Listening to this colossal piece of classic rock taken from Dinosaur Jr.’s album, Where You Been, I find myself in the occasional position that this blog leads me to where I wish that I could have passed this track back through the years to my 16 year old self; desperately searching for contemporary, cultural synergy in late-1992 but not having a clue where to find it. All I could say with any certainty at the time was that I knew I wouldn’t find it by listening to Mr. Big or Ugly Kid Joe or any of the other non-grunge long-haired bands that were having big UK hits throughout the year.
Despite J Masics almost parodic, down-home vocals, Get Me is a 100% home run of a song. To me, it’s the sound of a writer and a band intending to go that extra mile. Not just talking about recording a truly great rock song, but actually pulling it off. The chorus cuts through, the central riff of the track works its way around the listener like an admittedly loud scalp massage, while the guitar solos from Masics and Mike Johnson sound stadium ready. It should have been a massive hit, but didn’t quite make it. It peaked at Number 44 on the UK Singles Chart and missed the Billboard Hot 100, despite peaking at Number 3 on the Modern Rock Chart. I never know how much significance that multitude of genre specific Billboard Charts have. They always feel a little like musical versions of a repechage, a way of trying to acknowledge that at least SOMEBODY bought this record, albeit within narrow confines. I think in general I prefer the British method which would at least tell Dinosaur Jr. that they had been battling it out between Inner Circle and Dr. Alban. A few months later, the more groove-oriented Start Choppin would deliver Dinosaur Jr. a Top 20 UK hit single, but Get Me should have made the Top 10.
Despite playing it, John Peel wasn’t a fan of Get Me. He felt that the near six minute running time was excessive and that the track as a whole was close to a parody of the Dinosaur Jr. style. When he broadcast a Peel Session by the band, in early 1993 in which the band’s opening track was Get Me, it remains a matter of conjecture as to whether the florid description he gave to another “starts quietly” version of it was entirely sincere.
Video courtesy of michals00
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