http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1216&variant=artist-playlists&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.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/Alternativeen720Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:09:57 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.1216&variant=artist-playlists&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.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://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.30412546&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Alt/Punk Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:13:01 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 30412546 ply.30412546 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.30412546&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.28536130&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Alt/Punk Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:04:53 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 28536130 ply.28536130 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.28536130&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.25360914&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Alt/Punk Fri, 9 Jan 2009 11:57:41 -0800 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 25360914 ply.25360914 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.25360914&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.25337982&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Alt/Punk Wed, 7 Jan 2009 13:01:49 -0800 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 25337982 ply.25337982 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.25337982&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.21066139&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Alt/Punk Fri, 9 Oct 2009 10:32:02 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 21066139 ply.21066139 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.21066139&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.18869698&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Jazz Fri, 8 May 2009 01:48:07 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 18869698 ply.18869698 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.18869698&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.17758860&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Alt/Punk Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:53:01 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 17758860 ply.17758860 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.17758860&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.16112084&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Jazz Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:30:35 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 16112084 ply.16112084 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.16112084&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.15796524&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Alt/Punk Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:58:16 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 15796524 ply.15796524 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.15796524&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.15796508&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Alt/Punk Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:58:15 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 15796508 ply.15796508 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.15796508&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.15380527&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Rock/Pop Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:37:13 -0800 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 15380527 ply.15380527 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.15380527&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.15285606&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Jazz Sun, 12 Apr 2009 08:51:00 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 15285606 ply.15285606 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.15285606&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.14324923&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Rock/Pop Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:32:29 -0700 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 14324923 ply.14324923 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.14324923&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.12999550&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss Alt/Punk Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:08:44 -0800 Playlists Featuring Minutemen on Rhapsody Online 12999550 ply.12999550 http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=ply.12999550&variant=play&rws=%2Fminutemen%2Fplaylists.rss