When I was in junior high, a friend of mine had an afterschool paper route, back when Memphis had an evening paper. On the official form delivery boys had to fill
out when they started the job, there was a space to indicate where they wanted the stacks of papers delivered to...usually it was at their house. And then the kids would fold the
papers, load up the bags, and head out on the bikes. Also on the form was a space where you listed where the papers were to be dropped off in case of rain. My friend's family lived in a house with a carport, so they filled out the
form in this manner: Rain-Same. Rain or shine,
the papers were left in the same place for him
to fold and deliver.
The phrase rain same became part of our lingo. For example, if a guy at school got into trouble over and over, well, the next time he got into trouble, one of us would turn to the
other and say "rain same." It was just a phrase to acknowledge that the obvious thing happened, obviously. If nothing important had happened to you recently and someone asked you how things were going, you answered "rain same."
Kinda like the upcoming film "Snakes on a Plane." That title lays out the film pretty well, I think. And that title has a lot in
common with "rain same." The former states the obvious with total clarity, the latter states that things often stay the same.
I'm having trouble deciding if this next story is "Snakes on a Plane" or "Rain Same." I suspect it's both...
I was reading last months issue of Harp Magazine, a music mag that covers indy/alt-country/singer-songwriter type of
stuff. This issue had articles on Neko Case, Rhett Miller, Devo, Ben Harper, Amy Rigby, etc. Then I get to a feature on the worst "concert events." Forget Woodstock, Live Aid,
Montery Pop...we're talking about some trainwrecks of shows, for various reasons.
And one of the spotlighted shows happened in Memphis. Here's some of the article from Harp Magazine:
Rossington Collins Band/Specials-July 18,
1981, Mid-South Coliseum.
"This was never a fair fight: the surviving members of Southern-rock royalty Lynyrd Synyrd duking it out with a multicultural ska band from Coventry, England, in the heart of the American Deep South. By the end of their set,
[the Specials] was knee deep in garbage thrown by an irate crowd that had somehow managed to hoist an AMC Pacer onstage. Three years later, two grudge-holding audience members were charged with threatening the life of a Memphis State University student who played a Fun Boy
Three song on his college radio show."
Wow. Ok. First of all, what idiot booked these two acts on the same bill in Memphis? And, in case you're wondering, I like Freebird, but I'm all about the Specials. (I was living in
Memphis at the time of this show, but I was in high school, liked Madness, hadn't yet discovered the Specials, didn't smoke pot, and was never aware this show even took place.)
A couple of lessons from this:
Memphis was a redneck town back then. It still is. Rain Same. Imagine booking a Shinedown show with opening act Belle And Sebastian. People in Memphis aren't very diverse in what they like. People in Memphis tend, as individuals, to like one thing or another. But not the other. For instance, here are three acts I like that are playing on three consecutive days in Memphis next week: Shooter Jennings, Clem Snide, and Neko Case. How many people in Memphis will be at more than one of these shows? Not many, if any.
Back in the 80's, I went to an Elvis Costello show at Mud Island. The Crash Tests Dummies were booked as the opening act. Elvis wasn't touring with this band...you could tell that some asshole/no-talent concert promoter put
this bill together. Around 90% of the people there hated the CTD. But we just spent that time getting drinks, hanging out in the lobby talking to other people, etc. We didn't throw
trash on stage or boo. We just waited for the act we really wanted to see to come on stage.
So, to sum up: rednecks always get rowdy and some things will never change. Memphis will never change.
Rain Same or Snakes on a Plane...you decide.
out when they started the job, there was a space to indicate where they wanted the stacks of papers delivered to...usually it was at their house. And then the kids would fold the
papers, load up the bags, and head out on the bikes. Also on the form was a space where you listed where the papers were to be dropped off in case of rain. My friend's family lived in a house with a carport, so they filled out the
form in this manner: Rain-Same. Rain or shine,
the papers were left in the same place for him
to fold and deliver.
The phrase rain same became part of our lingo. For example, if a guy at school got into trouble over and over, well, the next time he got into trouble, one of us would turn to the
other and say "rain same." It was just a phrase to acknowledge that the obvious thing happened, obviously. If nothing important had happened to you recently and someone asked you how things were going, you answered "rain same."
Kinda like the upcoming film "Snakes on a Plane." That title lays out the film pretty well, I think. And that title has a lot in
common with "rain same." The former states the obvious with total clarity, the latter states that things often stay the same.
I'm having trouble deciding if this next story is "Snakes on a Plane" or "Rain Same." I suspect it's both...
I was reading last months issue of Harp Magazine, a music mag that covers indy/alt-country/singer-songwriter type of
stuff. This issue had articles on Neko Case, Rhett Miller, Devo, Ben Harper, Amy Rigby, etc. Then I get to a feature on the worst "concert events." Forget Woodstock, Live Aid,
Montery Pop...we're talking about some trainwrecks of shows, for various reasons.
And one of the spotlighted shows happened in Memphis. Here's some of the article from Harp Magazine:
Rossington Collins Band/Specials-July 18,
1981, Mid-South Coliseum.
"This was never a fair fight: the surviving members of Southern-rock royalty Lynyrd Synyrd duking it out with a multicultural ska band from Coventry, England, in the heart of the American Deep South. By the end of their set,
[the Specials] was knee deep in garbage thrown by an irate crowd that had somehow managed to hoist an AMC Pacer onstage. Three years later, two grudge-holding audience members were charged with threatening the life of a Memphis State University student who played a Fun Boy
Three song on his college radio show."
Wow. Ok. First of all, what idiot booked these two acts on the same bill in Memphis? And, in case you're wondering, I like Freebird, but I'm all about the Specials. (I was living in
Memphis at the time of this show, but I was in high school, liked Madness, hadn't yet discovered the Specials, didn't smoke pot, and was never aware this show even took place.)
A couple of lessons from this:
Memphis was a redneck town back then. It still is. Rain Same. Imagine booking a Shinedown show with opening act Belle And Sebastian. People in Memphis aren't very diverse in what they like. People in Memphis tend, as individuals, to like one thing or another. But not the other. For instance, here are three acts I like that are playing on three consecutive days in Memphis next week: Shooter Jennings, Clem Snide, and Neko Case. How many people in Memphis will be at more than one of these shows? Not many, if any.
Back in the 80's, I went to an Elvis Costello show at Mud Island. The Crash Tests Dummies were booked as the opening act. Elvis wasn't touring with this band...you could tell that some asshole/no-talent concert promoter put
this bill together. Around 90% of the people there hated the CTD. But we just spent that time getting drinks, hanging out in the lobby talking to other people, etc. We didn't throw
trash on stage or boo. We just waited for the act we really wanted to see to come on stage.
So, to sum up: rednecks always get rowdy and some things will never change. Memphis will never change.
Rain Same or Snakes on a Plane...you decide.