http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1216&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rssThey were from the moon, or maybe it was just <I>Pedro</I>, as singer d. boon used to sneer. Whatever the case, San Pedro natives d. boon, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley were ordinary guys -- so ordinary they shouldn't have gone anywhere, and certainly shouldn't have ended up cutting some of the most idiosyncratic albums of the 1980s LA punk scene. But perhaps that was what made the band -- and the scene -- so great. At that time, almost anything went -- even a band with a pudgy lead singer, a bassist who looked like a dock worker and a drummer who fell somewhere between pretty boy and bruiser. They sang about everything missing from the radio in those days -- and even from a lot of punk rock -- attacking American misadventures in Southeast Asia, evenhandedly explaining the life of a working man, and even touching on existential philosophy. They did all this in songs that often clocked in under two minutes and featured insanely clean, jazzy drum fills and the kind of tense literacy that comes from working class stiffs who had to work for it. Watt and boon first met in high school, when they discovered a shared love for music and politics. They spent years plugging away at '70s rock hit covers in d. boon's house -- with his open-minded mother's approval and encouragement -- until they finally found the courage to write their own songs after they discovered the burgeoning punk scene and its DIY aesthetic in 1976. They were called the Reactionaries in their first 1980 incarnation, but the band morphed quickly into the three-person outfit the Minutemen (so named for their short songs) and found its ideal configuration when George Hurley replaced former drummer Frank Tonche. The new lineup began releasing a stream of albums and EPs starting in 1981, and toured relentlessly. Their talent reached its pinnacle in 1984's <I>Double Nickels On The Dime</I>, a sprawling 43-song release, inspired by Husker Du's double album <I>Zen Arcade</I>, that was the culmination of their bizarrely timeless jazz-punk-rock aesthetic. Everything influenced that album, even funk, and you can hear it in d. boon's crisp, sparkling guitar and Watt's savage treatment of his bass -- not to mention the smart, angry, ironic lyricism which could disguise the group's earnest love of all kinds of music. And while no one would ever argue that d. boon was an ideal lead singer, his plainspoken and often muscular style fit the group perfectly. <I>Double Nickels</i> infiltrated the U.S.'s underground music scene, and the group continued its steady clip of touring and releases until tragedy struck in 1985, when d. boon and his girlfriend were involved in a fatal car accident. He was dead, at just 27 years old. Watt was -- and still is, in some ways -- devastated, and the band understandably dissolved. Watts and Hurley did go on to form fIREHOSE, which, while respected, never gained the same cult following that the Minutemen enjoy to this day. - Sarah BardeenIndie/Alternativeen720Wed, 9 Dec 2009 07:45:00 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1216&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss They were from the moon, or maybe it was just <I>Pedro</I>, as singer d. boon used to sneer. Whatever the case, San Pedro natives d. boon, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley were ordinary guys -- so ordinary they shouldn't have gone anywhere, and certainly shouldn't have ended up cutting some of the most idiosyncratic albums of the 1980s LA punk scene. But perhaps that was what made the band -- and the scene -- so great. At that time, almost anything went -- even a band with a pudgy lead singer, a bassist who looked like a dock worker and a drummer who fell somewhere between pretty boy and bruiser. They sang about everything missing from the radio in those days -- and even from a lot of punk rock -- attacking American misadventures in Southeast Asia, evenhandedly explaining the life of a working man, and even touching on existential philosophy. They did all this in songs that often clocked in under two minutes and featured insanely clean, jazzy drum fills and the kind of tense literacy that comes from working class stiffs who had to work for it. Watt and boon first met in high school, when they discovered a shared love for music and politics. They spent years plugging away at '70s rock hit covers in d. boon's house -- with his open-minded mother's approval and encouragement -- until they finally found the courage to write their own songs after they discovered the burgeoning punk scene and its DIY aesthetic in 1976. They were called the Reactionaries in their first 1980 incarnation, but the band morphed quickly into the three-person outfit the Minutemen (so named for their short songs) and found its ideal configuration when George Hurley replaced former drummer Frank Tonche. The new lineup began releasing a stream of albums and EPs starting in 1981, and toured relentlessly. Their talent reached its pinnacle in 1984's <I>Double Nickels On The Dime</I>, a sprawling 43-song release, inspired by Husker Du's double album <I>Zen Arcade</I>, that was the culmination of their bizarrely timeless jazz-punk-rock aesthetic. Everything influenced that album, even funk, and you can hear it in d. boon's crisp, sparkling guitar and Watt's savage treatment of his bass -- not to mention the smart, angry, ironic lyricism which could disguise the group's earnest love of all kinds of music. And while no one would ever argue that d. boon was an ideal lead singer, his plainspoken and often muscular style fit the group perfectly. <I>Double Nickels</i> infiltrated the U.S.'s underground music scene, and the group continued its steady clip of touring and releases until tragedy struck in 1985, when d. boon and his girlfriend were involved in a fatal car accident. He was dead, at just 27 years old. Watt was -- and still is, in some ways -- devastated, and the band understandably dissolved. Watts and Hurley did go on to form fIREHOSE, which, while respected, never gained the same cult following that the Minutemen enjoy to this day. - Sarah Bardeen http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10390739&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.10390739 alb.10390739 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 Introducing The Minutemen alb.10390739 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/2/0/4/3/1323402_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1998-07-28 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10390739&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10390739&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10227839&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.10227839 alb.10227839 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 Post-Mersh, Vol. 3 alb.10227839 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/9/9/3/3/1323399_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1989-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10227839&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10227839&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.200702&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.200702 alb.200702 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 Ballot Result alb.200702 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/4/2/2/3/1363224_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1987-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.200702&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.200702&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334473&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.9334473 alb.9334473 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 Post-Mersh, Vol. 1 alb.9334473 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/4/1/2/4/1414214_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1987-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334473&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334473&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334474&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.9334474 alb.9334474 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 Post-Mersh, Vol. 2 alb.9334474 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/5/1/2/4/1414215_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1987-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334474&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334474&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10227838&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.10227838 alb.10227838 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 3-Way Tie (For Last) alb.10227838 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/5/9/4/3/1443495_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1985-10-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10227838&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10227838&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334472&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.9334472 alb.9334472 Minutemen art.1216 4.99 Project: Mersh alb.9334472 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/7/9/3/3/1323397_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1985-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334472&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334472&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.200701&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.200701 alb.200701 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 The Politics of Time alb.200701 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/5/2/2/3/1363225_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1984-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.200701&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.200701&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334471&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.9334471 alb.9334471 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 Double Nickels On The Dime alb.9334471 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/5/8/9/7/1327985_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1984-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334471&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.9334471&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.22830603&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.22830603 alb.22830603 Minutemen art.1216 7.99 Buzz Or Howl Under The Influence Of Heat alb.22830603 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/9/7/5/6/1386579_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1983-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false single http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.22830603&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.22830603&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10546018&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.10546018 alb.10546018 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 What Makes A Man Start Fires? alb.10546018 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/1/0/4/3/1323401_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1982-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10546018&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10546018&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10390725&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.10390725 alb.10390725 Minutemen art.1216 8.99 The Punch Line alb.10390725 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/8/9/3/3/1323398_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1981-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10390725&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10390725&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10658010&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss Indie/Alternative Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 Minutemen Discography on Rhapsody Online alb.10658010 alb.10658010 Minutemen art.1216 5.99 Paranoid Time alb.10658010 http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/0/0/4/3/1323400_170x170.jpg 2006-01-24 00:00:00.0 1980-01-01 00:00:00.0 true false main-release http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10658010&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss http://mp3.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=alb.10658010&variant=data&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fdiscography.rss