Make a wish

Worcester scenesters look forward to 1998

by John O'Neill

Nineteen ninety-seven sure was an interesting time for music. After a year of weak record sales, the industry, desperate for the Next Big Thing, latched on to the electronica craze. Sometimes trippy and visionary (Chemical Brothers), other times angry disco for non-thinkers (Prodigy), electronica turned out to be little more than a calculated mass marketing of a youth movement by the adults. (It isn't known if they made their initial investment back yet.) Grunge's corpse was wrapped in flannel, given a few choice words in Latin, and tossed off the back of the company yacht to sink almost as quickly as R.E.M.'s latest release. And the Spice Girls somehow made Milli Vanilli not so terrible in retrospect. Marilyn Manson, like Bozo with Tourette's, proved with the proper amount of Max Factor and few inflammatory words, that not only could you drive parents nuts (and kids to the record store as a result) but that most people won't really notice you have absolutely no fucking talent whatsoever. And Fiona Apple, well, she's something special, isn't she?

So, as 1997 comes to a close, the industry finds itself pretty much in the same spot as it was when the year began. Oh, sure, there were some big winners: Hanson, Puff Daddy, Spice Girls, Smashmouth, Third Eye Blind, and Matchbox 20 all had a huge 1997, but can you really imagine any of these guys qualifying as players in five years' time? With this in mind we took to the streets in order to gain a little insight into what really mattered in music for 1997 from those hipsters with their thumb on the pulse of all-things-cool-and-happening. It was also a chance to kill two birds with one stone and round up resolutions for 1998 (thus making for one of those fluff columns writers love to write, 'cause it's easy on the brain). What follows is a partial list of faves by those "in-the-know" and should not be confused with the mindless drivel spouted from corporate PR-types or commercial radio hacks. Use at your own risk.

"My favorite album is Paul Weller's Heavy Soul. It's one of the more creative ones this year. My resolution is to be nicer to my mom."

-- John McKeag, WCUW DJ

"I'm 62 and I've seen it all. I saw the Woodstock movie and nothing compares to that. Except the Rick Blaze CD. This year I'm gonna have `DO NOT RESUSCITATE' tattooed on my chest."

-- Bob Peters, Free Radicals

"Danny Gatton and Robert Gordon The Humbler album is great. It's some of the most phenomenal guitar playing ever caught live. It shows that Gatton's studio stuff wasn't effects. My resolution is to play one one-thousandth as well as Danny Gatton!"

-- Jay Holdash, Fearless Leaders

"Bringing Down the Horse by the Wallflowers is probably my favorite, for I too have driven down the road with one headlight. My resolution is to try to be a good boy on the floor of city council."

-- Tim Murray, city councilor elect

"Album of the Year goes to Viva! Los Straightjackets. My resolution is to lose two of my three chins."

-- Tina Zlody, scenester

"I don't know. I'm out of the loop. The only album I bought this year was Guided By Voices. It's really very good, and I love them. I'm getting married so my resolution is to make the first year a good one."

-- Dave Parent, Puddle

"I've been going back in time and listening to the old Hoodoo Gurus' stuff. But the new Foo Fighters' album is good and the Muffs' Happy Birthday to Me is smart, punky music. We had a pretty slow year in 1997, so we'd like to get the band out of the house and play out more.

-- Gregg Levins, Pothole

"Sexpod's Goddess Blues is my favorite album. It's raw, fierce, no-bullshit rock. It's woman's music for the hip, twenties-ish dyke. This year I'm gonna let my freak flag fly and become a human pin cushion."

-- Judy Ricardi, WCUW DJ

"Oasis was the top album of the year. Some people didn't like Sergeant Pepper when it first came out either, but over time people will understand. My resolution is to gamble heavily."

-- Dave Goldberg, WCUW DJ

"I have lots of favorite releases this year. Presently, the Zombies four-CD boxed set is inspiring. It's just absolutely nutso. It's great, it's fabulous! I'd like to not reveal my identity as the Caped Crusader. I'd like to keep that in check."

-- J.J. Rassler, Rounder Records

big shot/crime fighter

"I follow Max Creek, they'll be putting out a CD soon. In 1998 the Stones and U2 will continue to do well. Michael Jackson will have something very heavy in '98 or '99, he'll have a few singles out. I also see Prince coming out with something big geared towards 1999."

-- Jason Freidas,

rock-and-roll psychic