Song Of the Day: August 3, 2005
NNB - Slack
Wave 7 Records 45, 1978
A much-loved Minneapolis 45, often hailed as a perfect combination of Ubu at their most straightforward and Television. NNB also contributed tracks to Twin/Tone's first Big Hits From Mid-America package and a No Mag flexi. Apparently guitarist Mark Freeman tried to create an element of mystery; NNB didn't play live terribly often, and the single lists no personnel, though we have gleaned that other guitarist Dick Champ ended up in The Scene Is Now.
11 Comments:
Thanks, Jon -- another great choice. It starts at Ubu, adds Television, and ends up with Gordons/Bailter Space. Pretty cool for 1978!
neat! i saw them in that no wave documentary that came out recently (can't remember the title, but it was about a little festival, maybe one that happened in minneapolis) and i really wanted to know more about them. i'm going to post about this on livejournal and maybe send a few more people this way. thanks for posting this.
I too, saw the documentary Karen mentions above (it was called M80), and also enjoyed NNB greatly. Thanks for posting this!
One of my all time faves! Back in '99 I was promised a live tape of these guys that never manifested, but perhaps it was a fiction as I've not heard of it since then (but I'm clearly no supersleuth since as many times as I've searched stuff out about these folks I never knew about The Scene Is Now connection.)
Oh, and Mr Bob Mould also posted some musings on these fellows (along w/ a very clean mp3 of the single) a while back as well.
i just wanted to ask what NNB stands for. because it certainly isn't Need New Body :)
Little Hits just keeps on getting better. Great song. Interesting band. Their two tracks on the Big Hits... comp. (an important touchstone recording for a lot of us growing up in the midwest) are "Listen" and "Uruguay 1983." Both are excellent examples of how unique and forward-looking these guys were. Spacey guitar atmospherics and spooky vocals, and they could write songs. The Gordons/Bailter Space comment above is right on. They remain one of the slightly more mysterious bands of the impending Mnpls. explosion. I recall seeing the Suburbs in Green Bay in 1982 and the buzz about Mnpls. was evident. NNB were among many who were ahead of their time and never enjoyed the semi-stardom which came the way of the Twin Cities in the 80s. That's the way it goes, I guess. Someone always has to come first and fling the door open for the rest of us to get through. Fond memories of a lost innocence can haunt you forever. Rock on... Thanks again, Little Hits.
I may be a few months late on this, but Dredd Foole and the Din covered this great song. The Din were an incarnation of Mission of Burma.
Hello, anyone out there still interested in NNB? I am a former member, Chuck Hultquist, bassplayer. Rusty Jones was the original bassist, it is he you hear on the Slack single. Then came Wayne Hasti, followed by Dave Blessing (anyone know where he is? I need to get in touch with him) and finally your's truly. It is me on the M80 tape. Anyone got a copy of that? I'd pay! Mark Freeman guitarist and founder, Dick Champ also on guitar, Jim Tollefsrud was the drummer from the start, follwed by Cindy Blum. I was with from the start as soundguy/whatever. We rehearsed in the basement of the Wax Museum on Lake where Dick worked. I recorded alot of rehearsals on Dick's 4 track Akai and there were some gems there.
My 1st gig onstage was M80 and there was a bit of stagefright involved for a few seconds there. We played around a bit and then came an eastcoast tour, my first time to NY. It was crazy cramped in Jim's AMC Hornet dragging a trailer of equipment. I was not so keen on the Apple at that time, remember this was tailend Kojak era! Anyway less than a year later we were all living there, east village, scraping along. We played the Peppermint Lounge, Hurrahs, CBGBs and quite a bit in Hoboken at Maxwell's. That's enough for now, gotta get back to work. I should point out that nowadays I live in Sweden, working as a teacher, ja! det sant!
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Hi, Caroline here from the UK. I lived in Minneapolis for the most part until moving to the UK over ten years ago. David Blessing was bassist with NNB at the time of the party for the opening for Rock-It Cards, when I first saw them, 1978 I think but can't recall precise date. David was also guitarist in the successor band to NNB, red House I shot a lot of Super-8 film of the band as well as other bands at the Longhorn and other venues including M80 back in the day. In response to anon., NNB didn't stand for anything as I recall but when asked Mark Freeman would say anything from No Name Band, to No Nonsense Bra, to Neo-Nazi Buggery...
Hi! I'm a fan of NNB and I'm a friend of Chuck's! Hi, Chuck!
Post a Comment
<< Home