Grant Hart died after a fight with cancer, leaving behind a family and a legacy of some of the best American rock music. He and Bob Mould, along with Greg Norton, formed Husker Du in 1979. Their early sound is sheet-of-noise hardcore, but by their second album,
Zen Arcade (1984), they had added psychedelia, acoustic folk, and pop to their arsenal. Incredibly prolific, before they disbanded in 1987, they released four more albums. Altogether, they released six albums, two of them doubles.
There is no other band from the "alternative music" scene that I loved as much then as I do now. The Replacements are good, but I don't play them with anything like the regularity I did thirty years ago, the Pixies almost never. I
do listen to the Minutemen more now than back then, but still, nothing like I do with Husker Du.
Hart's solo music started great with the e.p.
Intolerance (1989) and ended great with
The Argument (2013). His albums in between are all decent to very good.
I would have played nothing but Grant Hart music for the whole two hours, but Maker Park Radio's license limits me to four songs per artist per show. So I filled up the rest of the show with cover tunes. It's an always easy out for me when I'm at a loss over what I should play. I torn between wanting musicians to mix it up when they cover a song, or doing a killer version of the original arrangement. This batch of songs runs the gamut. Earth, Wind & Fire do a cool, funky take on the Beatles while Cheap Trick does a note-perfect version of Slade (one of their obvious influences).
| SONG | Artist | Album |
| It's Not Funny Anymore | Husker Du | Metal Circus |
| Books About UFOs | Husker Du | New Day Rising |
| Keep Hanging On | Husker Du | Flip Your Wig |
| No Promise Have I Made | Husker Du | Candy Apple Grey |
| All of My Senses | Grant Hart | Intolerance |
| 2541 | Grant Hart | Intolerance |
| Getaway (Gateway) In Time | Nova Mob | Last Days of Pompeii |
| The Last Days of Pompeii | Nova Mob | Last Days of Pompeii |
| Shoot Your Way to Freedom | Nova Mob | Nova Mob |
| Little Miss Information | Nova Mob | Nova Mob |
| So Far From Heaven | Grant Hart | The Argument |
| For Those Too High Aspiring | Grant Hart | The Argument |
| Ode To A Black Man | the Dirtbombs (Phil Lynott) | Ultraglide in Black |
| See My Way | the Dickies (Blodwyn Pig) | All This and Puppet Stew |
| Smells Like Teen Spirit | Los Straitjackets (Nirvana) | Single |
| Blitzkrieg Bop | the Godfathers (Ramones) | Live |
| Police on My Back | the Clash (the Equals) | Sandinista |
| Find Another Girl | the Hives (Jerry Butler) | Veni Vidi Vicious |
| Dr. Wu | Minutemen (Steely Dan) | Double Nickels on the Dime |
| Got to Get You Into My Life | Earth,Wind,&Fire (the Beatles) | Greatest Hits |
| Where Have All the Good Times Gone | David Bowie (the Kinks) | Pin Ups |
| Picture Book | Young Fresh Fellows (the Kinks) | This One's for the Ladies |
| What Goes On | the Dictators (Velvet Underground) | Fuck 'em If they Can't Take a Joke |
| Couldn't I Just Tell You | Sweet&Hoffs (Todd Rundgren) | Under the Covers Vol.2 |
| When the Lights Are Out | Cheap Trick (Slade) | The Latest |
| Baby, I Love You | Ramones (the Ronettes) | End of the Century |
| (Give Him A) Great Big Kiss | NY Dolls (the Shangri Las) | Demos |
| It's Not Unusual | the Wedding Present (Tom Jones) | Bizarro |
| America | Yes (Simon&Garfunkel) | single |
| Prairie Rose | Big Country (Roxy Music) | Steeltown |
The covers selections are all good, if nothing particularly special. They're all bands I've played plenty of times, and looking back, I'm thinking I probably should have dug a littler deeper. In my defense, I was pressed for time putting a pair of shows together in a few days and I was more interested in getting the Grant Hart music right.
Hart's solo music started great with the e.p. Intolerance (1989) and ended great with The Argument (2013). His albums in between are all decent to very good.
I would have played nothing but Grant Hart music for the whole two hours, but Maker Park Radio's license limits me to four songs per artist per show. So I filled up the rest of the show with cover tunes. It's an always easy out for me when I'm at a loss over what I should play. I torn between wanting musicians to mix it up when they cover a song, or doing a killer version of the original arrangement. This batch of songs runs the gamut. Earth, Wind & Fire do a cool, funky take on the Beatles while Cheap Trick does a note-perfect version of Slade (one of their obvious influences).