Vince Maskeeper
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 1999
- Messages
- 6,500
From a posting on the http://www.deadmilkmen.com messageboard by Kathy, Dave's sister:
Also reported on Billboard:
http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/ar..._id=1000460203
For some of us, the Dead Milkmen was really the passage into punk rock and independent music. I can honestly say, as a 4th grader (!!) when I first heard the Milkmen-- it was perfectly goofy enough to appeal to a preteen-- yet as I grew older and got the satire, irony and humor of the goofy pop tunes- I can honestly say the milkmen changed my life.
Despite the fact that sonically they have little in common- being "into" the milkmen turned me on to other bands like Husker Du, the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, and many others. Them, along with fear, were my first experiments into alternative cultural expression that would help me define myself as a teenager. It's cliche to say, but in a lot of ways- those records saved my life.
Years and Years later, I managed a hole-in-the-wall rock club here in Ohio. No matter what band would play, no matter what genre from hardcore to lilting alternative rock to goofy pop-- if I put on the Dead Milkmen's "Big Lizard in my Backyard" between sets- more than half the crowd would be caught signing along. It was one record that seemed to be tattooed on the brains of alternative music fans--- no matter where their searches outside the mainstream had taken them, many of them had spent some time with the Milkmen.
In the end, i guess that is the best legacy a band can claim-- to have affected someone. I know they affected me.
-Vince
Also reported on Billboard:
http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/ar..._id=1000460203
For some of us, the Dead Milkmen was really the passage into punk rock and independent music. I can honestly say, as a 4th grader (!!) when I first heard the Milkmen-- it was perfectly goofy enough to appeal to a preteen-- yet as I grew older and got the satire, irony and humor of the goofy pop tunes- I can honestly say the milkmen changed my life.
Despite the fact that sonically they have little in common- being "into" the milkmen turned me on to other bands like Husker Du, the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, and many others. Them, along with fear, were my first experiments into alternative cultural expression that would help me define myself as a teenager. It's cliche to say, but in a lot of ways- those records saved my life.
Years and Years later, I managed a hole-in-the-wall rock club here in Ohio. No matter what band would play, no matter what genre from hardcore to lilting alternative rock to goofy pop-- if I put on the Dead Milkmen's "Big Lizard in my Backyard" between sets- more than half the crowd would be caught signing along. It was one record that seemed to be tattooed on the brains of alternative music fans--- no matter where their searches outside the mainstream had taken them, many of them had spent some time with the Milkmen.
In the end, i guess that is the best legacy a band can claim-- to have affected someone. I know they affected me.
-Vince
