Minor Threat
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| Minor Threat | ||
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 Ian MacKaye and the Minor Threat logo
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Washington DC |
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| Genre(s) | Hardcore punk Straight edge |
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| Years active | 1980–1983 | |
| Label(s) | Dischord | |
| Former members | ||
| Ian MacKaye Jeff Nelson Brian Baker Lyle Preslar Steve Hansgen |
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Minor Threat was a short-lived but highly influential hardcore punk band from Washington DC, often credited with starting the straight edge movement. Critics have called them and their work "iconic," [1] and have noted that their "groundbreaking" music "has held up better than [that of] most of their contemporaries." [2]
They and fellow Washington DC residents Bad Brains set the standard for many hardcore punk bands in the 1980s and 1990s. They produced short, often astonishingly fast songs, eventually with excellent production quality, which at the time was lacking in most punk and alternative rock. All of Minor Threat's records were released on the band's own Dischord Records.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
While at Wilson High School, Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson were in the influental DC punk band The Teen Idles. After that band broke up, MacKaye decided to switch from bass to vocals, and organized Minor Threat with Nelson, bassist Brian Baker and guitarist Lyle Preslar. Minor Threat's first performance was in December 1980, opening for Bad Brains.
[edit] Minor Threat and In my Eyes
Their first 7" EPs, Minor Threat and In My Eyes, were released in 1981. The group became popular regionally, and toured the United States' east coast and Midwest.
"Straight Edge," a song on the first EP, inadvertently inspired the straight edge movement. The song seemed to be a call for abstention from drugs and alcohol-- a new thing in rock music, which initially found a small, but dedicated following, which was brought out such iconic groups as 7 seconds, Charles Bronson, Vitamin X, Refused, and various others to this day.
Another Minor Threat song from the second EP, "Out of Step", further demonstrates the belief: " Don't smoke/Don't drink/Don't fuck/At least I can fucking think/I can't keep up/I'm out of step with the world." The "I" in the lyrics was only implied (mainly because it didn't quite fit the rhythm of the song), and some in Minor Threat -- Jeff Nelson in particular -- took exception to what they saw as MacKaye's imperious attitude on the song.
Minor Threat's song "Guilty of Being White" led to some accusations of racism, but MacKaye has strongly denied such intentions and said that some listeners misinterpreted his words. Slayer later covered the song, with the last iteration of the lyric "Guilty of being white" changed to "Guilty of being right." In an interview in Steven Blush's book American Hardcore: A Tribal History, MacKaye has stated that he was offended that some perceived racist overtones in the lyrics.
[edit] Brief break up and reformation
In the time between the release of the band's second seven inch EP and the Out of Step record the band briefly split when guitarist Lyle Preslar moved to Illinois for college. During this period MacKaye and Nelson put together a studio only project called Skewbald/Grand Union (In a reflection of the slowly increasing disagreements between the two musicians, they were unable to decide on one name). The group recorded three untitled songs which would be released posthumously as Dischord's 50th release. During this period Brian Baker also briefly played guitar for Government Issue and appeared on the Make An Effort EP. In March of 1981, at H.R.'s urging, Preslar left college to reform Minor Threat. Shortly afterwards, Minor Threat and In My Eyes were re-released as First two 7"s on a 12".
When "Out of Step" was re-recorded for the band's LP Out of Step, MacKaye inserted a spoken section explaining, "This is not a set of rules..." An ideological door was already opened, however, and by 1982, some straight-edge punks, such as followers of the band SS Decontrol, were swatting beers out of people's hands at clubs. Minor Threat, however, did not promote such behavior.
[edit] Break up
Minor Threat broke up in 1983. One contributing factor was disagreement over musical direction. MacKaye was allegedly skipping practice sessions towards the end of the band's career, and he wrote the lyrics to the songs on the Salad Days E.P. in the studio. This was quite the contrast between the earlier recordings as he had written and co-written the music for some of the band's early material. Minor Threat played their last show on September 23, 1983 with Go go band Trouble Funk and the Big Boys, ending with "Last Song", which was the original title of "Salad Days".
[edit] Post Minor Threat
MacKaye went on to found Embrace with former members of the Faith, the obscure Egg Hunt with Jeff Nelson and later Fugazi and the Evens, as well as collaborating on Pailhead. Brian Baker went on to play in Junkyard and the seminal Dag Nasty and currently plays in Bad Religion. Lyle Preslar briefly played in Glenn Danzig's Samhain and his playing appears on a few songs on the band's first record; he later ran Caroline Records, signing and working with, among others, Peter Gabriel, Ben Folds, Chemical Brothers and Idaho, and ran marketing for Sire Records. He is currently finishing up law school at Rutgers University. Jeff Nelson played less frantic alternative rock with Three and The High-Back Chairs before retiring from live performance; he also runs his own label, Adult Swim Records (distributed by Dischord), does graphic art, and became a somewhat prominent political activist in the D.C. area.
The band's own Dischord Records released material by many bands from the Washington, D.C. area, such as Government Issue, Void, Scream, Fugazi, Artificial Peace, Rites of Spring, Gray Matter, and Dag Nasty, and has become a respected independent record label.
[edit] "Major Threat"
In 2005, a mock up of the cover of Minor Threat's first EP (also used on the First two 7"'s on a 12" LP and Complete Discography CD) was copied by athletic footwear manufacturer Nike for use on a promotional poster for a skateboarding tour called "Major Threat". Nike also altered Minor Threat's distinctive logo (designed by Jeff Nelson) for the same campaign, as well as featuring Nike shoes in the new picture, rather than the generic work boots worn by Ian MacKaye's younger brother Alec on the original. MacKaye issued a press statement condemning Nike's actions and said that he would discuss legal options with the other members of the band. Meanwhile, fans, at the encouragement of Dischord, organized a letter-writing campaign protesting Nike's infringement. On June 27, 2005, Nike issued a statement apologizing to Minor Threat, Dischord Records, and their fans for the "Major Threat" campaign and said that all promotional artwork (print and digital) that they could get ahold of were destroyed.
On October 29, 2005, Fox played the first few seconds of Minor Threat's "Salad Days" during an NFL broadcast. Use of the song was not cleared by Dischord Records or any of the members of Minor Threat. Fox claimed that the clip was too short to have violated any copyrights.
[edit] Members
- Ian MacKaye - vocals (1980-1983)
- Lyle Preslar - guitar (1980-1983)
- Brian Baker - bass (1980-1982, 1983); guitar (1982-1983)
- Steve Hansgen - bass (1982-1983)
- Jeff Nelson - drums (1980-1983)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Out of Step (1983)
[edit] EPs
- Minor Threat (1981)
- In My Eyes (1981)
- Salad Days (1985)
[edit] Compilation appearances
- Flex Your Head (1982) - "Stand Up", "12XU"
- 20 Years of Dischord (2002) - "Understand", "Asshole Dub"
[edit] Other releases
- Complete Discography (1989)
- First Demo Tape (2003)
