the replacements

I'm told that Occupied Japan china is now popular. Does that include my service for 12, with serving pieces, marked "Made in Occupied Japan?" ― Anne, Lima, Ohio

A: Smart collectors have read it here before: To research a dinnerware pattern, start at www.replacements.com. The search engine in the Web site of the giant china, glass and flatware replacement service is a goldmine of visual information.

Keying the maker cited, I found your pattern, an image of the design, and listings, with prices, for replacement pieces.




But there are caveats. Yes, Occupied Japan wares are popular, but that refers especially to certain figurals. Dinnerware is another story, and that leads us to the second caveat. Complete sets of dinnerware, except for the finest and rarest, are a hard sell. And that's across the board, including OJ. New brides turn thumbs down at complete sets of fine china. Tastes change, and today's buyer is more into Pottery Barn than Haviland.

Any money to be made in vintage china is in replacements. There, dealers buy for less than half the retail quote. So take a quote, cut it in half, and hope a replacements seller will pay that much ― provided they even want the pattern, and that is a big "if."

A private sale to a local buyer or dealer may be the least hassle. Auctions bring pennies on the dollar, unless the pattern or maker is particularly desirable.

When shopping the set to a replacement seller, photocopy the mark on the back (if you can't do a close digital image) and the front of a diner plate. Inventory the set and send the inquiry to a seller for a quote.

Try www.replacememts.com or www.edish.com, and research an OJ dinnerware seller on www.setyourtable.com.

Q: Where can I place for auction a letter from Pablo Escobar? The letter is to a family member who was a kidnapped "guest" of Escobar. In it he apologizes for the kidnapping. ― Juan, Tucson, Ariz.

A: No wonder I love writing this column. Not only the best readers, but also such interesting items! Wow.

A document linking the Columbian drug lord who controlled the Medellin cocaine trade to a rescue attempt and the murder of a journalist is hot stuff. Escobar met a nasty end in 1993.

Assuming that the letter is authentic ― the reader adds that it has a signature and a fingerprint ― it will interest someone. How much is for an auction house to determine.

This kind of fame is history of the notorious variety. I'd approach auction houses that have sales of books and manuscripts, including personal papers. Send your digital copy of the letter along with a complete history of the letter to manuscripts department directors of all major houses. Also try Profiles in History, www.profilesinhistory.com, a California auction that sells historical content, and Mastro Auctions, www.mastroauctions.com, a house that gets astounding prices for pop history collector items.

Consider all options carefully before consigning that letter. You have only one chance to make a smart sale. Please let me know what happens!



Q: I found an old butter box in the attic of an old creamery. It is about 18 inches by 18 inches and marked Lincoln Butter Box, Minneapolis. Can you tell me anything? ― Jean, cybercollector

A: Before butter magically appeared fully formed in the dairy aisles of supermarkets, it was hand-made at home or in creameries. Churned cream solids were spread into the wooden butter box, then smoothed with a wooden paddle and the buttermilk poured off.

The butter was then covered and chilled, until unmolded for a customer.

Some still make butter this way at home with fresh cream and swear that it is the only way to eat the product.

Nostalgia sells, and marked boxes of any kind sell best where they were made, or to a buyer who has sentimental ties to the name. Alternately, post it on eBay for a Minnesota butter fan. Depending on condition and competition, such boxes generally bring up to $25 or more.



BOOK IT!
"The Family at Home" by Anita Kaushal (Clarkson Potter, $45) and "Your Home a Living Canvas" by Curtis Heuser (North Light Books, $29.99) approach living spaces as a blank canvas to be personalized. "Family" is all about livable spaces that include antique toys and collections. "Canvas" covers how to use objects such as crackle glass and vintage chandeliers to inspire and achieve faux finishes.


AUCTION ACTION
Despite nine missing cards, a 1952 Topps baseball set of 398 cards brought $21,695 in a recent Mastro Auctions hobby sale. Sixty cards were PSA graded. Famous ballplayers such as DiMaggio, Slaughter, Feller, Williams, Spahn, Campanella and Berra were included. The entire sale of 1,700 lots brought $2.1 million.


COLLECTOR QUIZ
Q: Kenneth Lane is the Energizer bunny of jewelers. He's been exclusive to Saks, has created fine jewelry for Jackie Kennedy and a gaggle of society matrons, and has gone populist for Avon and QVC. But he did not start in jewelry. In what fashion field did he start?

A: Lane began by creating shoes for Delman and Dior.

Source: "Kenneth Jay Lane Fabulous Jewelry and Accessories" by Nancy Schiffer (Schiffer, $59.95). A truly fabulous book on a lifetime of work.

Arnet welcomes questions from readers. She cannot respond to each one individually, but will answer those of general interest in her column. Send e-mail to The Replacements
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The Replacements


The Replacements in 1985, left to right: Paul Westerberg, Chris Mars, Bob Stinson, and Tommy Stinson
Background information
Origin Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Genre(s) Alternative rock
College rock
Punk rock
Hardcore punk
Post Punk
Years active 1979 ― 1991
2005
Label(s) Twin/Tone Records
Sire Records
Members
Paul Westerberg
Tommy Stinson
Slim Dunlap
Steve Foley
Bob Stinson
Chris Mars
The Replacements were an alternative rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They began as a punk rock outfit, along with fellow Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü, but they gradually shifted to a more mainstream, pop-rock style. The band featured guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bassist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars. Tommy Stinson was just 12 years old when the group first formed.

The band's early songs often depicted teenage angst and desire for independence. Songs such as "Kids Don't Follow" and "Bastards of Young" showed the band's desire to almost remain as free-spirited children. The band turned up drunk to many of their legendary live shows, performing chaotic cover songs that revealed their love of classic rock.[1] Nonetheless, Trouser Press claimed that they were, "for a time, the world's greatest rock'n'roll band."[2]

The Replacements released seven albums and one EP before breaking up in 1991 and toured with such artists as R.E.M. and Tom Petty. All members went on to various levels of success as solo artists after the dissolution of the band.

Contents
1 History
1.1 Formation and Twin Tone years (1979-1984)
1.2 Major label (1984-1991)
1.3 Breakup (1991-Present)
2 Legacy
3 Future Projects
4 Members
5 Discography
5.1 Albums
5.2 Compilation Albums
6 External links
7 References
8 Further reading



[edit] History

[edit] Formation and Twin Tone years (1979-1984)
The band first formed in Southwest Minneapolis as Dogbreath in 1979 as a punk rock group. Bob Stinson, his brother Tommy Stinson, and Chris Mars had been jamming together in the Stinsons' house when they were approached by Paul Westerberg and his guitar, bringing the four together for the first time. Westerberg had been performing in a Rush cover band and heard Dogbreath as he walked home each day. He vowed that he would join the group, but they already had a singer. Westerberg, through series of well-placed lies and manipulations, put the band at odds with their singer and tensions soon forced the singer to depart; Westerberg joined the band soon after. The band then took the name The Impediments for its first show, which was at a halfway house, but they were kicked out for being drunk. The person who booked them vowed to have them blacklisted in Minneapolis-St. Paul, so they quickly changed their name to The Replacements.

Their first album, 1981's Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (on the local Twin/Tone Records label), features fast, aggressive songs, with lyric subjects ranging from drinking and driving to a love song about the cashier at a convenience store. Their punky songs dominated the band's set lists for years. However, singer/songwriter Paul Westerberg gave a hint of things to come on the B-side to the "I'm in Trouble" single. "If Only You Were Lonely" featured Westerberg alone on acoustic guitar, pouring out a soulful ballad that sounded more like a Merle Haggard song than it did the Replacements. Their first and only EP, 1982's Stink, was recorded in one day at Blackberry Way studio. It followed in the same style as their first album. After this the band started to turn to other styles of rock, apparent on their second album, 1983's Hootenanny. One listener at the time commented that it sounded like a compilation album.

The band was infamous for their rowdy, drunken shows. Sometimes the band would show up too drunk to play their own songs, and instead play covers, which they were also too drunk to play. It was not uncommon for them to play entire sets of covers, ranging anywhere from Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69" to Dusty Springfield's "The Look of Love". When they played CBGB, the New York City club, they performed a sloppy rendition of The Beatles's "Let It Be," but with Westerberg singing the lyrics to his very own "Fuck School". The band decided that they couldn't be the best band that ever played at the legendary venue, but they could be the worst.

While driving around in the van listening to tapes of their new work and arguing about what to name the album, they decided that the next song to come on the radio would be the name of their next album. That song was "Let It Be" by The Beatles. Let It Be, released in 1984, is considered a high-water mark of the 1980s alternative scene.[3] The band began to garner attention, especially when R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck began name-dropping the band in interviews (and playing the mandolin solo on "I Will Dare"). A major-label bidding war broke out, eventually won by Sire Records. The band celebrated by releasing The Shit Hits the Fans, a cassette-only release from a booze-soaked gig in the Midwest that was allegedly confiscated from a fan once it was discovered that he had bootlegged the show.


[edit] Major label (1984-1991)
The Replacements' first major-label release, Tim on Sire, was produced by Tommy Erdelyi (a.k.a. Tommy Ramone of the Ramones). It contains songs like "Kiss Me on the Bus" and "Bastards of Young".

In 1986, UK label Glass Records released an LP called Boink!! that contained a mix of songs from Hootenanny and Stink, as well as "If Only You Were Lonely" (B-Side of "I'm in Trouble" single). Also included was a previously unreleased song called "Nowhere is my Home" that was produced by Alex Chilton. The songs were licensed from Twin/Tone.

Bob Stinson left the band following Tim ostensibly due to substance abuse, though some suggest the split was due more to creative tension; Stinson preferred the louder, faster Mats, while Westerberg was exploring new territory in ballads like "Here Comes a Regular" and "Swingin' Party." The remaining Replacements carried on as a trio for Pleased to Meet Me (1987) recorded in Memphis with Big Star producer Jim Dickinson. Minneapolis guitarist Slim Dunlap took over lead guitar duties for the subsequent tour, and soon became a full member of the band.

During this time, they acquired an "anti-video" reputation. The video for "Bastards of Young" featured nothing more than a single shot of a speaker, while "The Ledge" (which MTV would not play on account of the lyrical themes) featured the band sitting around in a room with chairs and a sofa doing nothing in particular. This video was recycled for "Alex Chilton". However, (prior to Stinson's departure) the band had appeared on Saturday Night Live and performed the then-new "Bastards of Young". The band was subsequently banned from SNL due to a combination of the band's state of inebriation and the fact that Westerberg swore during the live broadcast.

The band's next album, Don't Tell a Soul, was a quieter, less punky affair, largely considered a stab for mainstream success. While the move cost the Replacements appreciation of some hardcore fans, the album had a number of notable songs, such as "Achin' to Be" and "I'll Be You", which topped Billboard's Modern Rock chart. They then made a second appearance on network television -- on ABC's short-lived "Rock Awards" show -- where they performed a typically energetic version of "Talent Show" and caused a minor controversy when Westerberg responded to the network's censoring of the "feeling good from the pills we took" line by inserting an uncensored "it's too late to take pills, here we go" at the end of the song.

But there was trouble within the band following a disastrous tour opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Westerberg recorded a new album largely with session musicians, but was persuaded to release it as a Replacements album. All Shook Down won critical praise and more mainstream attention, though the many guest players and Mars' quick departure from the band following the album's release led many to wonder about the future of the band.


[edit] Breakup (1991-Present)
Steve Foley was recruited as Mars' replacement in 1990, and the band embarked on a long farewell tour which lasted into the summer of 1991. On July 4, 1991, the band officially broke up following a Taste of Chicago performance in Grant Park, referred to by fans as "It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Roadie Plays" because each member disappeared during the set, their respective roadies taking their places. This show was broadcast by Chicago radio station WXRT. There are several bootlegs floating around the Internet.

Tommy Stinson has been the bassist with Guns N' Roses since 1998, replacing charter GnR member Duff McKagan. He also played with the bands Bash & Pop and Perfect. In 2004 he released a solo CD titled Village Gorilla Head. Bob Stinson, who played in a few other bands after leaving the Replacements, including Static Taxi and The Bleeding Hearts, died in 1995.

Westerberg is a successful singer-songwriter signed to Vagrant Records and, under his alias, Grandpaboy, to Fat Possum Records. Folker, his latest album, was released in September 2004; it marks his return to the melodic low-fi of the Replacements.
now wants to reinvent the way they read them.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon's chief executive, last week announced Kindle, a $300 e-book device that would allow readers to download bestsellers for a nominal fee. The handheld e-book is a wireless computer that can download books in less than a minute.

It sounds impressive. The book on paper, however, has a long history and a devoted following. You don't have to be a traditionalist or a Luddite to appreciate the portability and the relative inexpensiveness of the book. It's shape is just right, it is where you are and ready for you when you want to enter it. No batteries, no plug-ins, no Internet connections are required. The author Umberto Eco compared the book's perfection to that of the spoon and the fork, two inventions that have never been improved upon.

But traditionalists shouldn't scoff at Mr. Bezos.

As the media blogger and critic Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine.com once said, "Today, any medium that defines itself by its medium is in trouble: newspapers, broadcasting and books must be valued for their substance over their shape. Is a book bound paper? Or is it the ideas and information within? If there are better ways to share knowledge, why should it suffer the limitations of the page?"

A reading device that is practical, portable and inexpensive has a future. For example, the early stages of Kindle will have access to a limited number of books and periodicals. But what happens when most of the volumes of the Library of Congress are available digitally and cheaply? Will readers miss the tactile feel of a book? Undoubtedly. But the practical effect of a readable e-book would be liberating.

Kindle has promise. But it has a long way to go. David Gelernter, the author and Yale professor of computer science, once said, "Replacing books by computers is like replacing cut flowers with plastic ones."

Kindle, we are promised, will be more like a book than a computer. If will have to be if it is to succeed.

But it helps to remember Mr. Gelernter's warning about the Law of Replacement.

"Society," he said, "replaces a thing when it finds something better, not when it finds something newer."

Kindle, or its successors, will succeed if the

Dunlap keeps a low national profile but is still very active in the local Twin Cities music scene. Mars primarily works as a visual artist.

In 1997 Reprise Records released the 2 CD set All For Nothing/Nothing For All. The All For Nothing disc collected cuts from Tim through All Shook Down, while the Nothing For All disc is a collection of B-sides and other previously non-CD tracks.

On March 28, 2006, Rhino records announced the release of a best-of The Replacements compilation, entitled Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?. It was released on June 13, 2006. The compilation consists of songs from both Twin/Tone and Sire/Reprise records years and includes two new songs entitled "Pool & Dive" and "Message To The Boys". Both songs were written by Westerberg and recorded by the band at Flowers Studio in Minneapolis. Session musician Josh Freese (The Vandals, A Perfect Circle, ex-Guns N' Roses) played drums on the two tracks, while Mars contributed backing vocals. Slim Dunlap did not participate in the sessions.


[edit] Legacy
The Replacements' career is chronicled in Michael Azerrad's book Our Band Could Be Your Life, a study of several important American underground rock groups. They were also paid homage (or were parodied) by They Might Be Giants with the 1986 song "We're The Replacements", which spurred rumors on MTV that John and John of TMBG had been former roadies for the band. I'm In Love With That Song: A Tribute to The Replacements was released on Tomboy Records in 1999 and included Mick Thomas and Nick Barker performing "Skyway". Tommy Womack has a tribute song on his album Circus Town titled simply "The Replacements." Jesse Malin covers "Bastards of Young" on his latest record released in 2007. It has many punk bands that were heavily influenced by the Replacements, redoing songs from the entire catalog. Highlights include TiltWheel doing Skyway, Against Me! doing Bastards of Young, and Tim Version doing Nowhere is My Home.