August 3, 2009

Off-Day Outtakes: Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü -- bassist Greg Norton, drummer Grant Hart and guitarist Bob Mould (L-R) -- was one of the most influential (and prolific) rock bands of the 1980s. Beginning in July 1984, they released five albums (two of them double albums!) in 2½ years. I was lucky enough to see them in Providence on May 4, 1985 and in New York City on March 27, 1987. The band broke up later that year. (wiki)


Early Demos (1979-1980)
01  Nuclear Nightmare
02  Do The Bee
03  Uncle Ron
04  Don't Try To Call
05  Sex Dolls
06  MTC
07  Picture Of You
08  Can't See You Anymore
09  The Truth Hurts
10  Sore Eyes
11  All Tensed Up
12  Writer's Cramp
13  All I've Got To Lose Is You
14  Writer's Cramp


Metal Circus - Original Mixes (12/1982)
01  Real World
02  Deadly Skies
03  Today's The Day
04  You Think I'm Scared
05  First Of The Last Calls
06  Won't Change
07  Out On A Limb
08  Standing By The Sea
09  Diane
10  It's Not Funny Anymore
11  Lifeline
Metal Circus - Outtakes (12/1982)
01  Today's The Day
02  You Think I'm Scared
03  Standing By The Sea


Zen Arcade - Complete Outtakes (10/1983)
Disc 1
01  Something I Learned Today
02  Broken Home, Broken Heart
03  Chartered Trips
04  Hare Krsna
05  Indecision Time
06  I'll Never Forget You
07  Beyond the Threshold
08  The Biggest Lie
09  Pride
10  What's Going On
11  Masochism World
12  Standing By The Sea
13  Somewhere
14  Pink Turns To Blue
15  Dozen Beats Eleven
16  Turn On The News
17  Newest Industry
18  Whatever
19  Eight Miles High
20  The Tooth Fairy And The Princess
  
Disc 2
01  Reoccurring Dreams
02  Chartered Trips
03  Hare Krsna
04  One Step At A Time
05  Monday Will Never Be The Same
06  [untitled piano piece aka Granted]
07  Never Talking To You Again
08  Somewhere
09  One Step At A Time
10  Pink Turns to Blue
11  Newest Industry
12  Monday Will Never Be The Same
13  Whatever
14  Something I Learned Today
15  Broken Home, Broken Heart
16  Chartered Trips
17  Indecision Time
18  I'll Never Forget You
19  Beyond The Threshold
20  The Biggest Lie
21  Pride
  
Disc 3
01  What's Going On
02  Masochism World
03  Standing By The Sea
04  Somewhere
05  One Step At A Time
06  Pink Turns To Blue
07  Some Kind Of Fun
08  Turn On The News
09  Newest Industry
10  Monday Will Never Be The Same
11  Whatever
12  Eight Miles High
Rehearsals (October 1983)
13  Whatever (3 takes)
14  Indecision Time
15  Somewhere
16  Dozen Beats Eleven


New Day Rising - Rehearsals (07/1984 - instrumentals)
01  New Day Rising
02  Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill
03  I Apologize
04  Folklore
05  If I Told You
06  Celebrated Summer
07  Listen
08  Terms Of Psychic Warfare
09  59 Times The Pain
10  Erase Today
11  I Don't Know What You're Talking About
12  Books About UFOs
13  How To Skin A Cat
14  Whatcha Drinkin'
15  Plans I Make
New Day Rising - Rough Mixes/Practices (07/1984)
01  I Apologize #1
02  I Apologize #2
03  Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill
04  If I Told You #1
05  If I Told You #2
06  Books About UFOs


Candy Apple Grey - Demos (11/1985)
01  Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely
02  Crystal (instrumental)
03  Sorry Somehow
04  I Don't Know For Sure (instrumental)
05  Hardly Getting Over It
06  All Work And No Play (instrumental)
07  Dead Set On Destruction
08  Eiffel Tower High
09  Misty Modern Day (instrumental)
10  All This I've Done For You
11  Just Be (instrumental)
12  Hardly Getting Over It (instrumental)
13  I Don't Know For Sure


Warehouse: Songs and Stories -
Rehearsal/Rough Mixes (08/1986)
01  These Important Years
02  Charity, Chastity, Prudence And Hope
03  Standing In The Rain
04  Tell You Why Tomorrow
05  Ice Cold Ice
06  You're A Soldier
07  Could You Be The One? 
08  Actual Condition
09  It's Not Peculiar
10  Too Much Spice
11  Visionary
12  She Floated Away
13  Friend, You've Got To Fall
14  Back From Somewhere
15  Bed Of Nails
16  You Can Live At Home (semi-instrumental)
17  Turn It Around
18  [Police investigate noise complaint]
19  You Can Live At Home
20  Tell You Why Tomorrow
21  Charity, Chastity, Prudence And Hope
22  She's A Woman (And Now He Is A Man) (instrumental)

01-18: August 5, 1986 Rehearsal
19-22: 1986 rough mixes


VIDEO -- May 14, 1985 -- Camden Palace, London

New Day Rising / It's Not Funny Anymore

Everything Falls Apart / Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill

I Apologize / If I Told You / Folklore

Terms Of Psychic Warfare / Powerline / Books About UFOs

Chartered Trips

Diane

Celebrated Summer

Every Everything / Makes No Sense At All / Pink Turns To Blue / Ticket To Ride

Plus: Eight Miles High from the 1987 Pink Pop Festival and an appearance on the Joan Rivers Show (?!?).

13 comments:

accudart said...

Great stuff Allan!

FenFan said...

Ah, the second half... when off-days seem few and far between (and these posts appear less and less). I guess that means more baseball! :-)

Rays and Yanks... Rays and Yanks... it will be an interesting week for Sox fans!

Unknown said...

I've never listened to these guys at all. I guess I should.

Any of the albums in particular I should start with?

allan said...

I'd check out New Day Rising and its follow-up, Flip Your Wig (esp. side 1).

I don't much care for their really early stuff. Zen Arcade is quite good -- and put them on the map -- but I flat-out love the pop/melodic stuff that followed. Unfortunately, the production on Zen, NDR and Wig is not the best. It can be flat, a bit tinny and lacking in muscle.

Candy Apple Grey was their first album after the jump to Warner Bros. and was a bit of a letdown. Warehouse was good -- it would have been an amazing single album.

When they split, I followed only Mould. The first Sugar album is stunning, as is almost all of Last Dog And Pony Show.

I cannot tell you much of anything about Grant Hart's solo career. Anyone else?

allan said...

I tried to give a good representative sample from each file. Check those out and see what appeals. P.S.: the Zen Arcade OT are in fantastic quality!

Douglas said...

I don't have much from this band, but as you say, Mould's solo career has been quite good!

laura k said...

I love Sugar, they're one of my favourite bands. Yet I can't listen to Husker Du at all.

I should try again. I haven't in a while.

GRK. said...

Thanks for this bumper crop!

Unknown said...

Hi! I found your blog through a Hüsker Dü list (someone had linked to it). I just wanted to say thanks for posting all this stuff -- there's quite a few songs I hadn't known existed (and it's been pretty cool to hear earlier versions of songs that would wind up on Land Speed Record later, though at higher amphetamine-driven speeds).

As to your question about Grant earlier in the comments, he's not as prolific as Bob's been (it took him 10 years between his last two records) but I think for the most part he's made up for it in quality. His first EP after the Hüskers (2541) was as good as any of their later material, and his first full-length (Intolerance) sounds almost like a lost 60's neo-psychedelic artifact (in a good way). His work with Nova Mob (his band for a good part of the 90's) is kind of hit-or-miss (good singles here and there, but also a lot of filler), but his two albums after have been really decent -- his latest, Hot Wax, is one of the best he's put out. Musically and sonically he's a bit more diverse in his song writing than Bob. He tends to be more experimental. And he's always done Hüsker songs in his live act (he often takes requests, too), which for the past ten or fifteen years has just been him with his guitar, sort of like a hardcore Jonathan Richman.

Anyway, thanks again for the Hüsker tracks (and it was an additional pleasant surprise to find them posted on a fellow Sox fan's blog).

Unknown said...

Great post. The early stuff is especially exciting, since I've not heard a lot of it before.

Tom Sandford said...

Hi there,
Any chance you could re-up the Huskers stuff?
Would be greatly appreciated!

satanicwehrmacht666 said...

please re-up this

allan said...

I won't be re-upping this, but keep searching around the web.