Artist: Minutemen Genre(s):
Rock: Punk-Rock
Discography:
Ballot Result Year: 1987
Tracks: 27
Tour Spiel Year: 1985
Tracks: 4
Project Mersh Year: 1985
Tracks: 6
Sound Factory Year: 1984
Tracks: 20
Double Nickels on the Dime Year: 1984
Tracks: 43
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat Year: 1983
Tracks: 8
Bean Spill Year: 1982
Tracks: 5
The Punch Line Year: 1981
Tracks: 18
Joy Year: 1981
Tracks: 3
Paranoid Time Year: 1980
Tracks: 7
More than whatever other hard-core band, the Minutemen epitomized the rationalism independent ideals that formed the core of punk/alternative music. Wildy eclectic and politically revolutionary, the Minutemen never stayed in one seat to a fault long; they touched from toughie to free malarky to funk to folk at a glaring swiftness. And they toured and recorded at glary speed; during the early '80s, they were always on the route, turning out records whenever they had a prospect. Like their peers Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, and the Meat Puppets, the Minutemen built a magnanimous, dedicated cult following end-to-end the United States through their unrelenting touring. Like their mate American indie bands, the trio was poised to break into the world of major labels in 1986, and they would have if it wasn't for the tragic death of guitarist/vocalist D. Boon in December of 1985. Even though bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley carried on with fIREHOSE in the late '80s, the legacy of the Minutemen overshadowed the new band in the late '80s and early '90s, as the San Pedro trio influenced several generations of musicians.
D. Boon and Mike Watt began playing music when they were teenagers in the mid-'70s, coating '70s tough rock standards. After they calibrated from heights schoolhouse in 1976, they heard their first base punk rock records, which marked a substantial change in their musical exploitation. Once Boon and Watt heard punk, they began committal to writing their possess songs and distinct to form their number 1 full-fledged rock and roll & flap banding. In 1980, the copulate assembled a quartette called the Reactionaries, which featured drummer Frank Tonche and a second guitar player. Within a few months, their instant guitar player left hand and the band changed their name to the Minutemen, since most of their songs were non a great deal yearner than a minute of arc in continuance. They recorded one single with Tonche earlier he was replaced by George Hurley. After Hurley joined the band, the Minutemen recorded
Paranoiac Time, their first EP; the record was released on SST Records in 1981. From the start, the band was eclecticist and political, but they didn't find their spokesperson until their first uncut album, 1981's
The Punch Line.
Following the press release of
The Punch Line, the Minutemen embarked on a punishing touring schedule, driving across America and playing whatever metropolis where they could sustain a gig. They were recording frequently, also. All of their major records appeared on SST Records, merely they besides issued selected tracks and EPs for other independent labels, start with 1982's
Bean-Spill EP, which appeared on Thermidor Records. The band's second uncut album, 1983's
What Makes a Man Start Fires?, earned them considerable critical herald passim the resistance and alternative compress. Later in 1983, they released their third gear album,
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat.
By the end of 1983, the Minutemen had go one of the to the highest degree popular bands in the American underground, a status they solely reinforced upon during 1984. That twelvemonth, they delivered the double album
Double Nickels on the Dime. The length of the album was a response to Hüsker Dü's 1984 double album
Zen Buddhism Arcade, merely the expanded length gave the chemical group an opportunity to stretch out out and showcase their increasing musical depth and vision.
Doubled Nickels on the Dime was a considerable metro hit, earning material college radio play and critical praise; many critics named it ane of the best albums of the year. Also in 1984, the isthmus released a aggregation of outtakes and unreleased material called
The Politics of Time on New Alliance Records.
Throughout 1985, the Minutemen churned tabu recordings, beginning with the
Tour-Spiel EP on Reflex Records. It was followed by the cassette-only retrospective
My First Bells, which was released on SST. After
My First Bells, the radical issued some other EP,
Project Mersh, which featured covers of "commercial" arena rock bands plus several long original "spiels." Around the same time, the grouping recorded the
Minuteflag EP, a one-off collaborationism with Black Flag. Finally, the Minutemen released the full-length followup to
Dual Nickels on the Dime,
3-Way Tie (For Last), toward the end of the year. Like its predecessor,
3-Way Tie (For Last) received consuming positive reviews, including notices in mainstream publications.
In December of 1985, D. Boon and his lady friend were driving menage from peerless of her relatives' business firm, when they suffered a fateful automobile chance event. For the first part of 1986, Mike Watt and George Hurley were nerve-wracking to resolve whether they would continue playing music. During this time, the live
Balloting Result was compiled and released. After a few months, both Watt and Hurley had decided to fall by the wayside medicine when they were positive to continue playing by a passionate Minutemen fan and guitarist called Ed Crawford. Watt, Hurley, and Crawford formed fIREHOSE in 1986 and by and by in the year, the new band released their debut album,
Ragin', Full-On. fIREHOSE toured and recorded for the side by side seven age, sign language with the major label Columbia in 1991.
Don Cheadle given Spirit of Independence Award
