Check out “The Baby Song”
My first introduction to Hüsker Dü was their 1985 album Flip Your Wig. This was in college and at the time, a couple friends and I had a podcast called “The Wheelhouse” where we would recommend each other movies, albums, and other pieces of entertainment. The Minnesota band’s fourth LP was my friend Gus’s first recommendation for the show. I enjoyed it at the time, but it didn’t stick with me; I had no desire to dive deeper into their discography. Over the ensuing years, I would occasionally revisit Hüsker Dü in superficial spurts, usually at Gus’s behest (“how have you still not listened to Zen Arcade??”). When I got around to it, I also enjoyed New Day Rising, but like Flip Your Wig, it didn’t stick.
Cut to: the year is 2020. A novel coronavirus ravages the nation. Andrew receives an email from the Dallas Public Library that they are launching an online zine. Andrew had been contemplating starting a comic and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Andrew submits a comic for the first edition, but it does not get accepted. Andrew is disappointed, but not despondent. He picks up his pencil and vows that his next entry would get in. Then he sees the theme for next month’s edition and concedes that you can’t win them all. [conclusion of third person section]
The theme was “Summer Dreams” and as I mention in the actual zine, I was stumped (oh yeah, spoiler alert, my comic got accepted). I cannot remember for the life of me how or why I started relistening to New Day Rising, but it proved fortuitous. I looked down at the track listing, saw “Celebrated Summer”, then immediately knew I had found my subject.
I love music and I love writing about music because it’s incredibly challenging. Most people are not accustomed to describing different sounds and verbalizing particular sonic characteristics (apart from some basic descriptors like loud, quiet, slow, fast). Barring a degree in music theory, chances are you do not have the vocabulary to be able to fully describe “that part” of that song you like so much. Dancing about architecture or whatever. I love figuring out ways to take what, for me, is a very emotional, unspoken experience and put it into words. It’s not easy, but it’d be no fun if it was.
Reference photos from Hüsker Dü’s performance at Camden Palace (1985). Watch it here.
Gus already knows this, but it would bring him great pleasure to hear that I am rectifying my lack of Hüsker Dü knowledge by listening to ALL their albums (including their EP Metal Circus). I actually had him fact check my script for the comic to ensure it passed the scrutiny of a true Dü fan. But soon, I too may become a true Dü fan and will be able to fact check to my heart’s desire. Well… probably not.
FINAL FUN FACT: Panel 8 is a still from the Dustin Hoffman film Tootsie. I just needed a party scene from a movie and had seen it recently! Apart from both being rooted in the ‘80s, this may be the first time Hüsker Dü and Tootsie have ever been connected in this way. If by some ridiculous chance you find something else, please let me know.