I have blogged about the song from Airheads before, just wondering about the recording of the Reagan Youth cover song, and never really uncovered much about the specific process or the whole change of lyrics & the arrangement, but I did get some replies from various social media from Paul Cripple, Rich Wilkes, & Sean Yseult. (Rich made a really informative comment on my post here. You should check out all of his work!)
There is, however, an incredible article from The Hard Noise about how the song came to be used in the film, & how the band eventually got paid a bit for it… Which is great to know.
So, who is with me? Social media seems to be on board if you read my comments/replies. Can we get a petition or something? Or the comments here going? Or a social media campaign? Let’s get Rich Wilkes the resources he needs to do a 2nd script and get it in front of the actors! Nostalgia waves are at an all time high.
Perhaps a stupid blog post can get the ball rolling?
The song “Degenerated” from the movie Airheads is one of my all-time favorites. If you’re a fan of the movie, you no-doubt know the song. And if you’re a music nerd in general, you probably know that it’s a Reagan Youth cover. I would love to know more about the song. I have collected most of the “who,” but I would love to know the “why.”
Check out the two songs and then we’ll get into why I have so many questions & what they are.
OK, here are the players involved from the information that I gathered on Wikipedia, IMDB, Discogs, & wherever else I clicked;
Jay Yuenger and Sean Yseult of White Zombie fame played on the recording of the song, with Brendan Fraser on vocals. (Seriously, that bass part so damn awesome, & the guitar solo is blistering. Sean & Jay both really rocked it.)
Yuenger & Bryan Carlstrom produced the track. Bryan produced & engineered stuff by White Zombie, Alice in Chains, Anthrax, The Offspring, Social Distortion, & more.
Who decided to use the song? The director, the music guy, the writer, the musicians?
Why that song? The running joke about Chazz writing the song for his girlfriend or before he met her makes it even funnier because I wouldn’t remotely call it a love song. Did someone just really like the song? Was licensing cheap all around? Did they ask Paul Cripple for permission? What does he think of the song? Did Dave Insurgent ever get to hear it?
Why metal up a punk rock song? They seemed like an 80’s holdover kind of band. Was it a statement on Grunge being a punk n’ metal hybrid?
Why are there different chord changes? The chord progression is different, but the melody (and I use the term loosely) is the same. The cover may be tuned below standard if I remember correctly? Someone more musically versed may be able to explain the difference I just know when playing by ear on guitar they’re totally different progressions.
Why the lyric change?( I assume to keep the movie rated PG-13?) Most notably a removal of the F-word and references to constipation (Lone Rangers Lyrics/Reagan Youth Lyrics). Who made the changes?
Who played drums? Jay, Sean, Bryan, or were there other uncredited musicians?
“The Lone Rangers? That’s original. How can you pluralize ‘Lone Ranger?'”
I’m sure I have more questions that I haven’t thought of here. Does anyone out there know the explanation?
It is 2017. I may have to reach out via Facebook , Twitter, or email to all of the players involved to see if I can get an answer. (If they even remember.)
Sadly, Dave Insurgent passed away in 1993 & Bryan Carlstrom passed away in 2013.
I just really dig both versions of the song, the movie, and that it led me to checking out more Reagan Youth. Is it weird to be a fan of a song by a fictional band? Hey, I dig “Three Small Words” too, and that was produced by Babyface.
Do you like either version of this song? Do you have a song by a fictional band that you really dig? Do you know any of the relevant information here? Let me know in the comments!
Now I’m off to look at naked pictures of Bea Arthur and eat cottage cheese out of a football helmet.
We finally decided on a starting date for a continuing series of Star Wars movie nights at our house, so “Cut the chatter, Red 2. Accelerate to attack speed!”
We need to decide on a movie order. Chronologically, they go like this, I think…
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Clone Wars (animated microseries)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (3D CGI movie)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (3D CGI series)
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Droids (animated series)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (made for TV movie)
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (made for TV movie)
Star Wars: Ewoks (animated series)
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Then we have a bunch of other stuff that could be included…
The Star Wars Holiday Special
Fanboys
Family Guy: Blue Harvest
Family Guy: Something Something Something, Dark Side
Robot Chicken: Star Wars
Spaceballs
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back (Hey, Mark Hamill & Carrie Fisher are both in it, right…?)
We could also do a night with Hardware Wars, Thumb Wars, Troops, and any other recommended Star Wars fan/parody shorts.
There’s the issue of IV, V, & VI. Do we watch the laserdisc rips, the latest DVD release, or both?
There’s the issue of watching them in release order vs. chronological order, too.
We could watch the 6 movies, then the other stuff. We could watch the 7 movies (including the CGI Clone Wars one) then the other stuff… We could sandwich in the Ewok movies where they belong…
So many choices, it’s like trying to successfully navigate an asteroid field. Don’t tell me the odds, just vote below! You can pick two choices if you’re indecisive like me…
World (and Lunar) Domination 