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MTV flips the switch back on for 'Unplugged'


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http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/06/22/s...e.ap/index.html

 

I can't believe Jeff Tweedy wasn't part of the team that went up in space to the space station!!!

 

This is also Wilco related news.

 

The fact that Wilco are NOT astronauts but should be is why its a Wilco related post.

 

I'd be glad to explain to you the relevance to this board of Wilco appearing on a nationally televised music program versus

them going into space. They have appeared on ACL and they have appeared on a couple of live radio programs to perform their music.

 

I guess I'm naive enough to think a programmer at MTV might be willing to listen to a few cards and letters sent in by members of this message board if we encouraged MTV to have Wilco on.

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Through much great personal strength and prayer, I have found the willpower to resist posting about Terry Shiavo here.

 

Funny cause I was just going to post a thread asking what people thought Jeff Tweedy thought about this Jesse Davis case in Ohio...but then I thought better of it and figured that if he is thinking about Jesse Davis then he'll probably just post about it here later. Plus, CNN is so gross.

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I'd be glad to explain to you the relevance to this board of Wilco appearing on a nationally televised music program versus

them going into space.

 

I was actually debating the relevance of them NOT appearing on music program versus them NOT going into space. If this was about them actually going on to a program, I'd agree with you.

 

They have appeared on ACL and they have appeared on a couple of live radio programs to perform their music.

 

Off the top of my head.

 

"More Like The Moon"

"California Stars"

"In a sleeping bag underneath the stars he would lie awake and count them. And the gray fountain spray of the great Milky Way"

"Crazy rides rockets"

"Sky Blue Sky"

"...the way those engines sound, will make you kiss the ground, when you touch down"

 

Clearly the band is very space oriented, and a thread about them not going into space is just as useful in this section as threads about shows/venues/festivals they're not playing.

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I wouldn't watch them if they played on MTV, but thats only because I don't have cable tv.

 

As far as I'm concerned, they should agree to any and all gigs that they can stomach. Supporting their families is probably more important to them than some stranger's perception of their "cred".

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The REM and Cure episodes are definitely my favorites, but the LL one was great too....primarily because of its originality.

It seems like REM actually did 2 episodes. The first was great (really liked their cover of "Love Is All Around), the second (circa 2001) wasn't so hot.

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I would love it if they were presented with the opportunity. I would hope that they'd not fall back on tried and true songs that translate well acoustically and rather take some creative risks to transform songs that their fans only know in their electric version.

 

I think of what Neil Young did with Like A Hurricane.

 

I love all their Mermaid Avenue songs and all, but for me, the entire band performing a stripped down Poor Places or to hear some of the newer material in an unplugged version (I'd love to hear Walken unplugged with the entire band, not just Jeff, or Hate It Here).

 

I'm not saying the unplugged versions would equal or be superior to the studio versions. I'd just hope they would take a creative risk or two if the opportunity presented itself.

 

I'd also love for them to throw in some inspired covers, as many unplugged performances have done. I'd love for Henry and the H-Bombs to be revisited and Something In The Air.

 

Just my 2 cents.

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It seems like REM actually did 2 episodes. The first was great (really liked their cover of "Love Is All Around), the second (circa 2001) wasn't so hot.

 

 

They did do 2 episodes. I enjoyed them both. I remember "Daysleeper" and "Imitation of Life" kicking all kinds of ass on the 2nd one.

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How many of the original VJs are still alive?

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It seems like REM actually did 2 episodes. The first was great (really liked their cover of "Love Is All Around), the second (circa 2001) wasn't so hot.

 

You're right. I only saw the second one once, but I recorded the first one and watched it constantly. I know it inside and out.

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well umm if that happened the fact that wilco went on fucking mtv would completely turn them off to me.

 

 

Well you'll be disappointed to hear MTV was filming the Pines show last night.

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I would think that any new fan of the band is a good fan from the band's perspective. I am a huge Tweedy fan, dating back to Uncle Tupelo days so I feel that in some ways that Wilco is MY band. But, I understand that being in a band is both an artistic and a commercial enterprise. It is in the band's interest to have as many potential fans buying and hearing their music as possible. The recent VW campaign is a prime example. Some of their fans will accuse them of "selling out". If they get any MTV or VH1 airplay (videos, unplugged, etc.) I am sure those same fans will complain about that as well. At the end of the day, Tweedy and the guys are trying to make a living. They are not selling millions of CD's or LP's. They are not selling millions of tickets to their shows. They are not getting consistent radio airplay in order to get those royalties. They are not exactly getting filthy rich off their livelihood. They are just a band trying to do their thing (THANK THE GOOD LORD IT IS A GREAT THING THEY DO) and trying to have half way comfortable lives through that effort. Let's not get on some soap box and act like us long time fans have some kind of proprietary ownership of them and their music. So far, Tweedy and the band have done nothing to suggest that any success they enjoy has an impact on their music or performance. THAT, is a pretty damn good thing to see. Unlike other "alternative" contemporaries such as REM and U2...I get the sense that Tweedy and the boys are pretty "real", what you see is what you get, and no amount of success is going to change that...and I believe that is one of the real attributes of this band.

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I would think that any new fan of the band is a good fan from the band's perspective. I am a huge Tweedy fan, dating back to Uncle Tupelo days so I feel that in some ways that Wilco is MY band. But, I understand that being in a band is both an artistic and a commercial enterprise. It is in the band's interest to have as many potential fans buying and hearing their music as possible. The recent VW campaign is a prime example. Some of their fans will accuse them of "selling out". If they get any MTV or VH1 airplay (videos, unplugged, etc.) I am sure those same fans will complain about that as well. At the end of the day, Tweedy and the guys are trying to make a living. They are not selling millions of CD's or LP's. They are not selling millions of tickets to their shows. They are not getting consistent radio airplay in order to get those royalties. They are not exactly getting filthy rich off their livelihood. They are just a band trying to do their thing (THANK THE GOOD LORD IT IS A GREAT THING THEY DO) and trying to have half way comfortable lives through that effort. Let's not get on some soap box and act like us long time fans have some kind of proprietary ownership of them and their music. So far, Tweedy and the band have done nothing to suggest that any success they enjoy has an impact on their music or performance. THAT, is a pretty damn good thing to see. Unlike other "alternative" contemporaries such as REM and U2...I get the sense that Tweedy and the boys are pretty "real", what you see is what you get, and no amount of success is going to change that...and I believe that is one of the real attributes of this band.

 

i concur. they are pretty good to their fans. short of topless massages and oily rubdowns...they give and give and give. and some people still find ways to bitch about that. nothing is ever good enough for some folks. they've paid their dues and if they enjoy a little commercial success that might put their kids through college, then good on em. when/if it ever compromises the music, then i'll quit subscribing, but for now...I CAN'T GET ENOUGH.

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i concur. they are pretty good to their fans. short of topless massages and oily rubdowns...they give and give and give. and some people still find ways to bitch about that. nothing is ever good enough for some folks. they've paid their dues and if they enjoy a little commercial success that might put their kids through college, then good on em. when/if it ever compromises the music, then i'll quit subscribing, but for now...I CAN'T GET ENOUGH.

LOL @ massages and rubdowns. I have seen them live a load of times. Very few bands provide fan access like Wilco...they almost always mill about outside the venue by their bus and chat with fans, give autographs, etc. You are right...they have paid their dues in spades. They are one of the hardest working live acts around. Whether it be UT or Wilco, they have been critic's darlings from the get go, yet have sold a shamefully low number of discs. And, you are 100% right...their music has never been compromised. In fact, one might argue the other extreme. Every time they actually build a new fan base (i.e. with YHF for instance), they do a 180 and give us something like Less Than You Think...then another 180 to the modern updating of 70's pop/rock stylings of Sky Blue Sky. If anything, it is almost as if they are consistently saying and demonstrating that they refuse to stand in one place even at the expense of a particular segment of their fan base. Look at some of the absolutely RABID reviews of SBS. Some of those reviews lamented that Wilco had foresaken their artsy/experimential pop. What the F have these critics been listening to? Have they EVER put on Being There or Summerteeth or listened to any UT? To this point, Tweedy and Wilco have served only their own artistic direction...and to this point I have been only to happy to follow. to this fan, every twist and turn and change is not only interesting and musically pleasing...but an improvement and furthering of everything they have done previously. In other words, they are growing...and growth is seldom a bad thing (unless you count this goiter around my neck!)

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R.I.P. JJ

 

sq-first-hello-mtv.jpg

 

The original 5 for those of us old enough to harbor some nostalgia at the "good old MTV-fringe days"

 

mtvvjs.jpg

 

 

MQ was always my fave. and when i started watching 120 minutes, i had a hot crush on JJ Jackson. something about his geri curl really revved me up. ironically, i felt nothing for pinfield. why would they have a headbanger dude hosting my beloved echo and the bunnymen? i just couldn't get it. does anyone remember this time? it was followed by the young ones on sunday night...and i always wished it was saturday cause monday mornings sucked.

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if i recall correctly jay-z had an unplugged as well (post-LL i believe)

if i recall correctly jay-z's unplugged was fucking awesome

If Jay-Z did an Unplugged, without question it came after the LL Cool J one.

 

I was actually debating the relevance of them NOT appearing on music program versus them NOT going into space. If this was about them actually going on to a program, I'd agree with you.

 

Clearly the band is very space oriented, and a thread about them not going into space is just as useful in this section as threads about shows/venues/festivals they're not playing.

:lol

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