Well any fool with a microphone can tell you what he loves the most.
The White Stripes announced they were breaking up today.
Some of you will know why this matters to me. For those who don't, I don't even know where to begin, except: they're one of those bands.
They were the first favorite band I ever had. I was twelve years old and obsessed with Top 40 radio, and one day I saw this video on MTV. Not long after, I sneaked my mom's copy of White Blood Cells into my CD player and listened to "I'm Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman" and fell deeply, madly in love.
They were creative and sexy and soulful and strange. They gave me the courage to embrace my nerdiness in middle school, a time when I was lonely and isolated and needed that pretty damn badly. They were the reason I began playing guitar and collecting records (my 45 of "The Big 3 Killed My Baby" is still one of my most prized possessions). They led me to discover more bands than I could ever name, both directly (the Von Bondies, the Dirtbombs, Blanche) and indirectly (Sleater-Kinney, Sonic Youth, Pixies).
Maybe more importantly here, they were one of the first things I was really, properly fannish about - and while I was already online somewhat at that point, White Stripes forum the Little Room was the first place I ever made friends on the internet (and also the place where I learned just how wanky fandom could get, but that's another story). I'm still friends with most of those people today, people of all ages from all around the world. They were the reason I joined LJ, back in 2003.
They were my life for pretty much all of my teenage years. I saw them twice, traveling to Portland the second time, where I met up with people from the Little Room - still the only time I've met online friends in person. I was supposed to see them again, in 2007, but they canceled that tour due to Meg's anxiety. The band places great significance on the number three, and I always hoped I'd get a chance to see them live for a third time, even as Jack took on new project after new project and another White Stripes tour began to seem less and less likely.
The White Stripes haven't released a new album in almost four years, and aren't in my thoughts nearly as constantly as they were before then. That's at least partly why I'm not as devastated by this news as I was when I found out that my other favorite band, Sleater-Kinney, were breaking up. Still, I'm the person I am today because of them, and I couldn't let news like this pass by without comment.
The White Stripes were friends with Conan O'Brien, and in 2003 they were the musical guests on his show for an entire week. I still have those performances on VHS somewhere - they're some of my favorite TV appearances they ever did. I always liked that Jack didn't change the pronouns when they covered "Jolene" - he talked a lot about how he often wrote from a female point of view, which was fascinating to me when I was younger. I'd never really seen that done before.
From that same week: a skit about working at NBC.
An interview with the glorious Nardwuar the Human Serviette.
A goofy mockumentary thing, known for years only as the "pre-tour video." Features their "manager," Arthur P. Dottweiler (their friend and fellow musician Dan Miller with giant glasses and a pillow stuffed down his shirt), who spends the entire video harassing them and trying to feed them Pokemon macaroni and cheese. Also features Jack shouting "I GO DOWN ON EVERYTHING!" repeatedly in frustration, which will never not be funny.
So: thanks for everything, Jack n' Meg.
Some of you will know why this matters to me. For those who don't, I don't even know where to begin, except: they're one of those bands.
They were the first favorite band I ever had. I was twelve years old and obsessed with Top 40 radio, and one day I saw this video on MTV. Not long after, I sneaked my mom's copy of White Blood Cells into my CD player and listened to "I'm Finding it Harder to be a Gentleman" and fell deeply, madly in love.
They were creative and sexy and soulful and strange. They gave me the courage to embrace my nerdiness in middle school, a time when I was lonely and isolated and needed that pretty damn badly. They were the reason I began playing guitar and collecting records (my 45 of "The Big 3 Killed My Baby" is still one of my most prized possessions). They led me to discover more bands than I could ever name, both directly (the Von Bondies, the Dirtbombs, Blanche) and indirectly (Sleater-Kinney, Sonic Youth, Pixies).
Maybe more importantly here, they were one of the first things I was really, properly fannish about - and while I was already online somewhat at that point, White Stripes forum the Little Room was the first place I ever made friends on the internet (and also the place where I learned just how wanky fandom could get, but that's another story). I'm still friends with most of those people today, people of all ages from all around the world. They were the reason I joined LJ, back in 2003.
They were my life for pretty much all of my teenage years. I saw them twice, traveling to Portland the second time, where I met up with people from the Little Room - still the only time I've met online friends in person. I was supposed to see them again, in 2007, but they canceled that tour due to Meg's anxiety. The band places great significance on the number three, and I always hoped I'd get a chance to see them live for a third time, even as Jack took on new project after new project and another White Stripes tour began to seem less and less likely.
The White Stripes haven't released a new album in almost four years, and aren't in my thoughts nearly as constantly as they were before then. That's at least partly why I'm not as devastated by this news as I was when I found out that my other favorite band, Sleater-Kinney, were breaking up. Still, I'm the person I am today because of them, and I couldn't let news like this pass by without comment.
Click to viewThe White Stripes were friends with Conan O'Brien, and in 2003 they were the musical guests on his show for an entire week. I still have those performances on VHS somewhere - they're some of my favorite TV appearances they ever did. I always liked that Jack didn't change the pronouns when they covered "Jolene" - he talked a lot about how he often wrote from a female point of view, which was fascinating to me when I was younger. I'd never really seen that done before.
From that same week: a skit about working at NBC.
An interview with the glorious Nardwuar the Human Serviette.
A goofy mockumentary thing, known for years only as the "pre-tour video." Features their "manager," Arthur P. Dottweiler (their friend and fellow musician Dan Miller with giant glasses and a pillow stuffed down his shirt), who spends the entire video harassing them and trying to feed them Pokemon macaroni and cheese. Also features Jack shouting "I GO DOWN ON EVERYTHING!" repeatedly in frustration, which will never not be funny.
So: thanks for everything, Jack n' Meg.