Husker Du, anyone?

Hi to all - been away for a bit Was just wondering how many fellow NO/JD fans on here also like the only other 80's band that mattered (and still matter!), the mighty Husker Du? I admit, it wasn't until the release of Bob Mould's 'Black Sheets of Rain' that I heard any of his stuff, and backtracked into Husker's back catalogue from that point. I love Bob's solo stuff too, but I find that sounds less like Huskers as time goes on. Any interested parties are strongly reccommended to get "New Day Rising" immediately, followed by "Warehouse". With NDR and Low-life coming out the same year, 1985 was one hell of a year for albums IMO! So what says you lot - Du (sorry) you lot rate them? CTB

They were great... Hüsker Dü was also the name of a swedish memory game.

Fookin' incredible band, such a prolific songwriting partnership. The sum of Grant and Bob (with QC from Greg) was always far more than the individual efforts they have come up with. When you listen to things like Zen Arcade and realise it is all one take, and realise they did something like seven albums worth of high quality material in 4 years, it is even more remarkable. They have never had the recognition they deserve, primarily because of Grant's refusal to cash in on the undoubted critical acclaim (he won't agree to reform as there is too much rancour still between him and Bob, and money isn't sufficient of a guiding force), so will probably go un-noticed by millions who appreciate the likes of Nirvana, Pixies et al. This is where Cobain, Black Francis etc got it from, the first band to take Beatlesesque hooklines and put them through a fuzzbox.

Seminal tracks :

Makes No Sense At All Pink Turns To Blue Powerline Everything Falls Apart It's Not Funny Anymore Green Eyes Bed of Nails Diane Celebrated Summer Turn on the News These Important Years Could You Be The One ? Sorry Somehow Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely

Originally posted by Detweiler Fookin' incredible band, such a prolific songwriting partnership. The sum of Grant and Bob (with QC from Greg) was always far more than the individual efforts they have come up with. When you listen to things like Zen Arcade and realise it is all one take, and realise they did something like seven albums worth of high quality material in 4 years, it is even more remarkable. They have never had the recognition they deserve, primarily because of Grant's refusal to cash in on the undoubted critical acclaim (he won't agree to reform as there is too much rancour still between him and Bob, and money isn't sufficient of a guiding force), so will probably go un-noticed by millions who appreciate the likes of Nirvana, Pixies et al. This is where Cobain, Black Francis etc got it from, the first band to take Beatlesesque hooklines and put them through a fuzzbox.Seminal tracks :Makes No Sense At AllPink Turns To BluePowerlineEverything Falls ApartIt's Not Funny AnymoreGreen EyesBed of NailsDianeCelebrated SummerTurn on the NewsThese Important YearsCould You Be The One ?Sorry SomehowDon't Want To Know If You Are Lonely

Spot on, Tim - a few others I'd like to add to that list are: Eight Miles High (best cover ever!) Divide & conquer Eiffel tower high Girl who live on heaven hill Standing in the rain Crystal (actually better than the NO song of the same title) New day rising Terms of pychic warfare Games I was under the impression the split was because of Hart's skag and alcohol problems, and a little of Bob's megalomania didn't help once the speed supply ran out! Greg was definately QC (wrote and sang one or two good 'uns as well, I think), but his skill was far outweighed by his mighty 'tache. ....I could go on and on, but I wont..yet CTB

Not much to add what CTB and Det have said, they've pretty much nailed the essence of HD. Unbelievably loud and fast live, definitely one of the most memorable shows I've seen, and I caught 'em at a good time, gigwise, which is just before the hardcore thugs became really prominent in the mosh pits.

Had my glass frames broke by the boot of a misplaced stage diver landing his boot on the side of my head at that show, but that didn't put me off one bit from enjoying the rest of the madness that night. They used to eat a lot of speed back then, to help them deal out those incredibly fast songs live, but the hard but melodic songs on their albums is what drew a lot of attention to this more than deserving band.

Somewhere, on a Beta tape, I've got a copy of Husker Du on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson was gone, but Joan Rivers was guest host, and she asked them a few dumb questions, not suprisingly. This happened on the Candy Apple Grey tour.

All of the above songs mentioned are fuckin' great, I played the Eight Miles High single to death, and Terms Of Psychic Warfare and Divide And Conquer are two songs that leave me near breathless at the end. Those were really the days for SST Records: Husker Du, Sonic Youth, Black Flag, Meat Puppets and the Minutemen all putting out great records, and in the end, it all goes to pot. *sigh*

Originally posted by Detweiler Seminal tracks :Makes No Sense At All

my favourite husker du song.

as for favourite album, i'd have to go with zen arcade.

bob mould's solo material was good, but sugar were brilliant!

Originally posted by AgentWood > Originally posted by Detweiler> > Seminal tracks :> > Makes No Sense At All

my favourite husker du song.

as for favourite album, i'd have to go with zen arcade.

bob mould's solo material was good, but sugar were brilliant!

Agreed, Agent - I love Mould's solo stuff too, have you heard 'Modulate'? Bob goes electronica! CTB

Huge Husker Du/Sugar/Bob Mould fan here...

As a matter of fact, even during my Death metal days, they provided me the most inspiration for my playing...

Every time I hear Flip Your Wig, Makes No Sense At All, Hate Paper Doll, Whatever, What's going on, Celebrated Summer, These Important Years or New Day Rising I can't resist the urge to rock out.

Hmm - I dunno about HD. Some very good songs, but holy shit what awful production! If only they'd have turned up the bass and given the drums a halfway decent sound they'd have been unstoppable. New Day Rising is the worst example, with Flip Your Wig only marginally better - just no bottom end power to battle it out with the guitar fuzzstorm. I only have Zen Arcade and Warehouse now...both excellent. By normal standards Zen would sound pretty primitive, but the SST house producer manages to capture them sounding better than they ever did, just by letting the tape run. So 'no production' is better than Bob and Grant's efforts ever sounded. I like Warehouse too - Ice Cold Ice is *the* HD song and You Can Live At Home is a stunning finale. I saw them at the Town and Country on the Warehouse tour. It was pretty disappointing - they looked lost in the big venue and were too quiet.

**the first band to take Beatlesesque hooklines and put them through a fuzzbox.**

Can't agree with that! Buzzcocks, Ramones and further back countless garage/psych-pop bands were doing exactly this.