What was is about Husker Du that made such an impression on me?  One thing was simply their relatively normal appearance.  People seem to forget before grunge came along that being in a rock band had a much more serious style component.  The closest you came to normal wear was either in the hardcore punk scene (a scene Husker Du initially sprang from) or in the heavy metal scene.  In both cases you had a jeans and t shirt uniform; however, the length of hair was the difference.  Most of the time, to be an authentic hardcore punk guy, you had to have to rock the Kojack hair style a la DC straight edge.  Not that there was a lot of straight edge in Roanoke.  By the time I was cognizant of various subcultures; most punk rock folks had embraced various quasi forms of punk that bumped up against other musical styles.  In 1984 and 85, you had a lot of skate punk in Roanoke.  Mostly because of skating more than punk.  That being said, I remember guys with Vans inking the words “JFA” on them and giving me shit for liking Hall & Oates.  They just didn’t know how punk I was liking an uncool band…or something like that…shut up.  To be honest, I preferred the guys who were into Metallica and Sabbath because they were less self righteous

But I digress.  The point is that Husker Du wrote some kickass songs and were loud as god’s balls and look like guys I saw in the smoking block.  They seemed indifferent to the whole look-at-me punk rock identity politics and kept their focus where it belonged.  There was universality to their songs that surpassed most underground bands at the time.  This is partly because being part of the underground in the 80’s really meant taking pride in your place because you certainly weren’t going to achieve Nirvana like success.

Husker’s Minneapolis competition, The Replacements, was a band I greatly admired, too.  But while they had great songs about alienation and other great rock themes, they seemed impossibly cool in that New York Dolls, Stones, Heartbreakers vein.  They didn’t have the avenging dork style of Husker, which seemed to be handed down from the Ramones.

Being a gangly lad, I didn’t have any obesity problems.  But let me tell you, being a skinny guy in the south is a pain in the ass, especially in the early 80’s which was a far less tolerant time.  If you weren’t tough guy, you were considered about unmanly and effeminate.  And if you liked books, music, and art; let me tell you that could be grounds for an ass kicking.  So, seeing two fat guys and another guy with a handlebar mustache blow out minds and ear drums was extremely rewarding.  And the fact that the fat guys were gay and the guy everyone thought was gay was straight was a mind fuck I appreciated enormously.  The Replacements seemed just way too traditional compared to that.

So, I spent an enormous time listening and practicing to my Husker Du records. And by “records”, I mean shitty Maxell 90 min cassettes because I didn’t have the money to buy all those records.  And then I wrote my first song…which sounded exactly like Grant Hart’s Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely.

Clearly, I had a lot more work to do.