The Ledge #595: Replacements Tribute Albums

The Ledge (mp3)

As one of those lunatics who tends to collect anything and everything asoociated with artists I love, it’s probably no surprise that I have quite a few tribute albums devoted to The Replacements. When Let the Bad Times Roll (a Tribute to The Replacements) was released earlier this month, I did a deep dive in my archives and discovered that I actually owned seven of these types of records.

With that in mind, it was a no-brainer to do a show devoted to nothing but Replacements tribute albums. The seven records represented tonight have been released throughout the last three decades, and include releases originating in Australi and Italy. There’s a few semi-big names but there are as many, if not more, bands whose career I know nothing about.

I also made myself a challenge that I would try not to duplicate any songs…and I succeeded! There are 35 different Replacements tracks covered by 35 different artists. Ok, there is one artist who appears twice – Mikey Erg’s band, Ergs, covers “I’m in Trouble” while as a solo act he performs “Wake Up”

Just because the overall theme revolves around The Replacements doesn’t mean that I’m ignoring the “52 Weeks of Teenage Kicks” series. In fact, you get a double dose of covers tonight to open and close the show. The first version is by an L.A. band called Kolars. They’re a duo that features a drummer that tap dances rhythms with her feet atop a bass drum while simultaneously playing a stand-up kit. The version that closes the show, Freddy Lynxx and the Jet Boys, is led by a Johnny Thunders fanatic who actually allowed his hero to choose his band’s name.

As I do every week, however, I must again plead with y’all for more versions of “Teenage Kicks”. If you are a musician, or have any contact with artists that could record their own take on the classic, please contact me!

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com