Cultural Doppelgängers
Bill Pullman, Bill Paxton. That’s the big one, we are all supposed to be confused by these two actors.
I don’t care about this one. Getting Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton wrong doesn’t create any tension at my job or within my social circles. The rest of these are really ones I wish I could keep straight but I just f*cking can’t. Wait? I pay $12.99/month to have this awesome blog. I can swear. The following fucking doppelgängers cross me up at my job on The Current, in my writing of trivia and in my trying to be cool in life. Here we go. PSA: I’m not saying it’s easy to confuse these entities, I’m saying it’s easy for me to confuse these entities.
Graham Parsons
Townes Van Zandt
Graham Parsons and Townes Van Zandt. They are both alt country heroes. They both struggled with drugs and or alcohol. They both come from wealthy families that don’t sound as “countrified” as their songs do. They both loom larger than their discography would suggest. Which one was friends with The Stones? Which one does Steve Earle think is the greatest songwriter of all time? Which one had their body partially cremated at Joshua Tree Park? Which one briefly went to Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Minnesota? It took me a long time to get this all straight.
Ultramagnetic MCs
Stetsasonic
Ultramagnetic MCs, Stetsasonic. Two legendary East Coast crews whose members went on to garner more fame after the dissolution of the respective groups. Which one was the groundbreaking live band? Which one was Prince Paul in? Which one was Kool Keith in? Which one made a big deal out of beat boxing? It took a long time to make sure I had my story straight on these two legendary groups.
Superchunk.
Jawbox
Shudder to Think
This is a trifecta and I need you to bear with me. How many collections of four white people where one to two of the members have shaved heads do you expect me to distinguish from. Plus, these folks are all closely associated with record labels in almost as a big a way as they are associated with their own music. Who started Merge? Who produced all the good records on Jade Tree? Who was signed to Dischord? Who was signed to a major label. I could explain the differences to you right now. You give me three hours I will have it all messed up in my head again.
Nick Cave
Nick Lowe
Let me be abundantly clear, I now know the difference between these two men. Why? Cause I don’t think I could keep my job if I didn’t. Also, they are both incredibly talented musicians. They look nothing alike, they sound nothing alike. But you know what, they have some weird crossover. Which one produced the first British punk single of all time? The one who looks like the prince of darkness or the one who looks like he has the best advice about where to get a good scone in some little town called Wiltonshire? Well butthead, it’s Nick Lowe, the mayor of Wiltonshire. So I struggle with these two.
Dazz Band
Brick
This one is pretty understandable. Brick, out of Atlanta, made an amazing song called Dazz. Dazz, out of Cleveland, decided to name their band after the song by Brick. The problem is they are both disco influenced funk bands that made a handful of great jams. Songs you need to have, songs you love when they come on. So to get confused is explainable, but kind of unforgivable if you love funk. And I love funk.
Frankly it feels good to just kind of admit these confusions. I know people in my life who would raise their eyebrows at getting any of these confused, but honestly, it’s the truth.