Ballot Result

"Ballot Result"
Compilation album by Minutemen
Released 1987
Recorded September 1980 - November 30, 1985
Genre Alternative rock, post-punk, hardcore punk
Length 69:06
Label SST Records
Producer Mike Watt
Minutemen chronology

Minuteflag
(1986)		 "Ballot Result"
(1987)		 Post-Mersh Vol. 1
(1987)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic link
Robert Christgau A–[1]
Rolling Stone mixed link

"Ballot Result" is a posthumous live compilation album by Minutemen.

The story of "Ballot Result" starts with the Tour-Spiel EP in 1984. Minutemen had been given a copy of a tape of a live radio performance for the Virgin Vinyl Show they had done in Tucson, Arizona, four songs of which they used for the EP. The engineer of that particular session later claimed that Minutemen had not got his permission to use the recording and reacted by releasing a bootleg album, ...Just a Minute Men. The sudden existence of the bootleg album, which the engineer blatantly promoted through magazines like Spin and Flipside, upset Minutemen enough that the group decided to do an anti-bootleg album, 3 Dudes 6 Sides 3 Studio 3 Live. The group printed ballots which they passed out to fans during their summer and fall 1985 performances as well as planned to insert into the first pressing of their next studio album, 3-Way Tie (For Last); the ballots would determine which songs the band would record for the live portion of the album.

The death of guitarist and lead singer D. Boon on December 22, 1985 scuttled Minutemen, putting an end to both the band and the planned live album. Surviving members Mike Watt and George Hurley, a few months from reuniting to form Firehose with singer/guitarist Ed Crawford, decided to use the ballots and existing live recordings (many sent in by fans and friends) to compile the album.

The final album contains all live recordings plus a few rarities and a couple of previously released studio tracks to compensate for the fact that Minutemen had not performed the song live yet (as in the case of "The Price Of Paradise" from 3-Way Tie...) or that no live recording of the song was available ("Song for El Salvador" from The Punch Line and "Dreams are Free, Motherfucker!" from Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat, to give two examples.)

The CD version deletes most of the previously released studio recordings (except for "Shit You Hear at Parties" from The Politics of Time, which SST didn't have the rights to at the time) but also, curiously, deletes the live version of "Hey Lawdy Mama". The cassette version adds a cover of "Fortunate Son" that was an outtake from the Joy sessions and a "Closing Jam" (from 1983) to the double vinyl track listing - these two tracks appear at the end of side one, after "Song For El Salvador".

Track listing

Original Double Album

Side one
  1. "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" (Dukowski/Boon) – 3:03
  2. "Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing" (Watt) – 1:25
  3. "I Felt Like A Gringo" (Watt) – 1:39
  4. "Jesus And Tequila" (Carducci/Boon) – 2:52
  5. "Courage" (Boon) – 2:55
  6. "King Of The Hill" (Boon) – 3:00
  7. "Bermuda" (Erickson) – 3:07
    • All tracks on Side One from a live broadcast on WREK radio, Atlanta, GA, on November 30, 1985.
Side two
  1. "No One" (remix) (Kira/Watt) – 6:30
    • Remix by Ethan James, Radio Tokyo Studio, November 1985.
  2. "Mr. Robot's Holy Orders" (Hurley/Watt) – 7:45
    • From a live broadcast on WREK radio, Atlanta, GA, on November 30, 1985.
  3. "The Price Of Paradise" (Boon) – 3:31
  4. "Song For El Salvador" (Boon) – 0:31
Side three
  1. "Ack Ack Ack" (Talley-Jones/Johansen) – 0:32
  2. "History Lesson Part II" (Watt) – 2:30
  3. "Hey Lawdy Mama" (Kay/Byrom/Edmonton)
  4. "This Ain't No Picnic" (Boon) – 1:46
  5. "The Cheerleaders" (Boon) – 3:28
  6. "Time" (Hell) – 2:36
    • First six tracks from a Spin Radio taping done at KPFK's studio in Los Angeles, CA in October 1985.
  7. "Cut" (Watt) – 2:01
  8. "Split Red" (Boon/Watt) – 1:05
    • Both tracks from a live broadcast on KPFK, January 2, 1983.
  9. "Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker!" (Crane/Boon/Hurley/Watt) – 1:09
Side four
  1. "Shit You Hear At Parties" (Boon/Watt) – 1:06
    • From a November 28, 1981 recording session that wasn't released until 1984 as part of the album The Politics Of Time.
  2. "Hell" (Second Take) (Boon/Watt/Hurley) – 7:05
  3. "Tour-Spiel" (Watt) – 3:22
  4. "Take Our Test" (Watt) – 2:03
    • From a soundboard cassette of a performance at the Indian Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM on May 25, 1985, during Black Flag's Loose Nut tour.
  5. "The Punch Line" (Watt) – 0:46
  6. "Search" (Hurley/Watt) – 0:48
  7. "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs" – 1:16 (Watt)
    • From an audience cassette of a performance at Love Hall in Philadelphia, PA on December 15, 1983 during a mini-tour of the East Coast with Hüsker Dü.
  8. "Badges" (Watt) – 0:38
  9. "Tension" (Tamburovich/Watt) – 1:33
    • From a cassette recording of a Minutemen band practice in the shed behind George Hurley's house sometime in September 1980.
  10. "If Reagan Played Disco" (Watt) – 1:15
    • From an audience cassette of an outdoor gig at Wilson Park in Torrance, CA on May 22, 1982 (Pictures of the gig can be seen on the inside of the Double Nickels On The Dime album jacket (and CD insert).)
  11. "No! No! No! To Draft And War/Joe McCarthy's Ghost" (Sambia)/(Watt) – 3:00
    • From an audience cassette of the encore of a performance in Madison, WI on May 2, 1985.

CD version

  1. "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" (Dukowski/Boon) – 3:03
  2. "Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing" (Watt) – 1:25
  3. "I Felt Like A Gringo" (Watt) – 1:39
  4. "Jesus And Tequila" (Carducci/Boon) – 2:52
  5. "Courage" (Boon) – 2:55
  6. "King Of The Hill" (Boon) – 3:00
  7. "Bermuda" (Erickson) – 3:07
  8. "No One (remix)" (Kira/Watt) – 6:30
  9. "Mr. Robot's Holy Orders" (Hurley/Watt) – 7:45
  10. "Ack Ack Ack" (Talley-Jones/Johansen) – 0:32
  11. "History Lesson Part II" (Watt) – 2:30
  12. "This Ain't No Picnic" (Boon) – 1:46
  13. "The Cheerleaders" (Boon) – 3:28
  14. "Time" (Watt) – 2:36
  15. "Cut" (Watt) – 2:01
  16. "Split Red" (Boon/Watt) – 1:05
  17. "Shit You Hear At Parties" (Boon/Watt) – 1:06
  18. "Hell" (Second Take) (Boon/Watt/Hurley) – 7:05
  19. "Tour-Spiel" (Watt) – 3:22
  20. "Take Our Test" (Watt) – 2:03
  21. "The Punch Line" (Watt) – 0:46
  22. "Search" (Hurley/Watt) – 0:48
  23. "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs" (Watt) – 1:16
  24. "Badges" (Watt) – 0:38
  25. "Tension" (Tamburovich/Watt) – 1:33
  26. "If Reagan Played Disco" (Watt) – 1:15
  27. "No! No! No! To Draft And War/Joe McCarthy's Ghost" (Sambia)/(Watt) – 3:00

Musical Personnel

The actual "Ballot Results"

According to the back cover of "Ballot Result", these results are from ballots received by SST Records between January and April 1986.

  1. This Ain't No Picnic
  2. If Reagan Played Disco
  3. Jesus And Tequila
  4. Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs
  5. King Of The Hill
  6. Little Man With A Gun In His Hand
  7. The Punch Line
  8. No One
  9. Courage
  10. The Cheerleaders
  11. History Lesson, Part II
  12. Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing
  13. Joe McCarthy's Ghost
  14. Shit You Hear At Parties
  15. Paranoid Chant (*)
  16. I Felt Like A Gringo
  17. Search
  18. Badges
  19. Ack Ack Ack
  20. Joy
  21. Song For El Salvador
  22. Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker!
  23. The Price Of Paradise
  24. Cut
  25. Take Our Test
  26. Tour-Spiel
  27. Party With Me, Punker (*)
  28. Tension
  29. Hey Lawdy Mama
  30. Split Red
An asterisk (*) denotes that the song was not able to be represented on the album.

References

  1. ↑ Christgau, Robert (June 2, 1987). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved 2012-08-11.