Sorry Somehow: Revisiting Husker Du's "Candy Apple Grey"

Husker Du

I have told the story before, but I like to revisit my repertoire of anecdotes often.

It was on a Sunday night around 1988, and I was in the living room with my two older brothers.  We were watching MTV's "120 Minutes", back in the day when the network actually played music.  Sunday nights were reserved for those who loved the burgeoning alternative music scene.

By the late '80s, my brothers and I had reached adulthood, and all of us had gone through our garish phases in our teen years - punk rock, big-hair metal, or gloomy goth.  But now, all three of us had relaxed and embraced the "whatever" vibe of alt rock.

A Husker Du video came on, a selection off of their final album, "Warehouse: Songs and Stories".  My dad, who hated our music, came into the living room and watched the video for a minute, or so.  Then he announced, "This is pretty good."

We looked up at him in surprise.  After all, this was punk.

"For a rock band, they're pretty clean cut," he said.  "The drummer could use a bit of a haircut.  But other than that, they seem pretty normal"

Yeah, they looked normal.  That was part of the punk ethic.  American punk was never so much mohawks and leather jackets as it was jeans and t-shirt.  They looked normal.  Sure, Grant Hart wore his hair in his face.  Bob Mould looked like the nerdy, chubby guy from next door, and Greg Norton sported a Tom Selleck mustache.  They were normal guys that made innovative, brainy music.  That was the point of punk - blue-collar art made for the people by the people, a DIY, lo-fi, garage rock approach to bypassing the music industry and making homespun songs.  And this resonated with my dad.

(l to r) Grant Hart, Greg Norton, Bob Mould

Little did my dad know that that very year, the Minneapolis band would splinter apart, a schism caused by their own demons - alcoholism, heroin use, and the suicide of their manager.  But there is no doubt that this band was a seminal influence on my youth - including the albums "Zen Arcade", "Candy Apple Grey", and the aforementioned "Warehouse".  Indeed, Husker Du helped pave the landscape for underground rock and alternative music, having critical, if not commercial, success in the '80s, and a legacy that carved the way for the alternative scene through the '90s and continues to be an influence even today.

I realized that I did not have any of Husker Du's music from the old days, so I decided to build my collection, starting with their fifth record, "Candy Apple Grey", as well as their second to last.  This album marked several shifting moments for the band.  Their previous record company, notorious punk label , SST, had miscalculated the growing popularity of the band and had not printed enough copies of "Zen Arcade", and they sold out within days.  Some people had to wait for the reprints until after the subsequent album was released.  To avoid another marketing error like that, Husker Du signed to a major label for "Candy Apple Grey", contracting with Warner Bros. Records.  It was a huge deal.  I mean, they were never going to be Michael Jackson, but, in 1986, for a punk band to have a deal with a major label.  These things just didn't happen back then.

Secondly, the band was purposefully trying to stray away from their hardcore roots in favor of a more melodic sound.  The sound is still there, only tempered with intelligent songwriting and the use of actual hooks.  This combination of punk and pop rock was actually first envisioned by Husker Du and continues today.

The album starts out hard, heavy, and aggressive with the song "Crystal", dominated by Bob Mould's snarls and shouts accompanied with furious guitar strumming.  Then the pace changes with "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely" with a catchy drum and bass section with the lead guitar shrieking out a killer hook while drummer Grant Hart takes over on vocals.  This is one of two songs with Hart as the vocalist, the other one being the equally catchy "Sorry Somehow".  There are also a couple of acoustic sets where Mould shows contemplative song-crafting that became the hallmark of his solo career with "Too Far Down" and "Hardly Getting Over It".  There is even a piano ballad called "No Promise Have I Made".  These mood shifts are different than any punk album I have ever heard, and, really, contribute to making it one of the best.  There are plenty of other foot-stompers to round out this record on "I Don't Know For Sure", "Dead Set On Destruction", "Eiffel Tower High", and "All This I've Done For You".

Husker Du may not have been Top 40.  But they have earned a permanent spot as one of the most influential acts of the '80s.  I dare you to check them out.  You will see some of their influence in some of the acts you like today.  I recommend their music to anyone who is serious about the history of rock music.

Revisiting "Workbook": A Retro-Review of Bob Mould

Promotional of Bob Mould for "Workbook"

In the late '80s, Minneapolis-St. Paul punk band, Husker Du, were definitely part of my repertoire.  "Zen Arcade", "Candy Apple Grey", and "Warehouse" were definitely among the influential but underground selections that dominated an eclectic '80s alternative scene.  I have a memory of watching MTV's 120 Minutes with my brothers, and my father came in and stood and watched a Husker Du video for a moment.  After a moment, he announced that he liked the song.  We all looked up at him in surprise.  This was punk rock, after all.

"For a rock band, they look clean-cut," he said.  This was the '80s, after all, where glam was all the rage.

But this represented the work ethic of their music - while they dressed in jeans and t-shirts, they focused instead on making music that was raw, focused, intense, and intelligent.

In 1988, after a struggle with acohol and drug addiction, as well as a bitter break-up, Husker Du front man, Bob Mould, retreated to the woods in Minnesota to pen a solo album.  Released in 1989, the debut album was entitled "Workbook".

I have written before about the summer of 1989.  It was a magical year for me.  I was nineteen, marginally attended college, had a job, had a pony tail, cash in my pocket, and a car.  I would toss my pillow and toothbrush into my car, and when my mother would ask where I was going, I would respond, "I don't know.  I'll see you in a few days."  Road trips to Yuma and Sedona.  There was definitely a bohemian vibe in the air, and I had the tie-dyed shirts to prove it.  The soundtrack for this era was indelible.  As we would rocket down the interstate in my friend Steve's Chevelle, there was an odd mix of music that shook the speakers.  "Shooting Rubber Bands At the Stars" by Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, "Hunkpapa" by Throwing Muses, "Doolittle" by Pixies, and "Workbook" by Bob Mould.

Bob Mould now

"Workbook" had all the throaty passion and energy that Bob Mould projected while in Husker Du, but tempered with folk influences, acoustic guitars and strings.  It is said that this album greatly influenced the whole alternative scene of the following decade.  This album was beloved to me.

The problem is - I hadn't heard this album since 1989.  In fact, I had never owned it.  It was Steve's copy that used to regale us on our carefree journeys.  So I decided to download a copy.  Upon listening to it, I was taken aback at first.  It sounded really dated.  Unlike a Sonic Youth album that sounds mostly timeless, this one seemed very stuck in the era that spawned it.  But the more I listened to it, I started remembering and feeling what this album meant to me back then.

The album starts out with a simple acoustic melody called "Sunspots" and then passes into a jam called "Wishing Well", driven by the strumming of an acoustic guitar and a wistful cello.  Then Bob Mould's unique voice wails over the rhythm.  (He sounds like Ozzy.  There, I said it.  I hate saying it, but it's true.)

The main single was a happy tune called "See A Little Light", which really is the anthem for the time period.  My favorite songs are the tortured and confessional "Poison Years" and "Sinners & Their Repentances".  These two songs make the whole album worth it.  But sadly, the years have not been kind on the rest of the album.  It doesn't really grab me.  Honestly, I should not have bothered on downloading the rest of the album and only purchased the songs I have mentioned - with the exception of "Heartbreak a Stranger" and "Brasilia Crossed With Trenton".

In the years since, I have not listened much to Sugar, Bob Mould's other project, or to any of his other solo projects.  But I will always be grateful for the songs on "Workbook", and their influence upon my young adulthood.