I just finished watching a documentary on the life of the punk rock group the Minutemen. It is called "We Jam Econo" and it is great. Probably not a lot of people reading this are that familar with this group. They never reached the name recognition of a group like the Ramones, but they were a influence to many of today's performers, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The group consisted of D Boon- lead singer and guitarist, Mike Watt- bassist and singer, and George Hurley- drummer. The group had just finished a tour where they opened for R.E.M. in 1985 when D Boon was in a car accident and died.
This was a fascinating documentary with a lot of information that I never knew. The Minutemen's songs barely were over a minute long. At one point Mike Watt talks about a song that they did that was over two minutes long and calls it their opus, half in jest. Most people think their name came from the length of their songs, but Mike Watt explains that the name was more political in tone.
Mike Watt still tours in a van, still pushing the D.I.Y. lifestyle.
As D Boon sings "Our band could be your life."
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