SING ALONG WITH MITCH AND SCRATCH
Aug. 4th, 2010 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogThere’s been a few music-related deaths this week, but the two most notable ones (for me) couldn’t be further apart in the musical spectrum.
Namely, Mitch Miller and Derf Scratch.
For those of you who don’t know, Mitch Miller was karaoke before karaoke was karaoke. Not literally, of course, but the “Sing Along With Mitch” TV show and LP series was designed for at-home audience participation. I know this because my mom was a fan, and she had several of his records – none of which I particularly liked. I wasn’t exactly the hippest kid on the block – quite the opposite – but I knew “square” when I heard it.
Of course, Miller had his good points, at least as an A&R man – he got record deals for Johnnie Ray, Frankie Lane and Tony Bennett (okay and Percy Faith). And he also made goatees safe for America after the 50s Beatnik Panic.
But ultimately, Mitch’s ultra-happy approach to music was at odds with my generally negative outlook on life – so much so that he’s probably partly responsible for turning me on to heavy metal and punk.
Which brings us to Derf Scratch, a.k.a. the bass/sax player and co-founder of one of the greatest punk bands ever, Fear, and the coiner of the phrase “Eat my fuck”.
If Miller was all about cheerfulness and good times, Fear was about generally offending as many people as possible, including their own fans, often with gay-baiting verbal abuse. Their notorious appearance on Saturday Night Live alone is probably responsible for that Quincy M.E. episode about punks. All of it was intended to be humorous – both in terms of mocking the right-wing attitudes of the time and bagging on fans for taking punk too seriously – but Fear played it so straight-faced that it probably worked too well.
Still, it was Fear’s obvious (to me) sense of humor that roped me in, as well as the fact that, musically, they were fantastic, if only for awhile. Fear The Record may be their only album worth buying, but it’s one of the essential albums of the 80s, if not of all time.
So thanks for that, Derf.
And I’ve posted this before, but it’s worth reposting to see Derf Scratch’s sax work on “New York’s All Right If You Like Saxophones”.
Have a beer with Fear,
This is dF
Namely, Mitch Miller and Derf Scratch.
For those of you who don’t know, Mitch Miller was karaoke before karaoke was karaoke. Not literally, of course, but the “Sing Along With Mitch” TV show and LP series was designed for at-home audience participation. I know this because my mom was a fan, and she had several of his records – none of which I particularly liked. I wasn’t exactly the hippest kid on the block – quite the opposite – but I knew “square” when I heard it.
Of course, Miller had his good points, at least as an A&R man – he got record deals for Johnnie Ray, Frankie Lane and Tony Bennett (okay and Percy Faith). And he also made goatees safe for America after the 50s Beatnik Panic.
But ultimately, Mitch’s ultra-happy approach to music was at odds with my generally negative outlook on life – so much so that he’s probably partly responsible for turning me on to heavy metal and punk.
Which brings us to Derf Scratch, a.k.a. the bass/sax player and co-founder of one of the greatest punk bands ever, Fear, and the coiner of the phrase “Eat my fuck”.
If Miller was all about cheerfulness and good times, Fear was about generally offending as many people as possible, including their own fans, often with gay-baiting verbal abuse. Their notorious appearance on Saturday Night Live alone is probably responsible for that Quincy M.E. episode about punks. All of it was intended to be humorous – both in terms of mocking the right-wing attitudes of the time and bagging on fans for taking punk too seriously – but Fear played it so straight-faced that it probably worked too well.
Still, it was Fear’s obvious (to me) sense of humor that roped me in, as well as the fact that, musically, they were fantastic, if only for awhile. Fear The Record may be their only album worth buying, but it’s one of the essential albums of the 80s, if not of all time.
So thanks for that, Derf.
And I’ve posted this before, but it’s worth reposting to see Derf Scratch’s sax work on “New York’s All Right If You Like Saxophones”.
Have a beer with Fear,
This is dF
