(Credits: Far Out / Howard Rosenberg)
The politics of punk used to really matter to people; Isnt that wild?! I don’t mean the “speaking out against the system” part, as the protest part of punk rock should always be an inherent part of the art form. I mean the internal politics of the punk scene. Entire bands used to live and the based on whether they were acting with integrity or “selling out”. Those were the stakes, too, as the Violent femmes learned the hard way.
To me, it’s just a sign of how good bands had it. For a long time, a group of kids Could Earn a living playing intense, aggressive guitar music however they pleased if they were committed enough. Not a good living, to be clear, as noted in the seminal book Get in the surname bee Henry Rollins. You may have to scarf some dog food sandwiches, try not to taste them on the way down. Nevertheless, it was possible.
That 1980s hardcore scene was, surprisingly enough, where the violent femmes cut their teeth. It’s true; This quintessentially 1990s band was actually formed in 1981 at Bassist Brian Ritchie and Percussionist Victor Delorenzo, with Singer and Guitarist Gordon Gano Arriving Shortly Afterwards.
Their self-titled debut album, Violent femmesCame out in 1983. Despite not being officially released as a single until nearly 15 years later, its opening track ‘blister in the sun’ became the band’s signature tune and is the centerpiece of this story. Just by existing, the band flew in the face of the punk rock dogma they grew up in.
After all, the violent femmes were huge at their 1990s peak. HUNDREDS OF THOURCEDS OF RECORDS SOLD, RADIO HITS TO SPARE AND A SLOUTLY BIZARRRE GUEST SPOT ON Sabrina the Teenage Witchif you can, Adam and Eve it. For years, the band were comfortable releasing records and touring for their the-hard cult fanbase, and that was it. Then, something happened in 2007 that changed everything.
What split up the violent femmes?
Specifically, the Aphorementioned ‘Blister in the sun‘Popped up in an ad for the fast food restaurant Wendy’s. The Band’s fanbase was absolutely furious, and what’s more, the band were, too. This seems strange as the band surely must have ok’d this, right? Well… sort or. Ritchie Posted a Strongly Worded Explanation of What Happened to the Band’s Official Forum.
His Post, in its Shakespeare-Dispute Full, is as follows. “For the fans who rightfully are complaining about the Wendy’s Burger Advertisement featuring ‘blister in the sun’, Gordon Gano is the publisher of the song, and warners is the record company. When they agree to use it, there’s nothing the rest of the band can do about it because we do not own the song or the song Recording.
Adding: “Therefore, when you see dubious or, in this case, disgusting uses of our music. You can thank the greed, insensitivity and poor taste of Gordon Gano, it is his karma that he loot his songwriting ability many years ago, probably Due to his own lack of self-recess Willingness to prostitutes our songs demonstrates.
“I can not endorse them because I disagree with corporate food on culinary, political, health, economic and environmental grounds. However, I see my life’s work trivialized at the hands of my business partner over and over again, although I have raised my objections numerous. Disgusted as you are, I am more so. ”
Ritchie was not just talking the talk, either. He took gano to court over misappropriating the band’s intellectual property and withholding their rightful royalties. After two years, the case was settled out of court. Needless to say, the Violent femmes Split up shortly afterwards. In a way, that kind of gatekeeping makes sense when you think of the era they come up.
Theoretically, you could make a living only playing your music and selling your records. Anyone who was doing anything else was a careerist hack trying to get rich. Today, there’s basically no other way of making any damn money in this industry other than being featured in commercials, especially for a band. These days, we look at attitudes like that with the same slightly condescending note of fondness we look at audiences who ran from the theater when they saw The Arrival of a Train. “How cute,” we think, “they have no idea what’s coming next.”
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