From the Mar 8 – Mar 14, 2001 issue

Columns

It's My Party

by Kathleen Wilson

Oh, the humanity. Local emo-rock band Waxwing is in trouble and needs your help. In a tear-stained press release sent out last week, the band lamented its battle against Detroit-based four-piece "the Waxwings" over its nearly identical name. "We have been a band since '96, over two years before 'the Waxwings' claim [sic] 1st use of the name. The potential for confusion of the two bands is very high and has already taken place. We have heard several stories now of how people have gone to see their shows thinking it was us, and worse yet people who have tried to get our music and have ended up with theirs!!" As a very good friend of mine would say after being informed of this situation: Can I get a large break and an order of whatever? A quick Google search will get you a gaggle of hits on the Detroit Waxwings, whom Rolling Stone likened to Brian Wilson after listening to Low to the Ground, the band's May 2000 debut on Bobsled Records. The Waxwings play melodious, infectious pop, all jangly and full of harmonies, the way I like it. Seattle's Waxwing plays "important" moody rock, and it's no wonder, then, that the boys have got their panties in a bunch over this name thing. "Unfortunately this is costing us thousands and thousands of dollars and we can use all the help we can get from the music community we have been a part of for the past five years," Waxwing pleads. Those members of the music community who feel Waxwing's pain should attend the band's benefit show on March 10 at the Kirkland Community Center. Oh, and the band ends the soon-to-be infamous press release with a final, heartfelt request: "If anyone has experienced any confusion between us and 'the Waxwings' please send us an email [www.waxwingrock.com] letting us know what happened or come up to us after the show. These stories will really help make our case stronger." Uh huh.

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And speaking of, ahem, strong cases, how about the one Courtney Love has filed against Universal Music, a countersuit aiming to break her contract and reveal what she describes as the "repressive and unfair working conditions" of the music biz. For those keeping track, this is the second lawsuit Love has filed in as many months, and is not to be confused with the one filed against the woman whose husband Love stole, and whom Love is now accusing of going insane with revenge. Universal first sued Love in February 2000, demanding payback for five undelivered albums. Legally, Love has the right to terminate her recording contract because it's more than seven years old, but let's not forget that within those seven years Hole has produced only one follow-up to the band's debut, Live Through This. Which makes one wonder just how calculative her move is to speak for (as she claims in a statement made to Reuters on February 28) artists who don't have her "privilege and ability."

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If you're familiar with this column, then it's a safe bet you're also familiar with my obsession concerning Winona Ryder's love life. Recently I implored the newly unhitched Eddie Vedder to protect himself from Ryder's musician-entangling web, as he seemed a logical feather for her to jab into an already heavily decorated cap. Vedder is in the clear, it would seem--at least temporarily. Entertainment Weekly recently reported that Ryder is now dating current drunkypants, hot-singer/ songwriter-of- the-moment, Ryan Adams.

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R.I.P: In the aftermath of our seismic shakedown, the owners of the heavily damaged building that houses the OK Hotel have decided to bulldoze the place. Sniff!