Color Me Obsessed

The precariousness and elusiveness of the rock band The Replacements calls to mind the particle/wave duality of Quantum mechanics. It seems the group had to be observed in order to function correctly. The mere act of observation affected their output. Away from the stage, away from their birthplace, Minneapolis, and away from their indie roots, the band’s greatness eventually dissipated and died.

The Replacements were already post-punk legends when I discovered them in 1985 by way of their third studio LP (and last for the independent Twin/Tone label), Let It Be. The Replacements began in 1978, with 19 year-old Bob Stinson giving a bass guitar to his 11 year-old brother. Chris Mars joined them on drums; the last component was Paul Westerberg, who would listen to the band playing through their window as he walked home each day from his janitor job. Westerberg finagled his way into being the band’s vocalist.

In the history of rock, The Replacements, with their mixture of ’60s classic rock and late ’70s punk influences, were an important ’80s link, bridging previous rock movements with upcoming back-to-roots bands like The Pixies and Nirvana. Each live performance was a drug and booze-filled high wire act which could reach the sublime or falter into chaos, sometimes both in the same evening. They were famous for their broad range of cover songs (Black Sabbath, Hank Williams, KISS, The Jackson 5, even Roger Miller and Harold Arlen) and Westerberg’s originals were autobiographical, sometimes poignant, sung with a yearning vulnerability.

Director Gorman Bechard tells a story that’s naturally compelling, but he does himself no favors with his (money saving?) methodology: he uses no Replacements music in the film, no archival footage, almost no photographs of the members and doesn’t even show the album covers (discussed at length in the film). And yet, the producers, journalists, actors, managers, fans and critics interviewed give such a vivid picture of what the band was like you nearly feel like you attended one of their concerts. Included are Grant Hart of Husker Du, The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, critic Robert Christgau (one of the band’s early champions), producer Steve Albini and actor Tom Arnold (!).

Color Me Obsessed illustrates the band’s self-destructive ways and the inherent dangers of giving your career over to a media machine. The ever more unreliable Bob Stinson was eventually kicked out of the band (who also wanted more commercial success) and died at the tragic age of 35 due to frequent drug use. Meanwhile, the band’s later releases on a major label were not critically acclaimed (one musician said he put the new Replacements CD on, listened to it for a moment, then threw it out a window).

Although available for streaming, the two-dvd set includes a wealth of extras: 19 deleted scenes, longer interviews (the feature film itself is already nearly two hours long), and two commentary tracks.

—Michael R. Neno, 2018 Aug 27