Merry Go Round - Music
Merry Go Round by The Replacements
The Replacements
Artist Biography For The Replacements
The Replacements Were An Alternative Rock Group That Formed In Minneapolis Minnesota In 1979. The Band Originally Started Off As A Hardcore Punk Outfit But Began To Incorporate Folk And Power Pop Influences In Their Sound. They Become One Of The Leaders Of The Early Alt-Folk Set And One Of The Flagship Bands Of The American Post-Punk Scene In The 80s Being A Major Influence On 90s Indie Rock As Well. The Band's Best Known Lineup Consisted Of Paul Westerberg Vocals Guitar Bob Stinson Guitar Tommy Stinson Bass And Chris Mars Drums . They Were Infamous For Their Abrasive Hard Drinking Lifestyles And Their Ragged Stage Performances Notorious For Coming To Some Shows Too Drunk To Play Very Well At All. Sometimes They Just Performed Entire Sets Of Covers Their Picks Showing Their Debt To 70s Hard Rock Outfits. The Sound Of This Band Showed Off What Their Many Fans Saw As The Very Best Of Independent Rock N' Roll. More Than Possibly Any Other Band Since The Rolling Stones And The The Ramones The Replacements Embodied The Spirit Of Rock From Their Raucous Performances Drug Addictions Charismatic And Romantic Frontman And Wild Sometimes Basic And Sometimes Powerfully Confessional Songs. At Any Given Time Almost Any List Of 'The Best Rock Albums Of All Time' Will Include Either The Album 'Let It Be' Or 'Tim' Sometimes Both. Their Sound Started Off As A Classic Rock Influenced Shade Of Punk Mutating To A Melodic Hardcore Sound Reminiscent Of Local Buddies Hüsker Dü. They Also Progressed Into A Relatively Straightforward But Heartfelt Rock Style With A Number Of Highly Soulful Ballads From The Heart Of Westerberg To Round Out The Mix. The Band Broke Up In 1991. Bob Stinson Who Was Fired From The Band In 1986 And Was Subsequently Replaced By Slim Dunlap Died In 1995. Westerberg And Mars Both Have Solo Careers And Tommy Stinson Formed Several Bands Like Perfect And Bash And Pop And Now Plays Bass For Guns And Roses And Soul Asylum. In 2012 Paul Westerberg And Tommy Stinson Reformed The Replacements And Recorded An EP "Songs For Slim" As A Benefit For Former Member Slim Dunlap Who Had Suffered A Stroke. The Band Played Their First Show Since 1991 On August 24 2013 At RiotFest In Toronto And Has Since Played At Several Festivals Since. The Band Also Currently Includes Josh Freese On Drums And Dave Minehan On Guitar. The Band Played Its Final Show In June 2015.
Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Merry Go Round
The-Replacements - All Shook Down
"Merry Go Round" Is About Mary Lucia Younger Sister Of Replacements Frontman Paul Westerberg. Lucia Is A Music-Industry Figure In Her Own Right Having Worked Since 2005 As On-Air Personality For Multiple Minnesota Radio Stations And Shows. Her Show Popular Creeps Named After A Song From Horseshoes And Hand Grenades The 1992 Debut Solo Album By Replacements Drummer Chris Mars Won The Minnesota Music Award For "Best Locally Produced Show" Twice. She's Also Written For Multiple Outlets. Lucia Also Narrates The Audiobook Version Of Trouble Boys The Story Of The Replacements By Bob Mehr. "Merry Go Round" Isn't A Celebration Of Lucia's Achievements. As With Most Westerberg Songs It's About Life's Troubles And Unfairness. Specifically It's About Lucia As An Unhappy Child. The Westerbergs Grew Up In A Working-Class Home Frequently Filled With Tension. The Song's Lyrics Are Elliptical Yet Give A Clear Impression Of A Forlorn Girl Born Into Sad Circumstances. Westerberg Has Characterized Himself As A Defeatist Always Drawn To The Losers Victims And Tragic Characters Of Life. He Wrote Another Such Song For His Older Sister With "Waitress In The Sky." The Band Shot The Song's Video On A Sound Stage In Hollywood. Jesse Dylan Son Of Bob Dylan Directed It. The Dylan Clan Has An Interesting History With The Replacements. It's Told In The Story Of "Like A Rolling Pin." "Merry Go Round" Was The Lead Single Off The Replacements' Seventh Studio Album All Shook Down. The Band Felt Things Coming Apart But Didn't Know It Would Be Their Final Studio Album Together.
The Song Held #1 On The Modern Rock Tracks Chart For Four Weeks - A Respectable Showing For A Band That Never Had Big Sales. In Trouble Boys Author Bob Mehr Makes The Point That This Achievement Was "illusory." Rock Radio Was Fading In 1990 And Being Replaced By Alternative Radio Which Would Become Dominant In The '90s. "The 'Mats Had Gotten Caught In The Slipstream Between The Demise Of The AOR Album Oriented Rock As The Dominant Format And The Rise Of Alternative Radio As A Viable Commercial Entity " Mehr Writes. In A Strange Twist The Band That Had Started As Hard-Edged And Raw As Any Out There Had Evolved Into A Sweet Melody Maker Just In Time For Hard-Edged Raw Music To Take Over The Airwaves. Bad Timing Colored The Fate Of The Replacements From The Beginning Of The Band To The End. Replacements Drummer Chris Mars Started To Remove Himself From The Band During The Making Of All Shook Down. His Personal Problems With Westerberg Had Gotten Worse Especially After Westerberg's Sobriety Removed Drunkenness As An Excuse For Their Conflicts. For His Part Westerberg Openly Criticized Mars To The Press. He Later Claimed He Was Trying To "light A Fire Under His Ass" And Get Mars Motivated Again But Mars Didn't Take It That Way. He Bailed Before Recording Was Over Though He's In The Video For The Song. Charley Drayton Drums On The Track As Well As On "Someone Take The Wheel" . Drayton Has Drummed All Over The Place. He's Performed With The Rolling Stones Paul Simon Johnny Cash Bob Dylan Iggy Pop Mariah Carey And A Bunch Of Other Top-Shelf Acts.
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Biography - The Replacements
The Replacements Were An Alternative Rock Group That Formed In Minneapolis Minnesota In 1979. The Band Originally Started Off As A Hardcore Punk Outfit But Began To Incorporate Folk And Power Pop Influences In Their Sound. They Become One Of The Leaders Of The Early Alt-Folk Set And One Of The Flagship Bands Of The American Post-Punk Scene In The 80s Being A Major Influence On 90s Indie Rock As Well. The Band's Best Known Lineup Consisted Of Paul Westerberg Vocals Guitar Bob Stinson Guitar Tommy Stinson Bass And Chris Mars Drums . They Were Infamous For Their Abrasive Hard Drinking Lifestyles And Their Ragged Stage Performances Notorious For Coming To Some Shows Too Drunk To Play Very Well At All. Sometimes They Just Performed Entire Sets Of Covers Their Picks Showing Their Debt To 70s Hard Rock Outfits. The Sound Of This Band Showed Off What Their Many Fans Saw As The Very Best Of Independent Rock N' Roll. More Than Possibly Any Other Band Since The Rolling Stones And The The Ramones The Replacements Embodied The Spirit Of Rock From Their Raucous Performances Drug Addictions Charismatic And Romantic Frontman And Wild Sometimes Basic And Sometimes Powerfully Confessional Songs. At Any Given Time Almost Any List Of 'The Best Rock Albums Of All Time' Will Include Either The Album 'Let It Be' Or 'Tim' Sometimes Both. Their Sound Started Off As A Classic Rock Influenced Shade Of Punk Mutating To A Melodic Hardcore Sound Reminiscent Of Local Buddies Hüsker Dü. They Also Progressed Into A Relatively Straightforward But Heartfelt Rock Style With A Number Of Highly Soulful Ballads From The Heart Of Westerberg To Round Out The Mix. The Band Broke Up In 1991. Bob Stinson Who Was Fired From The Band In 1986 And Was Subsequently Replaced By Slim Dunlap Died In 1995. Westerberg And Mars Both Have Solo Careers And Tommy Stinson Formed Several Bands Like Perfect And Bash And Pop And Now Plays Bass For Guns And Roses And Soul Asylum. In 2012 Paul Westerberg And Tommy Stinson Reformed The Replacements And Recorded An EP "Songs For Slim" As A Benefit For Former Member Slim Dunlap Who Had Suffered A Stroke. The Band Played Their First Show Since 1991 On August 24 2013 At RiotFest In Toronto And Has Since Played At Several Festivals Since. The Band Also Currently Includes Josh Freese On Drums And Dave Minehan On Guitar. The Band Played Its Final Show In June 2015.
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16 Similar Artists To The Replacements - Frogtoon Music
Paul Westerberg Hüsker Dü Mission Of Burma Minutemen Sugar Superchunk The Hold Steady Wipers Pavement The Feelies R.E.M. Bob Mould The Lemonheads Wire Jawbreaker.
"Merry Go Round" is about Mary Lucia, younger sister of Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg. Lucia is a music-industry figure in her own right, having worked since 2005 as on-air personality for multiple Minnesota radio stations and shows. Her show Popular Creeps (named after a song from Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, the 1992 debut solo album by Replacements drummer Chris Mars) won the Minnesota Music Award for "Best Locally Produced Show" twice. She's also written for multiple outlets. Lucia also narrates the audiobook version of Trouble Boys: The Story of the Replacements, by Bob Mehr.
"Merry Go Round" isn't a celebration of Lucia's achievements. As with most Westerberg songs, it's about life's troubles and unfairness. Specifically, it's about Lucia as an unhappy child. The Westerbergs grew up in a working-class home frequently filled with tension. The song's lyrics are elliptical yet give a clear impression of a forlorn girl born into sad circumstances.
Westerberg has characterized himself as a defeatist always drawn to the losers, victims, and tragic characters of life. He wrote another such song for his older sister with "Waitress In The Sky."
The band shot the song's video on a sound stage in Hollywood. Jesse Dylan, son of Bob Dylan, directed it. The Dylan clan has an interesting history with The Replacements. It's told in the story of "Like A Rolling Pin."
"Merry Go Round" was the lead single off The Replacements' seventh studio album, All Shook Down. The band felt things coming apart but didn't know it would be their final studio album together.
The song held #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart for four weeks - a respectable showing for a band that never had big sales. In Trouble Boys, author Bob Mehr makes the point that this achievement was "illusory." Rock radio was fading in 1990 and being replaced by alternative radio, which would become dominant in the '90s. "The 'Mats had gotten caught in the slipstream between the demise of the AOR (album oriented rock) as the dominant format and the rise of alternative radio as a viable commercial entity," Mehr writes.
In a strange twist, the band that had started as hard-edged and raw as any out there had evolved into a sweet melody maker just in time for hard-edged, raw music to take over the airwaves. Bad timing colored the fate of The Replacements from the beginning of the band to the end.
Replacements drummer Chris Mars started to remove himself from the band during the making of All Shook Down. His personal problems with Westerberg had gotten worse, especially after Westerberg's sobriety removed drunkenness as an excuse for their conflicts.
For his part, Westerberg openly criticized Mars to the press. He later claimed he was trying to "light a fire under his ass" and get Mars motivated again, but Mars didn't take it that way. He bailed before recording was over, though he's in the video for the song.
Charley Drayton drums on the track (as well as on "Someone Take The Wheel"). Drayton has drummed all over the place. He's performed with The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Mariah Carey, and a bunch of other top-shelf acts. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.