Flip Your Wig is the fourth studio album by American band Hüsker Dü, released in September 1985. It was the best-selling album to that point for the band's label SST Records, and the last they made for that label. As the band's first self-produced album, they spent months in the studio to achieve higher-quality production for its melodic power pop songs.
| Flip Your Wig | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 1985 | |||
| Recorded | March–June 1985 | |||
| Studio | Nicollet Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 40:09 | |||
| Label | SST (055) | |||
| Producer | Bob Mould and Grant Hart | |||
| Hüsker Dü chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Flip Your Wig | ||||
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Production edit
By 1985 Hüsker Dü was the best-selling band on SST Records.[3] The band had wanted to produce their previous album New Day Rising, but SST insisted on sending long-time label producer Spot.[4] With Flip Your Wig the band was finally allowed to self-produce.[3] Recording took place over several sessions in the band's hometown of Minneapolis[5] from March to June 1985, by far the longest the band had spent in the studio.[3] The cleaner production complemented the more melodic songs, still performed with heavily distorted guitars in a high-powered manner.[6]
Mould said, "There's more emphasis on the vocals. They're a little more out-front. The production is the main thing. Clearer vocals and less emphasis on guitar. The crazy solos... I think we're a little out of that now."[7]
Songs edit
Guitarist Bob Mould and drummer Grant Hart each wrote roughly half the songs,[6] which continued the band's trend toward power pop and away from the fast, noisy hardcore punk of their earliest material.[1]
"Makes No Sense at All" was released as a single,[5] with "Love Is All Around" (the theme song of the Mary Tyler Moore Show) on the b-side.[8][9] The a-side was the band's first song to achieve significant airplay on album-oriented rock radio.[10] and its video was the band's first.[5]
"The Baby Song" was a tribute to Grant Hart's newborn child. In 2010, The A.V. Club named it one of "24 songs that almost derail great albums".[11]
Release and reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| Chicago Tribune | [12] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [13] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10[14] |
| The Village Voice | A−[15] |
Flip Your Wig appeared via SST in September 1985. It débuted at No. 5 on the CMJ album charts and received more radio airplay and mainstream press attention than the band's earlier releases, including stories in Creem, Spin,[10] Rolling Stone.[16] Robert Christgau declared in The Village Voice that with the album's production the band had "never sounded so good",[15] and the album placed in the top ten of the magazine's critics' poll for 1985 along with New Day Rising.[10] Flip Your Wig became SST's best-selling album at the time of its release,[17] moving 50,000 copies in its first four months.[5]
By the time the album was released Hüsker Dü had signed a record deal with the major-label Warner Music Group,[18] who were keen to release the album themselves.[19] However, out of loyalty, and because of SST's appointment of new promotions manager Ray Farrell, the album was given to SST.[20]
Decades later, Bob Mould saw Flip Your Wig as "the best album Hüsker Dü ever did".[21] Ira Robbins and John Leland at Trouser Press describe the album as "Positively brilliant — fourteen unforgettable pop tunes played like armageddon were nigh" and rate "Makes No Sense at All" as "one of 1985's best 45s".[22] AllMusic's review says "Flip Your Wig would be a remarkable record on its own terms, but the fact that it followed New Day Rising by a matter of months and Zen Arcade by just over a year is simply astonishing."[23]
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Flip Your Wig" | Bob Mould | 2:33 |
| 2. | "Every Everything" | Grant Hart | 1:56 |
| 3. | "Makes No Sense at All" | Mould | 2:43 |
| 4. | "Hate Paper Doll" | Mould | 1:52 |
| 5. | "Green Eyes" | Hart | 2:58 |
| 6. | "Divide and Conquer" | Mould | 3:42 |
| 7. | "Games" | Mould | 4:06 |
| 8. | "Find Me" | Mould | 4:05 |
| 9. | "The Baby Song" | Hart | 0:46 |
| 10. | "Flexible Flyer" | Hart | 3:01 |
| 11. | "Private Plane" | Mould | 3:17 |
| 12. | "Keep Hanging On" | Hart | 3:15 |
| 13. | "The Wit and the Wisdom" | Mould | 3:41 |
| 14. | "Don't Know Yet" | Mould | 2:14 |
Personnel edit
Liner notes adapted from the album sleeve.[24]
- Hüsker Dü
- Bob Mould – guitar, bass, piano, lead and background vocals, percussion, producer
- Greg Norton – bass
- Grant Hart – drums, lead and background vocals, vibraphone, slide whistle, percussion, producer
- Technical
- Steve Fjelstad – engineer
- Fake Name Communications – cover design[25]
- Bruce A. Christianson – front cover photography
- Daniel Corrigan – back cover and insert photography
Charts edit
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Indie Chart | 1[26] |
References edit
- ^ a b Azerrad 2001, pp. 191–192; Earles 2014, p. 152.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Flip Your Wig – Hüsker Dü". AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- ^ a b c Azerrad 2001, p. 191.
- ^ Azerrad 2001, p. 189.
- ^ a b c d Earles 2014, p. 152.
- ^ a b Azerrad 2001, pp. 191–192.
- ^ Drew Wheeler and Mike Welch (December 1985). "Garage Sale". Spin. No. 8. p. 22.
- ^ "Husker Du Press Releases -- Flip Your Wig". www.thirdav.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^ "Hüsker Dü — Makes No Sense At All 7"/CD3". www.thirdav.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^ a b c Azerrad 2001, p. 192.
- ^ Modell, Josh; Ryan, Kyle; Rizov, Vadim; Robinson, Tasha; Phipps, Keith; Rabin, Nathan; Heller, Jason; Hyden, Steven; Zulkey, Claire; Adams, Sam; Heisler, Steve (December 27, 2010). "The turd in the caviar: 24 songs that almost derail great albums". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
- ^ Kot, Greg (October 11, 1992). "As Bob Mould Went, So Went Rock Music". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
- ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Hüsker Dü". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). London: Fireside Books. p. 399. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ Weisband, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "Hüsker Dü". Spin Alternative Record Guide (1st ed.). New York: Vintage Books. p. 187. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ^ a b Christgau.
- ^ Tannenbaum 1985.
- ^ Earles 2010, p. 165.
- ^ Earles 2010, p. 177.
- ^ Mould, Bob (2011). See A Little Light The Trail Of Rage And Melody. p.109: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 978-0-316-04508-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Earles 2010, p. 178; Mould & Azerrad 2011, p. 110.
- ^ Mould & Azerrad 2011, p. 103.
- ^ Leland & Ira.
- ^ "Flip Your Wig - Hüsker Dü | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ Flip Your Wig (Back cover). SST Records. 1985. SST 055.
- ^ "Fake Name Communications". Discogs. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- ^ Lazell 1997.
Works cited edit
- Azerrad, Michael (2001). Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-24718-4.
- Christgau, Robert (January 28, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
- Earles, Andrew (2010). Husker Du: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock. MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-61673-979-9.
- Earles, Andrew (2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981–1996. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4648-8.
- Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits: 1980–1989: The Complete U.K. Independent Charts (Singles & Albums). Cherry Red Books. ISBN 978-0-9517206-9-1.
- Leland, John; Robbins, Ira. "Hüsker Dü". Archived from the original on January 20, 2003. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
- Mould, Bob; Azerrad, Michael (2011). See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-17571-5.
- Tannenbaum, Rob (November 7, 1985). "Flip Your Wig". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 19, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2016.