Initially punk rock was not profitable. Though it might save your life, seldom did it pay
the bills. The music was brash, loud and rarely ever played on the radio, but Nirvana and
grunge changed that in 1991. Unlike the classic rock/metal indebted versions of grunge pedalled
by Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains, Nirvana's version was a slick collision of Black Flag,
and The Beatles; a punk, metal, pop hybrid previously unheard by the mainstream public.
But as Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic once said in interview: [It] was nothing new, Husker
Du did it before us. Few bands summed up the pre-grunge alternative
rock scene of the 1980s like Minneapolis' Husker Du. Their name came from a Danish boardgame
that guitarist/songwriter Bob Mould recalled from his youth, ironically translated as "do you remember?"
Starting as an underground hardcore band they transformed into what we'd
know today as alternative rock, a sound that would attract the attention of radio stations,
major labels and the masses. The musical groundwork they put in their 9 years of existence paved
the way for the 90s alt rock takeover. But who were Husker Du? Why were they so important?
And how did they give birth to alternative rock?
Before they were Husker Du, the band were named Buddy and the Returnables formed in 1979.
After a few live performances playing solely covers with a keyboardist Charlie Pine,
the band started rehearsing Ramones-inspired originals without Pine's knowledge.
Husker Du's first official performance was on March 30th 1979, where after several covers the
band launched into their seering double time originals, much to Pine's confusion. His keyboard
was unplugged midway through the performance, leaving Husker Du forever more as a trio:
guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, drummer/vocalist Grant Hart, and bassist Greg Norton.
Fuelled by a bit too much amphetamine, their debut live album Land Speed Record was released
in 1982, packing seventeen songs into twenty-six and a half minutes.
It was powerfully fast but with a hint of melody that set them apart
from the hardcore bands they frequently played shows with.
[“Initially we were like: let's play faster than the Ramones, them we heard
the Dickies, and we were like lets play faster than the Dickies...
I always like to say that Husker were the hardcore punk band that you could whistle their tunes”]
Their debut studio album, Everything Falls Apart, released
the next year, is similarly fast with the title track being the only real let up.
This along with their relentless touring and live reputation got the band signed
to SST, the independent label of Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn, home to other influential
80s acts like the Meat Puppets, Minutemen, and later Sonic Youth and the Descendents.
Husker Du's first release on SST was their Metal Circus EP which produced their first
“hit” on college radio.
College Radio was a big contribution to the
proliferation of alternative rock in the 1980s. During the late 1970s, student
run radio stations became a mainstay in College towns. Not tied to playing “the hits”
like the Top 40 stations of the day, College Radio became very popular due to its music choices,
expanded beyond the mainstream. So this included European synth pop, post-punk and indie
as well as this new breed of
American alternative rock. Tracks like:
became early hits within this format. And this is exactly what The Replacements song
"Left of The Dial" is about.
Music that is off the beaten track, an “alternative” to the mainstream.
College radio and their playlisting choices would be a precursor to
the alt rock-centric stations of the 90s. The song off Metal Circus that got airplay
on these College Radio stations was "Diane".
Slower and more considered than the light
speed punk of their earlier work, it told the true story of the murder of teenage waitress,
Diane Edwards, sung from the point of view of the killer,
inspired from a news article Hart had read. Its morbid subject matter was an advancement in what
hardcore bands could sing about, no longer just overtly political music. It was an evolution
to hardcore music in the same way “Eleanor Rigby” was a next step for the Beatles,
no longer singing about themselves and their experiences but looking outward, having interest
and empathising with others outside their realm of understanding.
“Diane” spread their music nationwide and beyond.
Therapy? from Northern Ireland, greatly inspired by Husker Du notably covered the song in 1995,
replacing the serrated guitars with haunted cellos.
In 1984 Husker Du released what is considered
their opus: Zen Arcade. On that album the band moved from a hardcore band with a head
for melody to something that is much more recognisable as “alternative rock”.
It may be abrasive and heavy in parts, but most importantly, it's tuneful enough that it could
be appreciated by people other than the punk kids. There's the hardcore thrash of Mould's “Broken Home, Broken Heart”
and “I'll Never Forget You”.
But there's also piano sections, psychedelic interludes and more deeply emotional moments, mostly written by Hart,
including album highpoint “Pink Turns to Blue”,
and a solely acoustic track in the form of “Never Talking To You Again”.
Their songwriting duality really became apparent
on this album; Mould more brash and anguished, Hart more interested in pop melody -
a Lennon/McCartney relationship for 80s punk.
Zen Arcade is a concept album; the story of
a young punk who leaves home and wrestles with whether to join the army, a cult or get a
job in video game design. On his journey he finds and loses love, before reaching his
lowest point, realising that he will never be able to change his situation, before waking up,
the whole journey being a dream. While not the first punk rock concept album,
That's Life by Sham 69 probably has that title, it would influence the more adventurous punks
going forward. Fucked Up and Titus Andronicus's sprawling narratives owe a lot to Husker Du.
If you think the story of Zen Arcade sounds familiar that is because elements of the story
are taken by Green Day for their 2004 album American Idiot. Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl was
also inspired by the album, in 1995 he said: ["That album was amazing. I mean, Black Flag
was early on, and then when I discovered Zen Arcade I thought, God, these people write
songs, man. It's amazing. It's like the Byrds meets Black Flag, and it just blew me away,
and the songs just stuck in your head forever and they were just amazing.”]
In the Village Voice's Jop and Pazz end of year critics album list in 1984, Zen Arcade appeared at number 8
amongst Bruce Springsteen and Prince.
This gained Husker Du a lot of attention, this small hardcore band being ranked alongside
the biggest pop acts in America at the time, and led Warner Brothers to gain interest in
potentially signing the band. This combined with the many financial and distribution issues
the band were having with SST, helped them make the decision.
After flirting with the label throughout 1985, and
after releasing two more albums, New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig, the band signed with them
in 1986 in time to release Candy Apple Grey. Due to this, this was the first album to get
significant play on MTV, increasing the exposure for the band to a new kind of audience.
Husker Du were questioned about the decision on the Joan Rivers show in 1987:
[“Rivers: Are you getting knocks on this, as you're coming up, because you signed with
Warner Bros. Which is a very big label now, right.” Grant Hart:“That's kinda an excuse
for people not to do anything, to knock people who are.”]
With Candy Apple Grey, Husker Du set an example by being one of the first bands from the American
indie scene to sign to a major record label, which helped establish college rock as "a
viable commercial enterprise." Admittedly they weren't the first 80s underground band
to sign to a major label; The Replacements beat them to the punch slightly, being signed
to Sire, a subsidiary of Warner Bros, the previous year in time for the release of Tim.
After this major labels started searching for their Husker Du or Replacements, critical
college rock darlings that could potentially net them a new audience and revenue stream.
The most successful of these signings was when Warner Bros snapped up REM in 1988, before
the release of Green, an album that went on to sell four million copies worldwide.
Other alternative bands would be signed throughout the tail end of the decades
including Jane's Addiction, Faith No More and Soundgarden. Most importantly, after having
their Daydream Nation album distributed by Capitol, iconic no wavers Sonic Youth would
sign to Geffen in 1990 to release Goo. After a recommendation from the band,
Nirvana signed with the label in 91 for their big breakout success Nevermind.
Without Husker Du paving the way for all these other bands moving from
independent labels, the grunge explosion of the early 1990s would not have happened.
As Michael Azerrad wrote in his book Our Band
Could Be Your Life: "Hüsker Dü played a huge role in convincing the underground that
melody and punk rock weren't antithetical." They took what was essentially hardcore punk
and made it into something that could be played on the radio. The impact they had on the late
80s, early 90s alternative rock scene is incredible. Pixies' bassist Kim Deal was famously recruited
after responding to a classified ad requesting a female bassist who liked both Peter, Paul
and Mary and Husker Du. As well as being influenced by the Pixies, Nirvana have stated Husker
Du's importance. In 96, Dave Grohl said: "When Nirvana became popular, people would ask me,
`What's the recipe for this new kind of music?' and I'd think, `Gee, haven't you heard of
Husker Du?' To me it's sort of natural, playing loud, fast, melodic pop music.
To me it's sort of natural, playing loud, fast, melodic pop music. That's the kind of thing that I've always loved.
Dinosaur Jr were also inspired by Husker Du's distorted melodic alternative rock, even following
in their heroes footsteps by signing to Warner Bros in 91. Former Dinosaur Jr. bassist Lou
Barlow's later band Sebodah wrote a tongue-in-cheek tribute to them in “Gimme Indie Rock”,
which as well as name checking noise rock band Pussy Galore, Sonic Youth and his former
band features the line:
Husker Du's sonic influence wasn't just on the alternative rock genre.
On “Don't Want To Know If You're Lonely”, “Could You Be The One?”, and even as early as “Pink
Turns to Blue”, their heart-on-sleeve lyricism served with a dollop of angst points a clear
line to the nineties Pop-Punk explosion, especially Green Day. It makes sense considering that
their more romantically focused songs were an extension of the emotive punk rock created
by the Buzzcocks, just with added hardcore punch. Just listen to “Don't Want to Know
If You're Lonely”'s climatic lyrics, which could slot into any end of the century power
pop break up song:
Green Day even covered the song for the MTV show Influences in 2000.
But the Huskers impact doesn't end there: Even Robert Palmer of “Addicted to Love”
fame, was a fan, covering “New Day Rising” as part of his live show in the late 80s.
Also with Mould being openly gay and Hart being openly Bisexual Husker Du gave a lot
of young punks representation within the music they love, though like the Buzzcocks' Pete
Shelley before them, they made a point of not including gender pronouns in their love
songs because they wanted to address universal experience.
While rarely mentioned in the same breath as Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins or Sonic Youth,
Husker Du did a lot for alternative rock. Their mix of hardcore punk and pop music
was an inspiration for some of the biggest bands of the 90s:
They were one of the bands that made College Radio the success that it was,
making way for the alternative rock stations prevalent in the 90s. They were one of the
first college rock bands to get a major record deal, making it possible for the 90s alt rock
bands to become the mainstream-focused sensation that they were.
Plus their songs...
and albums are staples of the genre.
Zen Arcade was ranked #4 on Spin magazine's list of the top 100 Alternative music albums,
ahead of Nirvana's Nevermind (#5), REM's Murmur (#8), Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation (#9) and
The Replacements' Let It Be (#31). While there are other alternative rock bands that sold
more records with more recognition, Husker Du gave birth to the genre as we know it.
You best remember that.
Thanks for watching. What's your favourite forgotten alt rock band? If you liked the
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