ewe2
09-03-2006, 09:28 PM
I'm the paint on the road
the weight of your load
with the cracked glass ground
fuck it!
- Chemical Wire, fIREHOSE
fIREHOSE is rightly a miracle because there wasn't supposed to be a band after the Minutemen. Mike Watt and George Hurley had decided to quit music altogether following their friend’s death. And then the most unlikely thing happened – they got a phone call from a fan.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/fhose86a.jpgEd Crawford was a hardcore Minutemen fan from Colombus, Ohio who looked up Watt’s number in the book and gave him a ring. He then got in his car, drove to San Pedro, California and convinced Watt and Hurley to form a new band.
The name fIREHOSE was suggested to Watts by the Bob Dylan promotion clip for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" where Dylan holds up a series of cue cards while the song plays. "I thought that it was funny when he held up the card that said 'firehose'," Watt now explains. The unique spelling was due to one of Crawford’s letters to Watt which he signed “Ed Crawford fROMOHIO" (and which was later used to title their third album). But, as the typography suggests, it is also a punk symbol, turning case upside down to see the word in a new way.
And while in many ways fIREHOSE was picking up where the Minutemen left off, in many ways it was not. Watt has dedicated most of his career to the memory of his friend D. Boon but one of the key aspects of Boon’s personality was a fierce independence and insistence on challenging the status quo. That allied with Crawford’s enthusiasm enabled fIREHOSE to not merely regain their Minuteman spirit but forge a new musical philosophy.
fIREHOUSE music is difficult to describe: formed from a variety of rock pop and particularly West Coast influences. Like the Minutemen, they simply did not care for tradiional song structures, although this changed as the band matured. The strong melodic basslines and shifts in dynamics service the ideas that form their songs: only as long and complete as the ideas themselves. Lyrics are often simple and indirect, frequently covering personal and political themes - fIREHOSE were never polemicists like the Dead Kennedys.
The first album Ragin, Full-On (1986) was a revelation in music circles, almost immediately making a hero of Watt in particular. If'n (1987) only cemented this reputation. Some feel that fROMOHIO (1989) is a step backwards, but I still find a lot to like about it. Flyin' The Flannel (1991) and Mr. Machinery Operator (1993) moved the band away from the Crawford sound to the Watt sound, and I'm not as big a fan of those albums; they don't sound as unified to me.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/fhose91b.jpgfIREHOSE was a key step in Watt’s progression from a niche artist to his current status as the godfather of alternative rock. Watt had always been respected as an artist and a seminal figure in the west coast punk scene but fIREHOSE is where he began to take on his current status as an icon for musical integrity and independence. The Red Hot Chili Peppers saw fit to dedicate thir landmark Blood Sugar Sex Magik to him, which is one hell of a complement.
Their music was immediately influential. Hurley and Crawford should rightly share this glory: if Watt is the godfather of alternative rock, surely Hurley is its Ginger Baker, and Crawford a most unsung and underrated Jerry Harrison. Although their albums were variable in terms of production, their basic sound was simple and unvarnished by studio additions, their musicianship having no need of them.
fIREHOSE finally called it a day in 1994, mainly because Mike Watt was tired of working as a band member, and needed a change. All three pursued solo careers afterwards, although Watt seems to have had the most success. They are loved on the West Coast for giving musicians there a way out of the rock dinosaur tar pit, and everywhere else for being inspirational, unpretentious and just plain cool.
fIREHOSE links:
Mike Watt's homepage: http://www.hootpage.com/
fIREHOSE Trouser Press entry: http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=firehose
fIREHOSE Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIREHOSE
the weight of your load
with the cracked glass ground
fuck it!
- Chemical Wire, fIREHOSE
fIREHOSE is rightly a miracle because there wasn't supposed to be a band after the Minutemen. Mike Watt and George Hurley had decided to quit music altogether following their friend’s death. And then the most unlikely thing happened – they got a phone call from a fan.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/fhose86a.jpgEd Crawford was a hardcore Minutemen fan from Colombus, Ohio who looked up Watt’s number in the book and gave him a ring. He then got in his car, drove to San Pedro, California and convinced Watt and Hurley to form a new band.
The name fIREHOSE was suggested to Watts by the Bob Dylan promotion clip for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" where Dylan holds up a series of cue cards while the song plays. "I thought that it was funny when he held up the card that said 'firehose'," Watt now explains. The unique spelling was due to one of Crawford’s letters to Watt which he signed “Ed Crawford fROMOHIO" (and which was later used to title their third album). But, as the typography suggests, it is also a punk symbol, turning case upside down to see the word in a new way.
And while in many ways fIREHOSE was picking up where the Minutemen left off, in many ways it was not. Watt has dedicated most of his career to the memory of his friend D. Boon but one of the key aspects of Boon’s personality was a fierce independence and insistence on challenging the status quo. That allied with Crawford’s enthusiasm enabled fIREHOSE to not merely regain their Minuteman spirit but forge a new musical philosophy.
fIREHOUSE music is difficult to describe: formed from a variety of rock pop and particularly West Coast influences. Like the Minutemen, they simply did not care for tradiional song structures, although this changed as the band matured. The strong melodic basslines and shifts in dynamics service the ideas that form their songs: only as long and complete as the ideas themselves. Lyrics are often simple and indirect, frequently covering personal and political themes - fIREHOSE were never polemicists like the Dead Kennedys.
The first album Ragin, Full-On (1986) was a revelation in music circles, almost immediately making a hero of Watt in particular. If'n (1987) only cemented this reputation. Some feel that fROMOHIO (1989) is a step backwards, but I still find a lot to like about it. Flyin' The Flannel (1991) and Mr. Machinery Operator (1993) moved the band away from the Crawford sound to the Watt sound, and I'm not as big a fan of those albums; they don't sound as unified to me.
http://forum.zgeek.com/gallery/files/2/0/1/fhose91b.jpgfIREHOSE was a key step in Watt’s progression from a niche artist to his current status as the godfather of alternative rock. Watt had always been respected as an artist and a seminal figure in the west coast punk scene but fIREHOSE is where he began to take on his current status as an icon for musical integrity and independence. The Red Hot Chili Peppers saw fit to dedicate thir landmark Blood Sugar Sex Magik to him, which is one hell of a complement.
Their music was immediately influential. Hurley and Crawford should rightly share this glory: if Watt is the godfather of alternative rock, surely Hurley is its Ginger Baker, and Crawford a most unsung and underrated Jerry Harrison. Although their albums were variable in terms of production, their basic sound was simple and unvarnished by studio additions, their musicianship having no need of them.
fIREHOSE finally called it a day in 1994, mainly because Mike Watt was tired of working as a band member, and needed a change. All three pursued solo careers afterwards, although Watt seems to have had the most success. They are loved on the West Coast for giving musicians there a way out of the rock dinosaur tar pit, and everywhere else for being inspirational, unpretentious and just plain cool.
fIREHOSE links:
Mike Watt's homepage: http://www.hootpage.com/
fIREHOSE Trouser Press entry: http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=firehose
fIREHOSE Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIREHOSE