A MATTER OF DEGREES - "Where Is My Mind" (1990)

 

January 26, 2022 sounds like a perfect date for a Wild and Rockin' Wednesday down in The Dungeon."

Tonight's feature is a 1990 movie called "A Matter Of Degrees," and while this isn't the greatest movie in the world, it sure has one of the best soundtracks I've heard lately!

This composite shot from the opening credits kind of explains it all!

The Minutemen are one of my favorite bands of all time, and so for their music to be featured in this film makes me really like this movie, even though I didn't really like it that much! Almost all of the music in this film is really good, and if Jim Dunbar is the guy responsible, then cheers to him, because he did a really good job.

Some of the fantastic music is supplied by fIREHOSE, John Doe, UncleTupelo, The Ophelias, Pere Ubu, Thelonius Monster, The Velvet Monkeys, Throwing Muses, Mikey Dread, The Pixies, and the list goes on and on. There are also a couple of really nice jazz cuts by Eric Dolphy, Coleman Hawkins, and John Coltrane!

The basic story is about a college radio station that is going to have to go away because of corporate greed disguised as community involvement.

 I can identify with that. I worked at a college radio station in the 70's, and it was fun and interesting, but frustrating at times. You couldn't get a show unless you knew somebody, but by volunteering to be part of a radio drama of the story "Lysistrata," I was offered a time slot. The funniest thing was, a few months later, when Summer came and half the student body left town, I was having to do five or six shows a week, and basically run the place because there were not enough people.

One of the DJ's is named The Scuzz, and is played by Tom Gilroy. Tom directed a video for R.E.M.

John Doe from the band X is also one of the DJ's.

Wendell Pierce is another DJ named Wells Dennard. Wendell was born in New Orleans, an although he was never a musician, he did take trombone lessons when the character he was playing in the TV "Treme" was a trombonist.

The real star of the movie is not even one of the DJ's, but a kid trying to get into law school named Maxwell Glass. Max was played by Arye (Santo Bugito) Gross.

Lovable whackjobs Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson of The B-52's have a brief scene as lovable whackjobs Moonboy and Bambi.

 

Another very interesting thing about this film, is that there is a really funny scene at a party, and the guy playing the guitar and singing horribly is John F. Kennedy Jr. This is the only movie John John was ever in, and lucky for you, somebody was kind enough to put all twenty-seven seconds of it on YouTube!

The band named Fetchin Bones performs a pretty cool song called "Love Crushin."

 

 

I always did like the cover of their "Bad Pumpkin" LP.

 

This movie is "Dedicated To The Memory Of D. Boon," who joined the 27 Club just before Christmas in 1985.

If I was you, I'd do what I did. Forget this movie, and just buy yourself a copy of the soundtrack instead. I found a copy on Discogs for $3.09.

I don't think the same person who picked out the music for the movie picked out the songs for the album. I would have made some different choices, and at least included one of the Minutemen tunes, but it's still good!