The son of a Cadillac salesman, Thomas Thompson was refused his high-school diploma for the crime of skipping graduation ceremonies. After taking odd jobs as a steel-mill worker and a janitor, he formed the Impediments with drummer Chris Mars, guitarist Bob Stinson, and Stinson's 12-year-old bass-playing brother, Tommy. Inspired by Thompson's love for the Sex Pistols, the band — renaming itself the Replacements after being banned from a club for rowdy behavior — developed a raucous if confounding stage act: Bob Stinson sometimes performed in underwear or a dress, beer fueled many performances, and the level of looseness often bordered on the tragic. Still, when they got it right, they seemed sage. With set lists that ranged from covers of radio hits by Kiss and Cher to Thompson's piercing originals, they struck a great balance between silly and sublime.