#elmopalooza

En Vogue, along with Zoe, Cookie Monster, Frazzle, and The Two-Headed Monster, performed "I Want a Monster to Be My Friend" for Elmopalooza.

Source:

Jon Stewart sings 'Songs' from Elmopalooza 1998 🤩🎶

REQUEST VIDEO

If this request wasn't from 5 weeks ago I would have said it was prescient considering Jon mentioned last week lol. Anyway, I don't know if this version is any better quality than any others that exist but I did my best for you!

Bonus dance gif! & yes he's so freakin' adorable throughout the whole thing it gives me mild cuteness aggression lol. He's trying SO hard that it makes me want to eat rocks. 😍

Bummer news yesterday that Boston ska punkers The Mighty Mighty Bosstones announced their break up. 

The band began in 1983 and have been a staple in the Boston music scene for decades now. Earlier this week news came out that singer Dickie Barrett apparently produced a song that was played at the anti-vaxxer rally last weekend in D.C. Whether it was MMB’s Dickie Barrett or someone with that name is unclear and whether that is the reason for the break up is also unclear. What is crystal clear is that the band has had quite a good run! 

MMB circa 1997

They came out of the 1980s Boston hardcore scene with a sound that combined punk, hardcore, reggae, and ska, but was radio-friendly and catchy enough to get on alt rock radio in the 90s. I first became aware of them with their Converse All-Star TV ad they appeared in circa 1991. In high school I got to know some of their stuff and a good friend who was a big fan made me a cassette mix tape.  I saw them at Lollapalooza 1995 (the same Summer they appeared in the movie Clueless), where they opened the show. Crazy to see these guys in suits dancing on stage in 90 degree weather. In 1996, I saw them do an epic show at NYC’s Roseland. In 1997, I saw them headline the WBCN River Rave, where they were joined on stage by Mission of Burma and Moby to perform “That’s When I Reach for my Revolver”. On a side note, both MMB and Mission of Burma opened for Foo Fighters at Fenway Park in 2015!  It was around 1996-97, when ska music broke through thanks to bands like No Doubt, Goldfinger and Sublime. MMB were in the right place at the right time. In 2013, I saw them do a free show in Boston Common at the Outside the Box Festival.

MMB mascot

In 2017, I wrote a piece about their anti-racist song “Let’s Face It”, which was having a resurgence in response to the white supremacist events in VA. I heard through the grapevine that the band read my piece and really enjoyed it.  It was unfortunate that this song from 1997 was even more relevant than ever 20 years later, but many felt that MMB were speaking for them with this song’s message and lyrics: “Be racist, be sexist, be bigots, be sure: We won’t stand for your hate.” MMB have always been a band with a message in their music of: we’re having a party and everyone’s invited, but if you’re not respectful then you’re not invited! Amen!

Hometown Throwdown show on 12/28/2018

Through this blog I have had the chance to cover MMB: reviewing their 2018 album While We’re At It, a concert review of one of their 2018 Hometown Throwdown shows, and last year’s excellent final album When God Was Great. That last album truly feels like a final statement from the band and it was their best album since the 90s. 

animated band in 2021

The band had many pop culture moments in addition to Clueless, they also appeared in Elmopalooza, on the Kiss tribute album Kiss My Ass, and in the Boston episode of The Simpsons.

MMB on The Simpsons in 2016