Jess Harvell’s piece on The Misfits’ relationship to New Jersey earlier this week sparked some debate from out-of-state residents over which musicians deserved to be elevated to bard status as far as their respective homelands went. I wouldn’t try to speak for all of New York, because, well, doing so would be just silly (plus I think that as someone who still calls Rockland County “upstate” from time to time I’d be disqualified from that particular panel by anyone living north of the Bronx). But I do have one nominee for Long Island’s most mythical artist… and it’s not Billy Joel.
Oh sure, my fellow Hicksville High School alum is probably the artist who’s most emblematic of Long Island—the Boomer nostalgia, the constant aspirations toward life in The City, the name-dropping of the Village Green and the Empire Diner, the ever-more-bitter tinge his life has taken on as he gets older (and yes, his 60+ status means that he’s kept up with the local demographics, as evidenced by Newsday‘s Saturday supplement called Act Two). But when I think of Long Island and its myths, I think of Twisted Sister lead vocalist Dee Snider, born in Massapequa.
• His glory days were in the 1980s, much like Long Island’s.
• If the governments of Nassau and Suffolk Counties could get inspired by the recent reissue of Stay Hungry and come up with a 25th-anniversary reissue of, say, the full payroll of the Grumman plant that closed down in 1994, it would be a real boost for the local residents’ ego.
• He’s into makeup. Although I’d say that his touch is a shade lighter than the one employed by a lot of Long Island cosmetic-wearing residents.
• And his hair! It’s gigantic!
• And he has a devotion to both; he was bitten by a shark recently and required 10 stitches, and he canceled a TV appearance as a result, saying “I have NEVER performed sitting down, and I never will…especially with a full face of makeup! DAMN YOU SHARK!”
• Snider’s hometown of Massapequa was also the home of Joey and Mary Jo Buttafuoco, who became known to the world during the whole “Amy Fisher shot her lover’s wife in the face” thing.
• Snider is a man of the people, riding the LIRR; I sat two rows behind him during a morning commute 10 years ago. (I did not say hello.)
• And perhaps most importantly, the simple, easily co-opted anti-establishment stance taken by songs like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” is Long Island, with its second-class status in relation to The City (whose media Long Islanders are force-fed daily, although Newsday gave it a good run before the Tribune Company mucked everything up; now, even the public TV stations are worse), strips and strips of shopping centers that are increasingly more vacant, and slowly dying, slowly aging industrial frameworks lurking underneath the glitzy exteriors planked on top of the landscape by people who summer here. Of course, if any of those weekend-home types extended invites to their parties, we’d go, and drink the free liquor. But that would just be a distraction between bouts of being stuck in traffic, and wondering what, exactly, is next.
Earlier: Why The Misfits Are The Most Mythic Of All New Jersey Artists
@LeighBlack: Prince, Westerberg, Dylan, Jimmy Jam (Terry Lewis is from Nebraska – and he definitely gets my vote over Conor Oberst) – Minnesota’s a tough one.
@BigRicks: Hold up there – what about the Carpenters?
@BigRicks: That said, judging from the list of people who are paying tribute to him, Mark Mulcahy probably would win the “most mythical” crown for Connecticut.
Creed. Mythic art.
@Thierry: I ALWAYS forget the Carpenters were born in the “Elm City.” Pretty safe to say that 12 Top ten singles get the nod over “How Can We Be Lovers If We Can’t Be Friends.”
I don’t feel like there is anyone artist who can represent my entire state, Washington, because it is so different from different parts of the state. I (and our most famous rocker, Kurt Cobain) grew up in Aberdeen, which is poor-to-lower-middle-class, blue collar and white (but still generally votes Democratic). Eastern Washington is very conservative and very Christian. Seattle (where I live) can look like “Stuff White People Like” without the irony, but still has a hip hop scene that is flourishing.
As much as I’d love to say Sleater-Kinney (my fave band of all time) or Nirvana or Jimi Hendrix or Heart. Hell, I’d feel more comfortable with Sir Mix A Lot, but if I had to choose someone, Pearl Jam might be the obvious choice, as much as I hate to say it. They will sell out any show they play anywhere in the state and generally still have appeal in every economic class and geographic region. They sometimes go to Mariners (and used to go to Sonics) games – like the Eastside suburbs. They are politically liberal (hey Seattle) but nonliberals in suburban and rural Washington still think they rock. Plus, I always suspected Pearl Jam as being jealous of Nirvana’s legacy, just like Eastern Washington, who has an inferiority complex towards Seattle.
I’m gonna go with Chuck Berry for Missouri because, like everything else here that’s cool, we totally ignore him until someone comes in from out of town.
Wisconsin birthed a few famous figures (Les Paul, Liberace), but being a child of alt-rock I have to go with Butch Vig.
Kris Kross.
@NedRaggett: Man, I haven’t heard Supernova’s name mentioned in a long time.
I’m in OC, too, so I loved your thoughts on this. I should probably try to find some fluf, as they were a band that I always saw in Mean Street or the weekly, but never actually heard.
I know this choice is EXACTLY from OC, but I’d have to say Sublime. I’m not a huge fan of theirs, and there catalog is extremely limited, but they represent OC, for better or worse, in my opinion. For reasons I’ll leave out of here for the time being, I found myself in OC county jail for a few weeks, and one night we were taking the bus from one jail to another when “Santeria” came on(they would sometimes play the radio for us) and every single guy on that bus was singing at the top of their lungs. Woods, brothers, paisons, Southsiders. It was kind of a cool moment.
@MayhemintheHood: Hahah, that’s a nice story (aside from the jail part obv). Sublime always makes me think of Long Beach more, I admit — they’re kinda perfect for that. (As is Snoop, obv.)
fluf appear to be still going! Which makes me happy, actually — O was always a cool guy.
Missouri would have to be The Revelators. The fact that the band based its touring schedule around harvest times on their respective farms is a testament to their Midwest roots. Also, they’re obscure and overlooked despite having a lot to offer. Also, they were a punk/blues/rockabilly band from the country, which is about as weird as the Arch. And the band is about as American as Budweiser, which is brewed in STL. Nelly be damned. The Revelators are the truth.
@bcapirigi: Hersh is a good choice for our state. I don’t care, as long as it isn’t John fricking Cafferty.
Arkansas is a no-brainer. Johnny Cash. (My apologies to Louis Jordan, Al Green and Pharoah Sanders.)
Long Island= Public Enemy.
@BigRicks: There is nothing more Connecticut than Michael Bolton. Which is, I think, why Connecticut is 93 exits of yawning and dozing off at the wheel.
As a state, it should step up a little and be more like the Reducers.
I will now be claiming James Brown for South Carolina.
Despite the fact that Texas kind of seems impossible due to size and variety (Dixie Chicks, ZZ Top, Buddy Holly, Beyonce/Destiny’s Child, Kelly Clarkson, Pantera, Butthole Surfers, Ben Kweller, Selena, Spoon, At The Drive In/Mars Volta/Sparta/Sleepercar), the correct answer is clearly Willie Nelson.
well… even though Arthur Russell was born in Iowa, he sounds like NYC… and the only famous band from there ever are indeed slipknot… and there’s always Bix Beiderbecke… but the band who has always felt most like Iowa to me, even tho they formed in boston, is Scruffy The Cat (who sprang out of Iowa band The Law, which also included Tad Hutchinson – later of the young fresh fellows). so that’s my answer.
Being from Pittsburgh thats really easy…Donnie Iris.
Gotta say that the Dead Milkmen might rep the Philly attitude best. Their sarcastic and pissy take is evident in everyone from the area, whether they want it or not.
Here is a nom for Quarterflash for the state of Oregon. Most of the bands I could name moved to Oregon after they became well-known.
John Mellencamp, FML.
@brasstax: The Commodores? WC Handy? Alabama? There are a lot of good ones.
My other two states, Mississippi and Georgia are filled with too many good choices. Seriously, whom do you choose from either?
my nom for Massachusetts would be Mark Sandman.
as for my previous residence of Florida, Tom Petty. i’d maybe jimmy buffet if i didn’t shudder every time i thought of his music.