Minutemen: Could This Band Be Your Life?

[@kittentothefaceinc]

The minutemen changed my life. I try to tell as many people as I can about them, but I really think they aren't for everyone. It's something in you, being a minute man. The first time I heard paranoid time I got it. It's just instinct, boon and watts writing articulated many of my feelings about the world in a way I never thought possible. When I try to show people their music, I really can't explain why I like their music so much, I just do. The friendship between Boon and Watt is the soul of the band, and that's one of the reasons they were so amazing and will never be replicated. I can't play music, but you can create art, help people, and resist hypocrisy in your own small way. Great video, thank you for talking about them.

[@adderon]

Flesh and muscle are being pulled off of bone

[@matthewschiffer4649]

Loved this! Thank you for covering such an awesome band!

[@Mrpsblobsoflowendmung]

Minutemen are literally the most important and influential band in my entire life ! I started playing piano at age 6 and at age 11 i was given a cassette tape with black flag on one side and the other side had nothing written on it. That side changed my life . After hearing it I asked my dad to buy me a bass. I didn’t know who the band was for at least a year ! It was “ what makes a man start fires” . That was back in 1985, little did I know later that year D. Boon would pass away ! Mike Watt Became my musical hero and guru. I got to see watt play with numerous bands in the 90s . By 2011 my band got to support Iggy and the stooges and I got to meet Watt for the first time. Since then we have become firm friends . Watt is literally the ultimate hero both musically and personally, he has become the second most important person in my life next to my own father. Watt wields the Thudstaff like no one else on earth . Every single note comes from the very deepest depths of his soul ! Watt still holds his connection with D. Boon every single second of every day. I have been honoured to spend time with watt and playing his famed basses the 56 P Thunderbroom and Bluey the nine reverse thunderbird from fIREHOSE days and I even got to hold D. Boons Tele . For me there couldn’t never be a greater hero than Mike Watt !

[@gregnewman2512]

The Minutemen's "Double Nickels on the Dime" is the White Album of 1980s American punk rock. It's the effin cornerstone. Along with Minutemen people know Husker Du and he Replacements. But, I never hear anyone mention Camper Van Beethoven. Along with Minutemen, CVB have a sound all of their own, great songwriting and musicianship. I miss Minutemen more than I miss any other band. RIP, d.boon.

[@freshiefresh67]

Totally agree about CVB.

[@joelkeener]

I discovered the MINUTEMEN in '93 when I bought "What Makes a Man Want To Start Fires" at Tower records in Tempe AZ because I recognized the Raymond Pettibon art on the cover. Low and Behold, they were unique and syncretic -- which is what I will always crave -- and I fell in love. I enjoyed all their older more raw and unique stuff, but was actually disappointed when I purchased Double Nickels on the Dime on vinyl.

[@pauljacobson2207]

criminally overlooked channel, such great bands every time!

[@damianlopez-gaston2466]

I've been a fan of the Minutemen since the beginning, and I love this band in a way that is like no other. Thank you for this excellent overview and tribute. You have captured so much about their greatness and their essence. I watched with a lump in my throat for a good part of it. Well done. Cheers!

[@danpearce4547]

We seem to have identical tastes in music. Minuteman and Firehose were awesome!

[@langwaters9653]

I was late to the scene in 1994 when a friend of mine said "you need to listen to this." He was right. I love these guys and while I never got to see them live, I did get to see Firehose and Mike Watt solo several times. Good times, great music.

[@robertshaw7523]

One of my favorite bands. In 1984/5 I was seeing them once a month.

[@kevinoconnell1983]

My local record store was playing The Blasting Concept compilation when it came out. When I hear Paranoid Time I bought the compilation, Double Nickels and everything else they had Minutemen. Ironically I was in Phoenix where DB bought it. Since then I've always said my favorite band is the Minutemen. Everyone else is tied for second.

[@jesusmcphuck6510]

Great band. Saw the We Jam Econo documentary. Funny, insightful and tragic, given knowledge of Boon's fate. Been a fan ever since.

[@markeggins890]

If anyone says punk bands can't play you should play them the Minutemen. Still an inspiration today...

[@josephwalden2303]

Love your channel - great work on the research and dig the presentation, nice balance of playing samples and footage with your commentary. Thanks for doing this - really loved the one on the Manics (I’m a U.S. fan, got to see them in a NYC club on Plague Lovers tour…) How about doing one on The Stranglers? Another band overlooked here in the U.S. Keep up the great work!🎸🍺

[@2020Sound]

Thanks very much Joseph! Glad you've enjoyed stuff so far, and envy you seeing the Manics in a club - I've only ever caught them in arenas/festivals over here! Thanks for The Stranglers suggestion too - hits aside, they're a band I'm not as familiar with as I should be. Will delve further when I get chance.

[@secretcompartment]

The Bandsplain episode was my introduction, hooked ever since. It's like the rosetta stone of my entire music taste. Perfect.

[@douglashanau3339]

I had the pleasure of seeing the minutemen in 1985 at bard College. DNOTD is my favorite album of all time

[@AngloSaks666]

The Minutemen are far more recognised now, however true it is that they are more 'under the radar' than other similar acts, than they were in their day, at least over here in Europe and the UK. I'd literally find hardly anyone who had ever heard of them. I hit on them the same way Thurston Moore did: via their track 'The Search' on the compilation 'Rodney on the ROQ, Vol.2', started buying imports of all their stuff that I could (got most of it, still have it all), and I was lucky enough to see them February 83 when they supported Black Flag at the 100 Club in London, which Mike Watt, when I met him years later, confirmed was most likely their and his first European gig. He said they were 'stoked' to play where the Sex Pistols had played, but I don't think he quite appreciated the even longer and more illustrious history that place has. And as for the band, yeah 'could be your life' is kind of apt, because somehow it shone through even in their music and lyrics that they were so much about being close to the ground, and direct and effective in their relationships with each other and people in general, and that human lives and their real essence came before anything else for them. Reading what you read in that book, and in others (you should get and read 'Wailing of a Town' by Craig Ibarra, a friend of theirs, about the San Pedro punk scene, which is about so much else, but where they are pretty much the centre and main driver of it - incidentally, Linda Kite, D Boon's girlfriend who was driving the van when the axle broke, leading to his death, liked my review of that on Goodreads), and seeing what you see in the documentary 'We Jam Econo' confirmed this all for me, was 'surprisingly unsurprising' because their whole attitude is somehow so sharply visible in their music, the lyrics, and how they presented themselves and their work, and how they went about things. Possibly the most influential band in my life. Though others are candidates, and sometimes very different ones. And they were and are just really good guys.

[@SorendeSelbyBowen]

It's great that you note Minutemen's inspiring lots of punk and post-punk bands. They definitely did. But the one that you cited, Gang of Four, well, their great first album, =Entertainment!=, came out in 1979, before any Minutemen album or EP.

[@joedimaggio44]

Thanks for posting this. Always great to see such a great band get some overdue attention. I think you really nailed it with your explanation(s) of how the notion of punk influenced them, and how they influenced so many other bands (and just people). Even though I am just a few years younger than them, somehow I didn't get hep to their music until years after Boon passed. Love it all and always try to see Watt whenever he tours one of his many projects.

[@kayfimt7769]

Great videos man. You ever considered covering Magazine? One of the best bands, they don’t get enough coverage. I’d throw Siouxsie And The Banshees in there too. And they’re a bit different from what you normally cover, but Killing Joke and The Stranglers are two other unusual but great British bands.

[@2020Sound]

Thanks Kayfim! And thanks for the suggestions. Coincidentally, you're the second person to comment on this video about The Stranglers - no one's suggested them before today!

[@kayfimt7769]

@@2020Sound Stranglers are to me a great example of "pop music for people who wouldn't be caught dead listening to pop music."

[@philipstanton1597]

beautifully and enthusiastically articulated. one detail correction having nothing to do with music--"The Minutemen" militia was important in the American Revolutionary War, not Civil war.

[@edvonblue]

Did you do any research beyond the Azzerad book?

[@andyburks53]

Love the bands energyyy. This is the second doc I have watched today on The Minutemen, but it's the first I liked and subscribed too. Well done

[@christianewen3227]

Your taste in music is impeccable. I am finding myself really looking forward to when your content lands 👍🏻

[@2020Sound]

Thanks very much Christian, much appreciated!

[@christianewen3227]

@@2020Sound A pleasure and huge respect to you for keeping up the excellent work ✊

[@LividImp]

That band was my life. Punk rock did change my life. I lived in San Pedro, and yes I would drive up to Hollywood to go drink and pogo, often playing "History Lesson Part 2" while driving up the 110 freeway. Got to see Watt play at a local coffee shop in Pedro (years after Boon died). I love Pedro, and the Minutemen really were the embodiment of it's working class quirky charm. I don't know if the Minutemen could have formed anywhere else. I'm broken hearted I can't return. If you want to get a sense of what the city was like, there is an excellent 4 part documentary on Pedro here on KZbin at watch?v=hYWwViivn9Q&list=PLnIXI2uQ2olmEUXfoMGSvkmoSItEXhbcW Btw, Pedro technically _is_ the city of Los Angeles, so you wouldn't be 27 miles from it, you'd actually be in it that whole distance. Pedro is a neighborhood like Hollywood or South Central. LA is *BIG.* To drive from one side of the city (the far end of the Valley) to another (the southern tip of Pedro) is 50 miles. That's the same size as the US state of Rhode Island, and about 4 times the population. That's the actual _city_ of Los Angeles, not the metro area. The whole metro area is at least twice the size of Rhode Island and at least 12 times the population (depending on which definition you use).

[@kenstarkey5087]

Boon lived with me for a while in Lomita

[@LividImp]

@@kenstarkey5087 Very cool. I used to work in Torrance back then and would often go through Lomita. Boon must have been a hell of a roommate. How'd you guys meet?

[@kve5520]

I would love to see you do a video on dope body - an american noise-rock band. Their albums, especially their first one, Natural History, are masterpieces. But so criminally underrated!

[@2020Sound]

Thanks, I'll check them out!

[@jamesnetwall1193]

you have Exquisite taste in music! The Minutemen are awesome! Thank you this is a band that has deserved much more than it has gotten in the years since they existed. Subscribed.

[@2020Sound]

Thanks very much James!

[@TheDrNGin]

I love Minutemen, this video was fantastic and deserves way more views. You did a great job on the presentation and research like you always do, and I can't wait for your next video.

[@2020Sound]

Thanks very much!

[@Econojam]

Wow, that was great.

[@DavidTheBurrito]

I force my bassist friend to play minutemen tunes with me during jam sessions. George Hurley is such a beast, their ethics are the best.

[@sanpedroez3367]

San Pedro is actually city of L.A. Same schools, police and mayor. Los Angeles city is full of different neighborhoods like San Pedro, Venice, Watts and Hollwood. Los Angeles county is full of cities like Long Beach, Compton, Beverly Hills and yes Los Angeles.

[@Econojam]

So wel done, big thumb up.

[@jacko250]

The thing I like most about your channel is that you cover bands I’ve always been aware of but have never given the time to listen to, so I will be sure to change that by playing Minutemen immediately haha!! Seeing as we share a passion for overlooked alternative acts, a band who I adore that never get discussed are Half Man Half Biscuit. Their story is hilarious, turning down an appearance on The Tube so they could watch Tranmere Rovers play instead, splitting up for ‘musical similarities’ before reuniting again and even getting referenced in an episode of Eastenders 😂 They are in my opinion the most British band to have ever existed with their lyrics referencing obscure British celebrities or places you wouldn’t normally expect to hear sung about in songs. I’d love to see you make a video on them I think they’d be up your street and plenty of material Keep up the good work 👍

[@2020Sound]

"There's a man with a mullet going mad with a mallet in Millets!" Makes me chuckle every time 😄. Great shout on HMHB - I'll stick them on the list!

[@jacko250]

@@2020Sound amazing I cannot wait for that video 😂 In the meantime I like this video they made as a tribute for John Peel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpjEp6SIYrSqipo

[@ericrussell6272]

I’m sorry that you discovered them so late in life. If you like Double Nickels, then definitely check out The Punchline and also Paranoid Time.

[@dogisblue]

Big fan of this channel - keep up the good work.

[@acdg7431]

Wonderful! I remember bouncing around in a friends house asking “who the hell is this?”1989

[@mattvanmantgem8600]

Pardon if I'm not at my usual level of verbosity- Mike and Dennes were my friends in 1978, when I was 12. Yes, they were college aged at the time, but they were like older brothers. I never would have liked music, never mind worked in the business without them. Beyond the minutemen, these people are foundational to me- so, yeah, when you ask when did I find the minutemen? Um, they found me skating at Venice Beach, because the day was too windy for surfing, and they came up to me.

[@2020Sound]

🤯 Amazing! Can you remember what you talked about that first time?

[@mattvanmantgem8600]

@@2020Sound yes, - because lice had been going around my school I had a shaved head, and they thought I was a Punk, already, and there were so few around so they thought I was one of Mike Atta's friends, so asked me about him- when it became clear that I had no idea what they were talking about, they thought to invite me to their place to see them play that next saturday.

[@2020Sound]

That's hilarious! 😄 so you have headlice to thank for meeting them, getting into music and working in the business? Love it. That's a phenomenal story!

[@Econojam]

Are you Eskimo?

[@paulmckenna9492]

Just stumbled upon this channel. Off to a good start …

[@jeffreyg4626]

Fookin' awesome take. Spot on. Thank you for this. Subscribed

[@russellhenrybieber6620]

They're the best punk band ever.

[@embededusername]

this was greatly made, thank you for this. i'll suscribe

[@2020Sound]

Thanks Tito!

[@briteness]

The Minutemen were such a good band. Although I got one of their albums in maybe 1983, it wasn't until around the time of D. Boon's death that I could really hear how good they were. Today they stand with the Meat Puppets as probably my favorite band from the 80s. Also, Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat is my favorite album title of all time.

[@jacksonfritts2988]

Great video!! Easily one of my favorite bands ever. Also firehose is probably the most underrated band of the 90’s.

[@tarico4436]

I ran a googs on the "27 club," and are you kidding me: D. Boon is not mentioned!

[@davidcrawford8583]

Great. Can you do a video on Husker Du? Love the Marginwalker EP in the background too.

[@nadikim1740]

I cant find you on audea - can you post audio versions of your videos there? would love to listen to them! thanks again for the great content!

[@gregordiezemann-io6zd]

Yes❤!

[@StellasEncounter]

You always cover the best bands!!

[@goodnightmoon]

absolute beautiful band, sadly their CDs are so expensive now

[@mileswilson3026]

Still affordable on the official SST website

[@akwilson1676]

You should do a video on The Psychedelic Furs. Underrated as hell.

[@anadraham2995]

Another fuckin bangeR from double dueces on the zero💥 No matter how long the video, i always want ten more minutes - what can i say, I'm a grEEdy dude bro 🎯🥞🏁🏁🏁

[@2020Sound]

Awww thanks Anad, you charmer! Much appreciated 🙂

[@allancarey3273]

Reading Azerrad's book literally changed my life. Bought it for the chapter on the Replacements (who you have to cover!) and it opened a door to another world.

[@2020Sound]

I eventually bought albums by every group in that book 😄. Yep, I absolutely do have to cover The 'Mats at some point. I've had Bob Mehr's 'Trouble Boys' looming intimidatingly on my shelf for a few years now. I'll find the time to read it one of these days and you can expect a video to follow!

[@allancarey3273]

That would be great, my favourite band of all time. Trouble Boys is fantastic, the band had such a unique and sad story

[@718Outdoors]

This was great, enjoyed it. MInutremen militias were formed during the American Revolutionary War, not the Civil War

[@khambrelgreen]

as a huge fan of Minutemen via fIREHOSE, I want to thank you exposing the band to the world. Cut was my introduction to their music. Santa Cruz skateboard videos in the eighties featured their music as well. By the way, the Minutemen originated during the American Revolution vs. yr homeland, not our civil war.

[@aleksandarfrick2656]

Joe Jackson first two albums were famous in Yugoslavia region . And "Gene Loves Jezebel "

[@aleksandarfrick2656]

Listen music since my ten ( first Beatles album as starting point ) and it is really sad that i found Chameleons , The Sound , Cardigans , Minuteman , Meat Puppets , Comsat Angels in last 12 months ! I'm now 45 years old . 🤨🙄🙂 " Gene Loves Jezebel " were also great alternative band from U.K.

[@stevemurray8257]

Ack Ack Ack

[@rodolphelagaise9064]

c ca qui est bien passer de suede aux minutemen sans se poser de questions bravo

[@2020Sound]

En effet - la variété est le piment de la vie !

[@honuman39]

No band sounds like The Minutemen or fIREHOSE.

[@GerardGraadmeter]

"Our band is scientist rock"

[@chlum6295]

Great video man, it's so much more than just some guy reading off a Wikipedia article. If you get the chance it'd be cool if you c u kd do a video on the Meat Puppets (who were lablemates with the minutemen)

[@2020Sound]

Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it! I was surprised the Meat Puppets never made it into that 'Our Band Could Be Your Life' book. I'll put them on the list 🙂

[@neumichel]

Minutemen.....Battle of Lexington vs British in 1775. Too funny that you mention Boon and Watt were history buffs right after this mistake.

[@csweet207]

Minutemen were from the American Revolutionary War not the Civil War, mate.

[@ErwinvanMaanen]

Almost, just like the book🌟Certainly one of the greats. They predicted Corona.

[@ericrussell6272]

Oh, also Buzz or Howl.