BEING
/ ' tonight with unique, ironic touch
By Sean McCarthy
Music Critic
Tonight, Lincoln
becomes “Wally World.”
i i No, not the Wally
V r World in the movie
\ “National Lampoon’s
> Vacation.” This one’s more
1 j enjoyable.
Wally Pleasant - the offbeat
songwriter best known for such
songs as “That’s Evolution,”
* “Altemateen” and “Sons of Bob Dylan” -
/ takes the stage about 10 p.m. at Yiayia’s
/ Pizza Beer & Wine, 1423 O St.
/ Pleasant is currently oh tour support
I ing his latest album, “Wally World.” Since
I his first compact disc, “Songs About
f Stuff,” came out in 1992, Pleasant has sold
more than 75,000 albums on his own
Miranda Records label. Many were sold
simply at shows.
Pleasant’s mix of offbeat humor and
sharp satire has helped him amass a fol
lowing that continues to grow. In the last
two years, he has been featured in the Wall
Street Journal, landed spots on numerous
College Music Journal charts and had a
song appear on a compilation compact
disc with such greats as Bruce
Springsteen and Bob Dylan. The
song, “Diamond Cuts,” is about
psychotic, racist, boozer
baseball-great Ty Cobb.
Though his name is
becoming more popular,
Pleasant said he has no
intentions of leaving
Miranda Records to
Aaron Steckelberg/DN ' s^op a k*8ger
it
You don *t want to be too topical Id rather
do a song on something
that won’t go away; like the Internet ”
Wally Pleasant
singer/songwriter
record label. Pleasant runs the record company out of
his home and an East Lansing, Mich., post office box.
“The music industry isn’t interested in me, to tell
you the truth,” Pleasant said. “I don’t have that high
of an opinion of the music industry,” i h 4 , f k |
Traveling in his minivan^-Pfea^aifr re%n Iftwcp
month tour concluding next month in Alaska. The
most interesting stop on the tour so far was at a Ft.
Wayne, Ind., comedy club, where Pleasant per
formed for “Country Week,” he said.
“Being from Detroit, I thought I fit in real well,”
Pleasant said.
Aside from Indiana, Pleasant has traveled to Texas,
Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia for this tour.
To pass the time on the road, he listens to his col
lection of books on tape. For this trip, he’s brought
Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las
Vegas” and Stephen King’s “Gerald’s Game.”
Pleasant listened to “Gerald’s Game” while driving
from Texas to Tennessee.
“It’s pretty creepy,” Pleasant said. “We were
pulling an all-nighter, but driving through Arkansas
at night can be pretty creepy too.”
Pleasant has attacked many people and institu
tions on his albums.
He aimed a hilarious jab at the record industry
and its followers in “Alternateen,” a song on his
“Houses of the Holy Moly” album.
Other topics Pleasant has addressed include the
worn-out phrase “the next Bob Dylan” in “Sons of
•4Jolfc and4e$£^fromoting ex-punk Henry Rollins inj
“HardcoreMap” ~w~r g~
One benefit of touring is seeing an audience's
immediate reaction to his songs, Pleasant said.
“It’s nice to write a song and get a response like
people actually ‘get it,”’ he said.
This is not the first time Pleasant has performed
in Lincoln. He’s played before at Duffy’s Tavern and
the old Mudslide Slim’s.
Pleasant said he would rather play small, packed
halls of 100 people than half-filled halls of 200.
Along with watching Pleasant perform, the audi
ence may be treated to a possible bingo game tonight.
“I ran out of bingo cards on my last show,”
Pleasant said. “I tried to stop at one of those dollar
stores to get some.”
Pop culture may be a favorite target for some of
Pleasant’s lyrics, but he said he tried to steer away
from including current events in his songs.
“You don’t want to be too topical,” Pleasant said.
“I’d rather do a song on something that won’t go
away, like the Internet.”
Tickets for Pleasant’s all-ages show are $4. Bring
your I.D. and some beer money, but above all, bring
a sense of humor.
- ■ \
Playboy honors local tavern
college bar
By Bret Schulte
Senior Reporter
After years of reviewing the women of col
lege campuses, Playboy now has turned its eyes
to men’s other leading distraction - the bars.
For the first time in the publication’s histo
ry, Playboy has compiled a list of the United
States’ Top 100 College Bars. The list appears
in the recently released October “College
Blowout Issue.” Among the 100 bars selected is
The Brass Rail, 1436 0 St., Nebraska’s sole rep
resentative in die nationwide survey.
Co-owner Tommy Mausbach said employ
ees of the bar, both men and women, were
ecstatic about the honor. He attributed the bar’s
success to the hard work of its devoted bar
tenders, servers and door workers.
“Our bartenders and doormen always have a
good attitude, and it comes across,” Mausbach
said. “The only reason we got (the recognition)
is because of the workers we have.”
As a cornerstone of campus social activity
for more than 60 years, the bar sports the slo
gan, “One of UNL’s longest running traditions,”
Mausbach said. Indeed, many of the bars that
made the list boast a strong history in their
respective communities. Among them is Smoky
Joe’s - near the University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia - which was founded during
Prohibition and has been serving students ever
since.
The Top 100 College Bars list was compiled
through the efforts of a campus marketing firm,
Beyond the Wall* which organized a series of
random surveys and an online polling compo
nent allowing students to vote via Playboy’s
World Wide Web site for their favorite watering
hole. The survey asked students about atmos
phere, service and prices of local bars.
Playboy’s list is not a ranked enumeration by
votes, but simply a collection of the 100
favorite bars of the survey’s participants.
Mausbach said when he received a call from
the Playboy promotions department, he was
amazed to hear The Brass Rail had been voted
the campus favorite.
“They said they got a lot of input that The
Brass Rail is a top college bar, and that it
appeared over and over again,” he said.
Bartender Sara DeMars said the publicity
has both customers and employees excited.
“I’m all for Playboy,” she said. “We’ve
always known the bar should be recognized as
one of the most infamous bars in Lincoln and
Nebraska.”
Longtime regulars Dick and Dee Wehnes
agreed, saying that The Brass Rail has earned a
special place in Lincoln’s social scene.
“They’ve improved their clientele, and it’s a
Please see RAIL on 10
.f
Photo courtesy otPlayboy
ALTHOUGH HOT FEATURED in the
centerfold, The Brass Rail, 1436 0
C* oommAa iA j*- DltfftuliAu
ai«f iiuhis iis riafOOf magazine pro*
miere this week as one of the top
100 college bars In the nation.
* •».-* • * {
: '■*<<•■ s ‘ - • - v. !
_ .
