Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat
Encyclopedia
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat is the sixth overall release (fourth extended play
, or EP, release and their first 12-inch EP) from American hardcore punk
band Minutemen
.
staff producer Spot
behind the mixing board. Spot had suggested the live-to-two-track approach after Minutemen queried about the possibility of recording a new EP on four-channel multi-track tape, rather than the 16-track recordings the band had done in the past. This meant that most of the songs on Buzz or Howl... were recorded without any overdubs. The exceptions were the first three tracks on the EP, which were the first recordings Minutemen had done with producer
/engineer Ethan James
, who would go on to work with them on their seminal double album Double Nickels on the Dime
later in 1984.
The sessions cost a total of $50, which covered the live-to-two-track sessions with Spot at Total Access. The Radio Tokyo sessions with Ethan James were done for free, in return for allowing a Minutemen track to appear on the compilation The Radio Tokyo Tapes.
The front cover of the album was initially intended to incorporate a color photograph from National Geographic that SST had permission to use; unfortunately, doing the color separation for the front cover proved to be cost-prohibitive for SST at the time. Instead, a black-and-white ink drawing of D. Boon
and Mike Watt
having an argument
while various items fly around in the background, drawn by Saccharine Trust
guitarist Joe Baiza
, was used.
The back cover of the album features a Raymond Pettibon
drawing of a sleepwalking
man with the caption, "A Happy Person"; a reproduction of a letter to Watt from Richard Meltzer
apologizing for missing a Minutemen concert that he was invited to; and, amongst the pictures of the band, a headshot of D. Boon that, years later, would become a popular sticker
with the caption, "Punk is whatever we make it to be."
were direct inspiration for three of the songs on Buzz or Howl.... "Cut" was written by Mike Watt
in admiration of Black Flag
guitarist Greg Ginn
's playing style; Henry Rollins
provided the title for the improvised instrumental "Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker!" (which was actually a segment of a warm-up jam done with trumpet player Crane
at the beginning of the January 30th session); and original Black Flag bassist Chuck Dukowski
wrote some of the lyrics to "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" and gave them to D. Boon at the end of both bands' 1982 European tour.
"I Felt Like A Gringo" is an autobiographical song written by Watt about a day trip Minutemen took in Mexico on the 4th July, 1982. There was an election that day for President of Mexico
, which was referenced in the lyric "Who won I said "The election?" (the winner in question was Miguel de la Madrid
).The same trip would also inspire the D. Boon composition "Corona
" on Double Nickels....
"The Toe Jam" is another improvised cut, recorded the same day as "Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker", only with another band friend, Dirk Vandenburg (who would also do photography on several Minutemen covers, including Double Nickels...) playing drums, while drummer George Hurley
attempted to play Crane's trumpet, Crane did some scat-singing, and another friend ad-libbed a poem about wanting to wear a wedding ring on her second toe (hence the name of the song).
According to the liner notes of the live compilation album Ballot Result
, Mike Watt believed "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" may be about, or have been inspired by, Black Flag's longtime roadie and lead singer and founder of The Nig-Heist
, Steve "Mugger" Corbin. However, Dukowski stated in an interview for the 33⅓ book series' volume on Double Nickels... (written by Michael T. Fournier) that the song actually stems from existentialist
ideas he had at the time.
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, or EP, release and their first 12-inch EP) from American hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band Minutemen
Minutemen (band)
Minutemen were an American hardcore punk band formed in San Pedro, California in 1980. Composed of guitarist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley, Minutemen recorded four albums and eight EPs before Boon's death in an automobile accident in December 1985...
.
History of the EP
The EP was recorded rather cheaply even by Minutemen standards; the cost was $50. Most of the songs were cut live to two-track tape at Total Access Studio in Redondo Beach, CA, rather than utilize multi-track recording tape, with longtime SST RecordsSST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
staff producer Spot
Spot (producer)
SPOT, , was the house producer and engineer for the influential independent punk record label SST Records. He recorded, mixed, produced or co-produced for most of SST's pivotal acts between 1979 and 1985...
behind the mixing board. Spot had suggested the live-to-two-track approach after Minutemen queried about the possibility of recording a new EP on four-channel multi-track tape, rather than the 16-track recordings the band had done in the past. This meant that most of the songs on Buzz or Howl... were recorded without any overdubs. The exceptions were the first three tracks on the EP, which were the first recordings Minutemen had done with producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
/engineer Ethan James
Ethan James (producer)
Ethan James was a musician, record producer, and recording engineer best known for his work on the Minutemen's seminal album Double Nickels on the Dime. He also produced and engineered albums for such acts as Black Flag, The Bangles, Rain Parade, Dos, and many others...
, who would go on to work with them on their seminal double album Double Nickels on the Dime
Double Nickels on the Dime
Double Nickels on the Dime is the third studio album by American punk trio Minutemen, released on the Californian independent record label SST Records in 1984...
later in 1984.
The sessions cost a total of $50, which covered the live-to-two-track sessions with Spot at Total Access. The Radio Tokyo sessions with Ethan James were done for free, in return for allowing a Minutemen track to appear on the compilation The Radio Tokyo Tapes.
The front cover of the album was initially intended to incorporate a color photograph from National Geographic that SST had permission to use; unfortunately, doing the color separation for the front cover proved to be cost-prohibitive for SST at the time. Instead, a black-and-white ink drawing of D. Boon
D. Boon
d. Boon born Dennes Dale Boon, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Active between 1978, when he joined The Reactionaries, and 1985, when he was killed in a van accident, Boon was best known as the guitarist and vocalist of the Californian punk rock trio Minutemen.-Youth:Dennes Boon...
and Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
having an argument
Argument
In philosophy and logic, an argument is an attempt to persuade someone of something, or give evidence or reasons for accepting a particular conclusion.Argument may also refer to:-Mathematics and computer science:...
while various items fly around in the background, drawn by Saccharine Trust
Saccharine Trust
Saccharine Trust is a post-hardcore band from California that was started in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza.The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. Drummer Rob Holzman appeared on their 1981 debut Paganicons but left the band to play in...
guitarist Joe Baiza
Joe Baiza
Joe Baiza is a punk rock and jazz guitarist whom Eugene Chadbourne cites as one of the most noteworthy guitarists to emerge from the Southern California punk rock milieu. Baiza is a founding member of the bands Saccharine Trust, Universal Congress Of, and The Mecolodiacs...
, was used.
The back cover of the album features a Raymond Pettibon
Raymond Pettibon
Raymond Pettibon is an American artist who currently lives and works in Venice Beach, California.-Early life:...
drawing of a sleepwalking
Sleepwalking
Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism, is a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. Sleepwalkers arise from the slow wave sleep stage in a state of low consciousness and perform activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness...
man with the caption, "A Happy Person"; a reproduction of a letter to Watt from Richard Meltzer
Richard Meltzer
Richard Meltzer was one of the earliest rock music critics. His first book, The Aesthetics of Rock, evolved out of his undergraduate studies in philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and graduate studies at Yale University...
apologizing for missing a Minutemen concert that he was invited to; and, amongst the pictures of the band, a headshot of D. Boon that, years later, would become a popular sticker
Sticker
A sticker is a type of a piece of paper or plastic, adhesive, sticky on one side, and usually with a design on the other. They can be used for decoration, depending on the situation. They can come in many different shapes, sizes and colours and are put on things such as lunchboxes, in children's...
with the caption, "Punk is whatever we make it to be."
Song history
Members of Black FlagBlack Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
were direct inspiration for three of the songs on Buzz or Howl.... "Cut" was written by Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
in admiration of Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
guitarist Greg Ginn
Greg Ginn
Gregory Regis Ginn is a guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He is best known for being the leader of and primary songwriter for the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976 to 1986....
's playing style; Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
provided the title for the improvised instrumental "Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker!" (which was actually a segment of a warm-up jam done with trumpet player Crane
Crane (musician)
Crane is a pseudonym of Richard Alan Krieger . He is a trumpeter and vocalist that has played and recorded with Minutemen on their albums Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat and Project: Mersh, and with that group's D...
at the beginning of the January 30th session); and original Black Flag bassist Chuck Dukowski
Chuck Dukowski
Chuck Dukowski is an American punk rock musician, best known as a founding member and bass player for Black Flag. Dukowski wrote some of Black Flag's most popular songs, including "My War," "What I See," "I've Heard It Before" and "Spray Paint." He left the band before the release of My War, and...
wrote some of the lyrics to "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" and gave them to D. Boon at the end of both bands' 1982 European tour.
"I Felt Like A Gringo" is an autobiographical song written by Watt about a day trip Minutemen took in Mexico on the 4th July, 1982. There was an election that day for President of Mexico
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
, which was referenced in the lyric "Who won I said "The election?" (the winner in question was Miguel de la Madrid
Miguel de la Madrid
Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado is a Mexican politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1982 to 1988.-Biography:...
).The same trip would also inspire the D. Boon composition "Corona
Corona (song)
"Corona" is a song by American punk/alternative trio Minutemen from the album Double Nickels on the Dime, which was composed by the band's lead singer and guitarist D. Boon....
" on Double Nickels....
"The Toe Jam" is another improvised cut, recorded the same day as "Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker", only with another band friend, Dirk Vandenburg (who would also do photography on several Minutemen covers, including Double Nickels...) playing drums, while drummer George Hurley
George Hurley
George Hurley is a drummer noted for his work with The Minutemen and fIREHOSE.Even though he went to the same high school as D. Boon and Mike Watt he did not meet them until around 1978. That same year, Hurley formed The Reactionaries with Boon, Watt, and Martin Tamburovich...
attempted to play Crane's trumpet, Crane did some scat-singing, and another friend ad-libbed a poem about wanting to wear a wedding ring on her second toe (hence the name of the song).
According to the liner notes of the live compilation album Ballot Result
Ballot Result
Ballot Result is a posthumous live compilation album by Minutemen.The story of Ballot Result starts with the Tour-Spiel EP in 1984. Minutemen had been given a copy of a tape of a live radio performance for the Virgin Vinyl Show they had done in Tucson, Arizona, four songs of which they used for the...
, Mike Watt believed "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" may be about, or have been inspired by, Black Flag's longtime roadie and lead singer and founder of The Nig-Heist
The Nig-Heist
The Nig-Heist was a punk band led by Black Flag's roadie and live sound man and SST Records employee Steve "Mugger" Corbin and featuring a revolving-door roster of members of the bands who were on tour with Black Flag at the moment. The band used to open for Black Flag on tour and recorded a 7", an...
, Steve "Mugger" Corbin. However, Dukowski stated in an interview for the 33⅓ book series' volume on Double Nickels... (written by Michael T. Fournier) that the song actually stems from existentialist
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
ideas he had at the time.
Side one
- "Self-Referenced" – 1:23 (Watt)
- "Cut" – 2:02 (Watt)
- "Dream Told By Moto" – 1:45 (Watt)
- "Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker!" – 1:09 (Boon/Watt/Hurley/Crane)
Side two
- The Toe Jam – 0:40 (Cooper/Vandenburg/Crane/Hurley/Boon/Watt)
- I Felt Like A Gringo – 1:57 (Watt)
- The Product – 2:44 (Boon)
- Little Man With A Gun In His Hand – 3:10 (Dukowski/Boon)
Musical personnel
- D. BoonD. Boond. Boon born Dennes Dale Boon, was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Active between 1978, when he joined The Reactionaries, and 1985, when he was killed in a van accident, Boon was best known as the guitarist and vocalist of the Californian punk rock trio Minutemen.-Youth:Dennes Boon...
- guitar, vocals - Mike WattMike WattMichael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
- bass, vocals (lead vocals on "Cut") - George HurleyGeorge HurleyGeorge Hurley is a drummer noted for his work with The Minutemen and fIREHOSE.Even though he went to the same high school as D. Boon and Mike Watt he did not meet them until around 1978. That same year, Hurley formed The Reactionaries with Boon, Watt, and Martin Tamburovich...
- drums, backing vocals ("The Toe Jam"), trumpet ("The Toe Jam"), recorder ("The Product") - CraneCrane (musician)Crane is a pseudonym of Richard Alan Krieger . He is a trumpeter and vocalist that has played and recorded with Minutemen on their albums Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat and Project: Mersh, and with that group's D...
- trumpet ("The Product"), recorder ("Dreams Are Free..."), backing vocals ("Toe Jam" and "The Product") - Dirk Vandenburg - drums ("The Toe Jam")
- Mary Cooper - vocals ("The Toe Jam")