Hüsker Dü first gained notice as a hardcore punk band with thrashing tempos and screamed vocals. The band developed a more melodic musical style as they drifted away from their early sound, helping to develop the early alternative rock sound in the process. Mould and Hart split the songwriting and singing duties; Mould's lyrics were known for being more soul-searching and intense than the often whimsical and cryptic ones of Hart.
Following a series of albums on independent label SST Records, including Zen Arcade (1984) and New Day Rising (1985), the band signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1986. Hüsker Dü broke up in 1987 without having achieved a popular breakthrough, but they influenced later pop punk and alternative rock bands.
Mould released two solo albums before forming a similar band, Sugar, in the early 1990s; Hart released a solo album on SST, and later formed a band, Nova Mob. Norton has been less active musically since Hüsker Dü's demise.
Contents
History
Formation and early years
The group that became Hüsker Dü formed when Bob Mould, Grant Hart, Greg Norton and keyboardist Charlie Pine began playing together in 1979[1] under the name Buddy and the Returnables.[2] At the time, Mould was a freshman at Macalester College, and frequented Cheapo Records, a St Paul record store where Hart was a sales clerk. Hart and Norton had originally met while applying for the same job, which Norton eventually got. Hart and Mould bonded over a shared love of the Ramones, and soon after enlisted Norton and Pine to form a band. They were soon gigging, playing mostly cover songs, some classic rock, and frequent Ramones tunes. Unbeknownst to Pine, the remaining bandmembers disliked the sound of the band with Pine's keyboards and began practicing without him, writing a few originals.
They owed their new name to a rather sloppy rehearsal of the Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer". Unable to recall the French portions sung in the original ("qu'est-ce que c'est"), they began shouting any foreign-language terms they could remember, when someone said "Husker Du?", a board game that had been popular in the 1970s. The term, without the umlauts, means "Do you remember?" in Danish and Norwegian. The group added Heavy metal umlauts to complete the name. Mould reports that they liked "Hüsker Dü"'s somewhat mysterious qualities, which set them apart from other hardcore punk groups with names like "Social Red Youth Dynasty Brigade Distortion".[3] Mould also reported that while Hüsker Dü enjoyed much hardcore punk in general, they never thought of themselves as exclusively a hardcore group, and that their name was an attempt to avoid being pigeonholed. Hart, Mould, and Norton fired Pine during their first official performance, on March 30, 1979, and continued as a trio.
By 1980 the band was performing regularly in Minneapolis, and their music evolved into a fast, ferocious, primal sound, making them one of the original hardcore punk bands. Through heavy touring they soon caught the attention of punk trailblazers like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra, which helped introduce Hüsker Dü to new fans. Black Flag guitarist/songwriter Greg Ginn later signed the band to his label, SST Records.
Early releases
The band started releasing singles on Terry Katzman's Reflex Records in 1981. Their first two albums, Land Speed Record (a live recording) and Everything Falls Apart, brought much critical praise. Determined touring brought them to the attention of The Minutemen, who released their debut and the "In A Free Land" single on their label, New Alliance Records. This, in turn, led to the band signing with SST.
The intense, but varied Metal Circus EP/mini-album was released in 1983. Hüsker Dü's more melodic take on hardcore struck a chord with college students, and various tracks from Metal Circus, particularly Hart's "Diane," were put into rotation by dozens of campus radio stations across the US.[4] In addition, on Metal Circus the band showed more invention, skill, and melody than it did over the course of their previous full album Everything Falls Apart. [5]
Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig
The members of Hüsker Dü desired to escape the restrictions of the hardcore genre. In an interview with Steve Albini for his Matter column in 1983, singer and guitarist Bob Mould told Albini: "We're going to try to do something bigger than anything like rock & roll and the whole puny touring band idea. I don't know what it's going to be, we have to work that out, but it's going to go beyond the whole idea of 'punk rock' or whatever."[6] The following year, Hüsker Dü recorded the double album Zen Arcade in 45 hours for the cost of $3,200.[7] Zen Arcade is a concept album following a boy who leaves home to face a harsh and unforgiving world. Its artistic and conceptual ambitions were a great stretch, given the purist sentiment then prevalent in U.S. punk rock. Zen Arcade received critical praise and significant mainstream music press attention, ending up on several year end best-of lists; it also helped expand the band's audience beyond the punk community.[8] In his review for Rolling Stone, David Fricke described Zen Arcade as "the closest hardcore will ever get to an opera ... a kind of thrash Quadrophenia."[9] SST erred on the side of caution and initially pressed between 3,500 and 5,000 copies of the album, but the record sold out a few weeks into the band's tour to support the record. The album remained out of stock for months afterward, which affected sales and frustrated the band.[10]
"Celebrated Summer"
Sample of "Celebrated Summer" from New Day Rising
Problems listening to this file? See media help.
Hüsker Dü started recording its follow-up album New Day Rising just as Zen Arcade was released. New Day Rising was released six months later in early 1985.[11] Another album, Flip Your Wig, followed later that year. Flip Your Wig became the first album released on an independent record label to top the CMJ album chart, and at year's end, both New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig ranked in the top ten of the Village Voice annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[12]
Signing with Warner Bros. and breakup
During the recordings sessions for Flip Your Wig major label Warner Bros. Records approached Hüsker Dü and offered the group a recording contract. The band felt it had hit a sales ceiling that it could break through only with the help of a major label. The promise of retaining complete creative control over its music convinced the band to sign with the label.[13] Mould also cites the distribution problems with SST as a reason for the move, mentioning that there would sometimes be no records to sign when the band would show up for promotional events.[14] Hüsker Dü was not expected to sell a large amount of records. Rather, Warner Bros. valued the group for its grassroots fanbase and its "hip" status, and by keeping the overhead low the label anticipated the band would turn a profit.[15] Candy Apple Grey was their first major label album, though Warner Bros. had initially lobbied to release Flip Your Wig until the band decided to let SST have it. Candy Apple Grey was the first Hüsker Dü album to chart on the Billboard Top 200, but despite receiving exposure on radio as well as MTV, it could get no higher than #140.
Creative and personal tensions between Mould and Hart had become unresolvable and they intensified when Mould began overseeing most of the band's managerial duties following the suicide of manager David Savoy on the eve of the tour in support of the album. In September 2006, Hart told Britain's Q magazine, "I take full responsibility for [David's] suicide. It was a direct result of the pressure of working for Bob and me, because he was being forced into a two-faced situation."[16] Mould also called the suicide "the beginning of the end".[14] The band dissolved after a show in Columbia, Missouri in support of the band's 1987 double album Warehouse: Songs and Stories. Hart was trying to quit heroin using a supply of methadone, but the bottle had leaked. Hart played the show, but Mould and Norton were concerned Hart would soon be suffering from withdrawal and thus would be unable to play the next few shows. While Hart insisted he could perform, Mould had already cancelled the dates. Hart quit the band four days later.[17] Mould has said that the breakup was about "three people going their separate ways" at that time, referring to Hart's drug use and a new relationship, Norton's recent marriage and starting a new business, and Mould himself having just quit a lifelong drinking habit.[18]
The Living End, a live collection taken from the band's final tour, was released after the band's demise.
Post-breakup
Mould performing solo in July 2007.
Mould and Hart have continued making music separately. Both have produced solo albums and formed alternative rock bands, Sugar and Nova Mob, respectively. Mould has also joined Richard Morel in the band Blowoff. Mould has returned to touring regularly with his solo albums Body of Song and District Line and is playing Hüsker Dü (as well as Sugar) songs live again. His backup band features several notable musicians, including Brendan Canty. Norton formed the short-lived band Grey Area, played with Shotgun Rationale, and became a chef. He and his ex-wife Sarah owned a restaurant in Red Wing, Minnesota called "The Nortons" until 2010. In addition to his restaurant duties, in 2006 Norton returned to music as bassist for the Minnesota based band The Gang Font, feat. Interloper. The group released an eponymous album in 2007.
Mould and Hart did a brief, unannounced reunion in 2004 at a benefit concert for ailing Soul Asylum bassist Karl Mueller (who had been receiving treatment for cancer, and has since died). At the end of what had been scheduled as a Bob Mould solo set, he brought Hart out and the duo played two specially-selected Hüsker Dü songs, "Hardly Getting Over It" and "Never Talking to You Again". Mould wrote on his blog that the performance was an impromptu, last-minute suggestion by Hart and shouldn't kindle any "false hope" for a reunion.[19]
In June 2005, Mould told Billboard magazine in an interview that SST had not given the band an accounting of their record and CD sales in several years, and that plans to regain the master tapes from SST and reissue them elsewhere were being held up by business disputes between the former band members.
Mould has also performed some of the band's material with No Age at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in New York. Mould picked which songs he would like to play, and the three-piece alternated between material by each band, as part of a special performance for the Flaming Lips-curated event.[20]
Musical style
The band's logo symbolized the creative commonality between Hart, Mould, and Norton, despite their differing personalities. According to Mould: "The circle is the band, the three lines across are the members, and the intersection is the common train of thought."[21]
Hüsker Dü started as a hardcore punk band known for its speed and intensity. While the band included some slower material earlier in its career, Hüsker Dü developed a fast repertoire as a result of having little time to play as an opening act, and to antagonize its audience when it headlined shows. "[T]here was a point where we were like, 'Let's see how fast we can play,'" Norton recalled. "I guess we were just trying to blow people away." Hüsker Dü was particularly influenced by punk bands like D.O.A., Dead Kennedys, and The Fartz after having seen them play.[22] NME journalist Andy Gill contended that Hüsker Dü's characteristic sound crystalized on the Metal Circus EP, incorporating "thunderbuck, hiccup" drums, a melodic yet solid bass, and "carillions [sic] of distorted guitar, with shouted vocals rasping hoarsely from deep in the mix". He argued that what set them apart from other punk bands was "the way they mix those same structural devices in ways that shouldn't work, combining elements of several genres in one song."[23]
As the band's career progressed, Hüsker Dü emphasized melody in its songs. Unlike other hardcore bands, Hüsker Dü did not disavow classic rock. "You know the whole deal with tearing down the old to make room for the new?", Hart posited. "Well, music isn't city planning."[24] The band covered 1960s hits like Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" and The Byrds' "Eight Miles High" early in its career. As the band members progressed as musicians, they discovered they were able to play at slower tempos while still maintaining the rhythm, which allowed for extended melodies.[25]
Hart and Mould were the band's songwriters. Both wrote their songs separately and at a prodigious pace; in later years Hart accused Mould of making sure his songs comprised no more than 45 percent of the material on an album.[26] Despite the creative friction and their differing individual personalities, the members accommodated each other so that the band could continue to exist. They designed their logo to represent their common train of thought: a circle enclosing three parallel horizontal lines with a vertical line connecting them. The circle symbolized the band, the three lines the individual members, and the intersecting line the common thread of creativity which connected them.[21]
Legacy
Hüsker Dü is widely regarded as one of the key bands to emerge from the 1980s American indie scene. Music writer Michael Azerrad asserted in his book Our Band Could Be Your Life (2001) that Hüsker Dü was the key link between hardcore punk and the more melodic, diverse music of college rock that emerged. Azerrad wrote, "Hüsker Dü played a huge role in convincing the underground that melody and punk rock weren't antithetical." The band also 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."[27]
Discography
Main article: Hüsker Dü discography
Studio albums
Everything Falls Apart (1983)
Zen Arcade (1984)
New Day Rising (1985)
Flip Your Wig (1985)
Candy Apple Grey (1986)
Warehouse: Songs and Stories (1987)
Games
Hüsker Dü Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I could be happy, never be lonely
I don't need to go looking for misery
I could surround myself with my props
Playing my part, getting caught up
In a game, some game, that anyone can play
I could be proud of things I have done
I could say that I've done it all before
I could get wiser, I could get jaded
I could remember, I could just fade away
In a game that anyone can play
I am so proud, I don't have to try
Never a need to justify it when
People say "Hey I was important too"
Memories go to reinforce
The things I have done, for better or worse
It's a game that anyone can play
Just when you think that all your answers are so right
You'll fade away and disappear from sight
The ones who said you're great will find another way
I could be sad, I could be lonely
I could still have some friends if I only
Didn't play the games I had to play
I was important when I was cool
Now it gets lonely playing the fool
It's a game that anyone can play
The song "Games" by Hüsker Dü involves an introspective speaker who realizes that life is a game that can be played without striving to be someone or having to go hunting for sorrow. The lyrics indicate that the character could live a life of bliss and never feel lonely, as long as they were engulfed and distracted by the props that surround them. The singer acknowledges the temptation to live in nostalgia and recall past glories, rather than attempt to do new things. The singer scoffs at the notion of justification as they are proud and confident in their achievements and that it is a game anyone can play. The song’s chorus features the singer questioning their present state: "I could be sad, I could be lonely/ I could still have some friends if I only/ Didn't play the games I had to play/ I was important when I was cool/ Now it gets lonely playing the fool/ It's a game that anyone can play."
In essence, the song urges the listener to seek out a more altruistic and challenging way of living, one that is not only focused on personal accomplishments and nostalgic memories. It suggests that it's easy to fall into a pattern of playing games as a way of avoiding loneliness or seeking recognition, while in the long run, it is not fulfilling.
Line by Line Meaning
I could stay here the rest of my life
I'm content with the status quo and don't feel the need to change anything.
I could be happy, never be lonely
I find happiness in my situation and don't need anyone else to validate it.
I don't need to go looking for misery
I don't seek out drama or negativity in my life.
I could surround myself with my props
I can create a world that makes me comfortable by collecting things that I like or that define me.
Playing my part, getting caught up
I'm more focused on playing the role I've created for myself than being authentic.
In a game, some game, that anyone can play
The world and my role in it is like a game that anyone can participate in.
I could be proud of things I have done
I have accomplished things in my life that I can be proud of.
Pretend I don't have to try to be someone
I don't feel like I have to put in the effort to prove myself to others.
I could say that I've done it all before
I've had experiences that I can draw upon and don't feel the need to have new ones.
I could get wiser, I could get jaded
I could continue to learn and grow, or I could become cynical and disenchanted with the world.
I could remember, I could just fade away
I could hold onto memories or I could relinquish them and lose myself in the present moment.
In a game that anyone can play
Life is a competition that anyone can participate in; it's up to me how I choose to play.
I am so proud, I don't have to try
I'm confident in who I am and don't feel like I need to prove myself to anyone.
Never a need to justify it when
I don't feel the need to explain or justify myself to anyone else.
People say "Hey I was important too"
Other people may feel like they are being overlooked or disregarded in my presence.
Memories go to reinforce
My memories help me feel confident in my choices and the person I've become.
The things I have done, for better or worse
I acknowledge both the good and bad things I've done in my life.
It's a game that anyone can play
Life is a competition that anyone can participate in; it's up to me how I choose to play.
Just when you think that all your answers are so right
Even when I think I have everything figured out, life has a way of surprising me.
You'll fade away and disappear from sight
Eventually, life moves on and I will fade away, becoming part of history.
The ones who said you're great will find another way
Even those who have praised me will eventually move on and find someone else to admire.
I could be sad, I could be lonely
Despite my accomplishments, I still have the potential to feel sad and alone.
I could still have some friends if I only
I could maintain relationships with others if I only let my guard down and allow them to see the real me.
Didn't play the games I had to play
If I stopped pretending and being someone I'm not, I could have more genuine connections with others.
I was important when I was cool
My past accomplishments and status have defined my sense of importance.
Now it gets lonely playing the fool
As I get older, I realize how damaging it can be to constantly pretend and put on a façade for others.
It's a game that anyone can play
Life is a competition that anyone can participate in; it's up to me how I choose to play.
Contributed by Alex V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.