03/28/2026
Nearly 41 years ago – April 18, 1985 – I poked around backstage at The Metro in New Haven.
“He’s back there, somewhere,” a roadie said, pointing right. And suddenly, from around a corner, D. Boon appeared, big smile, warm handshake.
We spent some of the afternoon there, in an appropriately unfancy backstage area, talking. We discussed everything from the shared woes of Navy brats to Creedence to politics and the blitz of recording Double Nickels.
I’d set up an interview with Minutemen’s singer/guitarist through his label, SST, having been shaken alive by the band’s sprawling double LP, Double Nickels on the Dime. It moved me like few other records, a bit of everything slathered in punk sounds and bathed in its ethos. It was like nothing else. It still moves me, still feeling ahead of its time.
Its time was “We Are the World” atop the charts, Wham! and Lionel Richie circling in hot pursuit.
Minutemen were working class personified.
I was there with an assignment from Vox Pop magazine, a Connecticut based freebie. No pay, but who cared? (Sort of like this, I suppose – my, we’ve come full circle) It was free tickets, a chance to write outside of my paying gig for the Acorn Press chain of weekly papers and access to folks like Boon.
The show – with openers Agitpop and No Milk on Tuesday – was brilliant. Brilliant!
Boon bounded around the place, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley, holding it all down, magnificent anchors, sympatico in the way jazz players let a frontman fly. I remember thinking in a moment of uncharacteristic mindfulness, there is no place I would rather be. I am where I should be.
When it was over, Boon dutifully headed for the merch table. I bought a $5 US Out of Central America shirt.
“Hey,” a smiling Boon said, handing me the set list he had used onstage. “For you.”
He had taken down my address earlier. A few weeks later, a cassette of a Who bootleg we’d discussed arrived in the mail.
I still have it all, save the tape, which was lost over time. (But I’m still looking.)
I also have the letter from SST eight months later announcing that Boon had been killed in a van accident just before Christmas. He was 27.
After our interview, I snapped some photos, one of which – Boon, flashing a peace sign, big smile -- hung years later in my record store until I couldn’t take people asking about it anymore. Who’s that? Is it for sale?
That’s the thing about Minutemen. None of it ever was.
Which is all by way of recommending you read a wonderful piece in tomorrow’s New York Times by Bob Mehr. It discusses the impact of Boon’s death, its aftermath for his bandmates and punk and a moment where the surviving crew summon the lost sailor’s spirit.
It’s beautiful.
Bob Mehr
March 26 at 2:34 PM
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My latest for The New York Times: a look back at the life and legacy of the late great D. Boon and Minutemen. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of visiting San Pedro to spend time with Boon’s friends and bandmates, Mike Watt and George Hurley, as they did some recording and reflected on Minutemen and how they’ve continued to carry forward the spirit of Boon and the band. With further thoughts from Ed Crawford, Thurston Moore, and Jeff Tweedy. This is, I hope, a deeply felt story about music, friendship and perseverance in the wake of tragedy. Online now and in print on Sunday’s NYT. Here's a gift link to the story, feel free to read and share: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/arts/music/minutemen-d-boon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WlA.1Opq.Jr2wESqq0494&smid=nytcore-ios-share
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