They’re from WHERE?

While off down internet wormholes prompted by this blog, I ran across the horrible clickbait article “Best Band from Every State,” which is designed mostly to start fights. It caught my attention because the Boys of Beach, above, and as pictured in the article, might qualify for the California designation… but not without Brian Wilson, SMH.

Anyway, I learned a little band geography and will be curious to see everyone’s reaction. As the sometimes Pacific Northwest rep, I’ll say that they’re right about Idaho, glaringly wrong about Oregon, and a little off with Washington.

9 Replies to “They’re from WHERE?”

  1. Mostly educational for me – thanks!

    Television’s the best band out of New York? Fuck you. Also, I was prepared for their Tennessee pick to send me into a stuttering rage, but Big Star’s a pretty solid choice.

  2. Agreed on both counts.

    Does anyone consider Talking Heads a Rhode Island band?
    The Cowsills got jobbed, but it was fun to see The Shaggs get some love!

  3. Foul! The guidelines were bands, no individual artists, but he picks Prince for Minnesota. He tries to get around that by using “Prince and The Revolution” and talking up the band. As Joe Biden would say, “C’mon, man.” As good as they were, they were strictly Prince’s band, an extention of his musical will. He dominated them musically and ran the show, period. He was essentially a solo act.
    You all know the best BAND to come from Minnesota: The Replacements. I’m not really saying they were “better,” because no one topped Prince at 80’s crossover R&B. Likewise, no one has really topped The Replacements at garage pop. Can’t compare them at all. Apples and oranges. Which is why such lists, while fun, are really dumb fun. But if you’re talking bands only, you’ve gotta say The Replacements.

    Television was a great band, and Marquee Moon is a great album. No way they were the greatest New York band.

    Fair enough on Big Star, as bands are the perameter. But what the holy fuck is he talking about calling Alex an “ingenue?” Of all the dumb things I’ve read about Big Star, that might be the dumbest. Maybe when he started with the Box Tops, but by Big Star he was a wizened veteran.

  4. This list triggered me a little. Agree with your take on Prince. It was just him, and they were the back up. Although, in Purple Rain, I think they were called The Revolution. But that’s a movie. Maybe you could make the same argument about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers?
    You could debate California bands forever, but I would not have put the Beach Boys at the top of the list.
    How the hell did Sleater Kinney get the nod for Washington?!!
    Television beating out the VU and The Ramones in New York seems a bit off, but, ok.

  5. Good point about TP and the Heartbreakers. I’d incline towards counting them as a band. To me they sound less like top-down dominance and more like collaboration. Especially Mike Campbell, a massively underrated guitarist and one of the greats, in my opinion. Always puts just the right note in just the right place. He never shows off; it’s always about making the song better. I’d rather listen to him than any of the guitar-god hotshots.

    And yeah, Sleater Kinney seems like a perverse choice for Washington, a musical hotbed not only during grunge but in the 60’s as well. I think by “W” my attenion was wandering.

  6. I’m sorry, this is a little off topic, but does anyone here know who that guy in between Mike Love and Al Jardine is in the picture above? I’ll probably feel dumb when I finally find out (like I oughta know), but it’s really bugging me.

    1. DJ and Mormon Bishop (!) Bill “Daddy-O” Hesterman. Apparently, Hesterman was the first DJ outside California to play Beach Boys records, and later became a friend of the band. Article here.

  7. Well, that was way more interesting than I expected! Much appreciated–it was driving me fucking crazy. I feel much better now. I didn’t know anything about Daddy-O or Saltair. Plus, a Carnival Of Souls connection. Deep!

    Thank you so much.

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