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The F.U.’s - My America. Truly a milestone in Boston’s hardcore past. Without much doubt in my mind it’s the best set of songs the F.U.’s ever delivered, obnoxiously sarcastic Pro-America lyrics permeate the proceedings and were quite good at pissing off alarmist punks in the 80’s. I really question if these people had just not been introduced to the concept of sarcasm. What You Pay For, the first song on the record pretty much lays it out: “Responsibility, a bunch of shit..We’ll tell you lies if it makes us laugh…”. Poor Poor Pitiful You and This Is Your Life continued the attack on “the scene” characterizing it as whiny and gossip obsessed. The title track, if you moved past the obviously non-serious “love it or leave it” in the chorus was pretty obviously taking the piss, and Boston’s Finest was a rather unpatriotic attack on the BPD (duh). Choir Boy lamented how the children of those with influence are allowed to get away with basically everything, and Rifle pertained in some way to shooting celebrities, but was essentially a return to the anti-hero worship themes of the opening track. The album closed with a cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s “American Band” annoying and sort of funny. I imagine the reactions of rage by Reagan hating punks who thought they were smashing the system from their bedrooms every time they got wrecked on cheap beer.

…and NOW: Tim Yohannan, being classically F’d with by one of my all time favorites, (the FU’s dummy), in MRR #9.

F.U.’S
J=JOHN SOX
W=WAYNE MAESTRI
S=STEVE GRIMES
B=BOB FURAPPLESINTERVIEW BY TIMT: You have this album called “My America” which just came out, and there’s some controversy as to whether you guys are being satirical or are you for real?
J: Glad you asked that Tim. (laughter all around). Kind of figured you might say say that. No, we are basically pretty patriotic.
T: Uh huh. What’s that based on?
B: This country rules!!
J: Love for McDonald’s hamburgers, among other things. Coca-cola.
W: The fact that we’re not in jail and not starving to death.
J: That too. And we can say what we want to.
T: Yeah, you can say what you want to. But why do you say “America Rules”? What does that mean?
B: It’s the greatest country on earth. I mean, where else whould you want to be?
T: Everybody in every country says that.
B: Well, everybody in every other country doesn’t know anything.
J: How come so many of them come here?
B: Yeah, how come all those immigrants come running to this country?
T: Well, it may be one of the few places for them to actually get some work.
B: Ah, see.
T: But why is there so much unemployment in their countries? Let me throw that back at you.
B: Why? Because they’re too dumb to run their governments. (laughter by band members)
T: That’s how you really feel? That’s a pretty ignorant statement.
B: Well, I only got up to the ninth grade (more band laughter).
T: I’m glad you admit your ignorance.
J: How do you see it Tim?
T: Well, I would say that these people who come here from mostly poor Third World countries are comin’ because there are no opportunities in their countries. Now why the economic structures are like that has to do with the fact that… like people in Latin America… their countries are basically within the capitalist sphere of influence and you have the multi-national corporations which go down there and establish governments that are friendly to U.S. business interests. That means cheap labor, an ability to exploit the resources in those countries. You’re from New England, right? All those companies are leaving New England and setting up in those Third World countries, Korea, or wherever. They prop up these governments, which basically repress people so they can reap profits. So those countries do not get to develop their economies in any kind of balanced way. And that’s how I see it. How do you see it?
J: It’s all my fault. I hate myself! (band laughter).
S: We never said we necessarily liked the government or the people who run the country. We just like America. And what’s wrong with that?
T: Well, he (Bob) said it “ruled”, and he (John) said you’re “patriotic”. So, you’re going beyond saying just “we like America”. What’s the criteria for that?
B: The good far outweighs the bad. When you go over to Canada, what happens? You cross a border, it’s like, phehh, no problem. If you’re in Europe, and you’re trying to cross from one state to another, they strip you and stick a finger up your behind to check what you’ve got there (more band laughter). I mean, you can move around this country free, you can say what you want.
T: As long as no one really pays attention.
B: Oh, if they want to pay attention, fine.
J: That’s another good thing. They don’t pay much attention.
T: The fact is, yes, we do have ‘freedom of speech’ in this country, but in the past, it’s been proven that once people start paying attention to you, if you’re in opposition to what the government’s doing, then you’re in a position to be offed, or be put away, or whatever. Look at all the people who were in rebellion against the government in the sixties. A lot of them got put away, driven nuts, or killed.
B: Or they’re lawyers or head G.E. right now, or something like that.
T: Some of them sold out too, right.
B: They didn’t sell out. They just got wise (more band laughter).
T: Anyway, I think there’s more to it than you’re saying. Yes, there is freedom of speech, but what is that freedom really? Yes, people do come here from other countries, but why is it that they have to leave their countires? It’s not just so superficially easy to say.
J: It’s a good place to come to (band laughter).
T: And I think the whole “Rules” mentality… “San Francisco Rules”, etc., where’s that at?
J: It’s pride.
T: Pride in what? I mean everyplace…
J: You don’t have maintenance without pride (band laughter).
T: Do you think that’s an admirable mentality, saying that this place or that place “Rules”? I don’t think that S.F. “Rules” or Boston “Rules”, or America “Rules”, or Russia “Rules”.
B: Well, I think that Boston Rules, but that doesn’t mean that I hate every band from D.C. or anything like that.
S: Just because you think that something’s the best doesn’t mean something else doesn’t have some good points to it too (band laugher).
T: So that’s the extent of…
B: I would rather be in this country than anywhere else on earth.
T: Sure. You were born here.
B: I don’t know. If I was in Paraguay sitting around…
T: Paraguayans would say they’d rather be there. That’s how it works. If you go overseas, everyone is proud, in a sense, of where they’re from. That’s basic. You grow up somewhere, you have these cultural attachments, and you’re proud of it. What I’m trying to fathom is, are you just proud, or are you arrogant here? I think there’s a difference.
J: Ignoring that question, what I just want to say is what I really hate is seeing these kids who want to be ‘cool punk kids in the scene’… They go out and buy this anti-Reagan t-shirt or something like that and they don’t even know what’s going on 10 feet in front of their face. They just do it to be cool… just jumping on the bandwagon.
T: Yes, I think there’s definitely a trendy ‘be political’ whatever… I know what you’re saying. I think that’s as ignorant as the other side, which is to be trendy anti-political, and not know what you’re talking about either.
J: I had those people in mind when I wrote “My America”.