One of the most important bands to ever exist that gets absolutely criminally overlooked. So important to the punk scene, Indy scene and even to the hardcore scene.
@@IHeartNoise Grunge musicians agree with you. Grunge is Husker Du with Neil Young alternate tunings which are known grunge tunings to this day (if you're a musician, all strings down 1 step...think 'hey hey, my my' or 'cinnamon girl'). The tuning is what gave grunge the trademark heavy sound. Nirvana especially. Alice in Chains not so much.
i drove an hour on a bus to buy a cassette copy with a walkman in my pocket playing The clash and bought the cassette and put it on and walked around my city till it was played through then went home and something was very very different. the world was a differnet place, happier, sadder, brighter , darker more empty and more loving all at the same time, it was perfection to a young teenage shitty guitarist wannabe poet and searching for relevance human being. Thank you Husker Du.
I was in a band called No Direction (Norman,OK) and we got to open for them along with NOTA (Tulsa,OK) a few times between '82-'84. They stayed @ our dorm room after one of their shows. What a memorable experience! These guys were a classic example of the Power Trio. The progression of their style clearly states it all. From Land Speed Record, Everything Falls Apart, Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and beyond! There were a lot of hardcore bands in the early '80s that barely scratched the surface of melodic and lyrical genius. But Husker Du set the bar high, and succeeded. It truly was a privilege to have been able to not only see these guys, but to play with them, it was amazing and inspiring. RIP GRANT!
I may have touched you. MAYBE. I went to Fayetteville in the fall I think on a school biz weekend field trip. I was attending KU Lawrence at that time. My cuz he was attending UA then too. We, he, me & his GF went to a place called the ICE HOUSE to see Brown 25, NOTA & some local outfit. I was pushing guys away from me circle dancing. I sported a bleach Cleopatra doo, thigh high black leather boots & a black RAMONS t-shirt. HÜSKËR DÜ 》"DO YOU REMEMBER"?
OBTW The drummer for one of those Norman bands - I can still see him in my mind. I thought he was cute. He looked like a more handsome version VERY CUTE version of either one of the Hagger Twins of HEE HAW fame. My cuz's Gf's Gf was all buggy boo to meet NOTA's lead guitarist formerly of FayArk's MutentFish supposedly a band named in honor of the lake fish around a local NUKE power plant down close to LRArk. He was head shaved with Elvis sideburns. He was LIKE.. ..kuel.
OBTW TOO Norman trivia. One of my fav Carpenter songs was "Super☆Star". Leon Russell so legend goes was inspired to write that tourch song after a conversation waaay back with maybe his sister. She & some GFs attended a show his band (when he was begining his music career) put on at some venue in Norman. One of his (sister's) gfs fell in♡♡ £()♡€ with one of his band mates b4 the 2nd show. This band mate was a local Norman hometown boy. He would be "just (on) the radio". "Night after night baby who treats you right? LISTEN TO THE GUITAR MAN".
I know most folk prefer their later stuff but "Land Speed Record" is an absolute masterpiece of live energy. A perfect cacophony of feedback, cymbal crashes, and screaming. LOVE IT!
I always thought of the album title just like it sounds - like we went really fast and set a new land speed record. If you read the liner notes in their massive retrospective, Bob clarifies. It was, "We covered a lot of land. We took a lot of speed. We made a record." Great!
A band that can truly say they never made a bad album and everything from Zen Arcade through Warehouse is stellar! Their live shows, especially in 85, are legendary. In 85 I saw them at 688 in Atlanta....I am a small man and was being crushed against the stage....the roadie let me sit on the stage next to Greg...awesome.
I lived in a very small & culturally-repressed town in northern Illinois. If the song wasn’t on WLS, I didn’t know it. Freshman year in Colege (1988) I discovered the Replacements & Husker Du. Changed my life. I’m a musician and after a lifetime of distraction I’m finally recording and releasing my work. Bob has been an inspiration over the past few years, as I finally grow up and regress. ☮️
It’s a burner. I got it after Metal Circus, EFA and Zen Arcade; and thought it sounded weak, but with some great tracks. Eventually I stopped dissecting it based on the thin, harsh sound of the recording and took it as a whole - great songwriting, unbelievably vocal performances and melodies and, unlike some of their earlier material (Zen Arcade comes to mind), every single track sounded good all of the time. A personal favorite of mine would be Terms of Psychic Warfare, which coincidentally sounds very close to another band’s song riff-wise. That’s never really bothered me, although I recognize the similarities, and it remains a go to for me in their catalog. These guys were insanely talented.
I remember waking up one morning in our shared band house to find Grant Hart drinking coffee at our kitchen table. I am huge Husker Du fan & to meet him back then just hanging out drinking coffee in the early morning it was a surreal moment for me. It was like just like any normal person but at the same time my mind is saying "Thats Grant fkn Hart !!!!!".
Grew up in Minneapolis and went to a lot of great shows - such a rich scene in the mid 80s, so many great bands. The Zen Arcade shows at First Ave were maybe the best, certainly the loudest. The Huskers influenced all of us and spawned a lot of bands, mine included. Flaming youth! If only it could have lasted forever.
Saint Paul guy here. It sucked that MPLS/St Paul scene never took off. Prince, Morris Day and the Time, Husker Du, False Oath, Soul Asylum (90’s) and I know I am missing a lot of bands. I also think the Glam metal out of LA, thrash metal San Fran and New York and other genre music was coming out. It was easy to overlook MSP/St Paul scene
Every Bob interview these days is gold, he is so thoughful, well spoken and humble.Back in the day, he seemed dour and perhaps a bit depressed.The 80's seemed to have been a very creative but unhappy period for him.Still struggling to find his place as a gay man in the Reagan era.
One of the most important band s in that is grossly under appreciated for their contributions to the punk and alternative music. I met Bob in Cleveland after a solo gig at the Grog Shop and he was so gracious with his fans.
7:21 “Grant was hanging out with different people and taking on different things he wanted to explore.” That’s a really judicious way to say he’d developed a heroin problem.
@@TipsterStu I knew him, actually. He’d regularly come into a restaurant I worked at in the late 00’s. Nice enough guy, but clearly ravaged by meth use.
Started a project as a kid, grew up while he was doing it. Then it was finished. I always used to wonder why all the great bands broke up. They were human. They changed. I wouldn't necessarily want to be 40 playing songs i wrote when I was 18 because they were my hits.
I was blessed to have seen Husker Du on the Warehhouse Songs and Stories tour their swan song. They are one of the greats but never blew their own horn Bob is so humble and down to earth He comes to Nashville on a fairly regular basis but I've yet to see him Need to put it on the list for sure R I P Grant Hart🎆
Warehouse songs and stories is there masterpiece...wow that must have been a mindboggling show...mad props to you for being one of the few who knew at the time you were witnessing greatness..DM
I'm from Minneapolis and moved to LA in 1983. When I saw in the LA Weekly that this was one of the most influential bands, I couldn't believe it!! Husker Du?? Then I went to see them play in some old, huge hotel in downtown LA or Hollywood. Dream-like now in 2021. Something I shall never forget - and I talked to Bob who is a good guy!!
The very first CD I ever bought after deciding to switch away from records was from Husker Du. Sound quality was hype to be so much better on CD. It irritated me when the cashier at the record store said, “Why would you buy Husker Du as your first CD.”
Bob is such a great guy and (!) an awesome guitar player! I think my faves by Hüsker Dü are "She floated away" and "Hardly getting over it" - timeless punk/rock classics!
My friend bought a Husker Du record back in the eighties. I was so inspired by it that I changed my trajectory musically. Real trailblazing stuff. It was - New Day Rising. 🎛
Saw Husker at Pine Street Theater in Portland in ‘86. Shows generated big pits then, and Bob Mould hated it. At a certain point the band shifted to playing Beatles songs to try to mellow it out. We had lots of fun slam dancing (pre-mosh name) to “All You Need Is Love.” Husker was great, and the stuff Bob did later with Beaster also stood out.
Bob has been a guy I have been listening to all my life. Seeing him evolve as a musician he hits everything emotionally as he's progressed. Probably the only artist seriously I dig hearing new stuff from and look forward to his next effort. His music always a part of my life. This man transcends genre really.
They broke all the rules. Few bands were ever able to reach the high temperatures Husker Du did. Obstacles not recognized or dealt with in this day-and-age were overcome in order to get an unsigned band on the road; plan tours and contracts; earn a fanbase; get distribution or label representation, let alone major label interest; play consistently great shows, network with and charm other bands at the right time, at the right places; eat and rest; keep everyone safe; and stay able to BE NICE 24/7 no matter what city you were in, etc.. See, in my view, this is something of a miracle. Husker Du played with fire; they possessed an acetylene torch that lit the way to a better tomorrow for the rest of us. And that is why I will always love them. From here to eternity.
Land Speed Record was a revelation. I had been listening to predominantly UK and New Zealand alternative music, with Dead Kennedy's being the main US band outside of the UK I gave attention too. Then Hüsker Dü' blew my tiny New Zealanders mind. The floodgates were breached and along came Butthole Surfer's and Bad Brains. I never got to see Hüsker Dü' play but I did see Grant Hart play here in Christchurch in IIRC, 2010, just prior to the start of the nightmare quakes. I am so glad I was fortunate enough to spend a few minutes talking with him.
I got into Husker Du when I heard “She Floated Away” on friend’s comp tape. I then went out and bought everything I could by them. The top of my personal list are Candy Apple Gray, New Day Rising, and Flip Your Wig. Those were some great times! I still listen to them to this day.
It's not a matter about discussing what was the best album they made. We all agree that Hüsker Dü was a magnificant band gaving a lot of influences to other bands...
I remember driving Grant somewhere or I was with someone driving Grant a little picture playhouse was the song he kept playing so if anybody's a who could do fat little picture playhouse in my heart was one of Grant's favorite songs
This band changed my life. They were so organic. The salt of the earth i saw them in a small venue in Mesa, Az. Still the loudest concert I've ever hesrd.
yeah copper blue is one of the top ten rock albums of all time, superb songs, saw bob play it in its entirety a few years ago at shepherds bush empire, great night, saw them a couple of times at the mayfair Newcastle back in the early 90's
Friend of mine dragged me to a small club show they did in Chicago in 84 or 5. I didn't really want to go, "Husker who?" I said. Ended up going, could barely put a sentence together for about 3 hours afterward, I was so blown away by that show. My friend kept calling Bob the Jimi Hendrix of hardcore. I guess what he meant was, they changed music forever.
These guys were prolific well read and first class songwriters in the greater part of their career. This in addition to being a complete trailblazers writing the book for the hordes to follow. Amazing band
It was specifically Candy Apple Grey and New Day Rising that i knew this band through. One on either side of the same cassette and played over and over. I was not even aware of the other albums or songs on them. I feel those 2 were plenty to know the very unique style and aesthetic f these guys. At 57 now, still among my faves of all time...
Even in an interview, Bob Mould is simply gravitating and manifest the character that could be heard and seen in their recordings from Husker Du, Sugar & Solo sol-la-ti-DU
Being more of a metal guy in the '80's and living in Milwaukee- I knew of Husker Du but I really didn't come to appreciate their stuff until much later. It's strange, but the underground music scene in Milwaukee was probably a bit more geared towards kind of zany and off the wall type bands like the Violent Femmes- who were really the dominant alternative/ college music band in the area. Of course we did also have Die Kreuzen, and they probably overshadowed the more hardcore sound of Husker Du with their own dissonant, heavier, progressive metal type sound. But I did have a lot of respect for Husker Du, and eventually became a pretty big fan of Sugar when that was released.
Husker Du had the most intense live set I've ever witnessed. I'll never forget that show. There were maybe a hundred people there. This was early in their career. I think Zen Arcade had just come out.
Grant and Bob’s vocal pairing kinda the best of their secret ingredients. Fuzz pedals and extra snare hits amongst the other herbs and spices. Sucks they quit singing together.
Bob has led such an interesting life! More than being in Husker Du and Sugar he has written creatively for professional wrestling! What a fucking cool guy!
Fantastic 3 piece. Afavourite for me rember buying zen arcade when first came out.. candy apple grey flip your wig metal circus new day songs warehouse etc etc fucn terrific bandnever saw them live as never came to new zealand firdt heard them when got blasting concept sst on vinyl
Kollo Supias First real show I ever saw was their stop at the Orpheum in Boston when they were touring on that album. I’d never heard of them. Blew me away and made it hard on every other band I’d ever see. They were a tough act to follow.
I wish he would of went into his relationship with Grant rather than his typical response about grants experimentation with drugs causing problems. Thanks for sharing
He doesn't seem to be comfortable taking about that. Even in his biography, he mentioned the death of their manager coupled with Grant's increasing drug use as the contributing factors that led to their breakup. Been a few years since I read the book, but his description of their demise was very nonchalant from what I recall. Unfortunately with Grant's passing a few years ago, that might be the only explanation that we ever get. Grant didn't talk about it much prior to his death, and Greg Norton hasn't discussed it, so there seems to have been an agreement between all of them to stay quiet about the details of their breakup. There is definitely more there, but sadly I don't think we will ever know the full story.
My friend Tom used to canvas door-to-door in Minneapolis for Greenpeace and knocked on what turned out to be Bob Mould's door and he was as nice and welcoming as you can see he is right here.
Saw Bob solo at the Fillmore, 1996 I guess. He was having guitar trouble and getting really frustrated. Looked like he just wanted so much to smash the thing... And he was gracious to the audience the whole time.
The Village Voice was not always free. When i lived in NYC and relied on it for music and off-off-Broadway listings it still cost money. I think it was 75 cents or a dollar. Fun fact. Robert Christgau's wife wrote an editorial after John Lennon's assassination asking why it was always the Kennedy's and Lennon's who are killed, why not the Nixon's and McCartney;s. She was deservedly lambasted. "Wow, Robert Christgau rates music, his wife rates lives."
I wished they'd never signed to WB. It did Soul Asylum no good, sfaict. A big indie would've made so much more sense. They could've paced themselves, had more choice over so many of the band's crucial jobs and stood a much better chance of continuing together. A major label was NEVER going to Du right by them. Sorry about that - couldn't resist. : - ! PS - love you Bob xxx
I stood on stage next to him as he yelled at a guy in the crowd who kept running into him on purpose before stage diving back into the audience. Concert was fun too.
One of the most important bands to ever exist that gets absolutely criminally overlooked. So important to the punk scene, Indy scene and even to the hardcore scene.
Huge influence on grunge, that's for sure.
And why couldn't Husker Du and the Replacements just get along? I guess Minneapolis wasn't big enough for the both of them.
@@IHeartNoise Grunge musicians agree with you. Grunge is Husker Du with Neil Young alternate tunings which are known grunge tunings to this day (if you're a musician, all strings down 1 step...think 'hey hey, my my' or 'cinnamon girl'). The tuning is what gave grunge the trademark heavy sound. Nirvana especially. Alice in Chains not so much.
@@ElSantoLuchador Jerry Cantrell makes AiC
@@ElSantoLuchadorgrunge is Black Sabbath, ramones, depending on what band it could be Jane’s addiction, Van Halen, zeppelin, American punk.
There is something wrong with a world where Green Day is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Husker Du isn't.
I agree with you totally.
It's about record sales, not the artistic value of the music. The Hall is a fucking joke.
Don’t worry about who’s in the Rock hall of Fame It’s laughable. Who cares about it
What’s funny is that I bet Green Day themselves would agree with that statement. They are huge Husker Du fans.
The Rock and Roll Hall Fame is one of the biggest problems with rock and roll. It should be canceled
Zen arcade changed my life. I'm sure theres a long list with that same statement.
i drove an hour on a bus to buy a cassette copy with a walkman in my pocket playing The clash and bought the cassette and put it on and walked around my city till it was played through then went home and something was very very different. the world was a differnet place, happier, sadder, brighter , darker more empty and more loving all at the same time, it was perfection to a young teenage shitty guitarist wannabe poet and searching for relevance human being. Thank you Husker Du.
Yep
I felt the same way when I first heard candy apple Grey
New Day Rising was the one that did it for me.
Metal circus for me.
I was in a band called No Direction (Norman,OK) and we got to open for them along with NOTA (Tulsa,OK) a few times between '82-'84. They stayed @ our dorm room after one of their shows. What a memorable experience! These guys were a classic example of the Power Trio. The progression of their style clearly states it all. From Land Speed Record, Everything Falls Apart, Zen Arcade, New Day Rising and beyond! There were a lot of hardcore bands in the early '80s that barely scratched the surface of melodic and lyrical genius. But Husker Du set the bar high, and succeeded.
It truly was a privilege to have been able to not only see these guys, but to play with them, it was amazing and inspiring. RIP GRANT!
I have some of your songs on Empty Skulls comp tape I bought back in high school, I don't think you ever did any records though?
I may have touched you. MAYBE. I went to Fayetteville in the fall I think on a school biz weekend field trip. I was attending KU Lawrence at that time. My cuz he was attending UA then too.
We, he, me & his GF went to a place called the ICE HOUSE to see Brown 25, NOTA & some local outfit. I was pushing guys away from me circle dancing.
I sported a bleach Cleopatra doo, thigh high black leather boots & a black RAMONS t-shirt.
HÜSKËR DÜ 》"DO YOU REMEMBER"?
OBTW The drummer for one of those Norman bands - I can still see him in my mind. I thought he was cute. He looked like a more handsome version VERY CUTE version of either one of the Hagger Twins of HEE HAW fame.
My cuz's Gf's Gf was all buggy boo to meet NOTA's lead guitarist formerly of FayArk's MutentFish supposedly a band named in honor of the lake fish around a local NUKE power plant down close to LRArk.
He was head shaved with Elvis sideburns. He was LIKE.. ..kuel.
OBTW TOO Norman trivia. One of my fav Carpenter songs was "Super☆Star". Leon Russell so legend goes was inspired to write that tourch song after a conversation waaay back with maybe his sister. She & some GFs attended a show his band (when he was begining his music career) put on at some venue in Norman.
One of his (sister's) gfs fell in♡♡
£()♡€ with one of his band mates b4 the 2nd show. This band mate was a local Norman hometown boy. He would be "just (on) the radio".
"Night after night baby who treats you right? LISTEN TO THE GUITAR MAN".
Did you know Jaz Lambeth from Norman?
I know most folk prefer their later stuff but "Land Speed Record" is an absolute masterpiece of live energy. A perfect cacophony of feedback, cymbal crashes, and screaming. LOVE IT!
It is my favorite. Melodic Discharge.
@@KazimirMajorinc Exactly, so much melody hidden within.> Mantis Lake, and yeah...LOTS of cymbals...:)
I just wish the recording was more discernible.
There are real songs buried under that cacaphony!
I always thought of the album title just like it sounds - like we went really fast and set a new land speed record. If you read the liner notes in their massive retrospective, Bob clarifies. It was, "We covered a lot of land. We took a lot of speed. We made a record." Great!
Loved their rendition of "Eight Miles High". Its a deep, vast, corker.
Yup. One of the best covers ever. It's a whole new song when they play it.
that cover is amazing
Best version of that is live from pink pop festival
@@chrisartem2673 Oh yes, it is insanely good there!!
Agreed the pink pop live version was amazing
A band that can truly say they never made a bad album and everything from Zen Arcade through Warehouse is stellar! Their live shows, especially in 85, are legendary. In 85 I saw them at 688 in Atlanta....I am a small man and was being crushed against the stage....the roadie let me sit on the stage next to Greg...awesome.
One of my favourite artists ever. Husker Du, Sugar and Solo + Band, all just brilliant.
AGREED!!
Husker Du was the band that turned me onto hardcore back in the 80's with Zen Arcade and New Day Rising. Absolutely indispensable music.
I totally agree with you. Zen Arcade changed my Life back in 1984, when I was only a 15yrs old
I lived in a very small & culturally-repressed town in northern Illinois. If the song wasn’t on WLS, I didn’t know it.
Freshman year in Colege (1988) I discovered the Replacements & Husker Du. Changed my life.
I’m a musician and after a lifetime of distraction I’m finally recording and releasing my work. Bob has been an inspiration over the past few years, as I finally grow up and regress. ☮️
‘New Day Rising’: The greatest album of my lifetime.
I was 17 when it came out, and it totally changed my world!
It’s a burner. I got it after Metal Circus, EFA and Zen Arcade; and thought it sounded weak, but with some great tracks. Eventually I stopped dissecting it based on the thin, harsh sound of the recording and took it as a whole - great songwriting, unbelievably vocal performances and melodies and, unlike some of their earlier material (Zen Arcade comes to mind), every single track sounded good all of the time.
A personal favorite of mine would be Terms of Psychic Warfare, which coincidentally sounds very close to another band’s song riff-wise. That’s never really bothered me, although I recognize the similarities, and it remains a go to for me in their catalog. These guys were insanely talented.
Fuck yes!
give ZEN ARCADE a listen
@@ericknutson8679 Been listening to New Day and Zen Arcade since they were released, thanks.
Hüsker Dü were criminally UNDER-appreciated i cant wait to watch this my my big screen
Extremely, it's also so hard to find their shirts in punk stores too :(
I remember waking up one morning in our shared band house to find Grant Hart drinking coffee at our kitchen table. I am huge Husker Du fan & to meet him back then just hanging out drinking coffee in the early morning it was a surreal moment for me. It was like just like any normal person but at the same time my mind is saying "Thats Grant fkn Hart !!!!!".
Grew up in Minneapolis and went to a lot of great shows - such a rich scene in the mid 80s, so many great bands. The Zen Arcade shows at First Ave were maybe the best, certainly the loudest. The Huskers influenced all of us and spawned a lot of bands, mine included. Flaming youth! If only it could have lasted forever.
Saint Paul guy here. It sucked that MPLS/St Paul scene never took off. Prince, Morris Day and the Time, Husker Du, False Oath, Soul Asylum (90’s) and I know I am missing a lot of bands. I also think the Glam metal out of LA, thrash metal San Fran and New York and other genre music was coming out. It was easy to overlook MSP/St Paul scene
@@American_Heathen Going to the U - ended up seeing Babes in Toyland on accident. What a wonderful accident!
Husker Du was my gateway and most of the soundtrack into adolescent life. Thank you, your music is just as relavent now as then, maybe more so.
He seems to be a good man. Great artist, for sure.Hüsker Dü changed my life to a better place. No doubt.
Such a fascinating artist and person. Thanks, Bob.
Every Bob interview these days is gold, he is so thoughful, well spoken and humble.Back in the day, he seemed dour and perhaps a bit depressed.The 80's seemed to have been a very creative but unhappy period for him.Still struggling to find his place as a gay man in the Reagan era.
One of the most important band s in that is grossly under appreciated for their contributions to the punk and alternative music. I met Bob in Cleveland after a solo gig at the Grog Shop and he was so gracious with his fans.
7:21 “Grant was hanging out with different people and taking on different things he wanted to explore.” That’s a really judicious way to say he’d developed a heroin problem.
Have you watched the Grant Hart doc? So sad :(
@@TipsterStu I knew him, actually. He’d regularly come into a restaurant I worked at in the late 00’s. Nice enough guy, but clearly ravaged by meth use.
@@chadlong1109 the doc is like an essay in regret's search for peace :(
@@chadlong1109 He didn't use meth. He used milder amphetamines, and heroin.
Totally!
Started a project as a kid, grew up while he was doing it. Then it was finished. I always used to wonder why all the great bands broke up. They were human. They changed. I wouldn't necessarily want to be 40 playing songs i wrote when I was 18 because they were my hits.
Bob is very affable, considering the awesome noise he is capable of!!!! Blue Hearts is a welcome new addition to his canon...
I was blessed to have seen Husker Du on the Warehhouse Songs and Stories tour their swan song. They are one of the greats but never blew their own horn Bob is so humble and down to earth He comes to Nashville on a fairly regular basis but I've yet to see him Need to put it on the list for sure R I P Grant Hart🎆
Warehouse songs and stories is there masterpiece...wow that must have been a mindboggling show...mad props to you for being one of the few who knew at the time you were witnessing greatness..DM
I like how this is shot, with Bob on the left and the weird table on the right.
I'm from Minneapolis and moved to LA in 1983. When I saw in the LA Weekly that this was one of the most influential bands, I couldn't believe it!! Husker Du?? Then I went to see them play in some old, huge hotel in downtown LA or Hollywood. Dream-like now in 2021. Something I shall never forget - and I talked to Bob who is a good guy!!
The very first CD I ever bought after deciding to switch away from records was from Husker Du. Sound quality was hype to be so much better on CD. It irritated me when the cashier at the record store said, “Why would you buy Husker Du as your first CD.”
Bob is such a great guy and (!) an awesome guitar player! I think my faves by Hüsker Dü are "She floated away" and "Hardly getting over it" - timeless punk/rock classics!
My friend bought a Husker Du record back in the eighties. I was so inspired by it that I changed my trajectory musically. Real trailblazing stuff. It was - New Day Rising.
🎛
Saw Husker at Pine Street Theater in Portland in ‘86. Shows generated big pits then, and Bob Mould hated it. At a certain point the band shifted to playing Beatles songs to try to mellow it out. We had lots of fun slam dancing (pre-mosh name) to “All You Need Is Love.” Husker was great, and the stuff Bob did later with Beaster also stood out.
Christmas was opening for them?
Long time ago. I don’t recall.
He really gives an intelligent, thoughtful interview here. Thanks for posting.
You hit home
He's got a really midwestern manner in conversation but onstage is a fucking beast. Great interview!
Bob has been a guy I have been listening to all my life. Seeing him evolve as a musician he hits everything emotionally as he's progressed. Probably the only artist seriously I dig hearing new stuff from and look forward to his next effort. His music always a part of my life. This man transcends genre really.
They broke all the rules. Few bands were ever able to reach the high temperatures Husker Du did. Obstacles not recognized or dealt with in this day-and-age were overcome in order to get an unsigned band on the road; plan tours and contracts; earn a fanbase; get distribution or label representation, let alone major label interest; play consistently great shows, network with and charm other bands at the right time, at the right places; eat and rest; keep everyone safe; and stay able to BE NICE 24/7 no matter what city you were in, etc..
See, in my view, this is something of a miracle. Husker Du played with fire; they possessed an acetylene torch that lit the way to a better tomorrow for the rest of us.
And that is why I will always love them. From here to eternity.
New Day Rising was my introduction to Husker Du back in around 84-85
Bob Mould is so vastly under respected. He is a talent for the ages.
No, he isn’t under respected at all.
Bob mould is highly respected .
R.I.P. Grant, got to meet him once, awesome guy, like a lot of us, I think all their stuff is awesome!
The Argument was the best album of last decade imo. Grant at his finest!
Land Speed Record was a revelation. I had been listening to predominantly UK and New Zealand alternative music, with Dead Kennedy's being the main US band outside of the UK I gave attention too. Then Hüsker Dü' blew my tiny New Zealanders mind. The floodgates were breached and along came Butthole Surfer's and Bad Brains. I never got to see Hüsker Dü' play but I did see Grant Hart play here in Christchurch in IIRC, 2010, just prior to the start of the nightmare quakes. I am so glad I was fortunate enough to spend a few minutes talking with him.
I got into Husker Du when I heard “She Floated Away” on friend’s comp tape. I then went out and bought everything I could by them. The top of my personal list are Candy Apple Gray, New Day Rising, and Flip Your Wig. Those were some great times! I still listen to them to this day.
It's not a matter about discussing what was the best album they made. We all agree that Hüsker Dü was a magnificant band gaving a lot of influences to other bands...
I remember driving Grant somewhere or I was with someone driving Grant a little picture playhouse was the song he kept playing so if anybody's a who could do fat little picture playhouse in my heart was one of Grant's favorite songs
This band changed my life. They were so organic. The salt of the earth i saw them in a small venue in Mesa, Az. Still the loudest concert I've ever hesrd.
Husker Du is legendary but Sugar was a great band too!
yeah copper blue is one of the top ten rock albums of all time, superb songs, saw bob play it in its entirety a few years ago at shepherds bush empire, great night, saw them a couple of times at the mayfair Newcastle back in the early 90's
Beaster is a monster
Indeed man!
Beaster might be the best EP ever released
Come on!!???No love for Black Sheets!!!???
Friend of mine dragged me to a small club show they did in Chicago in 84 or 5. I didn't really want to go, "Husker who?" I said. Ended up going, could barely put a sentence together for about 3 hours afterward, I was so blown away by that show. My friend kept calling Bob the Jimi Hendrix of hardcore. I guess what he meant was, they changed music forever.
Loved Grant Hart RIP. We was so kind to my children.
These guys were prolific well read and first class songwriters in the greater part of their career.
This in addition to being a complete trailblazers writing the book for the hordes to follow.
Amazing band
Husker Du changed my life, back in 1984 (when I was only a 15yrs old). Thank you Forever, dearest Bob & Grant!
Love him so much. Great very underrated guitarist
What a great interview. I saw you in a club in NYC around 1995 and from the first chord I knew I was in the right place. BRAVO
Divide & Conquer is still one of my all time fave tunes...
For some bizarre reason I used to refer to him as "Uncle" Bob back in the late 1980's, and now he really does fit that moniker.
It was specifically Candy Apple Grey and New Day Rising that i knew this band through. One on either side of the same cassette and played over and over. I was not even aware of the other albums or songs on them. I feel those 2 were plenty to know the very unique style and aesthetic f these guys. At 57 now, still among my faves of all time...
This resembles the Bob I know and love from back in the day when we were roommates.
Even in an interview, Bob Mould is simply gravitating and manifest the character that could be heard and seen in their recordings from Husker Du, Sugar & Solo sol-la-ti-DU
Whenever i listen to Husker Du i want to be in the country inhaling clean air.. Something about their music is comforting and peaceful
Oh my gosh! Loved Husker Du. Soundtrack of my college radio days. Also, Helpless by Sugar. Omg!
I got to see them about 3 times in the mid-1980s... My favorite was 'Zen Arcade'... amazing album
Always been one of my favourite bands since buying Metal Circus on a whim in 1985.
Being more of a metal guy in the '80's and living in Milwaukee- I knew of Husker Du but I really didn't come to appreciate their stuff until much later. It's strange, but the underground music scene in Milwaukee was probably a bit more geared towards kind of zany and off the wall type bands like the Violent Femmes- who were really the dominant alternative/ college music band in the area. Of course we did also have Die Kreuzen, and they probably overshadowed the more hardcore sound of Husker Du with their own dissonant, heavier, progressive metal type sound. But I did have a lot of respect for Husker Du, and eventually became a pretty big fan of Sugar when that was released.
Every record by husker du is great.
Husker Du had the most intense live set I've ever witnessed. I'll never forget that show. There were maybe a hundred people there. This was early in their career. I think Zen Arcade had just come out.
HOLY SHIT! Roland Schitt was behind one of the most influential Midwest rock bands this whole time!
🤣🤣🤣
SUCH A FAN. WE LOVE YOU BOB!
Two things that did it for me the most when I was a teen: husker du and violent femmes
Grant and Bob’s vocal pairing kinda the best of their secret ingredients. Fuzz pedals and extra snare hits amongst the other herbs and spices. Sucks they quit singing together.
You had a cool band! Thanks for the killer tunes.
Workbook - 1989 - one of the best albums Ive ever experienced.
Yes I think that was his first solo album. It was good.
THERE IS NO OTHER. HÜSKER DÜ. FOREVER.
Such a great band ...Fathers of alternative rock . If they continued they be giants .
For sure .
They are ;)
@@aleksandarsasokotnik9310 U right !
I never was interested in them until someone played me their first album.
Can't imagine having that band for 8 yrs and in 1 day it's all gone.
The bassist of Hüsker Dü Is releasing the debut UltraBomb album!
Bob has led such an interesting life! More than being in Husker Du and Sugar he has written creatively for professional wrestling! What a fucking cool guy!
great interview !
I love Bob! My favorite performer of all time.
Fantastic 3 piece. Afavourite for me rember buying zen arcade when first came out.. candy apple grey flip your wig metal circus new day songs warehouse etc etc fucn terrific bandnever saw them live as never came to new zealand firdt heard them when got blasting concept sst on vinyl
No matter, in my opinion Warehouse is my fav Hü Dü - album.
I was completely enthralled by Warehouse on the day it came out. 32 years later, I'm still as enthralled by it.
Ok
Kollo Supias
First real show I ever saw was their stop at the Orpheum in Boston when they were touring on that album. I’d never heard of them. Blew me away and made it hard on every other band I’d ever see. They were a tough act to follow.
I respectfully disagree Warehouse is their absolute worse...it the sound of an incredible band disintegrating right before ur ears.
If you listen to only the Bob Mould songs on Warehouse, plus "She Floated Away", it's a real good record
I wish he would of went into his relationship with Grant rather than his typical response about grants experimentation with drugs causing problems. Thanks for sharing
He doesn't seem to be comfortable taking about that. Even in his biography, he mentioned the death of their manager coupled with Grant's increasing drug use as the contributing factors that led to their breakup. Been a few years since I read the book, but his description of their demise was very nonchalant from what I recall. Unfortunately with Grant's passing a few years ago, that might be the only explanation that we ever get. Grant didn't talk about it much prior to his death, and Greg Norton hasn't discussed it, so there seems to have been an agreement between all of them to stay quiet about the details of their breakup. There is definitely more there, but sadly I don't think we will ever know the full story.
he says Grant 'wanted to try other things' ha ha
They never fell in my mind.
Some of the most influential guitar licks ever.
My friend Tom used to canvas door-to-door in Minneapolis for Greenpeace and knocked on what turned out to be Bob Mould's door and he was as nice and welcoming as you can see he is right here.
It's a long way from Celebrated Summer to Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely. Hüsker f*ckin Dü 😍
*Up in the Air... God-like ❤
The most impressive song for me is still 'Diane', I bought the tape of 'Metal Circus' and played it over and over.
....from Germany....bitte!!!.... hüsker dü muß auferstehen!!!....bob mould is amazing....
Saw Bob solo at the Fillmore, 1996 I guess. He was having guitar trouble and getting really frustrated. Looked like he just wanted so much to smash the thing... And he was gracious to the audience the whole time.
Grant Hart peace!
The Village Voice was not always free. When i lived in NYC and relied on it for music and off-off-Broadway listings it still cost money. I think it was 75 cents or a dollar. Fun fact. Robert Christgau's wife wrote an editorial after John Lennon's assassination asking why it was always the Kennedy's and Lennon's who are killed, why not the Nixon's and McCartney;s. She was deservedly lambasted. "Wow, Robert Christgau rates music, his wife rates lives."
Hey tell her to leave McCartney alone.He may have been a conservative shmuck compared to the rest of the Beatles, but he is still way cool.
Paul McCartney (relatively) conservative? Does anyone have some source about this?
Genius!!
There's only a handful of bands that qualify as "life changing" upon hearing them...Minneapolis had 2 of them.
Four, actually. Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Prince and the Revolution and Bob Dylan.
@@bamabat8435 Prince? Gimme a break!
I wished they'd never signed to WB. It did Soul Asylum no good, sfaict. A big indie would've made so much more sense. They could've paced themselves, had more choice over so many of the band's crucial jobs and stood a much better chance of continuing together. A major label was NEVER going to Du right by them. Sorry about that - couldn't resist. : - !
PS - love you Bob xxx
I stood on stage next to him as he yelled at a guy in the crowd who kept running into him on purpose before stage diving back into the audience. Concert was fun too.
BEYOND THE THRESHOLD!!!! ⚡
I dont wanna imagine a world with no HuskerDu or Minutemen, the two most unique.
It's so interesting to me when people who make the loudest music are the most softly spoken.
Husker Du was the soundtrack for my college years.
I just wanted to apologize to Bob for stepping on him that time in the record store. Didn't see you sitting on the floor.
Haha, i like how he refers to their creative peak as “the worst that it got”
Bob mold if you read any of this church on 5th Street in Cypress you guys party hard Grant did
Land speed Record was the best thing they did! and the greatest live album ever
Musician referral service is called the local record and music instrument shops.
I felt depressed because these guys were from my hometown.
Bob Mould is my guitar hero.
I don't think The Village Voice was free in the 1980's. The publication went free much later, around seven years before it died.
Great rag.