A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.
Substack
Should Dean Wareham play Galaxie 500?
tl;dr yes, of course he should!
Warning: I might come across as a bit of an arse in this post… sometimes even I’m astounded at the nonsense I’ve written in the past. I apologise!
Since the breakup of Galaxie 500 in 1991 Dean Wareham’s performances, first with Luna and later with Britta, would invariably drop in a Galaxie 500 song or two - this was of course fine, and to be honest expected. Dean was never shy of his past so it seemed only sensible to acknowledge it. And we, the fans, appreciated that. We knew that Luna (or Dean & Britta) weren’t Galaxie 500 and we also knew that a Galaxie 500 reunion was never going to happen. So… no harm.
During the summer of 2008 Dean & Britta played a three month, show-a-month residency at The Zipper Factory in New York City and when it was announced Britta said in an interview:
We're thinking of having different themes for each show, maybe all Galaxie 500 songs for one, our first album, "L'avventura" for another, covers...?
Britta Phillips (pinkomag.com - May 2008, my emphasis)
And sure enough, on the 21st August 2008 Dean & Britta’s Zipper Factory show was a set of just Galaxie 500 songs.
The following year they began playing Galaxie 500 shows more often and started getting booked specifically to play “Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500” sets. Around that time some discussion was struck up on the Galaxie 500 Mailing List about whether he should be doing this at all.
I defended it on the list:
This will be just a bunch of thoughts - a lot of which I won't explain the relevance of - partly because they may not have relevance...
Dean has on a number of occasions mentioned how hard he finds it coming up with new songs/song ideas - I think it was (and I don't have copy of Black Postcards to hand to double check) one of the contributing factors to Galaxie 500 breaking up - the two Dean & Britta albums and the 13 Most Beautiful soundtrack are all liberally sprinkled with covers - I think it's safe to assume that while he has consistently been producing great material it doesn't just fall out of him.
Galaxie 500 are back on the radar now - the Domino and 20|20|20 reissues have seen to that.
While reunions are de riguer we're all painfully aware (and in my case grateful) that a Galaxie 500 one is not on the cards
I've generally loved Luna covering Galaxie 500, and enjoyed Dean & Britta's forays into that part of Dean's past (with the exception linked above) - also one of my high-points of 2010 (high oints of any year prob) was Damon & Naomi covering Blue Thunder at The Luminaire - I don't mind, and actually genuinely love, that these songs can still work.
13 Most Beautiful - as a project - has eaten a chunk out of the "write the next album" time so clearly the next new album is not ready.
The music industry is a different animal now - without record companies proffering huge advances to make albums the money is having to be made elsewhere... actually I wonder if this is the key point. Smaller bands/artists need to find new ways to make if they want music to be a career rather than a side project - and whether its advertising, soundtracks, reunions, or rehashing your back catalogue (or any/all of the above) - then that is what needs to be done.
Galaxie 500 shows are going to make money - for some of the reasons mentioned above.
I know that there will be new material from Dean (& Britta) at some point in the future - and I can wait - it's not like there isn't stacks of other great music to listen to - and in the meantime I'm happy to enjoy hearing (of) Galaxie 500 reunion shows knowing that they're not Galaxie 500 and it's not breaking anything by happening.
I'm a fan.
Andy Aldridge - Galaxie 500 Mailing List (16th June 2010)
Although I hadn’t always been so accepting of Dean & Britta covering Galaxie 500 - I once decided that they should NEVER cover ‘Snowstorm’:
I love Dean & Britta and I love that they're doing Galaxie 500 numbers, and I even appreciate that my attachment to Snowstorm might be quite unique and therefore I am the only one who finds it bothersome. But I do. I hope to get to see Dean & Britta play (a non 13 Most Beautiful show) in the near future, maybe even one of the Galaxie 500 shows they've been doing... but I wonder if they'll take requests?
Dean & Britta cover Snowstorm - a sacrilegious opinion (Everything's Swirling - June 2009)
… and I even expressed concerns over them covering Listen, The Snow is Falling:
At recent "Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500" shows Listen, The Snow is Falling has been given an outing with Britta on vocals - here are some random thoughts on this - not sure yet where it will lead...
- I know it's a cover version but technically it can't be divorced from Galaxie 500
- With all the other Galaxie 500 covers Dean & Britta have been doing the original voice was singing it - not in this case... but...
- ... is that really any different from Damon & Naomi covering Blue Thunder?
- I've had no problem with other covers of Listen, The Snow is Falling so why this one?
- I haven't heard it yet but don't doubt that it sounds great.
- I am aware of the relationship that Dean has with Damon & Naomi and while I'm aware that it's unlikely to be ever repaired I can't help but see this as making it even less likely!
- I am no doubt being irrational - I described myself to a friend as feeling like the child of divorced parents - trying to love them both when they don't love each other...
Andy Aldridge - Galaxie 500 Mailing List (17th November 2010)
Of course, all of that is just plain stupid. I’ve since heard both Snowstorm and Listen, The Snow is Falling live on many occasions and can honestly say that I’ve never been disappointed, not once! I’ve also seen Damon & Naomi play Listen… which did have Naomi’s voice, but didn’t have Dean’s guitar… and I wasn’t disappointed with that either!
When a band, and their music is so close to your heart it can be hard not to be precious about it, and to think that the years of listening and the depth of attachment gives you some rights, like you have become a shareholder with some say in how your investment is being managed. But of course that’s nonsense!
At a show in London in 2011 Dean announced that his show that summer at Truck Festival would be the last time he’d play a … plays Galaxie 500 show in the UK.
… I guess he meant to add “for a while” because it was 11 years until the next time he did a … plays Galaxie 500 show in London at the twice-covid-postponed shows in the summer of 2022.
Similar conversations have been had over the use of the music we love in commercials. In 1999 Galaxie 500’s Instrumental appeared on an advert for Acura in the US, this prompted a lot of discussion on the Galaxie 500 Mailing List that covered not only Galaxie 500 and Luna but also Stereolab, Spiritualized and Nick Drake, all of whose music had recently been turning up in TV ads.
Once again this turned into a discussion about how we, as fans, can sometimes feel that we are investors in the music we love. I’ll post a few snippets from the discussion on the list but this, from a 2002 interview that Dean gave Billboard should possibly come first:
There was a Galaxie 500 instrumental piece used in an Acura ad last year or the year before, and it totally saved me, financially. In times when you're wondering where you're possibly gonna get your next bit of money from and something like that drops out of the sky, it's very nice.
Luna Gets Sunny On 'Romantica' (Billboard - 15th April 2002)
But he did also understand it from a fan’s perspective:
It can completely ruin a song for you. I grew up hating it, but everyone's doing it. We're between record contracts, and if we didn't do that, we'd have to get … jobs.
Dean Wareham - The Age of Selling Cool (Hartford Courant, 2nd September 2001)
Commercial break
Galaxie 500’s Instrumental was used in this 1999 car advert. I do actually quite like how it has been used in this one.
Luna’s California (All The Way) advertising a perfume for frighteningly skinny people (you have to wait until the last few seconds to hear Luna).
California (All The Way) was also used for an American Express ad in the UK in the late 90s, and Drunken Whistler, also for American Express in the early 2000s. I suspect there are other examples I haven’t heard about.
I kicked off the discussion on the list:
In the light of Galaxie 500's "Instrumental" turning up in a TV commercial how do you feel about it, is it an [abomination] or a necessary evil? Is it good because it exposes a band to an audience they wouldn't normally reach or is it just ruining the song for the faithful by associating it with an inappropriate product in a questionable industry?
My position is forever shifting - I was once appalled when I gave a colleague a lift and while [Luna's] "California (All The Way)" was playing on the tape recorder he asked me if this was a "songs from the adverts" compilation. But then again I also had an email from someone who had rung up American Express asking them who the song on the advert was by and had bought Bewitched on the strength of this.
I don't like commerciality but I guess in an industry which is commercially driven crossing over from selling your own product to selling someone else's is not that big a step - and maybe the revenue from the bad can be put to good use...
Andy Aldridge - The Galaxie 500 Mailing List, 12th October 1999
…and then I replied to myself
My position always seems to be that I'd like all my favourite people to have a similar (or greater) ethical standing than I do, I'd like to think that they think long and hard before giving their permission, but I suspect they don't. I accept that commerciality is a necessary evil, but if you're going to hop into bed with Satan I'd like to think that you do a lot of informed research before you do - I couldn't advertise for an arms manufacturer, I couldn't advertise for someone with an outrageous anti-union policy like Murdoch, I couldn't advertise for a company that killed animals in the name of beauty (or more controversially in the name of medical advancement). But having said that I have a house undoubtedly packed with the components manufactured by arms manufacturers, or with objects tested on animals, or manufactured in places were trade unions are illegal
I know my standpoint is very weak but at least I have a standpoint, and I'd like to think that all my heroes have a similar one. I subscribe to a magazine called "Ethical Consumer" if I followed its guidelines rigidly I'd have to live in a mud hut and eat grass.
Unfortunately having a similar ethical standing to a left-wing, animal-rights-supporting, politically-red/green vegetarian is asking a lot!
Andy - Galaxie 500 Mailing List, 12th October 1999
Here are a selection of responses which in the main were supportive, in fact I couldn’t find any of the dissenting voices I had memories of… perhaps it was just me?
- “Saw the Acura commercial with Galaxie playing the background last night. scared me right off the couch.”
Jeff - “Sure, artistically, it’s a bit sad when people associate one of your fave songs with some stupid advert, but, hey, if it brings an obscure band to a wider audience then at least that’s something […] Personally, I think that the way the system works bands should take the money and run.”
Pete - “I believe if one IS to make a living as an artist one HAS to sell out in some form or another. Inescapable,”
M - “Someone has to pay for them to keep putting out great records. why not corporate america?”
Nate - “I don’t mind when songs I like are in ‘good’ commercials.. but to relegate Galaxie 500 to a sales-pitches elevator music is kind of sad”
John - “Though I don’t like our car-dependent society, I was excited to hear Galaxie 500 via the TV”
Michael - “To hell with Acura, it’s about time Galaxie 500 got paid. They need to pay bills as well, and there is no way Galaxie 500 made any money when they were in full swing.”
Bob
While cars are unquestionably contributing to the destruction of our planet (and our local environments), and I would be unsurprised to find that Calvin Klein test their perfumes for skinny people on animals, I still like to think that Dean, Damon, and Naomi do have lines that they’re unwilling to cross… and I suspect those lines are similar to my own ones.