THE AFGHAN WHIGS
The Afghan Whigs are an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally active from 1986 to 2001, they have since reformed. The group rose up around the grunge movement, evolving from a garage band in the vein of the Replacements to incorporate more R&B and soul influences into their sound and image. After releasing their first album independently in 1988, the band signed to the Seattle-based label Sub Pop. Pitchfork described them as “one of the few alt-bands to flourish on a major label” in the 1990’s. (More from Wikipedia)
Finally, I have a recommendation to go with my confession earlier. If any of you are still signed up with Netflix, you should add the 1994 film Backbeat to your queue. It is the early history of the Beatles mostly when they were in Hamburg, Germany and primarily follows Stu Sutcliffe (played by Stephen Dorff), an old friend of John Lennon who was in an early incarnation of the band. Along the way, you meet Paul McCartney (the two actors who play John and Paul are dead ringers), George Harrison, and even Ringo Starr, who was hanging around the group even though he wasn’t in the band yet. Actually the words “the Beatles” were only spoken once during the entire movie; John Lennon mostly just called them “the band".
The idea is that, in those days, the Beatles were the world’s greatest punk rock group, so the band that they lined up to play the music was drawn from the top American alternative rock bands of the day, like the Afghan Whigs, Soul Asylum, R.E.M., and Sonic Youth. The drummer was Nirvana’s Dave Grohl, who later became the front man for Foo Fighters (sadly, I believe that I read that they have gone on a hiatus). However, he still hits the skins from time to time for bands like Queens of the Stone Age. Highly recommended.
(September 2012)
