The does anyone remember Juliana Hatfield sentence- Just yesterday, in the Milwaukie, Oregon New Seasons Grocery Store an employee putting cans of soup on the shelves turned and saw my The Juliana Hatfield Three shirt (from your autumn tour- the shirt with the birds) and said “I love your shirt.” I asked if she could direct me somewhere and apologized for distracting her from her task and she said “Seeing someone wear a Juliana Hatfield shirt made my day.” The real ones know.
You and your music are very much remembered fondly by everyone I know, now in their 40s and 50s and their children, from all over the world. My 11-year-old niece is fascinated by your Substack and the fact that readers/fans have a voice, too. She is enjoying listening to your music in the car and has become a fan herself.
As an early fan of the Blake Babies (1988), I followed you when you went solo, and I moved to Paris from NYC in 1992. You were known and popular in France while I lived there; my family in Eastern Europe, and friends all over Europe and Australia knew you then and still know and enjoy your music now.
For me, part of why you are still respected and adored today is because your music and your lyrics are raw and authentic, and sometimes uncomfortable in how they strike a nerve. Sometimes reality is painful, but also beautiful. In a world that is becoming increasingly superficial by the minute, thanks to social media and now AI, you are a rare beacon of hope. Ultimately, most major awards these days are bought with PR and money anyway. Like Greg said, they'd make a great doorstop and broken window holder:-)
We are living in dark and unprecedented times, and I am glad that you are and have always been a non-conformist voice of my generation and other generations in these cookie-cutter, plastic, authoritarian times. When it is becoming increasingly difficult to come by and to maintain, your integrity matters, now more than ever.
In 1998 I went to Madrid to start college. I lived with my aunt, uncle and cousin. I was the only one home in the mornings, because I had afternoon classes, so one day I had to open the door for the plummer, who came to fix something in the kitchen. That morning I was listening to "Only everything" and when the plummer came, he stood at the door, surprised and said: "Wow, I can't believe It, you're listening to Juliana Hatfield!", he was truly thrilled by the surprise, and I was utterly moved as well, we both separately thought we were the number one fan in Spain, LOL. We were talkin about your music all the time until he fixed that thing and left. Such a cool memory. Maybe he's reading this, who knows!
The feeling that one is unique and marvelous is partially responsible for so much wonderful art and music and literature. If we live long enough, real life intercedes to remind us of our insignificance, as you've noted (another benefit of natural aging.) I think we deal with the complexity of the world better as we mature. Mature artists are more interesting!
Way too modest. Have you read Vincent Scarpa’s essay “The Radical Audacity of Juliana Hatfield” yet? You’re one of the great rock chicks to ever come out of New England- (Gail Greenwood & Tanya Donnelly are a close 2nd & 3rd, respectively—LMAO)
Interesting... I remember listening to HTWA a lot after it's release and in many ways it felt like a response to Hey Babe (I am still obsessed with the final four songs from that record btw). I am not quite sure how to back this statement up... I have always related to what I perceive as humorous self-deprecation in Hey Babe ... but it's present in a much deeper way in HTWA... like you feel more confident in your own skin.
I'd like to think that had I been that next tenant I'd have found a forwarding address and sent them to you. Although, I was a fan in 93 so I might have kept them to cherish for the rest of my life. Lol. Now, I'd certainly mail them to you and know that I did a good thing, but relish that I'm living in Juliana's former digs.
You did what was right for you at the time and since the awards were yours I don’t think you leaving them in your old apartment negatively affected anyone. I hope you can come to peace with the decision you made then and move forward without thinking too negatively of yourself.
Whenever you make reference to the 90s Boston area music scene, I always wish I had lived there then. I grew up in DC - not as many bands actually from there at that time, although we had a lot of good places to see artists/bands :)
Here's what you do: set up an eBay search for ["Juliana Hatfield" award]. If it ever shows up there, you'll get an email, and you'll be thrilled. It's cyber-fishing at its finest.
I have had friends who were shy introverts that felt awards ceremonies were a horror show because the crowd, shaking hands afterwards, having their appearance judged, et cetera all seemed an overload. Their anxiety obscured the enjoyment of the award. I think everyone is just wired differently about such things.
Of course I remember you. I used to play “my sister” to my kids. I have an autistic (mildly) son, my daughter thought it was a ploy to get attention when they were younger. They’re almost as old as me now and their relationship has grown. They both launched for the most part. Son still lives part time with us. Daughter is hundreds of miles away.
The does anyone remember Juliana Hatfield sentence- Just yesterday, in the Milwaukie, Oregon New Seasons Grocery Store an employee putting cans of soup on the shelves turned and saw my The Juliana Hatfield Three shirt (from your autumn tour- the shirt with the birds) and said “I love your shirt.” I asked if she could direct me somewhere and apologized for distracting her from her task and she said “Seeing someone wear a Juliana Hatfield shirt made my day.” The real ones know.
You and your music are very much remembered fondly by everyone I know, now in their 40s and 50s and their children, from all over the world. My 11-year-old niece is fascinated by your Substack and the fact that readers/fans have a voice, too. She is enjoying listening to your music in the car and has become a fan herself.
As an early fan of the Blake Babies (1988), I followed you when you went solo, and I moved to Paris from NYC in 1992. You were known and popular in France while I lived there; my family in Eastern Europe, and friends all over Europe and Australia knew you then and still know and enjoy your music now.
For me, part of why you are still respected and adored today is because your music and your lyrics are raw and authentic, and sometimes uncomfortable in how they strike a nerve. Sometimes reality is painful, but also beautiful. In a world that is becoming increasingly superficial by the minute, thanks to social media and now AI, you are a rare beacon of hope. Ultimately, most major awards these days are bought with PR and money anyway. Like Greg said, they'd make a great doorstop and broken window holder:-)
We are living in dark and unprecedented times, and I am glad that you are and have always been a non-conformist voice of my generation and other generations in these cookie-cutter, plastic, authoritarian times. When it is becoming increasingly difficult to come by and to maintain, your integrity matters, now more than ever.
Those heavy acrylic awards make for effective door stops and are capable of holding windows open on days like this one.
In 1998 I went to Madrid to start college. I lived with my aunt, uncle and cousin. I was the only one home in the mornings, because I had afternoon classes, so one day I had to open the door for the plummer, who came to fix something in the kitchen. That morning I was listening to "Only everything" and when the plummer came, he stood at the door, surprised and said: "Wow, I can't believe It, you're listening to Juliana Hatfield!", he was truly thrilled by the surprise, and I was utterly moved as well, we both separately thought we were the number one fan in Spain, LOL. We were talkin about your music all the time until he fixed that thing and left. Such a cool memory. Maybe he's reading this, who knows!
The feeling that one is unique and marvelous is partially responsible for so much wonderful art and music and literature. If we live long enough, real life intercedes to remind us of our insignificance, as you've noted (another benefit of natural aging.) I think we deal with the complexity of the world better as we mature. Mature artists are more interesting!
Way too modest. Have you read Vincent Scarpa’s essay “The Radical Audacity of Juliana Hatfield” yet? You’re one of the great rock chicks to ever come out of New England- (Gail Greenwood & Tanya Donnelly are a close 2nd & 3rd, respectively—LMAO)
Interesting... I remember listening to HTWA a lot after it's release and in many ways it felt like a response to Hey Babe (I am still obsessed with the final four songs from that record btw). I am not quite sure how to back this statement up... I have always related to what I perceive as humorous self-deprecation in Hey Babe ... but it's present in a much deeper way in HTWA... like you feel more confident in your own skin.
This post overall resonates. Thank you!
So glad you persisted! Yes, we’re in it for the right reasons.
A nice take on having risen above the fickle and superficial side of the music business.
I'd like to think that had I been that next tenant I'd have found a forwarding address and sent them to you. Although, I was a fan in 93 so I might have kept them to cherish for the rest of my life. Lol. Now, I'd certainly mail them to you and know that I did a good thing, but relish that I'm living in Juliana's former digs.
You did what was right for you at the time and since the awards were yours I don’t think you leaving them in your old apartment negatively affected anyone. I hope you can come to peace with the decision you made then and move forward without thinking too negatively of yourself.
Whenever you make reference to the 90s Boston area music scene, I always wish I had lived there then. I grew up in DC - not as many bands actually from there at that time, although we had a lot of good places to see artists/bands :)
Here's what you do: set up an eBay search for ["Juliana Hatfield" award]. If it ever shows up there, you'll get an email, and you'll be thrilled. It's cyber-fishing at its finest.
I have had friends who were shy introverts that felt awards ceremonies were a horror show because the crowd, shaking hands afterwards, having their appearance judged, et cetera all seemed an overload. Their anxiety obscured the enjoyment of the award. I think everyone is just wired differently about such things.
Of course I remember you. I used to play “my sister” to my kids. I have an autistic (mildly) son, my daughter thought it was a ploy to get attention when they were younger. They’re almost as old as me now and their relationship has grown. They both launched for the most part. Son still lives part time with us. Daughter is hundreds of miles away.