You've got to hear Rob Wright, the bassist of the band NOMEANSNO, especially on the album 'Wrong.' Listen to the first note of the first song, and you'll instantly get a taste of that bass tone. Cheers!
Yes yes yes!!! Nomeansno is one of the best jazz/punk bands of all time. The duo of brothers, drummer and bassist, absolutely dynamic and prolific. Such great songwriting.
I feel like everyone is going to push "It's Catching Up" and I agree but also "Oh No, Bruno" is my go to. I can't imagine this series skipping Nomeansno at this point!
Mike Watt is the everyday man's bass hero. sick tones and grooves. Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime is an avalanche of melodically driven bass parts. their interplay is next level, jazzy, rarely ever playing the same parts. Mike Watt is a huge inspiration and the guy that got me to pick up a bass. thanks for reviewing, hope you check out more of his work. RIP D. Boon🎸
If you like that jazz influence, check out what Watt is up to these days with MSSV. Punk rock meets improve jazz with I don’t know what else thrown in. Seen them last two times they’ve come around. Always good.
George Hurley played drums (unless I missed something), Ed “Fromohio” played guitar and sang. Last I heard, Ed was in Pittsburgh. I’ve heard he wasn’t doing so well but that may have turned around.
You have to watch the minutemen documentary WE JAM ECONO if you haven’t….everybody…. The stories of how Mike became a bass player, the progression of the band (a lot of the footage is live and not for the faint of heart but I love it all) and the story of the band is just phenomenal. A D Boon film is what this world needs… the music might not be for eveyone, but the minutemen were eveyone, “our band could be YOUR life” …. The absolute masters!!! Try playing the bass riff to The Maze and not getting carpel tunnel!!!
George Hurley on drums (in both bands) was top notch - they were always incredibly tight. I'd second the below suggestions of Rob Wright from nomeansno - 'tired of waiting' or 'rags and bones' would be a good starting point :) Great to see someone hearing all these great bands for the 1st time!
I was a little mad at myself that I didn't come back around to talk about the drummer, I think I just got sidetracked with another point. There's no way that guy is just a "rock" player - I heard some serious fusion-y chops, the rolls, the tight accents. Sounded like popcorn!!
George is one of the great underappreciated drummers. He was a big influence on my playing even though I never played anything like minutemen's music ever (who sounds like them anyway). I was lucky to have met him during the We Jam Econo doc tour. Incredibly nice guy.
Husker Du’s Something I learned today from Zen Arcade (1984) and New Day Rising’s(85) title track. Hugely influential bands, huge songs with some awesome bass by Greg Norton.
Watt is my all time musical hero. So glad to see you do this video. Double Nickels on the Dime is my favorite record ever. Completely blew my mind when I heard it. The Minutemen were a band with a sound Watt called the "3 way". The instruments represented a democracy in that the guitar was trebly by design and separate from the bass so that the drums, bass and guitar all had an equal seat at the table. Watt picked on the earlier Minutemen stuff, but DNotD was played using fingers. Also, Watt will very often stand right off the left shoulder of his drummers, just hovering over the drums. It's about the connection between drums and bass. There's lots of eye contact between drums and bass allowing the tempos and dynamics to better ebb and flow. Locking it in! D Boon forever!!! I did get to see fIREHOSE 20 or so times thanks to growing up in SoCal. Also a great band in their own right. Ragin' Full On is a fantastic album too. This is the quintessential fIREHOSE tune that really sums up what the band is. Btw, Brave Captain is a metaphor for the office of PotUS.
Everyone new to Mike Watt should check out his solo album Contemplating the Engine Room. An absolutely fantastic album with Nels Cline (Wilco) on guitar.
@@ericchristensen634 I did exactly that in 2001! I explored all of the places Watt listed in the song Pedro Bound. Point Fermin, Cabrillo beach, Canetti’s, Vincent Thomas Bridge. It was really a fun and interesting experience. My Toyota truck started sputtering in the middle of the VT bridge…. that was a pants-shitter for sure! The truck made it over the bridge, but I ended up getting it fixed at some place in San Pedro. Good times. I went back in 2005 for the premier of We Jam Econo at the big theatre in San Pedro and also visited D Boon’s grave. That was heavy.
Mike Watt is a certified bad ass. When Streets on Fire dropped by Santa Cruz in '89, Natas used Brave Captain for the soundtrack to his part and people went ape shit! It was epic.
That's the exact moment that I was introduced to fIREHOSE. Not only was Natas' part incredible, but "Brave Captain" caught the vibe perfectly for it. I miss and loved discovering music while skating back in the 80's. So many good memories. This is one of those songs, that I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard it.
*FISHBONE NEXT!* "bonin' in the boneyard" is a great example of norwood fisher's slap technique (i know, but he's not strictly a slapper). he's more of a johnson bassist than a jamerson bassist. fishbone is punk/ska/funk/soul/metal/church music. they pack more music into one song than many bands manage on an entire album. KEvron
@@ColeWheeler4Lyfe Yeah I haven't seen them for years but they were always great. Was supposed to see them open for George Clinton a couple years ago but it got rained out. Very disappointing
First discovered Minutemen and Firehose through skateboarding back in the 80’s. Brings back good memories. Got to see Firehose live in the early 90’s. Mike Watt was already a legend to us. In 2009 I went with a friend to watch Dinosaur Jr in Asheville NC. Mike Watt opened up. The cool thing, we had got there super early so we walked around Asheville killing time. Actually kept running into J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr around every other corner. Probably thought we were stalking him haha. Anyway, we headed back to the Orange Peel (the venue) to just sit around. Well Mike Watt walks by us and says “hey” as he’s going inside of the venue. A little later he comes back out, walks past us, turns around and says let’s go. We’re like what? He said let’s go get lunch. Ended up eating lunch with him and his band. Just a crazy moment I’ll never forget. And fun fact, Dinosaur Jr filmed part of their video for the song “Over It” right outside the Orange Peel that day. We sat across the street watching. Mike Watt did a cameo in the video. All filmed right there. Another fun fact, the theme song for Jackass is actually the Minutemen. The song is called “Corona” and is more than an instrumental as it seems on Jackass. Full song with lyrics and all. Really good.
I really am! I’m mostly enjoying undoing my previous conclusions I had about this particular corner of rock music. I used to be a lot more close-minded with music 10-15 years ago, so this has been refreshing!
@@LowEndUniversity same here. I been into metal then punk for years now I can't think of one genre that I don't atleast like a little. Hell I even listen to some country now. Elvira always puts a smile on my face. Since I played punk for years I realized some of these musicians are top tier. Like the vandals for example. Josh freese their drummer you may know from perfect circle and now Foo fighters amd their guitarist is warren fitzgerald who was invited to be in oingo boingo by Danny Elfman and you know as well as I do if Danny Elfman wants you in his band, you are one hell of a musician. Lol
You should check out Watt's solo album, "Ball-Hog Or Tugboat?" - it shows how well loved he is, with some very high profile guest musicians, including Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, Eddie Vedder, Thurston Moore, Flea, Nels Cline, Henry Rollins, J Mascis, Dave Pirner and many more. The songs are great too. He's also on Porno For Pyros' second album, Good God's Urge.
Watts playing with his fingers on both of those tunes Watt: "the last song I recorded w/the minutemen using a pick was "s h i t from an old notepad" off of "double nickels on the dime" back in early 1984. it's the only song on that album where I used a pick. all the records done before that had me using the pick. I never recorded w/fIREHOSE using a pick.:
Ran sound for Watt & Co. a couple of times in the late 80s at a club in the midwest. One time, Watt broke a string and restrung his bass in a total of about 15 seconds. He had a stack of strings on the top of his amp, ready to go, so I assume it was a regular occurrence. His rig was awesome too: A Cerwin-Vega cab with an Altec (I think?) power amp and a rack mount Urei compressor. Basically a little PA. Such a great band. Watt's a great guy too.
we played a show with fIREHOSE way back when and Mr Watt was very kind and complimented my bass playing, the minutemen and firehose were two of my fave bands at the time, sine the 80's
I have been a fan since early M.M. days.I have caught Mike 3 times in the last few years and he hasn't lost a bit of enthusiasm. He relates to his fans and will take time to chat with them after shows.A definite GOAT on bass as well as a genuine nice guy.They broke the mold with Mike!
I'll say it again, check out 7 Seconds(the bass player, and drummer are terribly underrated). 1999/2000's 7 Seconds have more Hardcore Punk sound, but lots of melody and great bass playing, lots of Lead Bass Playing. Check out the songs, "Satyagraha", "Happy Rain", "Slow Down A Second", "This Is Temporary", and the fun baseline in "Y.P.H". 7 Seconds have lots of great songs.
Yes! Soulforce Revolution was great, as was the last album, and the hardcore stuff is a lot of fun, though maybe too 4 on the floor for this crowd? 7 Seconds are top 5 fav band of all time. The bass work on the Praise EP is excellent
Check out the book Our Band Could be Your Life by Michael Azerrad. It gives the back ground on the Do It Yourself punk movement I. The 80’s and early 90s. The title of the book is actually a Mike Watt quote from History Lesson part two on Double Nickels on a Dime. And the section on the Minutemen is pretty damn good. I’ll give you some insight on why and how he plays the way he does.
Minutemen were described as "punk" partly because there wasn't a better/more accurate term at the time, but also because that was the scene they were part of. Their first gig was BlackFlags second gig (or something like that).
I think they also described themselves that way because Mike and D were regular old rock and roll guys until they started to realize they could DIY along with Black Flag etc. Watt referred to it as "participating in the Movement"
Suggestions for future bands to react to: -Nomeansno (post-punk) -Agent Orange (punk with a surfy tinge) -Leftöver Crack/Choking Victim (good ol skacore, though technically they are of their own genre dubbed crack rock steady) -Gang Of Four (post-punk) -The Suicide Machines (ska-core) -Joy Division (needs no introduction) -the Damned (punk) -Stiff Little Fingers (punk) -Stone Temple Pilots (grunge) all of these bands have fantastic bassists who do interesting things that I'd love to hear you talk about. I will probably get around to adding song suggestions for each band in the replies eventually. Also RIP D. Boon. Clicked immediately when I saw minutemen. What a band man, the whole album is a treat on bass, and really all of their material.
I opened for agent orange years ago and it was awesome. Also did a show with Joe jack from dead milkmen and he came back and stayed the night at our band house. What a nice guy he was.
@@ronjames4151 you OPENED for AGENT ORANGE?! if that were me I'd have that on a shirt id wear around the rest of my life, that is ridiculously cool. How were they live? And around what year?
@LowEndUniversity for Nomeansno id recommend rag n bone, as well as its catching up or oh no bruno Leftöver Crack/Choking victim I would say probably gang control and 5 finger discount Gang of four I would say Ether as well as Damaged Goods For Suicide machines, Hey and No Face would be good ones Joy Division I would say 24 hours and love will tear us apart Damned I would say neat neat neat as well as wait for the blackout Stiff Little Fingers i would say suspect device and 78 rpm Agent orange I would say last goodbye and no such thing Stone temple pilots you GOTTA do tripping on a hole in a paper heart, big empty would be a good one too
My friends in Cincinnati had a band called Swear Jar & they were big fans of both Minutemen & fIREHOSE. Swear Jar also had a non-traditional layout. Bass/vocal & guitar/vocal were stage left & stage center while the drummer was set up stage right, but he was facing the other two. Also, the Guitar & Bass player had vocals on different songs & they would trade instruments partway through the set. I’ve never seen anyone else do that. Minutemen have a video for “This Ain’t No Picnic”… my favorite Minutemen song.
Minutemen were the shiat back in the day. D. Boon, Watt, and Hurley were a breath of fresh air back in the 80s. IIRC, Watt was married to Kira (later Black Flag bassist) for a bit.
Dude. Much respect for checking out these two awesome bands. Really digging your channel. Brave Captain is by far my favorite Firehouse tune. But Flying the Flannel album is amazing. So unique and creative. Love this.
Thank you Mark for always inspiring me to pick up my bass and play. I gravitated to that 'PJ' pickup configuration as well, at least on my 4 string bass. I have an Ibanez 5 string and it growls so hard, which is what I wanted haha. Also, thank you to all those awesome bassists out there who are requesting this awesome music I've never heard before!
So happy you did this one. May I suggest some Bad Brains? Not very bass forward in their early punk years but I Against I is a banger and you can hear the bass in that one.
I rarely click the like button but here we are slamming that thumbs up every time you drop a new vid. This is fast becoming my favorite youtube channel. Keep it up! ❤
When I first found punk I was too young to appreciate Mike Watt and minutemen for what it was. It wasn't that straightforward blast of power chords and angst that I needed and knew. But I always respected him because he has such an impact on the scene (and many scenes, to be fair!) Glad you did this. He is legendary and you should know his style. Also, he has two signature basses with Reverend you should look into!
Love watching your journey thru punk rock bass players! You should check out Klaus from the Dead Kennedys and Rob Trujillo in Suicidal Tendencies/Infectous Grooves! Cheers from Boston,Ma!
I suggest checking out his first solo outings that came after disbanding fIREHOSE. In particular his first solo album, Ball Hog or TugBoat as the lineup on it truly shows how important he was viewed amoung the music community at the time. It's beyond stacked. I had the fortune of seeing him tour behind it and had Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl playing in the live band. Met them after the show, he's as down to earth as all the rumours suggest. I got to see him play solo again about a year later, he remembered my name and signed it on my ticket without needing to be reminded. He signed it "Mike Watt loves Shale" and handed it back with a grin.
This is really awesome. I’ve been listening to MIke Watt’s bass playing since 1987, but had never given much thought to the technical parts of it. It’s very interesting to hear it analyzed
Great to See Bass content makers Giving Watt some Love! he's been my biggest inspiration since age 11 when I first heard minutemen, inspired me to pick up the bass and now 37 years later its my career! he also the nicest and most humble man on the planet and honoured to call him a close friend for many years now! if you get to see him live with his bands Mike watt & The Missingmen with Tom Kidd Watson on Guitar and Raul Morales on drums , or Il Sogno Del Marinaio with Stefano Pilia on guitar and Paulo Manguardi on Drums, and also MSSV with Mike Baggetta on Guitar and Stephen Hodges on Drums! literally my favourite Bass on earth
I probably went to a dozen fIREHOSE shows in the late 1980s. I love seeing the youngsters discover Watt. Chemical Wire (from the album Ragin' Full On) is my favorite Watt bass part, but there are so many great songs. In all the concerts I went to, I never saw Watt use a pick, but I can't be 100% sure. I appreciate you taking note of the bass player's position on "stage" but that never happened in a concert. He was usually parallel to the guitar player.
Man you’ve been just hitting the right notes lately no pun intended.. So many monumental bands getting attention outside of the scene is always welcome and encouraged
Dude, these videos are amazing. I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to see you analyze these artists with the dignity they deserve. Believe it or not, the ad nauseam mainstream critique of punk rock (fIREHOSE were 100% punk) back in the ‘80s was that they couldn’t play and that their music was garbage in comparison to the commercial acts of the period… god have mercy on us all lol.
Great to see this ! You should also dig " Glory of Man" from Double Nickels on the Dime, an impressive a DOUBLE LP as you will ever hear. Their trip in terms of sound was Mike took care of the heavy bottom and the ultra high was D Boon's telecaster deluxe through a silverface twin but with his treble maxxed out. With George Hurley's lightning tight beats they were pretty legendary, still are and I never get tired of them. Nice video and breakdown
My little punk band from Kansas City was tramping around the Midwest in 1984 and got to tag along with the minute Men for four different shows. We got to host them back in KC and spend a couple days just jamming and hanging out at our practice/living space. D. died in few months after this and I was gutted. Best guys, Great guests. Best times
I've seen Firehose many times live. He's not slapping, he's popping the strings really hard. In fact, almost every show he was replacing a broken string or two. A lot of great bands/musicians existed in Southern California from the 80's to now. They all got labeled punk only because they played together, rather than they all sounded the same. There was a lot of musical diversity lumped into "punk". More an attitude then a sound.
Ahhh shit. I meant “pop”, can’t believe I didn’t realize that until now. I guess I meant the “slap/pop” style in general. And, I completely agree on all the variety within one scene - been my favorite part of these! Never know what to expect.
If we’re throwing around some of the original “punk” masters, I still have yet to see anyone mention Steve Soto who played with the seminal Fullerton band the Adolescents with Mike Ness, and RiKk Agnew. After the Adolescents, Soto joined Ness in Social Distortion. Later Soto was known for his touring with several other acts and even solo. He was incredibly well loved by many folks all over the world in the punk rock scene. One more of these early notable bass masters is Zander Schloss who played in the Circle Jerks along with Keith Morris previously of Black Flag, Greg Hetson of Bad Religion, and drumming legends like Lucky Lehrer and Chuck Biscuits. I’ve been digging your deep dive into the early days of punk/underground/alt because this was the time when music came back to the “kids” and led the way into a completely new era of music in the 90’s with Nirvana and Greenday etc. It also challenged the conventional “music industry” as more bands were DIYing themselves into the spotlight without any major label assistance. 👌🤓👏😁🤘😎
Hurley and Watt were both talking about being done with music after D Boon died, but Crawford (a Minutemen fan) supposedly pestered them into being in a band with him. Their early stuff sounds a lot more Minutemen than their later stuff. When Watt went solo his touring band included Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl for a while which is telling about the level of respect he gets.
I wish you had done an earlier Minutemen song, he used to use a pick during this album he switched to fingers. Check out the Minutemen movie We Jam Econo, it's awesome and you really get a feel for the brotherhood Watt and Boon had.
NUMERO DOS ep... such a great recording! first DOS lp has a lot of songs that became fIREHOSE songs on ragin' full on. also, KIRA sings on NUMERO DOS - she has a beautiful voice.
Gotta love Watt. Saw Minutemen when I was a teen back in the 80s and have followed everything he's done since. Double Nickles on the Dime is one of my top ten fave albums, it practically lives in my car CD player. Also don't forget George, he's a fantastic drummer.
Oooh same idea new twist. Do 12xU by Wire then the cover by Minor Threat. Not the most BASS song, but seminal punk. Both versions And it gives you a bridge into Waiting Room by Fugazi which is an AWESOME bass part (Minor Threat and Fugazi are connected via Ian MacKaye)
Love your videos dude 🤟🏻🤟🏻 idk if you would like to venture into the latin world of music but if you do I would definitely recommend to check out Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. They're an Argentinian Ska/Punk Rock/Their own fusion of many latin music band. Their bass player is Flavio Cianciarulo and is a funky/jazzy bass player. The whole band is excellent and they incorporate wind instruments, brass and much more. They're an old band but so worth hearing. Their song El Satánico Dr Cadillac is an awesome song that I think you would enjoy reacting/analysing their bass player. Keep it dude 🤟🏻🤟🏻🤟🏻
Mike played in my neighbors back yard with Proto Beat Poet Charles Plymell i, I shot the set with my Canon Power Shot in 2008, somehow it ended up on the cover of an album. It is great to see someone with out context fully appreciate the greatness of Mike Watt.
Yes! Finally! You need more minutemenin your life, everytrackon double nickles is pure gold all for different reasons. Cohesion is what made me want to learn flamenco guitar, Dr.wu the pairedout of time vocals give me goosebumps, I could go on withthe reasons u love all the songs but ill let you find out for yourself.
I loved the Minutemen! I saw them three times, the last time at MAXWELL'S club in Hoboken, NJ. At the end, D. Boone thanked the crowd and promised they would be back in a few months. It was only about six weeks later that he was killed in the van accident. That really hit me hard, having just seen them mere weeks before. A tragic loss of his life and of the end of the Minutemen, still one of the very best American rock bands there ever has been.
My friend's band Evil Dean opened for firehose and Anastasia Screamed at the Terrace Club on the Princeton University campus in the spring of 1991. I went downstairs as a 19 year old and they had two kegs tapped and Ed from Ohio poured me a beer. We chatted over several more beers before they went onstage and killed it. I moved out west and saw them three more times and every show was great. Wished I'd seen them with Slovenly though. Slovenly's album 'Thinking of empire' is an all time favorite as is 'After the original style' and 'Riposte'.✌️
I love the Minutemen. The best thing about them is many, or maybe most, of their songs have one main riff, a chorus, and maybe a break; they just rock it out and end. It's like they had a million ideas and wanted to get them all recorded, never bothering to stretch them out into a 3 minute song you'd hear on the radio. Watt did more pops than slaps, and did use the style quite a bit in Vietnam (I don't think he ever used a pick, but could be wrong).
Since you covered the minutemen, you should review another underground band from that era of punk called the Alley Cats and were from an area near San Pedro. Dianne Chai was known for being quite skilled on the bass. Please check them out as their music has always remained overlooked!
❤❤❤❤❤ I wish RUclips would let me give this video ALL the thumbs up's! 👍 just isn't enough. Not even close. Great reactions and I like that you noticed how restrained Watt was on Brave Capt. He's usually a spaz, in the coolest of ways.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #36 ВРЕМЯ ПЕРВЫХ [Как всё началось?] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YEyVYguKXVM/mqdefault.jpg)
Finally. The Man in the van with a bass in his hand
We jam econo!
You've got to hear Rob Wright, the bassist of the band NOMEANSNO, especially on the album 'Wrong.' Listen to the first note of the first song, and you'll instantly get a taste of that bass tone. Cheers!
Yes yes yes!!! Nomeansno is one of the best jazz/punk bands of all time. The duo of brothers, drummer and bassist, absolutely dynamic and prolific. Such great songwriting.
Yes!!!
Opened for them once, Rob is the nicest dude ever and they are SO good live... and yeah any bass player should check him out.
I feel like everyone is going to push "It's Catching Up" and I agree but also "Oh No, Bruno" is my go to. I can't imagine this series skipping Nomeansno at this point!
@@supermacguyver can't forget rag n bones!
This may be the happiest place on the internet the last few weeks. Man I really enjoy what you’ve been doing. It seems like everyone else does too.
🥹🙏🏼
It’s an under-appreciated and under-studied genre in the world of RUclips imo!
Funny how "punk" was pigeon holed, but it could be the most diverse music. It was never a sound, it was an attitude.
@@chrispatricola93remove the past tense bit and you’re dead on.
Mike Watt is the everyday man's bass hero. sick tones and grooves. Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime is an avalanche of melodically driven bass parts. their interplay is next level, jazzy, rarely ever playing the same parts. Mike Watt is a huge inspiration and the guy that got me to pick up a bass. thanks for reviewing, hope you check out more of his work. RIP D. Boon🎸
Ed was no slouch on drums either. One hell of a rhythm section.I wonder where Ed went?
@@kevmac1230. Georgr
The best thing, to me, about Mike Watt is that he was a workman.
If you like that jazz influence, check out what Watt is up to these days with MSSV. Punk rock meets improve jazz with I don’t know what else thrown in. Seen them last two times they’ve come around. Always good.
George Hurley played drums (unless I missed something), Ed “Fromohio” played guitar and sang. Last I heard, Ed was in Pittsburgh. I’ve heard he wasn’t doing so well but that may have turned around.
You have to watch the minutemen documentary WE JAM ECONO if you haven’t….everybody…. The stories of how Mike became a bass player, the progression of the band (a lot of the footage is live and not for the faint of heart but I love it all) and the story of the band is just phenomenal. A D Boon film is what this world needs… the music might not be for eveyone, but the minutemen were eveyone, “our band could be YOUR life” …. The absolute masters!!!
Try playing the bass riff to The Maze and not getting carpel tunnel!!!
George Hurley on drums (in both bands) was top notch - they were always incredibly tight. I'd second the below suggestions of Rob Wright from nomeansno - 'tired of waiting' or 'rags and bones' would be a good starting point :) Great to see someone hearing all these great bands for the 1st time!
I was a little mad at myself that I didn't come back around to talk about the drummer, I think I just got sidetracked with another point. There's no way that guy is just a "rock" player - I heard some serious fusion-y chops, the rolls, the tight accents. Sounded like popcorn!!
George is one of the great underappreciated drummers. He was a big influence on my playing even though I never played anything like minutemen's music ever (who sounds like them anyway). I was lucky to have met him during the We Jam Econo doc tour. Incredibly nice guy.
I love George. His hi-hat and cymbal playing is always great. He reminds me of Stewart Copeland.
Husker Du’s Something I learned today from Zen Arcade (1984) and New Day Rising’s(85) title track. Hugely influential bands, huge songs with some awesome bass by Greg Norton.
Watt is my all time musical hero. So glad to see you do this video. Double Nickels on the Dime is my favorite record ever. Completely blew my mind when I heard it. The Minutemen were a band with a sound Watt called the "3 way". The instruments represented a democracy in that the guitar was trebly by design and separate from the bass so that the drums, bass and guitar all had an equal seat at the table. Watt picked on the earlier Minutemen stuff, but DNotD was played using fingers. Also, Watt will very often stand right off the left shoulder of his drummers, just hovering over the drums. It's about the connection between drums and bass. There's lots of eye contact between drums and bass allowing the tempos and dynamics to better ebb and flow. Locking it in! D Boon forever!!!
I did get to see fIREHOSE 20 or so times thanks to growing up in SoCal. Also a great band in their own right. Ragin' Full On is a fantastic album too. This is the quintessential fIREHOSE tune that really sums up what the band is. Btw, Brave Captain is a metaphor for the office of PotUS.
his sound in fIREHOSE is almost fretless though watt can't play fretless
Great read!! Cheers!
Everyone new to Mike Watt should check out his solo album Contemplating the Engine Room. An absolutely fantastic album with Nels Cline (Wilco) on guitar.
Love that freaking album!!! If you ever get the chance, go to the somewhere in Pedro or Port of LA, sit next to the ocean and listen to that record.
@@ericchristensen634 I did exactly that in 2001! I explored all of the places Watt listed in the song Pedro Bound. Point Fermin, Cabrillo beach, Canetti’s, Vincent Thomas Bridge. It was really a fun and interesting experience. My Toyota truck started sputtering in the middle of the VT bridge…. that was a pants-shitter for sure! The truck made it over the bridge, but I ended up getting it fixed at some place in San Pedro. Good times.
I went back in 2005 for the premier of We Jam Econo at the big theatre in San Pedro and also visited D Boon’s grave. That was heavy.
@@YaleKaul That's really awesome! D Boon forever!
@@YaleKaul samesies, with a final stop to do a graveside tribute to the boilerman.
Mike Watt is a certified bad ass. When Streets on Fire dropped by Santa Cruz in '89, Natas used Brave Captain for the soundtrack to his part and people went ape shit! It was epic.
That's the exact moment that I was introduced to fIREHOSE. Not only was Natas' part incredible, but "Brave Captain" caught the vibe perfectly for it. I miss and loved discovering music while skating back in the 80's. So many good memories. This is one of those songs, that I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard it.
There was a Santa Cruz video where Jason Jesse skated to Paranoid Chant. That one opened the door for me.
We put on firehose and NONEANSNO with Operation Ivy in February ‘89. Epic show.
@@eyedroid ska punk is doo doo
@@MrLeadghosthave you heard operation ivy?
I feel fortunate to have seen fIREHOSE live. They've been a favorite of mine since.
I saw them in 1992 in Bryan,TX . It was my second date with my now wife!
*FISHBONE NEXT!* "bonin' in the boneyard" is a great example of norwood fisher's slap technique (i know, but he's not strictly a slapper). he's more of a johnson bassist than a jamerson bassist. fishbone is punk/ska/funk/soul/metal/church music. they pack more music into one song than many bands manage on an entire album.
KEvron
That's all accurate
One of my favorite bands to see live! The Reality Of My Surroundings is a killer album.
@@ColeWheeler4Lyfe Yeah I haven't seen them for years but they were always great. Was supposed to see them open for George Clinton a couple years ago but it got rained out. Very disappointing
First discovered Minutemen and Firehose through skateboarding back in the 80’s. Brings back good memories. Got to see Firehose live in the early 90’s. Mike Watt was already a legend to us. In 2009 I went with a friend to watch Dinosaur Jr in Asheville NC. Mike Watt opened up. The cool thing, we had got there super early so we walked around Asheville killing time. Actually kept running into J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr around every other corner. Probably thought we were stalking him haha. Anyway, we headed back to the Orange Peel (the venue) to just sit around. Well Mike Watt walks by us and says “hey” as he’s going inside of the venue. A little later he comes back out, walks past us, turns around and says let’s go. We’re like what? He said let’s go get lunch. Ended up eating lunch with him and his band. Just a crazy moment I’ll never forget. And fun fact, Dinosaur Jr filmed part of their video for the song “Over It” right outside the Orange Peel that day. We sat across the street watching. Mike Watt did a cameo in the video. All filmed right there.
Another fun fact, the theme song for Jackass is actually the Minutemen. The song is called “Corona” and is more than an instrumental as it seems on Jackass. Full song with lyrics and all. Really good.
Rob Wright from Nomeansno! One of the best punk bassists ever!
Thank you for checking out Watt! Him and Geddy are my bass heroes.
You should check out NoMeansNo - It's Catching Up
yesss, they're like a heavier Minutemen
great call..anything from wrong
💯
Firehose takes me back to skateboarding in the 80's 😍
Same bruh. Same. Respect ✊🏻
@@JoshXHenderson 👊👊👊👊
Natas Kaupas section Santa Cruz "Streets of Fire"
Spinning on that fire hydrant!
@@anthonyv6962- Streets of Fire is what introduced me to Firehose, and the Minutemen by extension. I've been a fan ever since.
Hey low end you are enjoying this trip into punk so much. It shows how happy you are on your face
I really am! I’m mostly enjoying undoing my previous conclusions I had about this particular corner of rock music. I used to be a lot more close-minded with music 10-15 years ago, so this has been refreshing!
@@LowEndUniversity same here. I been into metal then punk for years now I can't think of one genre that I don't atleast like a little. Hell I even listen to some country now. Elvira always puts a smile on my face. Since I played punk for years I realized some of these musicians are top tier. Like the vandals for example. Josh freese their drummer you may know from perfect circle and now Foo fighters amd their guitarist is warren fitzgerald who was invited to be in oingo boingo by Danny Elfman and you know as well as I do if Danny Elfman wants you in his band, you are one hell of a musician. Lol
I give you big credit for opening the mind and listening. Nothing but good things can come from that in my opinion. Watt is the dude! Best to you.
You should check out Watt's solo album, "Ball-Hog Or Tugboat?" - it shows how well loved he is, with some very high profile guest musicians, including Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, Eddie Vedder, Thurston Moore, Flea, Nels Cline, Henry Rollins, J Mascis, Dave Pirner and many more. The songs are great too. He's also on Porno For Pyros' second album, Good God's Urge.
Top 10 record for me.
"Big Train" is an absolutely iconic bass tune in my book. So much fun to play.
Came here to say this. He is both the Ball Hog and Tugboat and it's an incredible album.
Yes, and if I had to pick one song to analyze, I'd take "Sexual Military Dynamics" with Rollins on vocals.
Watts playing with his fingers on both of those tunes
Watt: "the last song I recorded w/the minutemen using a pick was "s h i t from an old notepad" off of "double nickels on the dime" back in early 1984. it's the only song on that album where I used a pick. all the records done before that had me using the pick. I never recorded w/fIREHOSE using a pick.:
And on the other side of the dial he only played with a pick with in J Mascis and The Fog
Ran sound for Watt & Co. a couple of times in the late 80s at a club in the midwest. One time, Watt broke a string and restrung his bass in a total of about 15 seconds. He had a stack of strings on the top of his amp, ready to go, so I assume it was a regular occurrence. His rig was awesome too: A Cerwin-Vega cab with an Altec (I think?) power amp and a rack mount Urei compressor. Basically a little PA. Such a great band. Watt's a great guy too.
Haha, the saga continues! Great job! Love your work! ❤🎸👀
Thanks so much!!
I feel like I'm 14 again and discovering all these bands, back when they were old in 94.
we played a show with fIREHOSE way back when and Mr Watt was very kind and complimented my bass playing, the minutemen and firehose were two of my fave bands at the time, sine the 80's
Same! Opened for them and he told me I did a great job. I was floored.
@@danball5114 when and where? he gave me a shirt too LOL
I have been a fan since early M.M. days.I have caught Mike 3 times in the last few years and he hasn't lost a bit of enthusiasm. He relates to his fans and will take time to chat with them after shows.A definite GOAT on bass as well as a genuine nice guy.They broke the mold with Mike!
I'll say it again, check out 7 Seconds(the bass player, and drummer are terribly underrated). 1999/2000's 7 Seconds have more Hardcore Punk sound, but lots of melody and great bass playing, lots of Lead Bass Playing. Check out the songs, "Satyagraha", "Happy Rain", "Slow Down A Second", "This Is Temporary", and the fun baseline in "Y.P.H". 7 Seconds have lots of great songs.
Yes! Soulforce Revolution was great, as was the last album, and the hardcore stuff is a lot of fun, though maybe too 4 on the floor for this crowd? 7 Seconds are top 5 fav band of all time. The bass work on the Praise EP is excellent
Check out the book Our Band Could be Your Life by Michael Azerrad. It gives the back ground on the Do It Yourself punk movement I. The 80’s and early 90s. The title of the book is actually a Mike Watt quote from History Lesson part two on Double Nickels on a Dime. And the section on the Minutemen is pretty damn good. I’ll give you some insight on why and how he plays the way he does.
Chemical Wire is another good one by firehose!
Yeah he should check out chemical wire for sure
mike watt is a genius
Minutemen were described as "punk" partly because there wasn't a better/more accurate term at the time, but also because that was the scene they were part of. Their first gig was BlackFlags second gig (or something like that).
I think they also described themselves that way because Mike and D were regular old rock and roll guys until they started to realize they could DIY along with Black Flag etc. Watt referred to it as "participating in the Movement"
Addendum:
My sister was just saying the other day what could have been if D Boon had lived. They would have changed a lot of future groove.
Suggestions for future bands to react to:
-Nomeansno (post-punk)
-Agent Orange (punk with a surfy tinge)
-Leftöver Crack/Choking Victim (good ol skacore, though technically they are of their own genre dubbed crack rock steady)
-Gang Of Four (post-punk)
-The Suicide Machines (ska-core)
-Joy Division (needs no introduction)
-the Damned (punk)
-Stiff Little Fingers (punk)
-Stone Temple Pilots (grunge)
all of these bands have fantastic bassists who do interesting things that I'd love to hear you talk about. I will probably get around to adding song suggestions for each band in the replies eventually.
Also RIP D. Boon. Clicked immediately when I saw minutemen. What a band man, the whole album is a treat on bass, and really all of their material.
yeah basslines in Choking Victim and Leftöver Crack are great! I would love a video on 5 Fingers Discount.
Seconding Gang of Four and Joy Division.
I opened for agent orange years ago and it was awesome. Also did a show with Joe jack from dead milkmen and he came back and stayed the night at our band house. What a nice guy he was.
@@ronjames4151 you OPENED for AGENT ORANGE?! if that were me I'd have that on a shirt id wear around the rest of my life, that is ridiculously cool. How were they live? And around what year?
@LowEndUniversity
for Nomeansno id recommend rag n bone, as well as its catching up or oh no bruno
Leftöver Crack/Choking victim I would say probably gang control and 5 finger discount
Gang of four I would say Ether as well as Damaged Goods
For Suicide machines, Hey and No Face would be good ones
Joy Division I would say 24 hours and love will tear us apart
Damned I would say neat neat neat as well as wait for the blackout
Stiff Little Fingers i would say suspect device and 78 rpm
Agent orange I would say last goodbye and no such thing
Stone temple pilots you GOTTA do tripping on a hole in a paper heart, big empty would be a good one too
Yes! So glad you chose Watt! By the way Dos is great, Kira Roessler from Black Flag and Watt, just two bases creating great music. Great vid!
Glad you discovered both bands, Been listening over 3 decades to them.
This has been such a fun journey to go on with you.
And, you as well! ☺️👏
My friends in Cincinnati had a band called Swear Jar & they were big fans of both Minutemen & fIREHOSE.
Swear Jar also had a non-traditional layout. Bass/vocal & guitar/vocal were stage left & stage center while the drummer was set up stage right, but he was facing the other two. Also, the Guitar & Bass player had vocals on different songs & they would trade instruments partway through the set.
I’ve never seen anyone else do that.
Minutemen have a video for “This Ain’t No Picnic”… my favorite Minutemen song.
Firehose are pure genius.
Nice to hear them get some love.
Minutemen were the shiat back in the day. D. Boon, Watt, and Hurley were a breath of fresh air back in the 80s. IIRC, Watt was married to Kira (later Black Flag bassist) for a bit.
Firehose is some beautiful stuff.
Awesome! So glad you got Mike Watt and this spectacular fIREHOSE song!
You gotta do Marquee Moon by Television. Super artsy, 1977, NYC.
Dude. Much respect for checking out these two awesome bands. Really digging your channel. Brave Captain is by far my favorite Firehouse tune. But Flying the Flannel album is amazing. So unique and creative. Love this.
Thank you Mark for always inspiring me to pick up my bass and play. I gravitated to that 'PJ' pickup configuration as well, at least on my 4 string bass. I have an Ibanez 5 string and it growls so hard, which is what I wanted haha.
Also, thank you to all those awesome bassists out there who are requesting this awesome music I've never heard before!
Cheers, friend!
I'd love to hear your take on Propagandhi, specifically Todd's era, "Night Letters" or "Fuck The Border"
Yes! Propagandhi!
Todd does some excellent bass work on “Failed Imagineer”.
you would.
😬@@rocketcon2338
So happy you did this one. May I suggest some Bad Brains? Not very bass forward in their early punk years but I Against I is a banger and you can hear the bass in that one.
I rarely click the like button but here we are slamming that thumbs up every time you drop a new vid. This is fast becoming my favorite youtube channel. Keep it up! ❤
You're the best!
When I first found punk I was too young to appreciate Mike Watt and minutemen for what it was. It wasn't that straightforward blast of power chords and angst that I needed and knew. But I always respected him because he has such an impact on the scene (and many scenes, to be fair!)
Glad you did this. He is legendary and you should know his style.
Also, he has two signature basses with Reverend you should look into!
Anybody else reminded of Natus Kaupus when you hear Brave Captain? Santa Cruz "Streets On Fire" skate video.
Love watching your journey thru punk rock bass players! You should check out Klaus from the Dead Kennedys and Rob Trujillo in Suicidal Tendencies/Infectous Grooves! Cheers from Boston,Ma!
Fun to see and hear what a new listener to my favorite group of musicians has to say about them! Thanks!
I suggest checking out his first solo outings that came after disbanding fIREHOSE. In particular his first solo album, Ball Hog or TugBoat as the lineup on it truly shows how important he was viewed amoung the music community at the time. It's beyond stacked.
I had the fortune of seeing him tour behind it and had Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl playing in the live band. Met them after the show, he's as down to earth as all the rumours suggest. I got to see him play solo again about a year later, he remembered my name and signed it on my ticket without needing to be reminded. He signed it "Mike Watt loves Shale" and handed it back with a grin.
The GOAT, and a terrific guy to boot.
This is really awesome. I’ve been listening to MIke Watt’s bass playing since 1987, but had never given much thought to the technical parts of it. It’s very interesting to hear it analyzed
Great to See Bass content makers Giving Watt some Love! he's been my biggest inspiration since age 11 when I first heard minutemen, inspired me to pick up the bass and now 37 years later its my career! he also the nicest and most humble man on the planet and honoured to call him a close friend for many years now! if you get to see him live with his bands Mike watt & The Missingmen with Tom Kidd Watson on Guitar and Raul Morales on drums , or Il Sogno Del Marinaio with Stefano Pilia on guitar and Paulo Manguardi on Drums, and also MSSV with Mike Baggetta on Guitar and Stephen Hodges on Drums! literally my favourite Bass on earth
he did actually use a pick during the minutemen years! and moved to fingers pretty much exclusively since then
I probably went to a dozen fIREHOSE shows in the late 1980s. I love seeing the youngsters discover Watt. Chemical Wire (from the album Ragin' Full On) is my favorite Watt bass part, but there are so many great songs. In all the concerts I went to, I never saw Watt use a pick, but I can't be 100% sure. I appreciate you taking note of the bass player's position on "stage" but that never happened in a concert. He was usually parallel to the guitar player.
New favorite channel ❤. Look forward to every review. Please 🙏 do a vid on Fishbone Bonin in the Boneyard😊
Great suggestion!
"panic" & "stop the bus" of OSKER
Great video man. I'm a guitarist but dabble in a bit of bass. Love to find out new bands and songs from here. Great fun channel. Thanks mate
Awesome! Thank you! 🙏🏼
Man you’ve been just hitting the right notes lately no pun intended.. So many monumental bands getting attention outside of the scene is always welcome and encouraged
This is such a great video! I'm so glad you've been turned on to the hero bass player of indie/punk rock.
Sooo rare to see Minutemen and fIREHOSE ‘reactions’. Big fan of both. Thx!
Glad you enjoyed!
Please do Dead Kennedys or Bad Brains.
Both had vision and unique musicians.
Dude, these videos are amazing. I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to see you analyze these artists with the dignity they deserve. Believe it or not, the ad nauseam mainstream critique of punk rock (fIREHOSE were 100% punk) back in the ‘80s was that they couldn’t play and that their music was garbage in comparison to the commercial acts of the period… god have mercy on us all lol.
I remember seeing firehose at yanks bar in Pensacola FL and being mesmerized watching Mike Watt playing bass.
FIREHOSE!!! Awesome!
You need to check out Neds Atomic Dustbin. Two bass players.
👌🤓❤️
Firehose.... Haven't heard of this band in years, this channel keeps getting better and better! Keep it up!
Great to see this ! You should also dig " Glory of Man" from Double Nickels on the Dime, an impressive a DOUBLE LP as you will ever hear. Their trip in terms of sound was Mike took care of the heavy bottom and the ultra high was D Boon's telecaster deluxe through a silverface twin but with his treble maxxed out. With George Hurley's lightning tight beats they were pretty legendary, still are and I never get tired of them. Nice video and breakdown
oh yeah this was the song in one of Natas parts!
Your channel is great I love watching your surprise when you get the first listen.
Glad you enjoy it!
My little punk band from Kansas City was tramping around the Midwest in 1984 and got to tag along with the minute Men for four different shows. We got to host them back in KC and spend a couple days just jamming and hanging out at our practice/living space. D. died in few months after this and I was gutted. Best guys, Great guests. Best times
Love this channel
Oh yeah, and def check out Mike Watts Contemplating The Engine Room
just 20 secs and im like wtf, how iv never heard about this.
Saw these guys in Chicago played like 200 songs. Awesome show. DOWN WITH THE BASS!!
I've seen Firehose many times live. He's not slapping, he's popping the strings really hard. In fact, almost every show he was replacing a broken string or two. A lot of great bands/musicians existed in Southern California from the 80's to now. They all got labeled punk only because they played together, rather than they all sounded the same. There was a lot of musical diversity lumped into "punk". More an attitude then a sound.
Ahhh shit. I meant “pop”, can’t believe I didn’t realize that until now. I guess I meant the “slap/pop” style in general. And, I completely agree on all the variety within one scene - been my favorite part of these! Never know what to expect.
If we’re throwing around some of the original “punk” masters, I still have yet to see anyone mention Steve Soto who played with the seminal Fullerton band the Adolescents with Mike Ness, and RiKk Agnew. After the Adolescents, Soto joined Ness in Social Distortion. Later Soto was known for his touring with several other acts and even solo. He was incredibly well loved by many folks all over the world in the punk rock scene. One more of these early notable bass masters is Zander Schloss who played in the Circle Jerks along with Keith Morris previously of Black Flag, Greg Hetson of Bad Religion, and drumming legends like Lucky Lehrer and Chuck Biscuits. I’ve been digging your deep dive into the early days of punk/underground/alt because this was the time when music came back to the “kids” and led the way into a completely new era of music in the 90’s with Nirvana and Greenday etc. It also challenged the conventional “music industry” as more bands were DIYing themselves into the spotlight without any major label assistance. 👌🤓👏😁🤘😎
Awesome video, the minutemen might be my favorite band ever. Highly recommend the Minutemen documentary right here on RUclips.
Hurley and Watt were both talking about being done with music after D Boon died, but Crawford (a Minutemen fan) supposedly pestered them into being in a band with him. Their early stuff sounds a lot more Minutemen than their later stuff.
When Watt went solo his touring band included Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl for a while which is telling about the level of respect he gets.
I wish you had done an earlier Minutemen song, he used to use a pick during this album he switched to fingers. Check out the Minutemen movie We Jam Econo, it's awesome and you really get a feel for the brotherhood Watt and Boon had.
NUMERO DOS ep... such a great recording! first DOS lp has a lot of songs that became fIREHOSE songs on ragin' full on. also, KIRA sings on NUMERO DOS - she has a beautiful voice.
Brave Captain, one of my all time favourite songs.
Gotta love Watt. Saw Minutemen when I was a teen back in the 80s and have followed everything he's done since. Double Nickles on the Dime is one of my top ten fave albums, it practically lives in my car CD player. Also don't forget George, he's a fantastic drummer.
You really should give NoMeansNo a shot, but I really don't know what would be the most representative song of theirs.
The Minutemen are one of those bands I almost can’t believe came together. All three members.
Every time I hear Brave Captain I can't help but think of Natas Kaupas in Wheels of Fire.
Oooh same idea new twist.
Do 12xU by Wire then the cover by Minor Threat.
Not the most BASS song, but seminal punk. Both versions
And it gives you a bridge into Waiting Room by Fugazi which is an AWESOME bass part (Minor Threat and Fugazi are connected via Ian MacKaye)
Watt is a bass god. This was fun to watch
Love your videos dude 🤟🏻🤟🏻 idk if you would like to venture into the latin world of music but if you do I would definitely recommend to check out Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. They're an Argentinian Ska/Punk Rock/Their own fusion of many latin music band. Their bass player is Flavio Cianciarulo and is a funky/jazzy bass player. The whole band is excellent and they incorporate wind instruments, brass and much more. They're an old band but so worth hearing. Their song El Satánico Dr Cadillac is an awesome song that I think you would enjoy reacting/analysing their bass player. Keep it dude 🤟🏻🤟🏻🤟🏻
Thanks so much! Sounds fun, we shall see!
Mike played in my neighbors back yard with Proto Beat Poet Charles Plymell i, I shot the set with my Canon Power Shot in 2008, somehow it ended up on the cover of an album. It is great to see someone with out context fully appreciate the greatness of Mike Watt.
Yes! Finally!
You need more minutemenin your life, everytrackon double nickles is pure gold all for different reasons. Cohesion is what made me want to learn flamenco guitar, Dr.wu the pairedout of time vocals give me goosebumps, I could go on withthe reasons u love all the songs but ill let you find out for yourself.
I loved the Minutemen! I saw them three times, the last time at MAXWELL'S club in Hoboken, NJ. At the end, D. Boone thanked the crowd and promised they would be back in a few months. It was only about six weeks later that he was killed in the van accident. That really hit me hard, having just seen them mere weeks before. A tragic loss of his life and of the end of the Minutemen, still one of the very best American rock bands there ever has been.
Saw fIREHOSE in Va beach on one of their early tours. They were very late and Watt and Hurley practically rolled out of the van fighting. 😂
Santa Cruz Streets Of Fire got me into Firehose. This song is forever tied to Natas Kaupas.
My friend's band Evil Dean opened for firehose and Anastasia Screamed at the Terrace Club on the Princeton University campus in the spring of 1991. I went downstairs as a 19 year old and they had two kegs tapped and Ed from Ohio poured me a beer. We chatted over several more beers before they went onstage and killed it. I moved out west and saw them three more times and every show was great. Wished I'd seen them with Slovenly though. Slovenly's album 'Thinking of empire' is an all time favorite as is 'After the original style' and 'Riposte'.✌️
#1 hit song!!!! So simple, so good!
You probably heard their song Corona as the Jackass theme.
I love the Minutemen. The best thing about them is many, or maybe most, of their songs have one main riff, a chorus, and maybe a break; they just rock it out and end. It's like they had a million ideas and wanted to get them all recorded, never bothering to stretch them out into a 3 minute song you'd hear on the radio. Watt did more pops than slaps, and did use the style quite a bit in Vietnam (I don't think he ever used a pick, but could be wrong).
I used to listen to firehouse back in late 80’s non stop! Great choice of songs band and bass player!
I helped load the Econoline in '89 or so around 3 am after a fIREHOSE gig in Toronto ... brilliant evening!!
Since you covered the minutemen, you should review another underground band from that era of punk called the Alley Cats and were from an area near San Pedro. Dianne Chai was known for being quite skilled on the bass. Please check them out as their music has always remained overlooked!
❤❤❤❤❤ I wish RUclips would let me give this video ALL the thumbs up's! 👍 just isn't enough. Not even close.
Great reactions and I like that you noticed how restrained Watt was on Brave Capt. He's usually a spaz, in the coolest of ways.
Thank you so much! 😊