By Anita Papsmear
I, Anita Papsmear, being of marginally sound, unstable mind, do solemnly swear (with a promise to swear a lot), to tell the truth, the whole and/or partial truth, so help me, my pagan gods.
One of my first memories is around the age of 4 when I woke up my parents in the middle of the night cuz I was sitting in my room at my play table singing. I’ve always been drawn to music, I have strong opinions about music, in my next life I will play/perform music, and some days, it’s the only thing that gets me thru. I also grew up with lots of different types of music, so that was helpful to my puny, smeary brain. As a child, my nerdy parents would do “The Stroll” (The Diamonds) in the living room for fun. Mama Smear dabbled in classical piano and the television was tuned into everything from Lawrence Welk to Soultrain. We also listened to a lot of 70’s FM radio. Papa Smear also had a penchant for comedy…Flip Wilson, Bill Cosby, Bob Newhart. Carol Burnett is a huge hero of mine (hollah)…don’t ask me how this has anything to do with music, but it had to have some affect on a developing smear.
Around 1973, I received my first record (that’s vinyl to the kids) – it was John Denver’s Greatest Hits (insert pic of album cover here: John smiling among the aspens, wearing a down vest and clutching his cowboy hat atop his head). Next came 1977 and Barry Manilow Live – a brilliant 2 record set, which I would play loudly in my bedroom while lip-synching and performing to every song. I still know all the words. Incidently, it was around this time that the parental smear units took me to my first concert, Barry Manilow at Red Rocks….Yes, I’m that cool.
As a child, for fun, I would sit down with my toilet shaped transistor radio (true factoid) and a pen and paper and keep track of the leapfrog countdown with Mr. Kasey Kasem and America’s Top 40. I remember hearing The Spinners, “Rubberband Man” for the first time and having it blow my mind.
As the darkness of the teen years approached, I found myself yearning for something more than the country and pop music I had grown up with. Plus, by this time, I had worn out that old toilet transistor radio. I turned on a public TV station late one night and there was something on it that changed my life forever…a music video show called, “FM TV.” I was hooked…the first video I saw was Landscape’s “My Name is Norman Bates.” From there, I cut my musical milk teeth on everything they played (Duran Duran, B-52’s, Culture Club, Go Go’s, etc.). I got a lot of cavities in those years, but I do credit the B-52’s with getting me thru high school. I would write out their song lyrics to stay awake in class. Needless to say, my friends thought I was weird. I’d say, ”Have you heard this song? It’s by a band called Duran Duran.” Blank stares. Then, a few months later “Girls on Film” hit. Who’s the smear now?
College – ah, the musical salad years! There was a great college radio station where I went to school. A friend of mine had a radio show and, apparently, I called in requests so much that they gave me my own show so I would stop bugging them! It was 1984…fuck…what a great time for music. In my 5-year tour of college (shut your mouth), I hosted a few different radio shows and played everything from Madonna to the Producers, XTC, Translator, BoDeans, Bowie, Siouxsie, The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Psychedelic Furs, Depeche Mode, New Order – I loved it all! I also dabbled in the metal arena with, the aptly named, “M & M Heavy Metal Show” where I featured the likes of Ronnie James Dio, Accept, Wasp, Guns & Roses, Grim Reaper, Yngwie Malmsteen, and other such delights. I became the Music Director during my junior and senior years and I went to a lot of concerts, traveled to music seminars on the coasts, and interviewed and meet some cool people. Highlights include: seeing the Minutemen (before the passing of D. Boon), Nina Hagen, The Damned, Abbie Hoffman, The Godfathers, TSOL, Fishbone, and Lone Justice (the last two before they were signed). Okay – those were the cool ones….I also met (and have the pics to prove it): Stephen Pearcy of Ratt, Vince Neil & Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, Weird Al, and Dr. Dimento (although the latter two ARE cool)! It was in college when I started to DJ in clubs. Of course, it is important to note a depressing fact, the hottest spot to dance where I went to school was the local Holiday Inn. Tough training waters, but it was fun and I learned a lot!
Once sprung from the collegiate world, I found myself a professional radio gig at KTCL – a modern rock radio station. This was a time before big corporate conglomerates owned all media; a time before industry consultants and mandatory playlists. There were only 32 modern rock stations in the country when I became music director of KTCL. Four years later, there were over a hundred. During this time, Nirvana and Pearl Jam hit big and literally changed the face of the medium. Unfortunately, big media corps smelled a profit and moved in for the big, fat kill – buying up all the radio stations they could find and flipping to the mod-rock format. Anywho, I digress! I spent 7 years at the radio station, serving as music director for four of those years. This work lead to more travel, concerts, interviews, parties, and coolness. My CD collection grew exponentially at this time! Highlights included: interviewing and meeting PJ Harvey, Mission UK, Midnight Oil, and going to England’s notorious Reading Festival (1993) – an amazing 3 day festival with TONS of bands. Bands came to the Fest whether they were playing or not, so there were a lot of famed people milling about. It was a huge press junket backstage. It was here that I got to do my most fav interview of all time – Matt Johnson of The The… the man slays me with his song lyrics and turns out to be one of the funniest people ever. I met/interviewed Radiohead and Rage Against the Machine, and also had the opportunity to meet and gaze upon one Richard Ashcroft (Verve) – insert huge sigh here….I may just slide off my chair just thinking about him! That man is beautiful!
Around the time I landed the KTCL gig, I also landed a VJ spot on what was now called, “Teletunes” (the FM TV of old that inspired me so much years before)! A dream come true! Although I detested watching and listening to myself, I was an addict for the music, the travel, the concerts, and meeting and interviewing artists. Okay…and the parties! To be paid to listen and experience music all day? I long for those days now! I also took on a couple regular DJ gigs – alternative night and a disco/80’s night – way fun. I got to DJ a goth fashion show which was really cool, but my fav nights were the goth nights; black is still my favorite color. I think I may have even met a real life vampire one night – fascinating. Highlights were: meeting and interviewing Nick Cave (see Grinderman review 9/2010), Anthony Kiedis/Red Hot Chili Peppers, Siouxsie and her Banshees, Toni Halliday from Curve, Tori Amos, The Charlatans, Lush, and Ride.
All these years later, I still get off on a good song. No matter what genre, there is always a gem to be found and I am ready to hear it. Currently, I DJ for a community station (KRFC) and I get to play whatever the fuck I want (sans cuss words) – and it’s fun! This way, I am able to attend to my violent musical mood swings and share it with anyone who dares listen. I can’t tell you how freeing that is!
If you really want to know more about me, you will know me from my trail of dead (or injured) that I’ve left in my wake after attending these shows (which may, or may not, be in order and which I am adding to the list still): Del Rubio Triplets (thrill – got to meet them!), Love & Rockers (multiple), My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult (multiple), Danielle Dax, Sisters of Mercy, Pixies (multiple), The Orb, Hole, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Dead Can Dance, Wall of Voodoo, Stan Ridgeway, Siousxie & the Banshees (multiple), Portishead, PJ Harvey (multiple), The Wonderstuff, The The, New Order (2), Depeche Mode, The Verve, Radiohead, Blur, Jesus and Mary Chain, Curve, Sinead O’Connor (2), NIN, Ween (multiple), The Damned, Yothu Yindi, Dave Matthews, Ministry (multiple), Skinny Puppy, Butthole Surfers, The Church (multiple), Peter Murphy (multiple), Bauhaus, The Cure (2), Ozric Tentacles, Daniel Ash, Billy Bragg, Split Lip Rayfield, Primus (multiple), Gorillaz, King Khan & the Shrines, Godfathers, DeVotchka, Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, Tricky, Thievery Corporation, REM, Nirvana, Machines of Loving Grace, Big Star, Faith No More (with Chuck Mosely/original singer), Faith No More (this time with Mike Patton singing), The Minutemen, Southern Culture on the Skids, Cocteau Twins, Lucinda Williams, Red Hot Chili Peppers (2), Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Ozzy Osborne, TMBG, Phil Collins, Ronnie James Dio, Guns & Roses, Beatfarmers, Tears For Fears, Pink Martini, Mission UK, Level 42, Little River Band, Ziggy Marley, Tori Amos (2), Andreas Vollenweider, King Crimson, Tom Jones, John Denver, Chuck Mangione, Barry Manilow, Rick Springfield, Morcheeba, GoGo’s, Adorable, Grateful Dead (with Bruce Hornsby – no Jerry, I’m not that cool), The Chieftains, Soupdragons, Soul Asylum, Lords of Acid (multiple), Peter Himmelman (multiple), Twice Wilted, Melissa Etheridge, Sugarcubes, Henry Rollins (spoken & music), U2, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Police, Loverboy, Danzig, Fuel, Green Day, Steel Pulse, Dwight Yoakam, Public Enemy, Voice of the Beehive, Pavement, Beck, Brian Setzer, B-52’s (2), The Ramones, Combustible Edison, Lush (multiple), Ride, Slowdive, Hoodoo Gurus, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Live (2), Big Head Todd & the Monsters (multiple), Opie Gone Bad, Big Audio Dynamite, George Clinon, Jellyfish, Pop’s Cool Love, The Pretenders, Los Lobos, Phil Collins, Motley Crue, Chris Isaak, Violent Femmes, Bob Mould, War, Blind Boys From Alabama, Oasis, Maceo Parker, Alison Moyet, Alainis Morrissette, Cake, Morrissey, Billy Idol, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Midnight Oil, Medicine, Sarah McLachlan, Terrance Trent D’Arby, Duran Duran, Cowboy Junkies, Wolfgang Press, Crowded House, Dada, Dick Dale, Deeelight, Dinosaur Jr., Everclear, Filter, Shelleyan Orphan, Bruce Springsteen, Iggy Pop, Sunny Day Real Estate, Curve, Jane’s Addiction (2), Porno for Pyros, Therapy?, Pato Banton, Belly, Better Than Ezra, BoDeans, Warlock Pinchers, Frank Black, Johnette Napolitano, The Cars, Sonic Youth (multiple), Shonen Knife, The Breeders, The Charlatans, Chemical Brothers, Flaming Lips, The Fluid, The Forty-Fives, Garbage, Ben Harper, Rev. Horton Heat (2), Jewel (ew – I was waiting to see someone else perform), Jesus Jones, Sugar, Indigo Girls, 10,000 Maniacs, James, Levellers, Squeeze, David Lindley, Living Color, Luscious Jackson, Stone Temple Pilots, Soho, Social Distortion, The Smithereens, 16 Horsepower, Revolting Cocks, Sick, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco, X, Lucinda Williams, John Wesley Harding, Lone Justice, Wretch Like Me, Cyndi Lauper, Erasure, Deborah Harry, Dresden Dolls, Bjork, Sum 41, Arlo Guthrie, Eliza Gilkyson, Buffalo Tom, Beautiful South, Michelle Shocked, Gram Parker, Pete Droge, Rise Against, Action Action, The Cult (2), Harvey Knuckles, Royal Baby, Twice Wilted (2), Lori Anderson, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, Teenage Fan Club, Lyle Lovett, Lemonheads, Juliana Hatfield, Jim Rose Circus Side Show (multiple), Kids in the Hall (multiple), Catherine Wheel, Tool (multiple), Mary Lou Lord, Gary Clail & the On-U Sound System, Swervedriver, Kingmaker, Paul Westerberg, The Replacements….
Wow!
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