This column makes me feel old as dirt.

Yeah MCC me too, but she is kind of right. I always thought that this album was crappy except for that song. Especially the production, which if I remember correctly was a collaborative effort between Self Produced and LSD, never a good combo. For me, Flip Your Wig and New Day Rising were the good albums, and this was the self indulgent lousy one.

For the record, and a waste of my breath, Hüsker Dü were the first to umlaut. And though Zen Arcade was not Flip Your Wig, Zen Arcade did inspire a visual art breakthrough of mine, using a vintage video arcade game as an exhibit system.

Blue Oyster Cult and Motorhead were the first to use umlauts. "Something I Learned Today" was a great live tune, but just OK on record. "Never Talking to You Again" is a good one. At the Triple Door show this spring, Bob said he felt the best three records he ever did were Workbook, Copper Blue, and Flip Your Wig. For my money, the Huskers sounded better live than on wax.

The use of umlauts in the band's name is not entirely gratuitous, as the name originally appeared in Danish as "Hūsker Dū" and the diacritical marks known as macrons were replaced with the more familiar umlauts. Why? Who knows.

The name refers to a Danish board game played by children that is similar to a game we call Concentration. The name "Hūsker Dū" literally translates into "Do You Remember?" in Danish.

You're welcome.
-Harold Lowe Bagg, Professor Emeritus