It was recently reported that during an interview in 2006, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, loves the Replacements. He stated that their 1984 album, Let It Be, is one of his all time favorites. If you had told me the album that contained such Alternative anthems as I Will Dare, Unsatisfied, Sixteen Blue, Black Diamond, Gary’s Got A Boner and Androgynous would be a personal favorite of the 2016 Democratic VP Nominee back when I was playing these masterpieces on my college radio show in the 80s, I’d have laughed at you. The self-deprecating attitude and raw, often times drunken, live energy of the Replacements was spectacular and those of us who were fans ate up the lyrical edge of it all. Androgynous sounds like it could have been written over the past year with all of the recent societal changes regarding the transgender community but it was released in 1984! This was music for the thinking kids who wanted to rock. Good for VP candidate Kaine for recognizing this band’s relevance and hanging onto it, that’s one of many things that makes America great right now in my eyes.
I met Paul Westerberg of the Replacements in the early-to-mid nineties. I was the overnight DJ on WFNX, Boston’s legendary, alternative radio station, which was co-hosting an event with it’s media sibling the Boston Phoenix, a weekly arts & entertainment newspaper. The Phoenix and FNX were both owned by the same guy and are now sadly defunct. Every year listeners of the radio station and readers of the Phoenix voted for their favorite national and local musicians as well as writers and artists. The winners were announced at an annual celebration called the WFNX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll. Unless you were an employee of the newspaper instead of the radio station, then it was called the Boston Phoenix/WFNX Best Music Poll. What’s a little sibling rivalry among friends? Anyway, the correctly titled WFNX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll celebration often turned out to be one of the year’s biggest events for music and art lovers in Boston and one of the most sought after tickets every Spring. We closed Lansdowne Street, which housed some of the best live venues in town, and set up an outdoor stage down one end of the street. It was not at all uncommon for random celebrities to drop by such as young and upcoming comedian Jon Stewart, who asked if he could hang out with us. Of course!
FNX listeners and Phoenix readers tended to have a certain look and attitude. They were hipper than the average person and were fervent about music and the arts. The Phoenix intern who drew the short stick to work the hospitality area and hand out credentials for back stage access this one particular year did not fit that image at all. He had plenty of attitude, though. However, he looked like he’d be more interested in reporting people for being too noisy in the library than friendly gatekeeper at a rock show. He was clearly not interested in anything going on that day.
“Hi,” I said. “How’s it going?”
A blank and confused look came across his face.
“I’m Chris Kennedy. I should be on the radio station staff list?”
He sighed and quickly glanced down at the top sheet of several papers on his clipboard. He looked at the first few names on the sheet.
“You’re not on the list.”
I laughed. “I work for the radio station.”
“YOU work for the radio station? What do you do for them?”
“I’m one of their full-time DJs. I work the overnight shift.”
Again, he sighed.
“What’s your name again?”
“Chris. Kennedy.”
Again, he quickly glanced down at the first few names.
“Nope,” he said. “I don’t see you.”
“Okay, um, I work for the radio station,” I pointed out. “I need a pass to get in. My boss is waiting for me inside. He needs me to make stage announcements throughout the night. I need a pass to get in to do that. An ALL Access Pass, in fact.”
“Oh no,” he said. “You can’t have one of those. You’re not on the list.”
“Can you look at a different list? Maybe the second or third page?”
“I did. You’re not on the list.”
“I work for the radio station. I need to make stage announcements. It’s my job!”
“Hey Chris!” one of the Phoenix Marketing people swooped in from nowhere and interrupted. “Did you get your credential package?” She turned to the kid. “I told you Staff credentials are over here in this basket.”
He ignored her.
“No, not yet.” I said.
“Okay,” She flipped through a stack of manila envelopes and handed me one with my name on it. “Here you go.”
“Thanks!” I glared at the kid and started to walk past him.
“You need to be wearing your pass,” he said.
I imagined him wearing the pass very tightly around his neck as I stepped back out of the line. As I dug through the envelope passed the list of artists and the particular venues they were playing and another three sheets of sponsors to announce from the stage, I found my pass in time as Paul Westerberg suddenly appeared out of the corner of my eye.
“Hey Paul,” I spun around and shook his hand. “I’m Chris Kennedy. I’m one of the DJs at the radio station. Great to meet you! I didn’t know you were coming out to this.”
“Oh, hey,” he said. “Nice to meet you. I was recording in town and thought I’d drop by. I hope that’s okay?”
“Of course it is!” I suddenly remembered how challenging it was to get my All Access pass. “Did you call to get on the list by any chance?”
“No,” he said. “Is that a problem?”
“Not at all,” I laughed. “This guy’s a little uptight, though. I’ll get you in.”
Now sporting my All Access pass I asked for another one for Paul.
“Is he on the list?”
SIGH!
“No, he’s not.” I tried not to let Paul hear me. “He’s Paul Westerberg. Of the Replacements? Maybe you’ve heard of them? You now the song Alex Chilton that we play ALL the time? That’s him, he’s the singer of that song!”
“I don’t listen to music,” he said. “He’s not on the list; I can’t let him in.”
“I know he’s NOT ON THE LIST! He’s Paul Westerberg! One of the founding fathers of American Alternative rock! The kind of music WFNX plays? He’s a rock star! He doesn’t need to be on any list! Just give him a damn pass!”
“I thought you said his name was Alex Chilton?”
“Hey Chris,” Paul said. “It’s okay. Thanks for trying. I should have called ahead. It’s good.”
“NO, it’s not,” I said. “Wait here. I’ll be back in a minute. I promise, we’ll get you in.”
It was early in the evening and the crowd that would eventually fill Lansdowne Street was still filing in. I could just imagine the article in the next issue of Rolling Stone about how Paul Westerberg showed up at a radio station event in Boston and got turned away because no one knew him. WFNX’s biggest strength was our street cred and we would have been the lamest alternative station in the country if we didn’t know who Paul Westerberg was. I tracked down my boss, Kurt St Thomas.
“Dude!” I said to him. “Paul Westerberg is here.”
“No way!” he said. “That’s so cool.”
“They won’t let him in.”
“What? Just tell them to give him a pass.”
“I did. The kid at the door is a Nazi. He barely let me in. You’ve gotta come down and get him in. The kid won’t listen to me.”
“Are you serious? Who’s working the door?”
“I don’t know. Some intern from the Phoenix. It’s Paul Fucking Westerberg, for Christ Sake!”
“Why do we have someone working hospitality who doesn’t know who the fuck Paul Westerberg is?” he asked.
“No idea!”
“Okay,” he sighed and we headed for the backstage entrance.
Kurt ripped an All Access pass the kid had been playing with out of his hand.
“Ow, hey!” the kid said.
“THIS GUY’S ALL SET! And everyone on my staff gets All Access passes! Got it?”
Kurt handed Paul the pass, shook his hand and thanked him for coming to the show.
“Hey Chris,” Paul shouted. “Thanks for getting me in!” He gave me the thumbs up and disappeared into the crowd. That was the last time I saw him that night.
I wonder if he can return the favor if Kaine becomes the VP and the Replacements reunite to rip up the White House lawn?
Duke of Dead Air 