Grant Hart RIP

[harvey k-tel]

Hüsker Dü just never clicked for me during the time in my life when they should have. My one abiding memory however, is of sitting around, drinking beers with my old room-mate Todd and some other friends in the weird artist/musician commune-type-place a bunch of us lived in during the mid-nineties, with Todd's records scattered all over the floor and Todd himself playing his battered copy of 'New Day Rising' over and over again for almost a whole day. This happened on more than one occasion too - fuck, he loved that record, and fuck, he caused me to dislike it intensely for quite some time. Thanks Todd, you dick.

RIP Mr. Hart

[toomanyhatz]

This is tough. Never a big Huskers fan, yet every time I heard something and thought "oh, this one's good" it would inevitably be his. And "She Floated Away," being basically a sea shanty in structure, is now being widely covered by the LA Celtic music scene. It's to his credit that it's never felt incongruous to me.

And needless to say he was way too young (a year older than me, as it happens ).

[pcqgod]

Oh, that's why people are posting about playing Husker Du all over Facebook. Dammit.

[sloopjohnc]

As someone who enjoyed and remembered the first wave of punk, I remembered wondering who was going to pick up the mantle. I heard my first Husker Du album and knew punk rock was in safe hands.

[nathan]

It was always a bit weird but thrilling to look up at a local bar or record store and see his haunting but curious eyes surveying everything around him. I saw him perform live so many times and each one was a confrontational and vulnerable mess. But I still went because he was such a kind soul that just kept trying and trying. He never liked anything approaching reverence towards his past and would also fuck with you if you showed how much you loved something he wrote or did. I could never tell if it genuinely made him uncomfortable or if he was always living in the moment and wanted to keep looking forward. Either way, he never looked entirely comfortable and we kind of loved him for that. I fear that he might not have known how much the community loved him.

About 12 years ago I was one of about 10 people in the audience at a sweltering night in the 7th St Entry. He kept talking about how much he hated Bush and then Reagan. Endlessly. It got to the point where I left mid song because he was clearly in a pissy mood. He stopped playing and wished me a good night as I was walking out the door.

Another time was the day Waylon Jennings died. He came out with a literal tin-foil hat and opened with Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys. He only knew the chorus and just stared at the audience during the silent verses.

I'm really going to miss him.

[Minnie the Minx]

It was always a bit weird but thrilling to look up at a local bar or record store and see his haunting but curious eyes surveying everything around him. I saw him perform live so many times and each one was a confrontational and vulnerable mess. But I still went because he was such a kind soul that just kept trying and trying. He never liked anything approaching reverence towards his past and would also fuck with you if you showed how much you loved something he wrote or did. I could never tell if it genuinely made him uncomfortable or if he was always living in the moment and wanted to keep looking forward. Either way, he never looked entirely comfortable and we kind of loved him for that. I fear that he might not have known how much the community loved him.

About 12 years ago I was one of about 10 people in the audience at a sweltering night in the 7th St Entry. He kept talking about how much he hated Bush and then Reagan. Endlessly. It got to the point where I left mid song because he was clearly in a pissy mood. He stopped playing and wished me a good night as I was walking out the door.

Another time was the day Waylon Jennings died. He came out with a literal tin-foil hat and opened with Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys. He only knew the chorus and just stared at the audience during the silent verses.

I'm really going to miss him.

[Mr_Baseman]

Listen to "Glorious" and "Underneath The Apple Tree" on his The Argument LP. Up there with the best of his Huskers stuff - and that is one amazing canon of work. RIP Grant.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

I fear that he might not have known how much the community loved him.

This is really sad. I've been thinking about the band all day today and seeing tributes all over social media. And the magnitude of Hüsker Dü's legacy really started to hit home. It occurs to me that they are something all of us (American punk/indie people) have in common. They are the tie that binds so many of us, crossing the 80s, joining the hardcore/DIY/punk people with everyone else on the fringes of the scene. Everyone loves (or at least respects) Hüsker Dü. I don't think any American band has an equivalent status.

[Geezee]

I fear that he might not have known how much the community loved him.

This is really sad. I've been thinking about the band all day today and seeing tributes all over social media. And the magnitude of Hüsker Dü's legacy really started to hit home. It occurs to me that they are something all of us (American punk/indie people) have in common. They are the tie that binds so many of us, crossing the 80s, joining the hardcore/DIY/punk people with everyone else on the fringes of the scene. Everyone loves (or at least respects) Hüsker Dü. I don't think any American band has an equivalent status.

I have the wrong fcking friends. I'm not seeing a single tribute or mention on social media.

[Geezee]

From Bob Mould, seems like they got together towards the end which I didn't know.

It was the Fall of 1978. I was attending Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. One block from my dormitory was a tiny store called Cheapo Records. There was a PA system set up near the front door blaring punk rock. I went inside and ended up hanging out with the only person in the shop. His name was Grant Hart.

The next nine years of my life was spent side-by-side with Grant. We made amazing music together. We (almost) always agreed on how to present our collective work to the world. When we fought about the details, it was because we both cared. The band was our life. It was an amazing decade.

We stopped working together in January 1988. We went on to solo careers, fronting our own bands, finding different ways to tell our individual stories. We stayed in contact over the next 29 years — sometimes peaceful, sometimes difficult, sometimes through go-betweens. For better or worse, that’s how it was, and occasionally that’s what it is when two people care deeply about everything they built together.

The tragic news of Grant’s passing was not unexpected to me. My deepest condolences and thoughts to Grant’s family, friends, and fans around the world.

Grant Hart was a gifted visual artist, a wonderful story teller, and a frighteningly talented musician. Everyone touched by his spirit will always remember.

Godspeed, Grant. I miss you. Be with the angels.

[clive gash]

From Ken Shipley @ Numero

Numero Group

Grantzberg Vernon Hart, March 18, 1961—September 13, 2017

Grant Hart would have loved the aftermath of his own death. Furious text messaging in the middle of the night seeking confirmation and commiseration. Condolences from acquaintances and media outlets who haven’t come out of the woodwork in years. Emails from the Associated Press at 4:45AM. The clamoring for details. When and where? What kind of cancer? He loved to stir the peanut butter. Actively sought the circus, metal or otherwise.

To know him was to… I’m not sure “love him” is the right choice of words. I had a ton of respect for the guy. I enjoyed his company. I certainly liked him. Is there a word to describe that region between love and like? It’s impossible not to love/like a guy who sends you a Bob Mould diss Someecard at 2:47AM. How can you not love/like someone who insists on a high end sushi restaurant for your first meal together and then promptly orders enough food to cover his next two meals. Grant was tortured for sure, but he had a hell of a lot of fun bringing you in on the joke, even if you were part of the punchline.

I began chasing him in the summer of 2010. Getting him on the phone was impossible: Call once, hang up, call again hang up. If he wanted to talk, he’d pick up on the third ring. Email was the best way to reach him, his replies speedy and thoughtful. I’d never even been to Minneapolis the first time we met in a dark, closed downtown hotel bar that he’d somehow finagled away for us to meet in. It was August—which in Minnesota means hot and muggy. He suggested a trip to the lake to cool off, and guided my rented P.T. Cruiser through residential twists and turns to a place I would later find out was called Hidden Beach by locals. We stripped down to our underwear and began wading out and were soon neck deep. He turned to me and asked, “Do you know where we are?” And I had no idea. “This is where I shot the cover for New Day Rising.”

It was one of those moments where you know you’re not the first to experience it, that he’d taken several people out swimming on Cedar Lake while the sun was setting and then used their connection to his past to cement a relationship. But it sure felt special in that moment. That was the real Grant Hart, disarming and masterminding all at once. He green-lit the project shortly after.

Things began arriving in the mail with no rhyme or reason. An original print of the earliest Hüskers promo photo. The slides for Metal Circus. A CD-R of his long-gestating double album The Argument. A gigantic Land Speed Record poster. He was nothing if not generous. Grant came to town to play an under-attended gig at Martyr’s in the dead of winter, his alligator skin boots held together with duct tape barely keeping his feet from frostbite. On our break room table he sketched out what would become the first official Hüsker Dü project in more than 25 years and then asked to be dropped at the train station. A few days later, an email arrived:

“Great to see you this weekend. It could have been longer, the meal better, etc. But it was good. After recovering from the shock of the news I started to picture how I think the demos record should look. I see a very colorful, optimistic, almost new wave look. I think this will fit well with the material. As a nod to [Terry] Katzman I think calling it Savage Young Dü is good.”

The next five years moved at a snail’s pace. We somehow managed to get an expanded 2x7” version of their debut single out, but with the band embroiled in a lawsuit the breaks were pumped on anything considered non-essential business. And yet, my relationship with Grant continued in the background. We traded messages every few months, almost always prompted by him. He always asked about my kids and somehow remembered my daughter’s name. “How’s Clementine?” he’d ask. He always called when he came to town, as if I was the only person he knew in Chicago. “I’m down at the train station, come pick me up,” he’d say. When asked why he didn’t give me a little notice on his arrival, he’d reply: “If you don’t know when my next gig is, you’re not paying close enough attention.”

We didn’t pick the project back up until late 2015. The emails were no longer in ALL CAPS. He was less erratic, more thoughtful. Something was different. I went up to Minneapolis in the spring of 2016 to pick up all the master tapes and files that he’d been threatening to let me take for half a decade, and while sharing a moment in the sun, he turned into me and said, “I’ve got cancer.” But he didn’t dwell. Instead he told me about the two wonderful developments in his life. He’d finally met someone worth staying with and he wanted to marry her. Her name was Brigid. And after many years estranged from his son, the two had reconciled and were speaking regularly. We hugged at parting, his stubbly face scratching my neck. When I got home, this was waiting in my inbox:

“By the way, I feel very positive about beating this thing in my guts. Your meditations undoubtably help. I have a whole monastery full of Carmelites praying thanks to Brigid's mother, and yes...even doctors.”

As the box went into development his correspondence increased. “New old material is being discovered every week,” he wrote. “This will continue for the rest of MY life, at least. I insist that we proceed with what we have according to plan and not delay the November release while waiting for any Holy Grails to materialize.”

The last time I saw Grant was in March of this year. I was in Minneapolis to gather a few more bits and bobs and scheduled time to go to dinner. He wanted pizza and suggested Red’s Savoy in downtown St. Paul. He ordered enough to have leftovers the next day. He was a bit gaunt, but wisecracking and flirting with the waitress all the while. This time we shook hands at the end. He was too weak for a hug. When plans were made to fly out to the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle to pour through his archives, he wanted to join. But when it came time to go, he suddenly cooled to the idea and withdrew from the project entirely. “Can you get it out before I go?” he asked.

I’m sorry we failed, Grant. We pushed as hard as we could to get this beast into the wild, but it wasn’t hard enough. You told me several times that you thought the material was subpar, that there were too many photos of Greg Norton, and insisted we change the title at the last moment just to see everyone scramble. And now it’s two months to the release date and everyone is sad and asking a million questions. It’s chaos down here and you’re probably looking down with your arms crossed, a gigantic, mischievous grin running ear to ear. Just a boy living on Heaven Hill.

—Ken Shipley, September 14, 2017

[HarryIrene]

Last Thursday i was thinking about Grant a lot. I was in the car with my wife driving into town to see a reading/musical performance by Robert Forster promoting his book 'Grant And I' about his relationship with Grant McLennan. On the way in, for the first time i can remember, i heard Husker Du on the radio. Mark Riley played 'Sorry Somehow' as the first song on his BBC 6 Radio evening music show. It sounded amazing as it always does, and instantly i started thinking about how great Grant Hart is and if he was ok, having read he was ill and seeing those pictures of him at his last show online. It sounded so special on the radio just hearing my favourite band and one of Grant's great pop songs, driven by his excellent drumming and organ playing and wonderful impassioned vocals. Husker Du should have been on the radio more. Hearing Robert Forster talking about the other Grant's life and his tragically premature demise, reminded me of how sad and shocked i felt when that news hit like a hammer just over 10yrs ago. His book and reminiscences also celebrated that music and talent and that is what prevails over 10yrs on since we lost Grant McLennan. That night i knew my other favourite Grant was probably terminally ill and would possibly die soon and my thoughts turned to him (especially having heard my download of the new Numero boxed set a day before). It wasn't a shock like with Grant McLennan but i feel his loss no less keenly. Push comes to shove Husker Du and The Go-Betweens are my 2 favourite bands of all time. Both made magical pop music; though a little different in presentation; and both had brilliant mercurial competing singer/songwriters of which one was called Grant. Sadly both bands have now lost their Grant's to a cruel and premature deaths, but we have the music and the spirit and the joy to treasure forever in their respective songs. Nothing can take that from us.

[take5_d_shorterer]

The last time I saw Grant was in March of this year. I was in Minneapolis to gather a few more bits and bobs and scheduled time to go to dinner. He wanted pizza and suggested Red’s Savoy in downtown St. Paul.

Also closing, tomorrow in fact.

http://www.startribune.com/original-red ... 442138303/

[BARON CORNY DOG]

I fear that he might not have known how much the community loved him.

This is really sad. I've been thinking about the band all day today and seeing tributes all over social media. And the magnitude of Hüsker Dü's legacy really started to hit home. It occurs to me that they are something all of us (American punk/indie people) have in common. They are the tie that binds so many of us, crossing the 80s, joining the hardcore/DIY/punk people with everyone else on the fringes of the scene. Everyone loves (or at least respects) Hüsker Dü. I don't think any American band has an equivalent status.

I have the wrong fcking friends. I'm not seeing a single tribute or mention on social media.

I'm on the young end of the generation I was referring to, so I suspect you just have more youthful peer group!

[Geezee]

This is really sad. I've been thinking about the band all day today and seeing tributes all over social media. And the magnitude of Hüsker Dü's legacy really started to hit home. It occurs to me that they are something all of us (American punk/indie people) have in common. They are the tie that binds so many of us, crossing the 80s, joining the hardcore/DIY/punk people with everyone else on the fringes of the scene. Everyone loves (or at least respects) Hüsker Dü. I don't think any American band has an equivalent status.

I have the wrong fcking friends. I'm not seeing a single tribute or mention on social media.

I'm on the young end of the generation I was referring to, so I suspect you just have more youthful peer group!

Yes that's probably true. But they're still assholes.

[clive gash]

Remembering Grant Hart, 1961-2017

http://www.citypages.com/music/remember ... /445840373

[clive gash]

The Story of Hüsker Dü’s Grant Hart, in His Own Words

https://pitchfork.com/features/intervie ... own-words/

[Pool Hall Richard]

Just downloaded the 5 episode "Do You Remember?" podcast about the band off itunes. Tempted by the box set.