Husker Du

Formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, in 1979, Hüsker Dü were a punk trio consisting of guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton and drummer Grant Hart, whose melding of pop and punk influences inspired thousands of UK, US and European bands. Indeed, it is hard to think of a single other band who have had such a profound impact on modern alternative music than this trio. Taking their name, which means 'Do you remember?', from a Norwegian board game, they started out as an aggressive hardcore thrash band before challenging that genre's restrictions and expanding to other musical formats. Their primary strength, like so many other truly great groups, was in having two songwriting partners (Mould and Hart) who for the entirety of their career fully complemented
each other. Their first single, 'Statues', was released on the small Reflex label in 1981. The following year, a debut album, Land Speed Record,arrived on New Alliance Records, followed by an EP, In A Free Land. Everything Falls Apart in 1983 saw them back on Reflex. By the advent of their second EP, Metal Circus (now on SST Records), Hüsker Dü had become a critics' favourite in the USA - a rapport that was soon to be exported to their UK brethren. Zen Arcade in 1984 brought about a stylistic turning point - a two-record set, it followed a single storyline about a young boy leaving home and finding life even more difficult on his own. A 14-minute closing song, 'Reoccurring Dreams', in which it was revealed that the boy's entire ordeal had been a dream, broke all the rules of punk. A non-album cover version of the Byrds' 'Eight Miles High' followed, and a 1985 album, New Day Rising, maintained the trio's reputation as a favourite of critics and college radio stations, with its irresistible quicksilver pop songs. After Flip Your Wig the band signed with Warner Brothers Records (there were several other interested parties), with whom they issued Candy Apple Grey in 1986 and Warehouse: Songs And Stories, another double set, the following year. In 1988 Hart was dismissed from the group (though there are many conflicting versions of events leading up to this juncture), which summarily disbanded. Mould and Hart continued as solo artists, before Mould formed the equally rumbustious Sugar in 1991.
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 1998