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Minor Threat | |
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 Minor Threat performing at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., in 1981 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Genres | Hardcore punk |
| Years active | 1980–1983 |
| Labels | Dischord |
| Spinoffs | |
| Spinoff of | The Teen Idles |
| Past members | |
| Website | www |
Minor Threat was an Americanhardcore punk band, formed in 1980 inWashington, D.C., by vocalistIan MacKaye and drummerJeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassistBrian Baker and guitaristLyle Preslar to form Minor Threat. They added a fifth member,Steve Hansgen, in 1982, playing bass, while Baker switched to second guitar.
The band was relatively short-lived, disbanding after only three years together, but had a strong influence in the emerging American hardcore punk scene, both stylistically and in helping to further establish the "do it yourself" ethic for music distribution and concert promotion. Minor Threat's song "Straight Edge" was the basis of thestraight edge movement, which emphasized a lifestyle without alcohol or other drugs, or promiscuous sex.[1]AllMusic said the band's music was "iconic"[2] and noted that it "ha[d] held up better than [that of] most of their contemporaries."[3]
Along with the fellowWashington, D.C. hardcore bandBad Brains and California bandBlack Flag, Minor Threat set the standard for many hardcore punk bands in the 1980s and 1990s. All of Minor Threat's recordings were released on MacKaye's and Nelson's own label,Dischord Records. TheMinor Threat EP andOut of Step EP have received a number of accolades and are cited as landmarks of the hardcore punk genre.[citation needed]
Prior to forming Minor Threat in 1980, vocalistIan MacKaye and drummerJeff Nelson had played bass and drums respectively inthe Teen Idles while attending what was thenWilson High School. During their two-year career within the flourishingWashington, D.C. hardcore punk scene, the Teen Idles had gained a following of around one hundred fans (a sizable amount at the time), and were seen as only second within the scene to the contemporaryBad Brains.[4] MacKaye and Nelson were strong believers in theDIY mentality and an independent, underground music scene. After the breakup of the Teen Idles, they used the money earned through the band to createDischord Records, an independent record label that would host the releases of the Teen Idles, Minor Threat, and numerous other D.C. punk bands.[5]
Eager to start a new band after the Teen Idles, MacKaye and Nelson recruited guitaristLyle Preslar and bassistBrian Baker. They played their first performance in December 1980 to fifty people in abasement, opening forBad Brains, The Untouchables, Black Market Baby andS.O.A., all D.C. bands.[4]
The band's first 7-inch EPs,Minor Threat andIn My Eyes, were released in 1981. The group became popular regionally and toured the east coast and Midwest.
"Straight Edge," a song from the band's first EP, helped to inspire thestraight edge movement. The lyrics of the song relay MacKaye's first-person perspective of his personal choice of abstinence fromalcohol and otherdrugs, contrary to most rock musicians at the time. Although the original song was not written as a manifesto or a "set of rules," according to the band members, many later bands inspired by the idea used it as such.[6] Minor Threat band members stated they never intended or viewed "Straight Edge" as a "movement".[7]
"Out of Step", a Minor Threat song from their second EP, further demonstrates the said belief: "Don't smoke/Don't drink/Don't fuck/At least I can fucking think/I can't keep up/I'm out of step with the world." The "I" in the lyrics was usually only implied, mainly because it did not quite fit the rhythm of the song. Some of the other members of Minor Threat, Jeff Nelson in particular, took exception to what they saw as MacKaye'simperious attitude on the song.[8] The line "Don't fuck" sparked widespread debate, to which Ian clarified that the intent was commentary on society's attitude towards predatory orcasual sex, not on the act itself.[7]
Minor Threat's song "Guilty of Being White" led some critics to accuse the band ofracism,[9] but MacKaye has strongly denied such intentions and said that some listeners misinterpreted his words. He claims that his experiences attending Wilson High School, whose student population was 70 percent Black, inspired the song. There, many students bullied MacKaye and his friends. In an interview, MacKaye stated that he was offended that some perceived racist overtones in the lyrics, saying, "To me, at the time and now, it seemed clear it's ananti-racist song. Of course, it didn't occur to me at the time I wrote it that anybody outside of my twenty or thirty friends who I was singing to would ever have to actually ponder the lyrics or even consider them."[8] Thrash metal bandSlayer latercovered the song, with the last iteration of the lyric "guilty of being white" changed to "guilty of being right."
In the time between the release of the band's second seven-inch EP and theOut of Step record, the band briefly split when guitarist Lyle Preslar moved to Illinois to attend college for a semester atNorthwestern University. Preslar was a member ofBig Black for a few tempestuous rehearsals. During that period, MacKaye and Nelson put together a studio-only project calledSkewbald/Grand Union; in a reflection of the slowly increasing disagreements between the two musicians, they were unable to decide on one name. The group recorded three untitled songs, which would be released posthumously asDischord's 50th release. During Minor Threat's inactive period, Brian Baker also briefly played guitar forGovernment Issue and appeared on theMake an Effort EP.
In March 1982, at the urging of Bad Brains'H.R., Preslar left college to reform Minor Threat. The reunited band featured an expanded lineup:Steve Hansgen joined as the band's bassist and Baker switched to second guitar.
When the "Out of Step" was re-recorded for the LPOut of Step, MacKaye clearly sang "I don't drink/smoke/fuck", as was the intent of his words all along, in response to what many saw as his imperious attitude on the song. The band also inserted an overdubbed spoken section into the instrumental break before the last chorus with MacKaye stating, "This is not a set of rules, I'm not telling you what to do..." Recording engineer Don Zientara had inadvertently recorded an argument between drummer Nelson and lyricist/singer MacKaye that captured the message perfectly, so this was used. According to Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins'Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital, this argument was over exactly what would be said in the message that Nelson wanted MacKaye to record, stating essentially what he said without knowing it was being recorded.
Minor Threat split up in 1983. Creative differences were the main factor in the breakup, Preslar and Baker having become fans of the bandU2 and wanting Minor Threat to pursue a similar musical direction.[10] According to Baker:
Did we all want to develop Minor Threat’s sound to be more melodic, but Ian MacKaye didn't? Yes, Ian was right, and we were wrong. What Ian was doing was not just a band, Ian was building a community. He was so far ahead of his time and was thinking about the idea of Dischord and several bands and having this kind of reciprocating relationship with other artists. He was so big picture. But I was like: 'I want to play bigger shows, I want to tour more. Minor Threat is a great little punk band, but have you heard theBoy album…?' I was dumb! And he wasn't. So Minor Threat fortunately stopped exactly when it did.[11]
MacKaye was skipping rehearsal sessions towards the end of the band's career, and he wrote the lyrics to the songs on theSalad Days EP in the studio. That was quite a contrast with the earlier recordings, as he had written and co-written the music for much of the band's early material. Minor Threat, which had returned to being a four-piece group with the departure of Hansgen, played its final show on September 23, 1983, at theLansburgh Cultural Center in Washington, D.C.,[12][13] sharing the bill withgo-go bandTrouble Funk, and Austin, Texaspunk funk act theBig Boys. In a meaningful way, Minor Threat ended their final set with "Last Song", a tune whose name was also the original title of the band's song "Salad Days".
Following the breakup, MacKaye stated that he did not "check out" onhardcore, but in fact hardcore "checked out".[citation needed] Explaining this, he stated that at a 1984Minutemen show, a fan struck MacKaye's younger brotherAlec in the face, and he punched the fan back, then realizing that the violence was "stupid," and that he saw his role in the stupidity. MacKaye claimed that immediately after this he decided to leave the hardcore scene.[citation needed]
In March 1984, six months after the band broke up, the EPsMinor Threat andIn My Eyes were compiled together and re-released as theMinor Threat album. TheComplete Discography archival compilation would follow in 1989, with the additional release ofFirst Demo Tape in 2003. Two previously unreleased songs were featured on the20 Years of Dischord compilation in 2002.
MacKaye went on to foundEmbrace with former members ofthe Faith,Egg Hunt with Jeff Nelson, and laterFugazi,the Evens, andCoriky, as well as collaborating onPailhead.
Baker went on to play inJunkyard,the Meatmen,Dag Nasty andGovernment Issue. Since 1994, Baker has been a member ofBad Religion.
Preslar was briefly a member ofGlenn Danzig'sSamhain, and his playing appears on a few songs on the band's first record. He joinedThe Meatmen in 1984, along with fellow Minor Threat member Brian Baker. He later ranCaroline Records, signing and working with (among others)Peter Gabriel,Ben Folds,Chemical Brothers, andIdaho, and ran marketing forSire Records. He graduated fromRutgers University School of Law and lives inNew Jersey.
Nelson played less-frantic alternative rock withThree and The High-Back Chairs before retiring from live performance. He runs the record label Adult Swim Records (distributed by Dischord) and Pedestrian Press, as well as being a political activist.[14] He resides inToledo, Ohio.
The band's own Dischord Records released material by many bands from the Washington, D.C., area, such as Government Issue,Void,Scream, Fugazi, Artificial Peace,Rites of Spring,Gray Matter, and Dag Nasty, and became a respected independent record label.
Hansgen formed Second Wind with Rich Moore, a former Minor Threat roadie and drummer for theUntouchables. In 1992, he worked as a producer on the firstTool EPOpiate.
In 2005, a mock-up of the cover of Minor Threat's first EP (also used on theMinor Threat LP andComplete Discography CD) was copied by athletic footwear manufacturerNike for use on a promotional poster for a skateboarding tour called "Major Threat". Nike also altered Minor Threat's logo (designed by Jeff Nelson) for the same campaign, as well as featuring Nike shoes in the new picture, rather than the combat boots worn by Ian MacKaye's younger brotherAlec on the original.[15]
MacKaye issued a press statement condemning Nike's actions and said that he would discuss legal options with the other members of the band. Meanwhile, fans, at the encouragement of Dischord, organized a letter-writing campaign protesting Nike's infringement. On June 27, 2005, Nike issued a statement apologizing to Minor Threat, Dischord Records, and their fans for the "Major Threat" campaign and said that all promotional artwork (print and digital) that they could acquire was destroyed.[16][15]
On October 29, 2005,Fox played the first few seconds of Minor Threat's "Salad Days" during an NFL broadcast. Use of the song was not cleared byDischord Records or any of the members of Minor Threat. Fox claimed that the clip was too short to have violated any copyrights.[17]
In 2007, Brooklyn-based company Wheelhouse Pickles marketed apepper sauce named "Minor Threat Sauce".[18] Requesting only that the original label design (which was based on the "Bottled Violence" artwork)[19] be amended, Ian MacKaye gave the product his endorsement.[20] A small mention of this was made, where MacKaye commented, "I don't have an occasion to eat a lot of hot sauce, but I also thought the Minor Threat stuff was nice."[19]
In 2013, Minor Threat shirts began appearing inUrban Outfitters stores. Ian MacKaye confirmed that the shirts were officially licensed. Having spent what he described as "a complete waste of time" trying to track downbootlegged Minor Threat merchandise, MacKaye and Dischord made arrangements with a merchandise company in California to manage licensing of the band's shirts, as well as working to ensure that bootleg manufacturers of the shirts were curtailed. In comments that appeared inRolling Stone, MacKaye called it "absurd" for the shirts to be sold for $28 but concluded that "my time is better spent doing other things" than dealing with shirts.[21] Dischord had previously taken action againstForever 21 in 2009 for marketing unlicensed Minor Threat shirts.[22]
Minor Threat are considered to be one of the most influentialpunk rock bands of the 1980s. Stephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic conferred the title of "the definitiveWashington, D.C.,hardcore punk band" on the group, crediting them for "setting the style for thestraight-edge punk movement of the early '80s."[23] In the bookNothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo, music criticAndy Greenwald wrote, "Minor Threat found artistry in economy, pumping the bottomless teenaged well of rage − againstthe establishment, against the cops, againstapathy and each other − to fuel blistering, ferociously short sharp sonic shocks in the form of songs. The beats weremonochromatic and the instruments were raced as fast as they could possibly go − the goal was catharsis through the passionate expenditure of energy."[24] Many of the band's songs were brief in duration, with most clocking in at approximately one minute in length.[23]
We broke up in 1983 because Lyle Preslar (guitarist) and I had actually discovered U2 and really wanted to move in a similar direction because it was new, unique, and powerful with political lyrics. Ian understood and it was just an agree to disagree and part ways.
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