Forever A Fan

On July 9, 2002, I first met Jim DeRogatis, rock critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, in a darkened parking lot outside one of the most beloved radio institutions in Chicago, WXRT. I could never have imagined that four years later I would call this gentleman from New Jersey a mentor and friend.

The introduction was simple: I was allowed to visit “Sound Opinions,” hosted by DeRogatis and Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, to offer my thanks for an autographed copy of Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot that I won in a contest sponsored by the WXRT show. The day I actually got the call from the show’s webmaster, Jason Saldanha, I was suffering from food poisoning. I was probably the least excited sounding winner over the telephone that he’s ever had to call.

On the previous week, before my first visit to the studio, I had called the show to defend the latest Oasis album Heathen Chemistry. Both Jim and Greg took the album to town, trashing it as a waste of time. I’d like to think I held my own by defending the album, even refreshing Jim’s memory about the final track on the band’s debut album Definitely Maybe. So, when I arrived to the WXRT studio, Jason was the first to greet me. It felt like a few seconds later when I met Jim. I shook his hand and mentioned the Wilco album I won in the contest. To put a voice with a face, I state I was the caller from last week who defended Oasis. “Well, somebody has to,” says Jim. That was the first remark he ever said to me; it wasn’t “Nice to meet you,” or “Thanks for listening to the show.”

My impression of Jim, notwithstanding the Oasis comment, was slightly shaped by a review of an R.E.M. concert in August 1999 at the New World Music Theatre (now some other god awful corporate name). I still remember reading the review in my kitchen and slamming my fist on the dining room table, exclaiming, “What fucking show did this guy see?” I still have the article in my closet. I’ve been meaning to have Jim autograph it for me…one day.

Meeting Jim face to face took me back a little. I was just starting out as a writer for my college newspaper at DePaul, and here I was meeting this seasoned veteran of journalism that’s already put down one of my favorite bands. It was intimidating to say the least.

Well, the evening with Jim and Greg turned out better than expected. I was invited to stay during the two-hour show and sit with them in the actual studio. Having been a listener to WXRT since I was probably seven years old I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Based on the fact I didn’t freak out Jim and Greg during the show, I was given the OK by executive producer Matt Spiegel to come back and visit anytime. Since that time I’ve become part of their worlds just as they became part of mine.

It was probably because I showed up so much—sometimes with Rice Krispy Treats or bootleg CDs—that after a year I was offered the title of production associate with “Sound Opinions" (Jim’s original title for me was Chief Aide de Camp) and given a spot on the moderating team for the show’s online message board. Greg honored me with a research assistant credit in his very first book called Wilco - Learning How To Die, a story about the Chicago-based rock band. Following the release of Greg’s book, Jim e-mailed me about a special project he wanted to involve me with. I printed out his e-mail and kept it folded in one of my textbooks as I went about my day of classes at DePaul. When it came time to finally call Jim and learn what this project he had in mind for me, I was cooking ham at my then-girlfriend’s apartment. “How are ya, Chris?” asked Jim over the phone. “I’m just cooking some ham,” I replied. “Well, you’re in college. You gotta eat something,” said Jim.

It was then when Jim asked me to be part of his book about the Flaming Lips, to transcribe interviews and fact check material. It wasn’t work I felt was beneath me. My work with Greg consisted of gathering specific Wilco bootlegs for his research. Here, I would be more involved in the writing process by working with Jim’s interviews with band members (past and present) and various associates of the band.

Working with Jim was always interesting. I probably learned more about him and from him while chatting with him as I sorted his mail bins of press kits. The first time I actually rode my bike from my home on the south side to Jim’s home near Wrigley Field continues to be a moment that doesn’t go away as a joke (“Hey Chris, did you ride your bike here?”).

Jim always seized the moment to educate me about a band or artist that he loved and that I needed in my collection. One such instance was when he went into complete shock that I wasn’t very familiar with John Cale, formerly of the Velvet Underground. “You call yourself a R.E.M. fan and don’t know John Cale?” exclaimed Jim from his desk. I was filing CDs into his vast library of a music collection when this discussion about John Cale came up. He proceeded to change the CD that was playing to Cale’s live album Fragments Of A Rainy Season within a split second. Suddenly this beautiful song filled the basement office area and my ears perked up. It was a song I once heard on an episode of The West Wing, a song performed by the late Jeff Buckley called “Hallelujah.” I learned that the song originated from Leonard Cohen and that, according to Jim, the Cale cover is far superior to Buckley’s version. Naturally, Jim made a copy of the CD for the simple reason I needed it in my life. Being the former record store employee, I could relate completely to what he must have been thinking the second I admitted to having never heard the Cale CD, “This is a great album that needs to be heard and you should have a copy.”

If I had to choose one lesson to take from my time spent with Jim, it would be that honesty is not always popular, and to say that Jim is blunt with his opinions would be sugarcoating things a little bit. The disagreements readers may have with his opinions stems from the fact that he’s being honest about what he thought about an album or a concert. You’re not doing your job as a critic if people are always agreeing with you 100% of the time. I’m sure Jim has his share of hate mail to prove to that point.

On the night of his Flaming Lips book party at the Abbey Pub, Jim showed yet another side of himself that I never really experienced. I showed up in support of the book I had a hand in and to offer Jim my congratulations for achieving his dream. I have to tip my hat to him; Jim’s had the opportunity to write about his rock critic hero, Lester Bangs, and one of his favorite bands in the Flaming Lips. If that’s not living the dream, then I don’t know what is.

Upon my arrival I discovered from another a fellow DeRo intern, Jenny Grandy, that Jim would be performing with a Lips tribute band called the Satellite Hearts. The band was selecting songs from the '80s and '90s era of the Flaming Lips that are never performed anymore. I was also brought onboard to handle a balloon drop that Jim would signal during one of the songs. Balloons aside, I was simply transfixed by the thought of Jim fronting a band instead of sitting behind the drums. For Jim, this is how he wanted to celebrate the book, through music instead of chapter excerpts.

But when Jim finally took to the stage with the band a little after midnight I readied myself from my side of the balcony. He transformed into exactly what he wrote about in the book; he became a fearless freak.

The microphone was gripped tightly in his hands as he launched into the first song. His voice was bellowing throughout the club, not containing a single care if he was singing out of key. It was like watching Jim pretend to be Wayne Coyne for a night. Whether it was screaming through a bullhorn or firing off confetti into the air, Jim proved he had strong notes when it came to recreating Coyne’s showmanship. I could tell from the crowd’s reaction to each song that Jim was going for the deep cuts that they’ve longed for the Lips to perform again. “Kim’s Watermelon Gun,” “Hit Me Like You Did The First Time,” “Turn It On,” and the show’s closer “She Don’t Use Jelly” were just some of the moments that caused a celebratory frenzy in the crowd.

I smiled as I watched Jim lean down from the stage and pitch the microphone to a fan standing directly in front. He had been singing word for word along with Jim the whole show. That gesture revealed the true spirit of the Flaming Lips that Jim tapped in to—that the band has remained an equal to their fans.

Jim is a constant reminder that no matter who—whether it's the band just a week old or the million-dollar band with private jets—there’s no such thing as free passes. If you speak with conviction and are honest with the facts, the readers will decide on their own whether the music is good or bad. Question his opinions, but what can never be questioned is his passion for the music. And for that I stand and applaud him wholeheartedly.

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda (Taken At The Abbey Pub, 3/25/2006)
Concert Artwork By: Chris Martiniano