flip your wig

Hüsker Dü went looking beyond the big disguise for answers in every everything to make sense of a game that anyone can play and set the soul free.   In less than three years they had put out five acclaimed releases (Land Speed Record in 1982;  Everything Falls Apart  and the Metal Circus EP in 1983;  the double disk concept album Zen Arcade  in 1984;  and  New Day Rising in the beginning of 1985) before going into the studio between March and June to record 'Flip Your Wig'.   The sessions  at Nicollet Studios in were produced Minneapolis by Bob Mould and Grant Hart  and featured  Greg Norton on bass;   Bob Mould on guitar, vocals, piano, bass, and percussion;   and  Grant Hart on drums, vocals, vibraphone, percussion, and slide whistle.    'Flip Your Wig' went to the top of the independent UK album chart.  


Mould would reveal:    "Some of it is less live-oriented and more studio-oriented, more listening-oriented.  There's also more emphasis on the vocals, they're a  little more out front.  The general sound overall is a lot cleaner, a lot more defined.  You can hear what's going on.  On 'New Day Rising' and 'Zen Arcade' I think we consciously buried the vocals.  This time we said, 'Let's put them out front so people can hear what's going on.'  I think it paid off.  Also, the songwriting's a lot better.  Everything has progressed.  The production is the main thing - clearer vocals and less emphasis on guitar, the crazy solos...I think we're a little out of that now.  Not that we're out of it live. "

Hart looks back:     "I was sure that I could compete with the twenty-something brats from the Western suburbs. I knew there was more to it than imitating the bigger city music scenes. I knew I knew more about the origins of rock & roll music, and art, etc… I have a great memory for things I can link with sounds or pictures, concepts come easy for me...The three of us were very astute. I was a visionary, Bob was special and Greg worked hard. At the beginning, we practised all of the time, we went to shows when we were not. Greg and I worked in record stores, we were determined."






http://bobmould.com/

http://granthart.com/

http://www.thirdav.com/hddb.shtml






"Makes No Sense at All / Love Is All Around"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXPPlWkNPoY







'Flip Your Wig'
full album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs5mUZfchNg





side one
Flip Your Wig (Bob Mould)  - 0:00 
Every Everything (Grant Hart) - 2:30 
Makes No Sense at All  (Mould) - 4:24 
Hate Paper Doll  (Mould) - 7:04 
Green Eyes  (Hart) - 8:56 
Divide & Conquer  (Mould) - 11:48 
Games  (Mould) - 15:35
side two
Find Me  (Mould) - 19:42 
The Baby Song  (Hart) - 28:01 
Flexible Flyer  (Hart) - 28:48 
Private Plane (Mould) - 31:51 
Keep Hanging On  (Hart) - 35:11 
The Wit and the Wisdom  (Mould)  - 38:30 
Don't Know Yet  (Mould) - 42:12




live Camden Palace 1985
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsGw8DyWkik

what makes a man start fires?

The Minutemen opened up their econo sound ever so slightly with incendiary blasts of punk propaganda in jazzy hardcore art fragments.  'What Makes a Man Start Fires?' was recorded in a single late night session with Spot (Glen Lockett) the house producer and engineer for SST Records with overdubs recorded in two more late night sessions that featured D. Boon on guitar and lead vocals; Mike Watt on bass and backing vocals; and George Hurley on drums and oil drums; with Joe Baiza from Saccharine Trust providing additional guitar on two tracks.  The album matches the eighteen tracks of their previous album 'The Punch Line'; but clocks in at twice as long with some of the songs actually breaking the two minute mark.  Although short, these songs are complex nuggets of avante-garde musical styles and arcane political ideology.  

'What Makes a Man Start Fires?' mostly sold locally in the San Pedro area; but it was recognized by critics and the underground scene as a powerful unique artistic statement.  
Boon would admit:   "Yeah, we're pretty much a college band. If you went to a bigger show, it seems there's a wider audience."

Hurley considers: “One of the most amazing things when I listen back to those old records I made is that I haven’t gotten any better.  What I mean is, I came up with some pretty inventive parts just struggling to try to make things work. I listen now and go ‘wow’; some if the ideas I had are just kind of crazy!”

Watt says:  "I borrowed the title from a Raymond Pettibon drawing. I sometimes think the question is more intense than the answer."

http://www.hootpage.com/












"Beacon Sighted Through Fog" 






"'99" 



"The Anchor" 



"Sell or Be Sold" 




"Split Red" 




"Life As A Rehearsal" 



"This Road" 



"Polarity" 






'What Makes a Man Start Fires?' 
full album:



All songs written by Mike Watt, except where noted.

Side one
"Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs" – 1:27
"One Chapter in the Book" – 1:00 
"Fake Contest" – 1:44 
"Beacon Sighted Through Fog" – 1:00 
"Mutiny in Jonestown" – 1:06 (Boon/Watt)
"East Wind/Faith" – 2:10 (Hurley/Watt)
"Pure Joy" – 1:30 (Hurley/Watt)
"'99" – 1:00 (Hurley/Watt)
"The Anchor" – 2:30 (Hurley/Watt)
Side two
"Sell or Be Sold" – 1:45 (Boon/Watt)
"The Only Minority" – 1:00 (Boon/Watt)
"Split Red" – 0:52 (Boon/Watt)
"Colors" – 2:05 (Boon/Watt)
"Plight" – 1:37 (Boon/Watt)
"The Tin Roof" – 1:08 
"Life As A Rehearsal" – 1:35 
"This Road" – 1:26 
"Polarity" – 1:44