Sunday, straightedge Sunday.
“The only problem was Preslar, Nelson and Baker had become big fans of U2. And MacKaye hadn’t. U2’s sound was even beginning to creep into their music…”
- Michael Azerrad on Minor Threat, from Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes From the American Indie Underground, 1981-1991, page 153.
1982: At a VFW show in Boston, Ian MacKaye recieves a head injury after falling into the mosh pit and loses consciousness. Upon awaking hours later, he is able to utter only one phrase, over and over: “I will follow.”
1983: Minor Threat releases War. Old fans are wary of the change in direction, but the band gains legions of new fans thanks to heartfelt, cryptic lyrics like “And today the millions cry / They don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t fuck, while tomorrow they die.”
1984: Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois relocate to Washington, D.C. to produce Minor Threat’s The Unforgettable Fire. The album is well-recevied, and Eno and Lanois become the unofficial in-house producers for Dischord Records. Their ethereal production on the 1991 Nation of Ulysses album Thirteen Point Plan to Destroy America wins several Grammies.
1985: Ian MacKaye joins Boy George, Sting and Spandau Ballet on the haunting Band Aid humanitarian classic ”Do They Know It’s Christmas? / Feed the World.”
1987: In March, Minor Threat releases The Cherry Blossom Tree, their best-selling record to date. “Where the Streets Have No Name” (the opening track, inspired by the band’s time in Georgetown) and ”With or Without You” (a meditation on MacKaye and Guy Piccioto’s relationship) are massive MTV hits. On the band’s extensive tour of American stadiums that year, they take a bold stand by refusing to sell tickets for more than $45 a piece.
1988: Back in Dublin, U2 releases Margin Walker. They are dropped from Island Records after the record fails to chart, and break up shortly thereafter.
1991: Jawohl Honey is recorded in East Berlin. Ian MacKaye’s bug-eyed sunglasses-wearing “Fly” persona on the following tour delights audiences. Luciano Pavarotti joins the band onstage for “Miss Sarajevo” and “Bottled Violence.”
1995: Johnny Cash has a minor hit with his rendition of “Out of Step.”
2005: Ian MacKaye meets the Pope. He is named Time magazine’s Person of the Year.
(August 11, 2009.)
