Material Issue - best band ever!

My favorite band of all-time is Material Issue. Recently on a M.I. fan email list questions were posted for us all to answer. It was fun and when I was finished realized it recapped my love for this band pretty well. And as I type this I am just realizing that it's 9 years to the day that the band's lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter Jim Ellison passed away. Wow. Really weird timing and totally unintentional. Anyway here goes...

1.Do you remember the first time you heard Material Issue on the radio?
The first time I actually heard the band was on their “Chatter” sampler that was sent out with (I think) Guitar Magazine. (Maybe it was Musician?) Anyway I was in high school and my father had gotten the tape in the mail and gave it to me, telling me it was the best new band he had heard in ages and that I’d probably really like them. My father’s taste in music has always rocked. So I took him at his word and listened to it on the bus to school. It was an hour-long ride and the tape was only about 8 minutes long. I played it over and over until I arrived. I played it for my best friend Vinny and he fell in love with the band as well.

That weekend my parents and I were record-shopping in the Village and I picked up the newly-released International Pop Overthrow. I looked at the liner and saw a really cute guy with stunning blue eyes - Jim. I was only 14 with a lot of teenybopper-like tendencies and melted. Ah what a dork I was! A permanent crush that lasts to this day.

2. Did you ever have any personal encounters with the guys?
I am fortunate enough to have several. The summer after International Pop Overthrow was released the band played Summerstage at Central Park. That was the first time I met them. I was with a bunch of friends and they were standing off to the side of the stage. I think I pretty much just screamed when I saw them. They must have thought I was nuts – or more accurately – a dumbstruck teenage girl meeting her favorite band.

Met them again when they played at the World Trade Center, again at the Marquee (now closed) and pretty much every time they played NYC. I met them many many times and every single time I felt on top of the world. Here they were, the greatest band in the world in my eyes, and they were always so great and sweet and generous with me and my friends.

But the time that sticks in my mind as the most special was when I had the chance to interview them for a fanzine I had during high school and college, Useless Art. Truly, it was created with the sole purpose of being able to see and talk to bands I loved. Gaspar was interning at Mercury Records at the time in the PR department and let us do an in-person interview with the band at the label. We were such dorks and asked them incessant questions about everything we could think of. We must have kept them there for almost 45 minutes. But they were gracious and patient and sweet the entire time. And let us stay afterwards to watch them do a quick photo shoot for a magazine. Probably still one the best days of my life.

3.What's your favorite MI concert memory?
Wow is this a tough question! So many. When they played at the World Trade Center it was summer time in 1992 and insanely windy out. I remember the wind bew so had it knocked down the stacks of speakers inches from my friend Vinny and Ted came over to ask if he was okay but were all just laughing. We watched them soundcheck and Jim started singing “I Started A Joke.” I wish to this day they had recorded it. The made jokes about some of the people passing by the stage and were generally cracking each other up. The show itself was incredible. It was a mix of fans, people on their lunch hour, and just people that happened to be in the area. They won over everyone around. A large crowd assembled in the plaza. It was just a gorgeous day. I have a photo I took with Jim just before the show. Sadly, everything in that photo is gone now, except me. But I treasure it.

So many great concert memories - Central Park, WTC, Irving Plaza, The Marquee, etc. A simpler moment I cherish came just before the band played The Beacon Theater opening for the Pretenders. I was standing outside the theater with my father in the rain before the doors opened. I didn’t see Jim walking over. He just stuck his head under my umbrella and took it out of my hands and said “Hi!”

4.What song is most personal to you?
Probably “Very First Lie.” Just a perfect song and encompasses so much about first love for me. The entore “International Pop Overthrow” is very personal to me. Probably the most meaningful album in my life.

5.What's your favorite MI cover song?
Another tough one! They always did great covers live. They performed them they way I personally feel covers were meant to be played - as a surprise at a show to get everyone going. “So You Wanna Be A Rock N Roll Star” is up there just for the memory of singing the “la la” part at shows. LOVE “The Cowboy Song” – didn’t know the original until after Material Issue covered it. Of course “Ballroom Blitz” rocks! “Bad Time” …. I could go on and on.

6.What do you think MI's legacy is?
Vastly underrated but beloved by many with an arsenal of some of the best, most well-crafted pop songs by anyone.

7.If you could have a moment to talk to Jim, what would you say to him?
Thank you for providing me with some the greatest albums, concerts, and memories that I will treasure all my life. You have no idea the effect you and your songs have had on my life. Just thank you for everything.