Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Creamtastic It Came From 1980s Nashville, Again: Vandy Girls, New Wave, Channel 4 Documentary
Posted by Steve Haruch on Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 4:28 PM
The other day, Ryan Catbird posted this video on MBV, of a news segment that aired in Boise, Id., in 1985 called "Pretty in Punk." I, for one, cannot get enough of revisiting the reactions of a confused and clueless adult populace as they attempt to delve into the crazy punk culture that's making their kids look and act weird and listen to weird music.
Of course, I was immediately reminded of the "Vandy Girls New Wave Documentary" that I posted about over a year ago, so I sent some links over to MBV under the banner of "saw your Boise post, thought you might find these entertaining."
Ryan's reply: Linky no worky.
Turns out all the videos I embedded in my original post have been taken down, but after some hunting I managed to scare them up (thanks, nashville80srock), along with the awesome Channel 4 series, which I now present for your viewing pleasure.
Nashville New Wave 1983, Part 1.
Awesome Donahue footage, "crazy" punk kids, Lonnie Lardner, you name it. "New Wave is Nashville's version of the Valley Girl."
Nashville New Wave 1983, Part 2.
"Each week, new music groups with unusual names surface for a crowd that appreciates their kind of sound." The Replacements make a cameo here, allegedly playing so loud that they blow out the camera crew's equipment.
Nashville New Wave 1983, Part 3.
"Many parents find the new music painful." Not Warner Hodges' parents, though.
Nashville New Wave 1983, Part 4.
"Heh. Well, next week we move from New Wave to something that's been around a little longer: chocolate."
Meanwhile, I updated the post "Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?," originally published in August 2007, so the videos will play now.
Comments (7)
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Stupid early '80s Grandma says:
"I JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW A GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE CAN EVEN WALK AROUND LOOKING THAT WAY!!!"
and
"Get up in the morning like the rest of us and.... be a good Christian!!"
LULZ GRANDMA!!! You'll never understand us!!!
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This makes me sick to my stomach.
My family and the Hodge family have the same kind of plates and bowls.
shaddap sean. it's the thought! you're the one that loaned me please kill me in the first place.
I was in my mid-20s when a job brought me from the West Coast punk scene into Nashville in 1984, and I thought the local music community's innocence, DIY aesthetic and the new rise of youth culture in an old-guard, conservative town was refreshing, and a lot more exciting than the belligerence and nihilism that had overtaken punk in San Francisco and other places I'd been.
A good portion of my favorite rock in the mid-'80s came out of the south and midwest because the attitude was more open-hearted and less self-indulgently bitter.
As for the TV clips, they're good for a luagh, and some of it makes me nostalgic, especially the clips on the Hodges and seeing Laurie George talk about culture. I imagine a Channel 4 report on Next Big Nashville would look just as goofy in 25 years, and as completely off-base.
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