Prawnsong

A few weeks ago, me and John Crissman, The Roz and Shutey were sitting around some bar-b-q. John has known me for 10 or 12 years I guess, and he told the other guys, “Look, if Aaron starts a story by saying, ‘This is weird,’ or ‘You’r enever going to believe this,’ there is a 50% chance the name Steve McKinney will be in it.” John neglected to point out that Steve will also show up in stories where he has no role at all… Thus the following.

One of my favorite bands is Primus. I suppose they are an acquired taste. They call themselves “the most self-indulgent band in the world.” As proof of that, they refuse to play the song they are best-known for, precisely because they are best-known for it, largely by people who aren’t fans and see the song and the band as a novelty. They’re hard to define. Is it heavy metal? Acid rock? Funk? Yes. At one time, Talking Heads were trying to be “urban country.” Primus pulls it off, with a decidedly freaked out sound and songs about fishing and car-racing. Back in the day, one of my cousins from the Bay Area told me, “You’re so into RUSH, there’s no doubt you’ll like Primus.” This was when all Primus was was a band from El Sobrante that no one knew about. I didn’t listen to her, thinking, there’s nothing that will ever compete with RUSH. Was I wrong.

Primus almost never gets played on the radio, unless it’s the aforementioned song they don’t play anymore. I used to call up Double Q in Lexington and complain that they never played Primus. And they never would.

When I was working for Steve McKinney, and we were redoing Omar’s horse barn on Iron Works, we’d listen to Double Q. Everyday at the same time, I think about 2, the DJ would play Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung.” It’s on ok song to hear a few times a year, but not EVERY day. It got so bad that Jeff swore he was going to take a shot at the radio with a nail gun next time the song came on. You don’t know Jeff, so it’s safe for me to say he doesn’t always hit wood with the nail gun…

I called and asked them to quit playing “Aqualung.” I guess they did for a little while. And I kept up my campaign for more Primus. Heck, ANY Primus.

Fast forward a few years. I am listening to Double Q and cannot believe my ears. It’s Primus. Well, maybe. I mean, it’s Primus’ bass player for sure. There’s no mistaking the sound, the style. But the song is Black Sabbath’s “Nativity in Black.” (don’t get freaked out that I listen to Black Sabbath—if you want a clear picture of how people get sucked into sin, you need to listen to Nativity in Black, or “N.I.B.” as it’s known.) Ozzy had put together some people to redo old Sabbath songs, and I guess Primus were the guys for the job. (It makes sense; when I saw Primus for the first time, opening, of course, for RUSH—Superdome in New Orleans, 1992, their first song had some clear Black Sabbath influences. For a few bars, it sure sounded like “War Pigs.”)

But then, guess what? They played the song TO DEATH. Every day, numerous times a day. It was killing me. I get a little Primus that wasn’t really Primus and they were driving it into the ground. So I called and said, “Will you guys please stop playing this song all day every day?” The whole time I know the DJ was thinking, “Aren’t you the dude who is always asking for Primus and now you’re complaining when we play Primus?”