Hüsker Dü Database
Magazine articles & interviews

The articles listed below are of widely varying lengths. Most are formatted as
facsimiles of the originals; of those, many contain embedded graphics and may
take a minute to download.

(Last updated 10 Feb 2023)

1980     1981     1982     1983     1984     1985     1986     1987     1988     1989    
1990     1991     1992     1993     1994     1995     1996     1997     1998     1999    
2000     2001     2002     2003     2004     2005     2006     2007     2008     2009

Sweet Potato, 26 Nov 1980
      In this state of reckless fervor and unbridled excitement the seeds of Hüsker Dü were planted.

Desperate Times, Jul 1981
      After the set, the audience was smiling, their eyes were wide, and they were soaking with sweat and spilt beer.

Discords, Sep 1981
      As the tapes rolled for a projected live 12-inch the Hüskers blasted through two thirty-minute sets.

City Pages, 1981
      Are you the fastest band in the world?

Coolest Retard #16, 1981
      ...if he needs an answer he can sniff my armpit.

Sweet Potato, 19 Nov 1981
      ...a record played at the wrong speed?

Noise #7, 1981
      ...the Meat Puppets of the midwest.

Unknown (White Noise?), 1982
      ...alot of the gravers at U2 came by Merlyns while the action was happening and locked in, their mouths hung down to the ground !

Op "K", May-Jun 1982
      I'm torn between commending their politics and cursing their conformity.

End Of The World, 1982
      ...extraordinarily FAST and CHAOTIC...

Mac Weekly, 05 Mar 1982
      Bands like The Clash, which shed their punk image for a larger audience while still espousing a political message, are hypocrites, Mould says.

Coolest Retard #19, Mar-Apr 1982
      "After we were together for a year we toyed with the idea of adding a fourth member..." —Greg

Express, Apr 1982
      ...nerve-abrading...

Coolest Retard #20, May-Jun 1982
      Their lyrics deal with the same issues as most other hardcore bands, mostly governmental with some being about romance and girls.

New York Rocker, Jun 1982
      Song runs into song runs into song.

Flipside #34, Aug 1982
      "Everybody thinks we went hardcore last week or something. That's not true at all. We've got tapes of our second gig in July of 1979 and we still do lots of those songs." —Unattributed (but sounds like Bob)

Forced Exposure #1, 1982
      ...if bands like this exist in Minnesota they must be everywhere.

Maximum Rocknroll #2, 1982
      "Oh my God, your shirt is from Sears. I don't like you any more!" —Grant

Boston Rock, 1982
      ...I would have to say that the Hüskers have a real athletic bent.

Odd Cravings #3, Oct 1982
      ...every number a heavy-metal indictment of society and culture, often hilarious and horrible at the same time.

F.L.A. Decay, Oct 1982
      "...there is some stuff on the new LP that is extremely fast. Faster than anything on LSR." —Greg

White Noise, 1983
      "See, here's a bunch of kids waving flags with 48 stars and they're shipped home in coffins covered with 50 stars. The coffins (on the cover) are the first eight servicemen killed in action in Viet Nam. " —Grant

Ripper #8, Jan 1983
      ...three friendly guys whose nonconformity to the fashionable hardcore look has led some first-timers at their gigs who see them walking around before their set to ask them what they were doing at a Hüsker Dü show.

Flipside #37, Feb 1983
      "We're just trying to make people think and have a good time. It's all right to rag on things, but you still gotta be able to rock." —Bob

Alternative America #1, Feb 1983
      "People who heard 'Land Speed Record' might not like 'Statues', or 'In A Free Land'. They're all pretty different. It's nice: people like us as a band, and not as a thrash band." —Bob

Misery #6, Mar 1983
      "I don't like playing outdoors like Eastern Front. It sucks, it's like grass and trees and dust and stuff." —Bob

Cretin Bull, 1983
      Y'all aren't necessarily into the straightedge philosophy?... "No comment. The less said 'bout it the better." —Bob

New Musical Express, 23 Apr 1983
      ...one of these power-drill trios who sound like ten guitars.

Brand New Age #2, 1983
      "We got a contract from Jesus the other day, and the stuff on his rider... six nails..." —Grant

Blow It Off #2, 1983
      "Gibson Victory bass Standard model. MXR distortion box and bass flanger. GBX powered bass bottoms with 4x10"90 watts and a ½ watt pre-amp. It's Canadian." —Greg

Counter Attack #2, 1983
      "Everybody wants to hear us do a studio version of Data Control. We've been toying with that idea." —Bob

Boston Rock #41, 05 Jul 1983
      "We had a standardized set, and we'd just try to break our old records. We had a 40-minute set down to 18 minutes, and then one night we totally smashed that record—we cut it down to 12 minutes." —Grant

Smash! #5, Jul 1983
      "I wish we hadn't done that, because now it seems that every band has their own little symbol." —Bob

Matter, Sep 1983
      "We're going to try to do something bigger than anything like rock and roll and the whole puny band touring idea." —Bob

No Cause For Concern #8, Oct 1983
      Not as fast as I'd expected....

Smash! #6, Oct 1983
      "Music isn't city planning." —Grant

New Musical Express, 17 Dec 1983
      ...as Hüsker Dü exemplify... the best American punk is harder, funnier, more adventurous and less parochial than the UK's '77 updates.

Suburban Punk #8, 1984
      "... ['Deadly Skies'] also deals a lot with people who see protesters walking around carrying signs that someone else painted for them to try to get attention for a cause they know nothing about." —Bob

Ink Disease #5, Jan 1984
      "I'd rather be hated than liked. I'd rather be loved than hated." —Grant

New Musical Express, 14 Jan 1984
      ...'Diane' is the year's only true love song, and 'Real World' reminds me of a lot of Stiff Little Fingers, although Bob Mould and Greg Norton of the three Dü's maintain the song is simply their equivalent of 'She Said, She Said'.

Pages of Rage #5, 1984
      "[The Replacements] have a lot of things going for them-let's put it that way-that we don't have. By the same token, we have a lot of things going for us that they'll never have. " —Bob

Suburban Voice #11, 1984
      [Bob] told me that there's a big psychedelic influence finding its way into a lot of bands' material and he admitted that Husker Du's music is going in that direction.

Conflict 34, 1984
      "What isn't so easy is writing the words. If we had an easier time with lyrics, we'd have 20 songs a month, no problem." —Bob

National Priorities #5, mid(?)-1984
      They really realed off some great stuff. Inclucing notorious cuts like Diane and Wheels.

Matter, Jul-Aug 1984
      "In the words of Jello Biafra," Norton says, mimicking the holy one's tone, "Ooooo, Hüsker Dü... the band that brought self-indulgence back to rock 'n' roll." They all laugh.

Hard Times #1, Aug 1984
      [Interviewer to Greg]: Do you want me to print any of this stuff that Grant is saying? Is it OK?

Negative Print #16, Aug 1984
      "The smell of old people...." —Grant

New Musical Express, 01 Sep 1984
      Having passed through ultracore, broken all landspeed records and burst the eight miles high thrashold, Hüsker Dü either had to go nova or reconsider their strategy.

New Musical Express, 15 Sep 1984
      "We don't feel like we have to die tragic, early deaths to be considered important. I'm a musician, not a fuckin' stock car racer." —Grant

New York Times, 23 Sep 1984
      Hüsker Dü has found a number of avenues to explore, a number of ways out of the trap of more-faster-louder that many more conventional hardcore bands fall into.

Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec 1984
      Husker Du has even started attracting major-label interest, an unusual situation for a group whose music Mould describes as "not so much a wall of sound, but more like a bed of nails."

Truly Needy #9, Early 1985
      "In Minneapolis the 'hardcore' kids don't really come to see us that much any more. Our audience in Minneapolis is just a bunch of regular types." —Greg

Suburban Voice #14, Early 1985
      I sit here amazed- how do they do it- create music that exudes such warmth, but also goes for the throat? Husker Du are summoning the dawn of a new day for pop music.

Rockerilla #54, Feb 1985
      Gli Husker Du, pur rifacendosi in parte alla tradizione di quella musica, si ricollegano altrettanto evidentemente alle matrice più pure del suono elettrico: Jimi Hendrix, i MC5, gli Stooges.

New Musical Express, 09 Mar 1985
      [Mould's] singing... sometimes has the wrenched defiance of the cornered, sometimes the strange fragility of 16 tons of sensitivity.

No Place To Hide #4, Spring 1985
      "A producer would be telling us how to write our songs, and that we don't need. We could use a good engineer." —Bob

Rockpool Vol. 5 #6, 08 Apr 1985
      "In general, we've been pursued by three majors, we all know they're evil.... They offer us this and that, but the bottom line is that we're not at all disappointed with where we are right now. SST has been doing quite well lately, too. Now they're aware of our selling potential.... [New Day Rising] sold 30,000 since it's been out and we expect much more once we tour the East Coast." —Bob

Alternative Focus #3, 1985
      "If anything ever does make it as a top 40 hit, that's fine with us, but we're not purposely trying to achieve that goal." —Greg

Puncture #9, Spring 1985
      No extraneous antics, not a word of chat, just solid action. Only when the crowd's persistent dive-bombing off the stage reached ridiculous levels did Bob Mould halt long enough to say "this is gonna stop right now."

Terminally Stupid #4, Spring 1985
      HÜSKER played about 15 tunes, mostly stuff from "Zen Arcade". After 2 encores Mould and the boys ripped into an encore of "Twist & Shout...."

New Musical Express, 25 May 1985
      'Celebrated Summer' is so crushingly beautiful on record that a foaming live performance of the song must surely tear and ruin it - instead it's, well, almost transcendent.

Sounds, 25 May 1985
      The mightily responsive congregation fell like lemmings from the first few thundering chords.

New Musical Express, 08 Jun 1985
      The vocals on 'New Day Rising' were largely indecipherable... "Thank you, Spot," Grant sneers sardonically.

Creem, Jul 1985
      One or two dull moments ("If I Told You"), but overall this is quite listenable muzik.

Rolling Stone #452/453, 18 Jul-01 Aug 1985
      The Replacements' critically acclaimed album Let It Be cost $6000. Hüsker Dü's two-record set [Zen Arcade] cost $3200, while the Minutemen wrapped up their two-disc masterpiece, Double Nickels On The Dime, for $1500.

OOR 17, 24 Aug 1985
      Dan spat de magie uiteen in een explosie van glas en bloed: vanuit het publiek suist een bierfles over het podium om tegen de gebalde vuist van de hijgende Hart en scherven te slaan. Bloeden ontketent hij een barrage aan voeken en verwensingen, tervijl hij dermate ziedend te keer gaat op z'n kit dat de vweschillende onderdelen één voor één van het drumpodium storten.

Burgerweeshuis newsletter, 08 Sep 1985
      De groep bestaat al enige jaaren in maakte in de begindagen furore als 's wereld snelst spelende groep; "Land Speed Record" getuigt daarvan.

New Musical Express, 14 Sep 1985
      'Sense' is a splendidly tuneful 45, but live it sounded like, say, a record of 'Kick out The Jams'-period MC5 tackling a 1964 Beatles song played on an exceedingly fluffy stylus.

The Hit, 14 Sep 1985
      ...everyone from the long haired herberts to the spikey topped morons were totally transfixed by this mangled music machine.

Non*Stop Banter, Sep-Oct 1985
      "I think protest is still effective. But protesters, right or left, right or wrong, are out there playin' for the TV cameras.... People aren't taking it to the streets. If they really believed a lot of it, they would use it for far better purposes than to get laid by the local vegetarian broad." —Grant

Boston Rock, Oct 1985
      "A lot of majors have been calling," says Mould, "and they're all really interested in the band, but I don't really know if we're all that interested in them." —Bob

Blatch #11, Oct 1985
      ...too loud...

New Musical Express, 26 Oct 1985
      They seem to hear a high, swirling melody that plays above the one they're playing.

Sam Nyt, Oct-Nov 1985
      Det er svært at beskrive, hvad de tre musikere i Hüsker Dü egentlig gør, som andre ikke gør - men de formår på mirakuløs vis at forene deres umiddelbart grimme udgave af rock'n'roll med en personlig intensitet, som i disse skabagtige tider faktisk virker ægte.

Eye #5, Early 1986
      Vad satsar ni mest tid på, att turnera eller att repa? Grant & Bob: "TURNERA!"

Fifth Column #2, Early 1986
      "It's like, you couldn't just say, I like playing fast, that wasn't enough. You had to be a homosexual, vegetarian, skin head that was a card carrying communist. All these criteria for being in a band that made 20 bucks a week." —Bob

Bucketfull of Brains #13, Early 1986
      "Well, y'know, a lot of people go back up in the attic when they're forty years old and put on their high school football sweater and it's like, God, the Allies were the biggest team ever assembled for a championship sport." —Grant

Jet Lag #62, Feb 1986
      "St. Louis is fine. Why should we hate St. Louis?" —Bob

New Musical Express, 01 Mar 1986
      After the last encore, late into the night, with most of the crowd already gone, they did something I'm told they've never done in public before.

Sounds, Mar 1986
      ...Hüsker Dü reached their 'Revolver' period in record time.

New Musical Express, 22 Mar 1986
      So America's most strange/ordinary trio (Darryl Hall, Animal Muppet and The Thing in one group!!) are at their most musically approachable, while simultaneously weirding (far) out, and down.

Interview, Apr 1986
      "People want to think they're outside the norm, but in reality everyone is inside this pink balloon." —Bob

Suburban Voice #19, Spring 1986
      I suppose Husker belong to the masses now and some compromise (whether they admit it or not) may be in evidence.

Blitz, May 1986
      Given Britain's almost totalitarian style-consciousness, Hüsker Dü have been taken to heart because they are a great relief: uncomplicated without being stupid.

Boston Rock #75, 26 May 1986
      Husker Du seems to be just hitting a new stride; let's hope nobody crashes very soon.

Guilty Face #2, Spring 1986
      Bob, do you smoke much hash?

Rolling Stone #476, 19 Jun 1986
      "If you listen to the end of Land Speed Record, you hear a voice say, 'We'll be back for another set.' I've still got that set on tape somewhere." —Bob

Rock It, Sep 1986
      "A producer's job is to be critical of the performance and the arrangements, and to have an idea of how the album should flow from start to finish. I think I have a better grasp of that than Spot or anyone else." —Bob

Flipside #50, 1986
      "Warners was the label that was interested in us when Zen Arcade came out. We kept turning them down, but they were very persistent." —Bob

Uncle Fester #11, 1986
      "Three years ago, between Denver and Los Angeles, maybe our records were available in Reno, Salt Lake, Vegas, and maybe Santa Fe." —Grant

Daily Tar Heel, 02 Mar 1987
      It was almost as if the band just played the record and lip-synched to it in "Putting on the Hits" fashion. Is the band preparing for an appearance on "Solid Gold"?

Son of Quincy #2, Early 1987
      "I had a skateboard in about 1966... I painted it white with a blue stripe down the middle, and my sister took it while it was wet & went whoowhowaichoowawoo all over the paint. Eventually my mother threw it away when I was seven." —Grant

The Rocket, Mar 1987
      ...the best band in America may finally break the mould. Despite the lack of an obvious single, Warehouse: Songs And Stories may actually sell some copies.

Nineteen, Mar 1987
      "Les gens de notre âge ont le désir de changer le monde pour le reste de leur vie. Ainsi firent les hippies, les beatniks, le jazz au début, le ragtime... seul le nom qu'on donne au mouvement varie avec l'époque." —Grant

Graffiti, Mar 1987
      "I really don't have that much in common with some 14-year-old antisocial prick with a mohawk, but when I was a 14-year-old antisocial prick with a mohawk I developed some friendships and camaraderies and I see the young people who've grown up, who've been my peers at other times ... we're all pretty nice people." —Grant

Metro, 09 Mar 1987
      "My songs, albeit a little lighthearted, are songs as well, you know. You see, if I'm gonna have a miserable time, the last thing I'm gonna do is write a four-minute song about it and have to live that over every night we play. " —Grant

Hartford Courant, 23 Mar 1987
      It stopped the band for a second, and after the song, Hart ran to the front of the stage to curse whoever did it. Later, gleeful fans who let their excitement manifest itself in anything resembling slam dancing were brutally ejected.

Creem, Jun 1987
      "...if you want to take it outside a la Norman, Oklahoma, playing the same note for 45 minutes — you can." —Bob

Guitar For The Practicing Musician, Jul 1987
      "We were not a skinny tie band and we didn't sound like Prince, so we didn't fit in. We were brats; we told everybody where to go. It paid off." —Bob

RAM, 11 Jul 1987
      "If you're worried about commercial success, you worry about singles. If you're worried about expressing yourself, you worry about albums. I worry about albums." —Bob

Musician, Aug 1987
      "...Grant came out, picked her up, power-slammed her into the blue paint so she was covered, her whole backside, and people decided they were going to pick her up by her elbows and bounce her off the walls, leaving these blue buttprints all around the club. Needless to say, we didn't get paid...." —Bob

Hot Sounds, Sep 1987
      "'Bed Of Nails,' for instance, is a love song. Sure, it's full of pain, but love isn't always chocolates and nights at the theatre." —Bob

Dynamite #144, Jan? 1988
      They began as a "hardcore" band playing music that was generally ultra-fast and loud, with screamed vocals (sort of like heavy metal played at 45 RPM).

Skull Duggery #11, Early? 1988
      Greg was reportedly seen saying "Hello," to complete strangers in a shopping mall!

Bellingham Herald/AP (Mould), 09 Jun 1989
      Mould sees winning over Husker Du fans as his biggest problem.

BAM (Mould), 09 Jun 1989
      "You know, Husker Du was a great, great band. I think maybe we should have packed it in a little sooner. " —Bob

Chicken Slacks #4, 06 Oct 1989
      [Graphic-art representation of "Books About UFOs"]

Bucketfull of Brains #32 (Hart), Dec 1989
      "Then by the time I was 17 I was in Husker Du which was a very great musical education - good and bad." —Grant

Boston Globe (Hart), 11 Jan 1990
      ...Grant Hart has assembled a quirky package of irresistible material.

The Bob #38 (Mould), 1990
      "The majors got really hip all of a sudden— everything got hip and now nothing is hip." —Bob

Boston Globe (Mould), 1990
      At times, as Hart has alleged, Mould is a little soft ("It's Too Late" and "Out of Your Life"), but there is more than enough grit to keep even the most hardcore satisfied....

GQ (Mould), Sep 1990
      "I thrive on that hate. 'C'mon, hate me some more,' y'know? 'See if I care anymore.'" —Bob

X Magazine #5 (Mould), 1990
      "So [songwriting]'s nothing new to me (laughs). It's one of the only things I've ever really enjoyed." —Bob

Lowell Sun (Mould), 22 Oct 1990
      "Workbook set quite a distance between the past and present," said Mould. "In the aftermath of the band, other members made some pretty extreme statements that were hurtful. I'm content to let it go."

Boston Globe (Mould), 24 Oct 1990
      Mould, 30, sold the farm, endured the breakup of a relationship and moved to New York City. It all shows in "Black Sheets of Rain...."

Spiral Scratch, Nov 1990
      Warner Bros were dismayed when the Huskers explained that they had enough material for a double LP but eventually they gave in with some compromise and agreed to the format. For example, the band had originally wanted a gatefold sleeve, but their label said no.

B-Side (Mould), Apr-May 1991
      "It's funny, some writers say to me 'You know, it sounds like you've been listening to a whole lot of REM.' And I say 'Well, REM listened to a lot of Husker Du.'" —Bob

Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Mould), 19 Oct 1991
      So you didn't get tickets to the World Series opener tonight. So you don't want to spend the entire evening in front of the TV. So, go down to First Avenue for an early-evening concert by Bob Mould....

Melody Maker (Sugar), 08 Aug 1992
      "I think the shroud of Husker Du was finally laid to rest, and people who wanted to were able to hear those songs for what was probably the last time." —Bob

Reflex #29 (Sugar), 10 Nov 1992
      "I want to sell a lot of records. I'm sort of sick of selling 150,000 records and being happy with it. Because this one's better than anything I've done." —Bob

The Glass Onion (Sugar), 20 Nov 1992
      ...even the poor slobs who didn't have the real thing resorted to tissue paper, regular paper, fingers or even cigarette butts to take some of the edge off Sugar's sonic assault.

The Advocate (Sugar), Late 1992
      But because Copper Blue doesn't sound like Pet Shop Boys and because Sugar doesn't look like a bunch of androgynous twinkies, the chances are slim that we'll get any credit for giving birth to the latest music-biz buzz.

Entertainment Weekly, 06 May 1994
      The roots of most of today's Nirvana-bes can be found right here.

Rolling Stone #694, 03 Nov 1994
      "If I decide to have sex with a man, I'm not sure that absolutely means that I have to be a gay role model. There are people who are much more qualified than I am to speak on that subject. The only thing I can speak on with total assuredness is my work. Anything beyond that, carrying a flag — whether it's Lollapalooza's flag or Queer Nation's flag — I'm sorry, I can't help you. My sexuality is no secret. It really never has been. But haven't I given you enough over the last 13 years? What about this incredible body of work? Those songs are for everybody." —Bob

Stargreen #6, Dec 1995
      When they took the stage, the audience thought some terrible mistake had been made. Three auto mechanics from the garage next door had apparently broken in and were impersonating a punk rock band: two unshaven fat guys and a bassist with a handlebar mustache.

Zoo Magazine #1, Jun-Jul 1996
      Faktisk er lyden i mange af albummets numre så forvrænget, at elektriciteten næsten kammer over.

SnackCake! (Mould), Spring 1999
      "And no knock on Sugar, but the band was put together to make the third Bob Mould solo record." —Bob

In-House #43 (Mould), May 2000
      [Bob's internet fans] trade copies of bootlegs. They make travel plans to follow him around the country. They report every utterance he makes in his stage patter. They report his set lists and offer each other their takes on the concert. They want to know what music he likes, what books he's read, and even his diet.

Pulse! (Hart), Jul 2000
      "Particularly with Hüsker, the breakup of that left the three members kind of in the emotional state that they were in when the band started. You're kind of looking around and you're a 26-year-old high school graduate, it's like getting free, shaking off whatever shackles but also having to look forward to what the next solution's going to be. Life doesn't end when the contract's up, you know?" —Grant

Mojo #95, Oct 2001
      "A month ago, we received an offer from [Bob] and his attorneys to buy Hüsker Dü." —Grant

St Paul Pioneer Press (Hart), 02 Nov 2001
      Hart did offer a great impression of Frank Black....

Portland Phoenix, 12 Jul 2002
      Hart's musical palette is far more varied than Mould's....

Metro Holland, 04 Jun 2008
      "Over twee mensen die niet meer van elkaar weten wat ze nodig hebben. De teksten op District Line zijn wat minder persoonlijk dan mijn vroegere teksten. Maar ik voel hetzelfde, want ik heb het allemaal meegemaakt." —Bob

Magnet #80, Winter 2009
      Amazingly, Mould and his partner discerned by taste and smell the two teas I blended: lapsang souchong and Earl Grey.

The Eyeopener, 21 Oct 2009
      The floor of Larry's Hideaway was a carpet covered in piss, blood and beer.



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