The scenario was played out in a lot of cities at the time, early 1980s.
Some bar is losing business.  They get a pool table.  That doesn't bring
people in.  They serve cheap drinks.  That only brings in people with
nothing to spend.  Everything they try to get a clientele with only brings
expenses.  The management are desperate for ideas to bring people in the
door.  Finally, one day a kid walks in with a funny haircut and an
interesting idea.  "I'm looking for a place to have a few bands play..."
In a week, the place is full every night and the bartender is selling
more beer than ever.  The owners hate the customers but love the money
they bring with them.  The playground called the Upper Deck was such a
place.  The city was about to buy the building and tear it down anyway, so
why not sell a shitload of beer and run some insurance scams in the mean
time.  Although some great artists performed there, the place was a pigsty,
owned by pigs, frequented by swine, written about by Sovine Existentialists
trying to get their scene reports published in 'The New York Rocker.'  On
an historical note, The Upper Deck has recently been acknowledged as the
birthplace of the dumbing down of America.  My suspicions are that the
management choreographed the entire thing to make themselves look like the
victims of the Freaky-Punk aggression.  But wait...if you are listening to
this disc for sounds of a real riot, Caveat Emptor!  This live chestnut
was recorded during an evening free of any insurrection or other civil
disobedience, real or imagined.
                                                        - Grant Hart 1999

Back to Kitten CD entry in the Hüsker Dü annotated discography.
Back to Hüsker Dü database main page