Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Twin Cities at the End of the World in 1984
















On a road trip to help my sister Vickie move her car and some of her stuff from North Carolina to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota in November 1984, upon arrival at our destination I was able to get out and hear some of the local music scene. Prince was already well into megascale, but there was Duffy's, featuring the Urban Guerillas, a band I'd already come across at the Beat Exchange in New Orleans, where gigantic projections of Debbie Harry and Blondie ran between live sets and outside, drunken dudes fought and a passing witch shrieked, "Magic Beads! Magic Beads!"

At Duffy's in Minneapolis, the Replacements had previously played with the Urban Guerillas and let's not forget other bands on the prowl like the Suburbs and Hüsker Dü. Those were the days of SST and Zen Arcade and Stiff and Slash Records.

The more things change: End of the World Party Part II. Didn't we have another two of those in 2011?  And why are we still here anyway?

Today's Rune: Signals.

2 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I kind of always wished I knew something about the underground music scene but alas I never have. I find your tales of such a fascinating look into a world I know so little about but find very interesting.

Adorably Dead said...

Projections of Debbie Harry and magic beads? I feel like I've missed out on something.