I've been a Weezer fan since the beginning. Because of this, I was not only able to interview them for my college radio station on their first tour of the U.S., but I also knew about them early enough to join their fan club, which gave me the privilege of being sent a homemade, photocopied fanzine.

(left: Issue #1 of Weezer's long out-of-print fanzine.)

Not too long ago when I was reorganizing a box of old magazines and mementos, I came across Weezine, Issue #1.

By Jim Shearer in LOST TREASURES | Link | Recommended (4)

Tags: Mykel and Carli, Weezer, Weezine

In this edition of Lost Treasures we wipe the cobwebs off an art-form that is rarely used in music these days--alternate lyrics in hip-hop. Today when an explicit-filled rap song is played on the television or radio (or even ring tone), the clean-version will usually sound something like this, "Yo, I was messin' wit that mutha [silence] [silence], she was suckin' my [silence] cause I'm mutha [silence] rich." Some songs have so many edits in them, it almost sounds like the emcee has a chronic case of the hiccups. If the original is minced to pieces, why even release a censored-version of a song? Why not just keep it "street" and maintain its explicit purity?

(above: Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg were more profound when they censored themselves.)

Well, it's usually the heavy radio rotation and music videos spins that make an artist--um--mutha [silence] rich! Also, f-bombs and slang for female anatomy usually don't go over well at wedding receptions or major sporting events. If you want to make it big, you gotta be able to juggle the street-version with the clean-version, and these days the latter just requires a tap of the mute button.

By Jim Shearer in LOST TREASURES | Link | Recommended (3)

Tags: Alternate Rap Lyrics, Dr. Dre, Lost Treasures, Nuthin' But a G Thang, Snoop Dogg, The Chronic

Welcome to Lost Treasures, a brand new section here on the Indie Ear Blog, where every so often, I'll go up in the attic, pull out some old boxes, and blow the dust off of some forgotten gems. These items, for whatever reason, have slipped through the cracks of music and pop-culture, yet managed to make an indelible impression on me.

There's a well-known saying: One man's trash is another man's treasure. Hopefully my treasures don't leave you running for the nearest garbage bin.

By Jim Shearer in LOST TREASURES | Link | Recommended (2)

Tags: Lost Treasure, Sodom in America, XL & DBD