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The Replacements is an Alternative-Rock band which originated in Minneapolis,
Minnesota USA, in the late'70s; the group was originally dubbed Impediments
and initially comprised lead singer+guitarist & chief songwriter Paul
Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, Bob's younger
half-brother and drummer Chris Mars.
The quartet, affectionately known by fans as The Mats, released their
first record, "Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash", on the
Twin/Tone label in the summer of 1981 gaining a loyal following among
the local hardcore Punk scene.
With 1983's "Hootenanny" LP, the band's sound began evolving
as they broke away from the standard hardcore noise and branched out into
ballads and Pop.
Their true breakthrough came a year later with "Let It Be",
which fulfilled and exceeded the promise of their previous release.
This was the last record the Mats did for Twin/Tone; they signed to Sire
and released "Tim" in 1985; it became their first disc to briefly
slip into The Billboard Top 200 chart, peaking at #183. The band seem
to be conflicted about pursuing mainstream commercial success: signing
to a major label and doing a gig on Saturday Night Live to promote "Tim",
but showing up drunk and obnoxious at the show's taping, with Paul uttering
the "Fuck" word on the air and incurring the wrath of SNL's
producer Lorne Michaels.
After the "Tim" tour, Bob Stinson was fired because his alcohol
and drug use had gotten completely out of control.
Westerberg took over the guitar chores for recording "Pleased To
Meet Me"; the disc was released in the summer of 1987 and reached
#131 on The Billboard 200 list; the remainder of the band then asked longtime
Minneapolis guitarist Slim Dunlap to join them for the accompanying tour
and to become a band member after that.
A year later The Replacements offered their loose, bluesy "Cruella
De Ville", a single taken from the album "Stay Awake" which
features interpretations of music from classic Disney films; the track
became their first Modern Rock hit, falling one spot short of the top
10.
February 1989 saw the release of the band's next full-length disc, "Don't
Tell A Soul", which gave them their highest chart placing when it
reached #57 on The Billboard 200; the first single, "I'll Be You",
shot to #1 on both Modern and Mainstream Rock charts and also crossed
over to The Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #51; the album generated two
more Modern Rock top 30 hit, "Achin' To Be " and "Back
To Back".
Westerberg pretty much took over the band, writing and singing all the
material and dominating their sound; he wanted to do a solo album; that
may have been his plan, but the record company vetoed the idea and "All
Shook Down" was released in September 1990 as a Mats album, though
it was recorded with many studio musicians. It debuted at #69 on Billboard's
Top 200 chart spawning three alt-Rock radio smash singles including the
#1 "Merry Go Round", "Someone Take The Wheel" and
the top 5 hit "When It Began". When it came time to tour in
support of the record, drummer Chris Mars stepped in replacing Foley.
To no one's great surprise the group finally dissolved in 1991 and a small
number of solo albums has resulted.
On February 18, 1995, Bob Stinson was found dead in his Minneapolis apartment
from a suspected drug overdose.
In 2006 The Replacements members Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson and Chris
Mars reunited to record two new tracks for the long awaited compilation
"Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? The Best Of The Replacements",
which came out in June on Rhino; the set features the album-Rock radio
single "Message To The Boys" and "Pool And Dive",
the band's first new recordings in 16 years.
The Replacements biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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