbanded. So, to connect to GNAGNERA's discussion about current groups (La Crisi, etc.), does it make sense to play HC today? For me, no. I agree with Blush. While it does make sense to play punk '77, garage, psychobilly, etc., HC, due to its peculiarities (the reaction to Reaganism, the U.S. suburban landscape, the economic crisis, the phenomenon of homeless youth, etc.), I don’t believe can have meaning outside of that context. That said, "osservati dall'inganno" is an amazing album. There was an incredible scene here: Indigesti, Declino, Negazione, Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers, Kina. Wow.

I repeat, J&R, it's not your fault... I think it's mostly a matter of talent. I don't think it's that hard to understand, anyway: music is not a competition about who can go harder and longer, who plays more notes, etc... music is essentially attitude and energy. So: who said punk? who said rock 'n' roll? well done, you won the candy. You'll never win the candy. At most, you can stick it up your ass and see if it works as a suppository :) say hi to Ludwig for me! byyyyyye....

I repeat, J&R, it's not your fault... I think it's mostly a matter of talent. I don't think it's that hard to understand, anyway: music is not a competition about who can go harder and longer, who plays more notes, etc... music is essentially attitude and energy. So: who said punk? who said rock 'n' roll? well done, you won the candy. You'll never win the candy. At most, you can stick it up your ass and see if it works as a suppository :) say hi to Ludwig for me! byyyyyye....

Mike Stax (not just some random guy) said, "if you don’t listen to the Ramones, you don’t understand a damn thing." Got it, fool J&R? You don’t understand a damn thing; it’s not your fault. "Baby I love you" is THE love song. To be played at all weddings. Rest in peace Joey, we will defend you from the scum.