Flip Your Wig

Flip Your Wig
Studio album by Hüsker Dü
Released September 1985
Recorded March–June 1985
Genre Alternative rock, punk rock
Length 40:09
Label SST
Producer Bob Mould and Grant Hart
Hüsker Dü chronology

New Day Rising
(1985)		 Flip Your Wig
(1985)		 Candy Apple Grey
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]
Robert Christgau A−[3]
Spin [4]

Flip Your Wig is the fourth album by the American punk rock band, Hüsker Dü. It was the band's first self-produced album, and its last release on SST Records. Bob Mould has stated that he views Flip Your Wig as "the best album Hüsker Dü ever did."[5] The band spent more time on the recording process than on their previous albums,[6] and upon release it became the best-selling record on SST up to that point.[7]

Background

By the time the album was released in 1985, Hüsker Dü had signed a record deal with the major-label Warner Music Group,[8] who were keen to release the album themselves.[9] However, out of loyalty, and because of SST's appointment of new promotions manager Ray Farrell, the album was given to SST.[10][11] The title track and "Keep Hanging On" became staples of the band's live shows, while power pop anthem "Makes No Sense at All" was featured in a music video; this song was sometimes performed by Mould in his 1990s solo career.

"Makes No Sense at All" was released as a single, with "Love Is All Around" (the theme song of the Mary Tyler Moore Show) on the b-side. The "Makes No Sense at All" video includes both songs, back-to-back.[12]

Flip Your Wig, like Hüsker Dü's other SST releases, has never been remastered for improved sound on compact disc.

Critical reception

Trouser Press describes the album as "Positively brilliant — fourteen unforgettable pop tunes played like armageddon were nigh",[13] while 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."[14]

Track listing

Side one
  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
Side two
  1. "Find Me" (Mould) – 4:05
  2. "The Baby Song" (Hart) – 0:46
  3. "Flexible Flyer" (Hart) – 3:01
  4. "Private Plane" (Mould) – 3:17
  5. "Keep Hanging On" (Hart) – 3:15
  6. "The Wit and the Wisdom" (Mould) – 3:41
  7. "Don't Know Yet" (Mould) – 2:14

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1985) Peak
position
UK Indie Chart[15] 1

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "allmusic ((( Flip Your Wig > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  2. ↑ Brackett, Nathan. "Hüsker Dü". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 398, cited March 18, 2010
  3. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Hüsker Dü". robertchristgau.com, Retrieved on March 18, 2010.
  4. ↑ Weisbard, Eric. "Hüsker Dü". Spin Alternative Record Guide. October 1995. p.187
  5. ↑ Mould, Bob & Azerrad, Michael. See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody. Little Brown and Company, 2011. ISBN 0-316-04508-X, p. 103
  6. ↑ Earles, Andrew (2010). Husker Du: The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock. p.166: Voyageur Press. ASIN B004NNUXYI.
  7. ↑ Earles 2010, p. 165.
  8. ↑ Earles 2010, p. 177.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ Earles 2010, p. 178.
  11. ↑ Mould 2011, p. 110.
  12. ↑ "Makes No Sense At All". Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  13. ↑ http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=husker_du
  14. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/flip-your-wig-mw0000190362
  15. ↑ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Retrieved September 5, 2014.