buzzsaw wrote:

Calling him a yes man isn't any more out of place than calling him a rock star.

This statement, in addition to your insinuation that Hootie and the Blowfish are a staples of modern rock radio, puts your credibility in grave danger.  Tommy Stinson not only is a rock star, he is a natural rock star.  For God's sake, he's played in two of the most influential bands of the last twenty years, and is on a few of the top 100 most influential rock albums (see The Replacements in wiki or google for a briefer) ever made. My God....

http://www.treblezine.com/reviews/195.html

In the liner notes of the Replacements' compilation record, All For Nothing, Jim Dickinson, the producer of Pleased to Meet Me had this to say about Tommy: "I want to say this about Tommy: Some people say that Keith Richards is the embodiment of rock and roll. Well, I know `em both and I say it's Tommy Stinson. Keith is a cowboy, he goes back to Gene Autry. Tommy'”he goes back to Johnny Thunders. Tommy Stinson is rock and roll." Amen.

Not many people in rock and roll have as storied a past and as dramatic a career as Tommy Stinson. For starters, Tommy was a founding member of the über-influential band the Replacements at the age of thirteen! Check it again, do the math. Tommy was born in '66 and the band formed in '79. Not only that, he had to play an integral part in the firing of his older brother Bob from the band due to alcohol and drug addiction and also his resistance to go into a mainstream direction. Deal with that, Gallagher brothers! Setting aside the hypocrisy of a partying band from firing Bob (it's kinda like firing a pornstar for acquiring an STD), after the increasing commercialism of the music led to Paul Westerberg's solo career, brother Bob died at the age of 35. Tommy formed his own bands upon the demise of the `Mats, first Bash and Pop, and later Perfect. Today he is better known for backing up P. Diddy on the "All About the Benjamins" remix and for being the `replacement' bass player for the new incarnation of Guns `n' Roses. Whoa.