I was thinking of Brian Baker the other day. Brian is/was the lead guitarist for Minor Threat. Then Dag Nasty. Then Junkyard. Then Bad Religion. I’m not into Bad Religion that much. And I vaguely remember a few Junkyard tunes that I enjoyed, mainly off the first album. I thought it was weird that he was on that record, given his punk roots. But what I really like was his work with Dag Nasty and Minor Threat. Now those were my cup of tea.
For the record: Brian wasn’t the guitarist of Minor Threat until later on, right around the time they split. He was the bassist for the early days…the “Salad Days” if you will…and he looked fairly geeky with these big huge eyeglasses and blonde hair.
He and Lyle Prescott, the lead guitarist, looked totally out of place…”Out Of Step” if you will…for the way that they ultimately sounded.
I don’t know why I began thinking about Brian Baker. But I do know that it got me thinking about Dag Nasty, the band that he formed after Minor Threat split. I liked them, and I even got a chance to talk to Dag Nasty’s lead vocalist, Pete Cortner.
Peter was the band’s second vocalist and had already cut an album with them, Wig Out At Denko’s. Prior to this, the band was fronted by Dave Smalley, and Dag Nasty’s debut album Can I Say is generally regarded as a punk rock classic. Once Smalley left, Cortner faced tough criticism from fans who didn’t like the more melodic approach that he brought to the fold.
On top of this, it was around this time that the band left Dischord and recorded for another indie, Giant Records. It was there that they released their third album, Field Day.
Here’s the thing: I’d never heard those first two albums. I came around during Field Day and I liked it. It wasn’t until afterwards that I sought out the first two, and I liked those too. But for most people, the ones that actually started with the first two, Field Day was the epitome of “selling out,” even though is probably only moved 5,000 copies when all was said and done.
I worked at the student radio station and we played a few cuts off of Field Day. Someone from their record company must have given Cortner a list of those stations that “supported” the record, because he called me…unannounced…one day while I was hanging out at the office. I was surprised at the call and, more embarrassingly, totally unprepared for an interview. Having no formal background with Dag Nasty, I asked probably the most retarded questions known to man. There’s no record of the interview (thank God), but I can only imagine how dumb they must have sounded. They probably consisted of me looking at the record jacket while on the phone with him and saying something like “Hey! I see Brian Baker is in your band! He was in Minor Threat, right? Do you like Minor Threat? Yeah, I like them too. They’re real good. Tell me about “Song X” from your new album, Field Day, that’s a real good one.”
Thankfully, Cortner was very cool and he provided me with softball-like cues as to where to go next. Judging by the length of time he spent with me, it sounded like he really had nothing better to do. Like the punk rock establishment had turned their back on Dag Nasty because of the softer tones of Field Day, so all he could do now was spend his time talking to some schmuck from Iowa.
After about twenty minutes, I was looking for a way to end the call…possibly to end the embarrassment that I felt…and Cortner politely reminded me that he was able to do some station liners for me if I wanted. Station liners, for those of you not familiar with radio terminology, are essentially when someone famous identifies themselves, says something witty, and then mentions that whenever they’re in the area they listen to that particular station. Cortner recited a line or two from “Can I Say,” to which I thought he said something remarkably clever, something that had nothing to do with what he actually said.
No,” he explained, “That was part of “Can I Say.” It’s the title of the first album.”
It was the album that he wasn’t on, but the one that the band was best known for. Even then, the punk contingency made up the bulk of their audience while on tour and Cortner knew, even while trying to lead the band in a more dynamic direction, that he still had to cater to this contingency just to get people in the door.
The band broke up about a year later, unable to successfully make the leap from punk rock to college rock. Which is probably why it was for the better that Minor Threat called it quits when they did. The band wanted to grow up while the fans wanted them to stay the same. Dag Nasty was one of those bands that tried to grow up, but the fans wouldn’t let them.
Can I say that I admire them for trying?
And can I say that Peter Cortner was cooler than he needed to be.
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