By some strange confluence of the fates, I'm "friends" with lauded Ramones/Talking Heads/Plasmatics producer Ed Stasium on Facebook (although -- to be fair -- I should point out that I'm evidently only one out of 3,519 "friends"). In any case, Ed put up an article today about Arturo Vega's iconic Ramones t-shirt design. If you've ever had the taxing misfortune of spending any time around me, you've doubtlessly heard me spout off venomously about the woeful misappropriation of the band t-shirt. Nothing triggers my easily-riled rage quicker than someone flying the colors of a band they're not genuinely a devoted fan of. It's a silly hang-up, I admit, but a tenacious one. Inarguably, no single band t-shirt has suffered this indignity more than the classic Ramones design.
A number of years back on the I Love Music boards, someone started a discussion thread about Shania Twain's Ramones t-shirt (see above). I believe my first entry on said thread was simply: "SHE DIES NOW!" I then went on to call her a "sparkless careerist" who made music that was "banal, inconsequential and rife with meaningless cliche" and that she was "limply trying to imply some affinity/appreciation for individuals who actually make music of quality." It got worse from there. A lot worse. Nice, right?
In any case, here's the article in question. Give a read, do.
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