"I guess that my life has been a series of flukes in the record business. The first thing I ever did was the biggest record that I'll ever have." - Alex Chilton, born this day in 1950.
"Punk rock isn't something you grow out of. Punk rock is an attitude, and the essence of that attitude is 'give us some truth'." - Joe Strummer, 18 years gone today. Miss you, man.
"The very first instrument I played was the bottom of my feet, workin' out rhythms, tap dancing. We used to dance up and down Bourbon Street." - Professor Longhair, born this day in 1918.
"Greenpeace is my payback: I donate certain portions of my proceeds to Greenpeace. Hopefully we can educate the world to pay a little more attention to global warming." - Rick Danko, his last interview 3 days before we lost him on this day in 1999.
"As I was growing up, I did a lot of talent shows. I won fifteen Sunday nights straight in a series of talent shows in Macon. I showed up the sixteenth night, and they wouldn't let me go on any more." - Otis Redding, lost this day in 1967.
"The blues is like a planet. It's an enormous topic. You can't ignore the impact that it has had and continues to have on the whole musical culture. It's a tree that everyone is swinging from. Without it, I don't know where I would be. It's indelible and indispensable." - Tom Waits, born this day in 1949.
"Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe." - Frank Zappa, 27 years gone today.
"I listen back, and I hear what's there, and I know in my heart, in my gut, that we [The Replacements] were the real deal. No one can take that away. You can call us buffoons, or clowns or whatever. But when we wanted to, we were as good as anybody." - Paul Westerberg. Damn straight.
"People like Frank Zappa and Bryan Ferry knew we could pick and choose from the history of music, stick things together looking for friction and energy. They were more like playwrights; they invented characters and wrote a life around them." - Brian Eno