Replacements (band)

The Replacements (1979–1991) were an influential Minneapolis-based band that fused punk, rock, country, and blues to capture the teenage angst of the 1980s. Founded by innovative guitarist Bob Stinson, the band also included bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Chris Mars, and dynamic singer/songwriter Paul Westerberg. Known for their electric, erratic live shows, the Replacements attracted a devout fan base. They were foundational pioneers of the alternative rock genre of the late 1980s and the 1990s, most notably the Seattle grunge scene, as well as alternative country.

In the late 1970s, guitarist Bob Stinson wanted to start a band, so he made his half-brother, Tommy, learn the bass, and recruited neighbor Chris Mars as drummer. Paul Westerberg heard their band, Dog Breath, through a basement window while walking home from his janitorial job in Minneapolis. He returned to listen to them for days, met them, and soon became the frontman of the group, replacing Mars as the main songwriter. They renamed themselves the Impediments, and after that, the Replacements.

In 1980, the quartet recorded a demo tape that Westerberg gave to Peter Jesperson, whose famed record store, Oar Folkjokeopus (2557 Lyndale Avenue South), was packed with punk and new wave records from New York City and England. Jesperson was also the DJ at the Minneapolis venue Jay’s Longhorn, where touring punk and new wave bands like the B-52s, the Ramones, Blondie, and the Buzzcocks played. Owners Jay Berine and Al Wodtke also let local musicians perform. In fact, most of the bands that defined the Minneapolis punk and alternative rock scene of the 1980s started at Jay’s: the Suburbs, Flamingo/the Flaming Oh’s, Hüsker Dü, and the Hypstrz.

Jesperson loved what he heard on the demo tape and became the Replacements’ biggest cheerleader and manager, advocating for them to play the Longhorn and sign to Twin/Tone, the label he’d founded with reporter Charley Hallman and sound engineer Paul Stark. Jesperson got his wish on both counts—Twin/Tone signed the Replacements after their first performance on the Longhorn stage in July 1980.

The band recorded their first albums at the Dinkytown studio Blackberry Way: Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981) and Stink (1982). The former packed eighteen fast, fiery songs into thirty-seven minutes, and the latter featured eight hardcore punk tracks. Hootenanny, released the following spring, showed that the band was evolving away from hardcore punk and blending rock, country, and blues into their aesthetic.

The Replacements returned to Blackberry Way to record their final album for Twin/Tone. Released in October 1984, Let It Be was a critical success. The buzz around the album—more nuanced and eclectic than their previous punk efforts while still capturing the band’s characteristic humor and anti-establishment sentiment—caught the ear of major record labels. The Replacements signed with Sire Records and released four albums on the label between 1985 (Tim, their last recorded in Minneapolis) and 1990 (All Shook Down).

Signing with a major label was both a major accomplishment and the beginning of the end for the band. While they were gaining more fans through wider distribution, their hardcore base and even band members themselves felt they were selling out. The tension that once fueled the band’s special angst and creativity—Stinson’s maniacal guitar playing contrasted against Westerberg’s vulnerable lyrics—grew into unsustainable artistic differences. Even though Tim was a critical success, by 1986, Bob Stinson was out, replaced by Bob “Slim” Dunlap, and manager Jesperson soon followed. When Pleased to Meet Me (1987) was released, many fans and critics felt the Replacements had lost their unique spark. The band’s disintegration continued when Mars left in 1990, frustrated by Westerberg’s direction for the group. By the following year, the Replacements were done.

Westerberg went on to have a successful solo career, including his 1992 hit song “Dyslexic Heart” on the Singles movie soundtrack. Tommy Stinson also had a solo career and played with Guns N’ Roses, Soul Asylum, and other groups. In 1995, after playing with Static Taxi and the Bleeding Hearts, his brother Bob succumbed to organ failure after years of substance abuse. Mars released solo work in the 1990s, but primarily focused on his fantastical art and filmmaking.

Often referred to as “one of the best bands to never make it,” a reference to their self-sabotage when presented with opportunities and their slow collapse after signing with Sire, the Replacements’ legacy lives on in their pioneering sounds, lyrics, and working-class aesthetics. Their high-school-dropouts vibe, fierce rhythms, and lyrics that ranged from vulnerable and heartfelt to crude and confrontational inspired the Bay Area punk scene, the Seattle grunge scene, and alt-country bands.