The "Dear You" syndrome

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The scenario:

OK, young Bay Area punk band called Jawbreaker starts up in early 80s. Husker Du/Lemonheads/Rites of Spring influences or something. Singer/guitarist/songwriter Blake Schwarzenbach has a nice trademark on a throaty, Popeye sounding voice. (Representatives from the Crimpshrine legal counsel are free to interject at this time)
Band gains credibility and popularity straight through into the mid 90s. "Whack and Blite" EP, "Unfun", "Bivouac", "24 Hour Revenge Therapy", etc.
1994. Major label roosting time. Jawbreaker makes the big jump to Geffen. Release "Dear You". Legions of fans disappointed in major label jump. Said legion of fans even more disappointed that Blake lost his throaty, Popeye delivery and now sounds "smooth". Some say it was a medical necessity. Others blame Geffen. Otherwise musically fine record gets passed over.
Years later. Jets To Brazil break out. Emo is ostensibly a new thang. Old and new legion of fans go back over their Jawbreaker records to recapture the glory. Realize there's one record missing that they're all curious about. Oh shit! "Dear You". Lemme go to the rekkid stow and get it. Oh shit! Geffen's not printing it anymore.
E-bay. "Dear You" sells for no less than $50 a pop. Entire bootlegging sector emerges based around "Dear You".

OK, some exaggerations in the above, but it's pretty much the story. Why did this happen? What is it about music fans that will make petty little external issues affect their decision to not like something at one point, and then all simultaneously change their minds and give it another chance later on. This is hardly surprising or revelatory if this particular case didn't happen EN MASSE.

Has this happened to other records?

― Brian MacDonald, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Well, maybe Antioch Arrow's "Gems of Masochism" qualifies. It was passed over as being "too goth" and "not rockin'" when it came out, and now since both are considered qualities these days, the now out of print record is heavily sought after..

― Brian MacDonald, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I have bid on plenty of Jazz Butcher Glass-era CDs that have fetched $150+ (I stopped bidding at $30.)

― Dave225, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

i dunno if the antioch arrow record really counts brian, as it probably was released with some handscreened in a ridiculous edition of like 15, leaving the gravity hordes slavering for a first edition copy anyway.

(btw, anyone want to buy several hundred obscure hardcore records from the early 90s)?

― jess, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

You got any Dischange records in there, Jess?

― John Darnielle, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

What happened is that they got signed to a major after Blake had said in interviews that they'd "never sign", the record sounded slightly more produced, Blake's vocals were smoother because he physically couldn't continue to sing the way he'd been singing, and a lot of idiots wrote them off because they "sold out, man". Most of them probably never bothered to hear the thing. Too bad, because it's a completely amazing record--definitely their best in terms of songwriting or lacking weak songs. I love Dear You. It's also too bad that people waited so long to pick it up, because it was very available used at $2.99 or less for a long time.

― dan, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Again, the phenomenon amazes me, because... suppose Steve Fisk or Bob Beerman go on to be involved in something REALLY BIG -- as in something that gets national attention and sells lots. Are all those 99 cent used copies of Pell Mell's "Interstate" (which I assume DGC is no longer printing) going to be kidnapped by the Flying Monkeys of eBay?

This is eventually leading to a discussion on why people choose to find greatness in music that is hard to find today, as opposed to a year ago. Is it just part of the challenge that makes the heart race when finally getting a chance to listen to the thing? Is history just going to repeat itself over and over and over again?

― Brian MacDonald, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

consider me one of the dissapointed with "fireman" (a precusor to the watered-down Jets To Brazil sound). "sluttering" is the only song of that record that i ever listen to anymore.

i distinctly remember the first show with dear you material at world beat center which left me with a very sour taste in my mouth.

re: throat blake had surgery to remove a benign polyp (?) which affected the way he sang (throat vs. diaphragm). as noted in "outpatient":

"This is Jennings, your anesthetist." "We think we'll go in through the mouth."

re: OOP CDs... the geffen issue of three mile pilot's chief assassin to the sinister at one time was getting the $20 that dear you was getting at the time. the toxic shock release of treepeople's (Doug Martsch's band pre-Built To Spill) guilt regret and embarrassment goes for $20-30 due to the 8 bonus tracks not available on the K reissue. used copies of the mountain goats tapes/7"s were readily available at reasonable prices until a few years ago. what else... the DOA spoon CD prior to reissue?

that's all i can think of right now.

― http://gygax.pitas.com, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

isn't this what's pretty much happened with pinkerton, although i guess it's slightly different because of the way rivers is disowning that record?

― maura, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

"Pinkerton" is still in print.

― Sean, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

eBay takes too long to download here at home (trans: i might actually buy a record and listen to some music and THEN WHERE WD WE BE EH?) but does this apply I wonder to the Bhundu Boys LP for Warners, True Jit ? Far better than their two "indie" releases, I think, but hammered by dimwit folkie purists for being an over-produced sell-put (and dismally failing to crossover, despite getting a support slot for Madonna's 1988 Wembley show) (!): their career nosedived, and within — what? — five years at most, three of them were dead.

― mark s, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

This is a different case altogether, but Pinkerton on vinyl fetches a lot of money. I use to have both Pinkerton and the first album on vinyl. I bought them around '97, '98. I couldn't have paid more than $10 for each one.

Last summer I sold them both on ebay and made $350.

― Oliver, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

did the winning bidder happen to live in melbourne, fl?

― http://gygax.pitas.com, Tuesday, 8 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Jawbox - "For My Own Special Sweetheart"

Drive Like Jehu - "Yank Crime"

― Clarke B., Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

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