While we're on the subject of '80's music... It's important to remember the band that, in a decade where rock and roll seemed to be on life support, gave one adolescent weirdo the message that not all the great stuff was in the past...→[More:]

that 'alternative music' wasn't just about being arty and aloof. That music could be smrrt and still embrace big dumb fun and primal rovk power..and gave me a whole lot of emotional and social sustenance over the years..

I'm talking about those four drunks from Minneapolis: the Replacements (the 'Mats to their fans). Sadly I never got to see them live. During my abortive college career I lived two blocks up from the Beacon Theatre and they were polaying but i was two broke to go. I stood on the sidewalk and could indeed here at least one guitar (Lou Gramm, I owe you a drink).

I did get to see leader Paul Westerberg solo a few years back and he was fantastic and he did a lot of the 'Mats classics. So here's a YouTube tribute.

Achin' To Be (One of the best and deepest love songs ever)
Color Me Impressed(Best. Ant-Hipster Rant. Ever.)
Kiss Me On The Bus
Customer/Rattlesnake(why kevin Smith hasn't used this song in a movie yet is beyond me)
Answering Machine(a fine lonely man song with a dash of modern humor)
I Will Dare

and finally, the great lost anthem of the 1980's and probably the best video of all time:

Bastards Of Young