The Longhorn | |
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| Address | 14 S. 5th St. |
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| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Coordinates | 44°58′45.82″N93°16′17.71″W / 44.9793944°N 93.2715861°W |
| Owner | Jay Berine, Hartley Frank |
| Genre(s) | Punk, New Wave, jazz |
| Opened | June 1, 1977 |
| Closed | 1980 |
Jay's Longhorn Bar was a small scale concert venue, known for being a nexus of the punk rock and New Wave scenes in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. [1]
Most frequently referred to by patrons as The Longhorn, Jay's Longhorn Bar was described by music critics as a legendary [2] part of the punk and New Wave genre's history and a "punk rocker's paradise." [3] One of the earliest clubs in America to regularly book punk, New Wave, and alternative-rock bands, [4] the Longhorn was the only concert stage in Minnesota where touring acts in those genres could regularly perform until the opening of what would become First Avenue in 1980. [5] "The Police, Blondie, all the big acts played there," [6] wrote Hüsker Dü guitarist Bob Mould, who frequented the venue and noted that he considered Hüsker Dü "an actual band" only after they had performed on the Longhorn stage. Robert Wilkinson, singer for Minneapolis punk band Flamingo, noted that in terms of importance to the scene, “The Longhorn was Minneapolis’ CBGB’s.” [7]
The Longhorn was also an important crucible of the local punk-rock scene. It was the first bar ever played by both of the scene's most highly influential bands, Hüsker Dü (on May 13, 1979) [6] and the Replacements (on July 2, 1980). [8] Peter Jesperson, the Replacements' manager and a founder of Twin/Tone Records, who was also a DJ at the Longhorn at that time, [9] signed the band to Twin/Tone immediately after that performance. [10] Influential Minneapolitan New Wave band The Suburbs also had their first major success at the Longhorn; drummer Hugo Klaers said that after getting regular gigs at the venue, "we went from nobodies to this super popular band. It was just crazy. The Longhorn shows were always packed."
Located at 14 South Fifth Street in downtown Minneapolis, the Longhorn was opened by owner Jay Berine on June 1, 1977, [4] with help from general manager-artist director-musician/songwriter Al Wodtke (of Badfinger, KYX, Crow, and Apostles). Its first headliner was Minneapolis band Flamingo, while the first national act to be booked was New York rock group Mink DeVille. [11] The Longhorn became a notable punk rock and hardcore punk venue, booking bands such as the Buzzcocks, The Police, Gang of Four, [12] Talking Heads, Dead Boys, Robert Gordon, [4] Iggy Pop, the Stranglers, [13] the Flamin' Oh's, The Suburbs, the Suicide Commandos, [14] the Hypstrz, Naked Raygun, The Jets, the Effigies, the Ramones, Pere Ubu, Lily Tomlin, the Plasmatics, [15] Elvis Costello, Curtiss A, and the Nerves. Before it was an established punk rock venue, the Longhorn hosted a thriving jazz scene. It was home base for the progressive jazz group Natural Life and brought with it many national and international jazz acts. [3]
Chris Osgood, singer-guitarist of the Suicide Commandos, described the Longhorn as "like CBGB in that it was a long bar with a low ceiling and the band was up on a riser at one end of the room. It had been a Nino's Steakhouse before it turned into a bar, so it was not a dump." [5]
The bar was later sold to Hartley Frank, who, in 1980, changed it to Zoogie's, a pizzeria and nightclub. [7] The location is now a storage facility for Xcel Energy. [16]
On May 16, 2015, a "Longhorn Bar Reunion" was held at First Avenue and 7th St Entry in Minneapolis. Local bands and performers (including X-Boys, Curtiss A, Hypstrz, Flamin'-Oh's, Yipes! and members of The Suburbs and the Suicide Commandoes, billed as "the Sub-Commandoes"), many containing members who played at Jay's Longhorn, paid tribute. [7]
The club is the setting of a scene in Jonathan Franzen's 2010 novel Freedom , in which the protagonists attend a performance by the Buzzcocks. [17] (Although the novel is fictional, the concert, which took place September 10, 1979, was real.) [18]
Nostalgia for the heyday of the venue was the focus of Minnesota musician Dylan Hicks's song "The Longhorn Days", from his 1998 album Poughkeepsie.
In 2019, producer/director Mark Engebretson released Jay's Longhorn: Let’s Make a Scene, a documentary about the 1970s heyday of the venue. [19] The film won several awards, including the 2021 Minnesota Documentary Award at the Frozen River Film Festival and Best Music Feature at the Queen City Film Festival in Maryland, and screened at film festivals across the U.S. [20]
The Replacements were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1979 after nineteen-year-old Bob Stinson gifted his eleven-year-old brother Tommy Stinson a bass guitar. The band was composed of the guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg, guitarist Bob Stinson, bass guitarist Tommy Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars for most of its existence. After two albums in the style of punk rock, they became one of the main pioneers of alternative rock with their acclaimed albums Let It Be and Tim. Bob Stinson was kicked out of the band in 1986, and Slim Dunlap joined as lead guitarist. Steve Foley replaced Mars in 1990. Towards the end of the band's career, Westerberg exerted more control over its creative output. The group disbanded in 1991 and the members eventually found various projects. A reunion was announced on October 3, 2012. Fans affectionately refer to the band as the 'Mats, a nickname which originated as a truncation of "The Placemats".
Zen Arcade is the second studio album by American punk rock band Hüsker Dü, released in July 1984 on SST Records. Originally released as a double album on two vinyl LPs, Zen Arcade tells the story of a young boy who runs away from an unfulfilling home life, only to find the world outside is even worse. Zen Arcade and subsequent Hüsker Dü albums were instrumental in the creation of the alternative rock genre, and it is considered by some to be one of the greatest rock albums of all time.
The music of Minnesota began with the native rhythms and songs of Indigenous peoples, the first inhabitants of the lands which later became the U.S. state of Minnesota. Métis fur-trading voyageurs introduced the chansons of their French ancestors in the late eighteenth century. As the territory was opened up to white settlement in the 19th century, each group of immigrants brought with them the folk music of their European homelands. Celtic, German, Scandinavian, and Central and Eastern European song and dance remain part of the vernacular music of the state today.
Robert Arthur Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.
Hüsker Dü was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continuous members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notability as a hardcore punk band, and later crossed over into alternative rock. Mould and Hart were the band's principal songwriters, with Hart's higher-pitched vocals and Mould's baritone taking the lead in alternating songs.
The Suicide Commandos are an American punk rock trio from Minneapolis. They formed in 1975 and released two 7-inch EPs on an indie label in 1976 and 1977 before signing with Blank Records in 1977 and releasing one album, Make a Record. Despite their short original 4-year stint together, the Suicide Commandos are considered the pioneers for jump-starting a punk rock music scene in the Twin Cities, which eventually produced bands like The Suburbs, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements and Soul Asylum.
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991 is a book by Michael Azerrad. It chronicles the careers of several underground rock bands who, while finding little or no mainstream success, were hugely influential in establishing American alternative and indie rock, mostly through nearly constant touring and records released on small, regional independent record labels. Azerrad conducted many interviews with band members, and also conducted extensive research of old fanzines, as well as more mainstream newspapers and books.
First Avenue and 7th St Entry are two historic music venues housed in the same landmark building in downtown Minneapolis. The nightclub sits on the corner of First Avenue North and 7th Street North, from which the venues get their names. The two are colloquially distinguished by locals as The Mainroom and The Entry.
The Suburbs are an alternative punk rock/funk/new wave band from Minneapolis, Minnesota that was popular in the late 1970s and 1980s. The band frequently headlined at Minneapolis's most influential music clubs, including Jay's Longhorn Bar and First Avenue.
Twin/Tone Records was an independent record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which operated from 1977 until 1994. It was the original home of influential Minnesota bands the Replacements and Soul Asylum and was instrumental in helping the Twin Cities music scene achieve national attention in the 1980s. Along with other independent American labels such as SST Records, Touch and Go Records, and Dischord, Twin/Tone helped to spearhead the nationwide network of underground bands that formed the pre-Nirvana indie-rock scene. These labels presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging.
Grant Vernon Hart was an American musician, best known as the drummer for the punk rock band Hüsker Dü. After the band's breakup in 1988, he released his first solo album Intolerance before forming the alternative rock trio Nova Mob, where he moved to vocals and guitar. His solo career became his main focus after the dissolution of Nova Mob in 1997.
Minneapolis hardcore is regional hardcore punk from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota.
Gregory James Norton is an American musician, formerly of the band Hüsker Dü.
Robert Bruce "Slim" Dunlap was an American rock musician. He was a Minnesota-based guitarist and singer-songwriter who was best known as a member of the Replacements from 1987 to 1991, replacing original lead guitarist Bob Stinson. Dunlap also recorded two solo albums in the mid-1990s.
Oar Folkjokeopus was a Minneapolis record store that operated on the corner of Lyndale Ave and 26th St from 1973 until 2001. The store was considered one of the staples of the Minneapolis rock scene in the 1980s, along with Jay's Longhorn Bar, and became a popular hub for musicians in the Twin Cities and the Midwest. The store was one of the only stores in Minneapolis, along with Harpo's/Hot Licks and Northern Lights Music, that sold punk rock records in the 1970s and early 1980s, which made it a popular hangout for members of local bands such as Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, the Suicide Commandos, Soul Asylum and many more. Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü called it the city's "preeminent record store" and an important venue for him to find a fellow music-loving community.
"Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" is a song by Hüsker Dü from their album Candy Apple Grey. The song was written by Grant Hart. It was released both as a single and EP in the United States and United Kingdom in March 1986. Hüsker Dü filmed a promotional video for the song, which garnered the band some play on MTV. The song, dubbed a "tuneful blast of Buzzcocks-style pop-punk," was labeled the high point of Grey by AllMusic's Stewart Mason.
The Magnolias are an American band from Minneapolis, fronted by John Freeman. They formed in 1984 and have had numerous lineup changes throughout their history, with Freeman being the only continuing member. They have released six albums, including their latest, Pop The Lock, in 2011.
Kevin Bowe is an American songwriter, record producer and musician from Minneapolis. He is best known for his work with prominent rock and blues artists including Paul Westerberg and the Replacements; writing songs for hit albums by Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd; as well as Etta James' Grammy-winning Let's Roll. He has contributed to dozens of albums over his career, including several of his own as a bandleader; he has appeared on many film and television soundtracks including ESPN and The Sopranos. His songs have been covered by many prominent rock and blues artists, including Joe Cocker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Robben Ford, and John Mayall.
Terry James Katzman was a producer, sound engineer, archivist, and record-store owner in Minneapolis, Minnesota, known for his work with the Twin Cities music scene, particularly during the formative early years of Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, and The Suburbs.