random friday, 1985 edition: hüsker dü, “i apologize”

I don’t have much to say about Hüsker Dü that I haven’t said before. They were my favorite band of the 80s, and I wish they had been more popular, although I don’t think that could have happened without them changing their sound. They were masters of pop hooks, which is why I think they could have crossed over, rather like the Ramones. But Bob Mould loved to crank his guitar to 10, even when he wasn’t playing it, so there was a constant drone in their music that antagonized listeners who might have gone for the pop hooks otherwise. As my friend Charlie said the other day, Mould’s guitar was like a rock and roll vuvuzela, always on, always noisy, never going away.

New Day Rising followed the legendary Zen Arcade. The latter was a sprawling, thrilling, incoherent triumph of excess; New Day Rising was more minimalist, starting with the title cut, which repeated the words “new day rising” over and over as the band thrashed through 2:31. “I Apologize” was the album’s peak … for me, it was the band’s peak as well, the greatest song they ever recorded:

All these crazy mixed up lies
They’re floating all around
Making these assumptions brings me down
And you get tight-lipped,
How do I know what you think?

Bob’s guitar drones, Grant’s drums pound, Greg’s bass follows … it’s a controlled racket threatening to become something worse, just as do the lyrics above. To say nothing of Mould’s vocals. Things turn rabidly existential at that point:

So now we sit around we’re staring at the walls
We don't do anything at all
Take out the garbage, maybe, BUT THE DISHES DON’T GET DONE!!!

Is it something I said when I lost my mind?
Temper too quick, makes me blind
I a-po-lo-gize (WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! BAM BAM BAM!)
Said I'm sorry, now it's your turn to
Look me in the eyes and apologize
How ‘bout it?

Here is the original:

A live version … they were a seriously hot live band (there are a couple of extra songs here):

And perhaps the most adorable version of “I Apologize” ever recorded:

Comments

[Phil Dellio]

"I Apologize" is up there for me too, but on NDR, "Books About UFOs" sits at the top. "I wish they had been more popular, although I don’t think that could have happened without them changing their sound." I too used to be chimerically puzzled as to why mid-'80s Husker Du weren't as big as Madonna, and how it was that Nirvana crossed over to a degree that they never even approached. I came across something somewhere that echoed what you write above (it might have been from Steve Albini, or another producer from that era; I can't remember): that even though the sound of Husker Du and the sound of Nevermind might seem, initially, very similar, the production on Nevermind was in fact a thousand times cleaner and more commercially viable--which may just mean more acceptable to radio, still something of a force at the time. I hadn't really considered the difference in sound till reading that--I've got a poor ear for detecting where this din and that din sit in relation to each other--instead putting down Nirvana's breakthrough to matters of timing.

[scott]

Pretty much agree with both of you on this, but would just suggest, in addition, that a key liability in regards to keeping Husker Du off the radio -- or preventing them from achieving even a modicum of pop success, a la the Ramones -- was their beats. Not the quality of Grant Hart's playing per se: he was an adept, if not particularly unique, drummer who may at times have been over-infatuated with his cymbals. It's the more the way his beats were filtered through their music. Along with everything else, the rhythm just tends to get absorbed in the din. Rhythmically speaking, there's very little clarity in Husker Du's music. The Ramones had it and so did Nirvana -- and both in a big way. (People used to often credit Dave Grohl for his drumming on Nevermind. He's fine -- nothing special that I can detect -- but I think the point is that the drums on Nevermind are just mixed so well for rock radio: totally punchy, direct, in your face. They give the music a lot of dance. Ditto the Ramones, though for reasons too off-track here to explain, I'd argue that Tommy Ramone WAS a great and unique drummer, unlike Hart, unlike Grohl.)

[Phil Dellio]

It was also the heyday of MTV, and, much as I love them to death, Nirvana were practically GQ-ready next to Bob and Grant. (I'm only half-kidding--and I believe Bob's very slimmed down these days.)

[Steven Rubio]

Bob looks quite different now, it's true. Of course, there's also the visual irony that the two gay men in the band had the grungy anti-GQ look down, while the straight guy, with his studly looks and porn 'stache, was the one who "looked gay."

[scott]

There's also the possibility of course that Husker Du just didn't crave fame the way I think Cobain did (not that he was a fame whore, but he clearly wanted to have an impact in world at large). One of the things I'd argue that characterizes '80s Amerindie is an almost built-in semipopular ethos (sorry for throwing around so many Christgauian terms in one sentence) -- i.e., after so many punk failures proceeding them, the bands just seemed kind of resigned to their status. By default they could only set their designs so high. It's a pat theory, granted, but I feel as though I can hear it in most of the great bands of that period.

[Phil Dellio]

The visual irony of Bob/Grant vs. Greg: when I clued into that long after the fact, it became yet another thing I loved about the band. Not sure if you've seen this:

http://www.thenortonsrestaurant.com/The%20Chefs.htm

Looking past the plaid and the three-day stubble, I think Cobain really did fall comfortably within the spectrum of conventional rock-star-good-looks in a way that Hart and Mould weren't even close to. He had that soulful, puppy-dog Dennis Wilson thing going on. I think that maybe goes one-tenth of one percent of the way towards explaining Nirvana's success. We all agree sound was a big factor. I think Scott's point above is quite valid. Marcus had that line about how the minute Nevermind hit #1, he knew Clinton was going to win the election. Not as sure about that, but it's a great line; maybe Nirvana just came along at exactly the right moment in terms of something-happening-out-there. But one thing I do adamantly believe is that you can't overstate how central the brilliant "Teen Spirit" video was to Nirvana's improbable breakthrough. Absent that video, I don't think they would have been any bigger than Sonic Youth or the Pixies or anyone else still plugging away at Amerindie in 1991. I seriously doubt whether they would have been bigger than Faith No More. Husker Du never had a video like "Smells Like Spirit." No one did.