The story is I didn't get the story. Too much of a fanboy basking in the honor of a private audience with the Blues Explosion during soundcheck and dinner. I barely said a word until it was almost too late; I just sat there like Potsie hanging with the Fonz. It wasn't until the Blues Explosion was getting ready to go onstage that something occurred to me: I forgot to do the interview. Realizing there were only minutes to spare, my face flush with the irrational brilliance of a mild anxiety attack, I burst into the Blues Explosion's dressing room.

MAGNET: Do you want to answer some stupid questions?

Russell Simins: Yeah.

MAGNET: What "flavor" is Beck?

Simins: [Groaning] I don't know ... chalk. These are stupid questions.

MAGNET: This is going well. Is it true that Rufus Thomas turned up in the studio with a bottle of Scope?

Simins: He had it in his pants. He pulled it out and drank the whole thing down. I couldn't believe that this 78-year-old legend drinks Scope.

Russell's brother: [To Russell] You'd be a legend, too, if you drank a bottle of Scope.

MAGNET: Jon, is it true that Orange was originally going to be called Son Of A Rich Man?

Jon Spencer: Yeah. The new record was originally titled Controversial Negro, which probably would have been a good title in light of some of the things that have been written about us.

MAGNET: Why do you think some critics question your intentions?

Spencer: Because they are not very bright.

[At this point J Mascis inexplicably appears, accompanied by Carl Crack from Atari Teenage Riot, which came over from its native Germany to open up for the Blues Explosion. In the absence of photographic proof, you'll have to trust me that the surrealism quotient of these proceedings, already dangerously high, was raised about 10 notches by the sight of a lanky black German with a blond afro accompanied by a guy who, from a distance, looks like Cousin It.]

Spencer: Hey, it's J Mascis! Why don't you ask him about his intentions?

Mascis: [Barely audible] All my questions go through Carl Crack.

MAGNET: Carl, how much sweat is there in the Blues Explosion?

Crack: [Looking very puzzled until someone crudely translates the question] Oh, a lot!

MAGNET: Karl, the women of America want to know, what does Jon Spencer's pant leg smell like?

Crack: A lot!

Simins: What magazine is this for?

MAGNET: A porno magazine.

Spencer: Dang.