Flip Your Wig

1985 studio album by Hüsker Dü

Flip Your Wig

Studio album by

Hüsker Dü

Released| September 1985
Recorded| March–June 1985
Studio| Nicollet Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Genre|

* Power pop[1]
* punk rock[2]

Length| 40:09
Label| SST Records (055)
Producer| Bob Mould and Grant Hart
Hüsker Dü chronology
| New Day Rising
(1985)  | Flip Your Wig
(1985)  | Candy Apple Grey
(1986)

|
|

Singles from  Flip Your Wig

1. "Makes No Sense at All"
Released: August 1985

Flip Your Wig is the fourth studio album by American punk rock band Hüsker Dü, released in September 1985 through SST Records. It was the band's best-selling album to that point for their label SST Records, and was the last they made for that label.

## Production

[edit]

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.[citation needed]

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]

Professional ratingsReview 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]

Weekly chart performance for Flip Your Wig Chart (1985)  | Peak
position

|

UK Indie Chart[26] | 1

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Azerrad 2001, pp. 191–192; Earles 2014, p. 152.
2. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Flip Your Wig – Hüsker Dü". AllMusic. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
3. ^ a b c Azerrad 2001, p. 191.
4. ^ Azerrad 2001, p. 189.
5. ^ a b c d Earles 2014, p. 152.
6. ^ a b Azerrad 2001, pp. 191–192.
7. ^ Drew Wheeler and Mike Welch (December 1985). "Garage Sale". Spin. No. 8\. p. 22.
8. ^ "Husker Du Press Releases -- Flip Your Wig". www.thirdav.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
9. ^ "Hüsker Dü — Makes No Sense At All 7"/CD3". www.thirdav.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
10. ^ a b c Azerrad 2001, p. 192.
11. ^ 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.
12. ^ Kot, Greg (October 11, 1992). "As Bob Mould Went, So Went Rock Music". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
13. ^ 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.
14. ^ 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.
15. ^ a b Christgau.
16. ^ Tannenbaum 1985.
17. ^ Earles 2010, p. 165.
18. ^ Earles 2010, p. 177.
19. ^ 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)
20. ^ Earles 2010, p. 178; Mould & Azerrad 2011, p. 110.
21. ^ Mould & Azerrad 2011, p. 103.
22. ^ Leland & Ira.
23. ^ "Flip Your Wig - Hüsker Dü | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
24. ^ Flip Your Wig (Back cover). SST Records. 1985. SST 055.
25. ^ "Fake Name Communications". Discogs. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
26. ^ 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.

* v
* t
* e

Hüsker Dü

* Grant Hart
* Bob Mould
* Greg Norton

Studio albums|

* Everything Falls Apart
* Zen Arcade
* New Day Rising
* Flip Your Wig
* Candy Apple Grey
* Warehouse: Songs and Stories

Extended plays|

* Metal Circus
* Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely
* Sorry Somehow
* Ice Cold Ice

Live albums|

* Land Speed Record
* The Living End

Singles|

* "Statues"
* "In A Free Land"
* "Eight Miles High"
* "Celebrated Summer"
* "Makes No Sense At All"
* "Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely"
* "Sorry Somehow"
* "Could You Be The One?"
* "She's A Woman (And Now He Is A Man)"
* "Ice Cold Ice"

Other songs|

* "Diane"
* "Turn On The News"
* "Pink Turns To Blue"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Sugar
* Reflex Records

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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