A 2 CD set of rare, early Hüsker Dü live recordings, featuring original flyers and artwork, Tonite Longhorn arrives via the band’s own Reflex Records at all DSPs and streaming services on August 25, 2023. Meanwhile, a limited edition 2xLP black vinyl release will be available on Record Store Day, Saturday, April 22 at participating stores.
Drawn from the historical Hüsker Dü recording archives compiled by Terry Katzman, this double disc live set is an essential companion piece to the band’s Savage Young Du Box Set. While the SYD release principally featured studio demos, the 28 tracks presented here are the aural and enchanting equivalent of a time machine that vividly thrusts the listener straight back to Husker Du’s embryonic unsheathing on stage. Side A dates to July 1979. Side B gives us a full year’s evolution to July 1980, while Sides C and D land the listener in September 1980. Perhaps 120 people in total saw these three Longhorn performances. Until now, a handful at most have heard the playbacks. So, rare and fresh, it’s all here: the songs, the driven performances, the small club intimacy of being in front of select friends, fans, and peers, with one fair shot at getting it right. These four sides compellingly document that you can’t doubt that they did.
Bob Mould says, “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.”
Track Listing:
Disc 1:
Insects Rule The World
I’m Not Interested
Sex Dolls
Can’t See You Anymore
Sexual Economics
Do You Remember?
Nuclear Nightmare
All Tensed Up
Strange Week
Don’t Try To Call
Industrial Grocery Store
Do The Bee
Do You Remember?
Ode To Bode
Don’t Have A Life
Disc 2:
All I’ve Got To Lose
Don’t Try It
Writer’s Cramp
Gilligan’s Island
What Went Wrong?
Uncle Ron
MTC
Drug Party
Chinese Rock
Termination
Call On Me
Gravity
Statues
