« Previous · Next »

Lots of readers have written in to The Nitpicker's Corner to give us their lists of what we've come to call Should'ves, meaning, artists or entities who should've made it into the book. Interestingly, both Clay Peterson of Athens, Georgia, and John Peluso of Raleigh, North Carolina, suggest items that we actually included in the Vanity Fair editions of "Rock Snob" but subsequently deemed too ephemeral and of-their-specific-time to warrant inclusion in the book. Mr. Peterson wants to know why the Elephant 6 collective didn't make it, since "I see the name dropped in the occasional Snob-penned review." Clay, we simply decided that this loose agglomeration of interrelated bands (among them Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control) didn't have the legs of, say, the Paisley Underground or the Laurel Canyon scene as a lasting Snob obsession. But you're making us reconsider.

As for Mr. Peluso, yes, indeed, we had Yo La Tengo as an entry in Vanity Fair but dropped them from the book version--again, because they just didn't seem wholly Snobworthy for the long term. (Then we'd have to put in bands like the Feelies and Love Tractor, too.) However, you can hear Rock Snob Steven Daly appear on the same radio program as Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan by clicking here. And, John, we will take under consideration your suggestions of the theremin, Jaco Pastorius, and Sandy Denny.