50 Bands, 50 States

Yeah, but when Slippery When Wet came out, you were already collecting social security... Your vote doesn't count...

 

Amen. Second best NJ band would be Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes or maybe Little Steven's original Disciples of Soul.

Frank's a no brainer.

 

And another asshole weights in with a lame age jokle.

Go fuck yourself you fucking douchebag (/crossthread-quotiing)

 

See I would have just called you a douche... Your age is showing again.

 

I believe the words "go fuck yourself you fucking douche" are yours.

 

Yeah, I have the copyright on that phrase.

 

The first thing I looked for on that list, in all 50 states, were how many punk rock-type bands were named. From memory, I saw the Misfits and the Pixies. I think there was one more, but I'm slipping at my old age.

I'd like to see the numbers that Green Day, a California band, got. I know the Beach Boys defined a generation and a mindset in that state -- at least from what I've seen and heard -- but you can't tell me Green Day didn't give the Boys a run for their money with 20 years of records, with only success from 1994 to today. They're still making outstanding music, and I'll guarantee their live set is better than the Beach Boys'.

311 never seems to get their due. There are five musicians who truly are underrated as master's of their crafts, and they're perfectly placed together. Chad Sexton will go down as one of the best drummers in my time -- I didn't hear Buddy Rich live -- and P-Nut is incredible on bass; he's probably Flea's biggest rival, in my opinion. Tim Mahoney is such a good guitarist. If he went solo and recorded a jazz album, I think he'd be an instant hit. And the vocalists, Nick Hexum and S.A. Martinez, are a perfect mix, both as songwriters and singers/rappers.

They were such an innovative band when they hit the scene in 1989. The closest thing to them, that I can recall, was the Beastie Boys, and they were much more rap-centered than anything 311 has done. Without them, would there be a Rage Against The Machine or Linkin Park? Maybe there would be, but I doubt they'd -- especially Linkin Park because they weren't political at all and lacked Rage's instant bite -- be so easily accepted.

And 311's live show, to me, is only topped by Green Day's. I've seen 311 five times in three states, and I've never once regretted making a long drive because the show, while usually similar, is never a dull moment and always remarkably fresh. It's like seeing them for the first time every time.

It's a crime that a lot of the bands in that genre -- especially those two -- didn't get the praise they each deserved. But what are you going to do?