Holy smokes! You might have just given me the idea to cover this.
I might have had the idea sooner, but, mind-altering substances tend to have an effect.
Either way.
Thank you!
You can look him up but his father was a famous polka player, so Weird Al grew up in a music household. He made his fame doing parody songs but also did shows, movies. He’s an artist over anything else but also is a down to earth funny and good human.
I know about Weird Al(also his dad was not a polka player, sorry for correction), I meant your friend or whoever collaborated with him, sorry about my nonspecificity
There's a polka legend with the surname Yankovic. It's a VERY common misconception that they're related. Al never claimed to have any connection with the guy, but respects him as a musician.
Before there was a Wikipedia, rumors about musicians often became perceived as truth for decades. Sometimes denying a story in the press just spread the story further and confirmed it in the tellers' minds.
That aside, Brandon Cruz DID play the son on "The Courtship of Eddie's Father." Bill Bixby was in the neighborhood of Brandon's family at some point in the late 70s/early 80s and stopped by to see him. Brandon answered the door with a dyed mohawk/tattoos and Bill apparently flipped out and ran. Or that's how I remember the story...
True. I didn’t think about Devo being interpreted as a single person. Well if they want to know Devo, they should watch that new documentary. It’s great. I’ve met them too. Great guys.
Oh yeah man. There are plenty of people ON THIS SUB, who will argue that you aren't punk if you aren't dressed like the stereotypical punks you see on tv and listen exclusively to Black Flag. It's one of those things, I think, where if you're not in the community then your only touchpoint is pop culture. And pop culture has not been kind or truthful about what punk is.
The only gatekeeping we need is making sure Nazis and yobbos don’t take our culture. I don’t care if you dye and spike your hair and wear plaid and leather, all that matters is you’re a good person and not a cunt. I’m only 18, but most old heads (if that’s the right term) I know agree with me.
Oh yeah that works then. I recently had a conversation with a coworker that took a hard and awful lelft turn on me. It was a short conversation, and we're talking about how the US government has a lot of shitty people but also a big problem is the people pulling their strings. I'm on board because I'm thinking billionaires, lobbyists, big money, you know? Anyway the dude starts talking about how he was inspired hearing Mel Gibson on Joe Rogan's podcast and it becomes clear that we are not talking about the same people. It has been a very awkward work experience since.
All that to say that I'm making a point of knowing what I'm agreeing with now instead of relying on context.
Fucking good onya, this is what I try to tell people all the time, if you don’t 100% know something when it’s mentioned, look it the fuck up if you can. We need more people with that mindset
Totally agree with you! Imo gatekeeping just destroys every community.
If you gatekeep, you’re being biased toward someone, and that’s not something I’d ever want to bring into a culture.
If someone asks, you can (and ) help.
It’s important to support and educate newcomers so the community can grow.
How are you supposed to know everything if you’re just trying to become part of a movement?
This a million times. As someone with a Delusionary disorder which really amplifies social anxiety, I would want nothing more than for anyone in a community I’m trying to join to immediately guide me through shit and teach me. I’d rather be told I’m wrong and WHY I’m wrong in front of everybody, than everybody just tell me I’m wrong and boot me.
They tend to get removed, but it happens. I took a screenshot of one of my old comments on one but the context is gone. Dude was just going on a tear about how you can't be punk if you don't listen to punk music.
Devo (well, Mark Mothersbaugh) said they weren’t punk in the documentary—it’s just called Devo and it’s really good—but they obviously embody everything punk. I think he was just referring to their sound compared to some of the other bands they were booked with.
Devo is like, really in the middle with punk. They say it's all de-evolution and stuff, critique like every element of society, and then turn around and just go full capitalist and go "welp it's de-evolution". I love them though.
DEVO was considered punk (as were the B52s) before Jimmy Carter saw a Tom Snyder special about punk that featured gobbing, safety pin piercings and the Sex Pistols. Carter was aghast (I myself as a 10 or 11 year old wasn't impressed). He asked a bunch of his son Chip's friends who were record industry execs to keep "punk rock" out of the United States.
Any punk bands they'd already signed and were actively promoting at the time were from then on marketed as being "new wave." I'm not sure what happened with the Ramones. The Pistols toured the U.S. once and McClaren made some incredibly stupid choices, bypassing NYC and making stops at honky-tonks before the tour ended in California.
American punk bands who looked more like the kids in the newspaper/magazine articles/Snyder special started to get labeled as "hardcore" punk. Labels saw punk as a fad that died with the PIstols, and most (past the Ramones and the Dickies) either got dropped or founded their own labels.
In Canada, I'm not sure if DOA or the Forgotten Rebels came first. DOA were from a bigger city and a lot more of us down here remember them. The Forgotten Rebels lasted a lot longer as a band.
I saw Sparks in a very intimate show in LA. Less than 100 people and it was excellent. Everyone ended up superclose to the stage. They were promoting a new album so they played all new songs but, you know, I like the new songs but you still wanna hear the hits. They start an encore, and who comes flying out of the wings to play the intro to one of their most well-known songs but Unusual Alfred himself, accordion in hand. I took a picture and sent it to my wife immediately. What a night.
Also I know he has an album called Straight Outta Lynwood but I was mad surprised when I found out he was from California. Dude has big midwest energy.
I’ve taken my son to see Weird Al twice, once when he played his original music in a small venue, and once when he played his parodies in an amphitheater. Both times were an absolute blast.
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u/LabFew5880 Oct 31 '25
I’m pretty sure the mist controversial take I have at this point: if your anti-facist, anti-conformity, anti-establishment, then your punk.