Hüsker Dü released Tonite Longhorn, a previously -unreleased double-disc set of rare live recordings from the legendary band’s embryonic on-stage beginnings. Drawn from the historical Hüsker Dü recording archives compiled by late sound engineer Terry Katzman, the album collects 28 explosive tracks captured over four different nights between July 1979 and September 1980 at Minneapolis, MN’s notorious Longhorn Bar.
…An essential companion piece to Numero Group’s 2017 Savage Young Dü box set, Tonite Longhorn stands as an aural time machine that vividly thrusts the listener straight back to Hüsker Dü’s earliest days, with the barely-out-of-their-teens trio of Grant Hart, Greg Norton, and Bob Mould unleashing volatile, remarkably driven…
…performances that until now were only heard by the 150 or so lucky friends and fans originally in attendance. Highlights include such inexorable classics as “All Tensed Up,” “Do the Bee,” “MTC,” and “Statues,” as well as a ferocious cover of Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers’ “Chinese Rock.”
In a statement about the live record, Husker Dü’s Bob Mould said: “Most artists begin their careers by looking to their heroes for inspiration. Tonite Longhorn is a comprehensive overview of three teenagers paying homage, experimenting with different genres, and – most importantly — building a foundation for things to come. We knew what we had: good chemistry, great melodies and harmonies, and an overabundance of young (and sometimes dumb) enthusiasm. We knew we were different, and we knew we were on to something different.”
The set features new liner notes from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, who writes: “Hüsker Dü could play hardcore to death but they were not hardcore through and through – they were something else. And that’s what I fully related to and what I’m hearing in these live recordings unearthed from those days which made such magnanimous impressions it’s as if they are the batteries of our lives as we continue to tick off the years.”
CD1
01 Insects Rule the World (Live, July 6, 1979)
02 I’m not Interested (Live, July 6, 1979)
03 Sex Dolls (Live, July 6, 1979)
04 Can’t See You Anymore (Live, July 6, 1979)
05 Sexual Economics (Live, July 6, 1979)
06 Do You Remember? (Live, July 6, 1979)
07 Nuclear Nightmare (Live, July 6, 1979)
08 All Tensed Up (Live, July 16, 1980)
09 Strange Week (Live, July 16, 1980)
10 Don’t Try to Call (Live, July 16, 1980)
11 Industrial Grocery Store (Live, July 16, 1980)
12 Do the Bee (Live, July 16, 1980)
13 Do You Remember? (Live, July 16, 1980)
14 Ode to Bode (Live, July 16, 1980)
15 Don’t Have a Life (Live, July 16, 1980)
CD2
01 All I’ve Got to Lose (Live, September 25, 1980)
02 Don’t Try It (Live, September 25, 1980)
03 Writer’s Cramp (Live, September 25, 1980)
04 Gilligan’s Island (Live, September 25, 1980)
05 What Went Wrong? (Live, September 25, 1980)
06 Uncle Ron (Live, September 25, 1980)
07 MTC (Live, September 25, 1980)
08 Drug Party (Live, September 25, 1980)
09 Chinese Rock (Live, September 25, 1980)
10 Termination (Live, September 25, 1980)
11 Call on Me (Live, September 25, 1980)
12 Gravity (Live, September 25, 1980)
13 Statues (Live, September 25, 1980)