The Current Rewind

Before we wrap up our First Avenue season, we have to pay homage to its famous painted stars.

The day Prince passed away, thousands of Minnesotans congregated outside First Avenue to dance and cry. Although the street party might've seemed like magic, of course real people made it happen - and we talked to a few of them for this episode. It's the last full installment of our season, and it celebrates Prince, parties, and Minnesota music. [Songs sampled: Prince - "Sometimes It Snows In April," Cameron Kinghorn - "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore," Lizzo - "The Beautiful Ones"]

A piece of First Avenue's ceiling fell to the ground during a concert in August 2015. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt. But throughout the music industry, concert safety has been a huge issue during the last decade. How can we keep each other safe? [Songs sampled: Icetep - "Hive Sound," Stereo Confession - "Tonight," Theory of a Deadman - "Angel"]

Description: When First Avenue entered bankruptcy on Election Day 2004, some saw it as the end of an era. But others – including devoted employees, local music fans, and a certain stage-diving ally in City Hall – would not rest until they'd saved the club.This is the seventh episode of The Current Rewind's "10 Pivotal Days at First Avenue" season. If you missed the first six episodes, catch up below.• April 3, 1970 (The day it all began)• Nov. 28-29, 1979 (The days that told the future)• Sept. 27, 1982 (Bad Brains/Sweet Taste of Afrika/Hüsker Dü)• Aug. 3, 1983 (The birth of "Purple Rain")• Oct. 22, 1990 (Sonic Youth/Cows/Babes in Toyland)• March 4, 1991 (Ice Cube/WC and the MAAD Circle)Transcript of The Current Rewind season 2, episode 7: "Nov. 2, 2004"Cecilia Johnson VO: Hey, it's Cecilia, host and producer of The Current Rewind. If you're listening to this the day it drops, it's Election Day in the U.S. You may be wondering what a First Ave podcast is doing in your feed, today of all days.Well, first, we wanted to encourage you to vote, if you haven't already. On the flip side, if you're seeking a few moments of respite, we got you. Third, a while back, I noticed a really weird coincidence: This episode takes place on Election Day itself. In fact, some First Ave employees remember frantically working to save their club and having to take a break to vote. It's funny how history rhymes.[🎵 A few stock music selections slide from song to song, separated by brief bursts of static. After several seconds, the music drops out, and we hear the following interview clips in quick succession 🎵]Dan Corrigan: But we thought that it was not going to be open anymore. We thought it was done.DJ Smitty: Nathan was like, "Yeah, I think this is it." And we're like, "Really?" Like, "Yeah."[🎵 contemplative guitar fades up 🎵]Randy Hawkins: It was heartbreaking.Dan Corrigan: It was crazy, because when we closed the door for the – what we thought was the last time, all the lights in the whole place were off, but we turned on all the trouble lights.[As Dan mentions the trouble lights, a "twinkly" sound effect fades up. Then, the guitar song resumes]Cecilia Johnson VO: I'm Cecilia Johnson. This is The Current Rewind, the show putting music's unsung stories on the map. This season, we're looking back at 50 years of First Avenue, one of the Twin Cities' and the country's greatest live venues.So far this season, we've welcomed a series of guest hosts, but this episode, I'll be your guide through the story of First Avenue's bankruptcy. In this episode, we'll visit First Ave on one of its darkest days, which some folks took to be the end. But others – including devoted employees, local music fans, and a certain stage-diving ally in City Hall – would not rest until they'd saved the club.[guitar song fades out; rewind sound effect]Cecilia Johnson VO: Although it shocked a lot of music fans, First Avenue's 2004 bankruptcy was a long time coming. If you've been following this season of our show, you've probably got a general understanding of First Avenue's finances, from its genesis as the Depot up until 2004.Craig Finn: ...these carpetbaggers weren't bagging much cash.Joe Shalita: But First Avenue is First Avenue. A dingy little place – at first, it was real dingy – you know –Steve McClellan: We were, like, $60,000 in debt with no backup revenue source.Cecilia Johnson VO: And the whole way through, Allan Fingerhut had owned or co-owned the business. We introduced him in the first episode of our season, but just for a little recap: Fingerhut had grown up in a suburb of Minneapolis, and his family ran a profitable mail-order company. He was one of the founding members of "The Committee," the small group who opened the Depot at First Avenue and Seventh Street in 1970. The Depot entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1971, and Cincinnati disco chain American Avents took over the club's operations in 1972, rebranding the Depot as Uncle Sam's. But the chain dissolved that partnership in about 1979. Soon afterward, Steve McClellan, the club's general manager, brought his old friend and roommate Jack Meyers aboard, to help manage money.Steve McClellan: We were a very good, in my mind, a good yin and yang, that when the club was doing well, I was in charge, but when we weren't doing well, Jack was in charge.Cecilia Johnson VO: And according to Jack Meyers, the fourth member of their quartet was Byron Frank.Jack Meyers: Allan Fingerhut grew up with a buddy named Byron Frank. They were inseparable for years. And Byron is a real accountant CPA – a very good businessman. And he ran all of Allan's concerns, and so we had a meeting in 1979 – Byron, Allan, Steve and Jack – and put together our plans for First Avenue, shook hands, and off we went. Our main rule from Allan was "never ask me for money," which we never did, thankfully, otherwise we wouldn't have been there so long. At any rate, that was the big meeting, and those were the four of us, and we always reported to Byron, just like all of or most of Allan's concerns reported to Byron. So Byron was what we'd call "boss." Allan was what we'd call "owner." And this was even better, because the owner lived in California, so he kept most of his good ideas away.Cecilia Johnson VO: Our producer Jesse Wiza spoke with Jack this summer.Jesse Wiza: So when you were assistant manager, what did you do on a typical day?Jack Meyers: Everything Steve didn't. It started out, Steve did the promotion and I did everything else, which means open the doors, hire and fire, run operations, and do the accounting when I had time, and count the money – you know. It was a real shoestring [operation], and I'm kinda proud of that.Steve McClellan: I knew not to go to him to ask for any special requests if we just had a terrible week or month. But if I just had like three sellout shows and we had – oh, I don't know, I think 30 grand would've been a lot of money at the time in the bank account. I'd go, "Whoa, we can fix the floors, we can fix everything." And then Jack would remind me that the $8,000 insurance bill is due at the end of the month, and he would line up $20,000-30,000 of payments due just to stay open. You know, ridiculous things like insurance.Jack Meyers: But Jack always made sure Allan got his check. Oh yeah, not only didn't he give us any money, but he got his check every month, which he was used to because Uncle Sam's sent him that check. So I sent him the same amount every month, and that was copacetic, and that's how it worked. That was, as we shall see, years later became very important.Cecilia Johnson VO: Jack, Steve, and a few others ran the office upstairs at First Avenue.Rob Milanov: But they were all day guys.Cecilia Johnson VO: And Rob Milanov, who worked at First Avenue from 1999 until the 2004 bankruptcy, was a night staffer.Rob Milanov: I started out as roaming security. You know, just the guy who wanders around the club trying to keep an eye on things. I eventually worked my way in barbacking and bartending and bussing and cashiering and – never worked stage but did a little bit of everything else.Cecilia Johnson VO: Like Richard Luka from earlier this season, Rob got a job at First Avenue while attending a show.Rob Milanov: We're standing in line, and they came down the line like, "We're short on people; anybody need a job?" [laughs]Cecilia Johnson VO: And unlike many of the people who jumped at that opportunity, Rob ended up staying for years. Rob Milanov: Everybody thought they wanted to work there, but once they started, the vast majority of people are gone within a couple days. Because, at the time, you didn't get paid anything, and you're risking your life, and it was a hassle.Cecilia Johnson VO: Like lots of restaurant and entertainment jobs, First Avenue was a "sink or swim" kind of gig.Rob Milanov: I mean, you'd be friendly with people right away, but to be honest, we were not the nicest to new employees. We threw you to the wolves and – and saw if you could survive, and – you'd get help in some ways, but at the same time, like I said – you had to prove yourself or you were just gonna be another person that lasted three days.Cecilia Johnson VO: While interviewing former employees, I heard about a particularly hilarious tradition. Only at First Avenue does "throw you to the wolves" translate to "involuntary karaoke." But that was part of being a new person.Rob Milanov: So if you're looking at the stage, there's that sitting rail along the left side of the room, and basically, at the employee meeting at the end of the night, you'd have to stand up on the sitting rail and sing a song. You didn't know this; occasionally, somebody would hear it through the grapevine, "This is what they did," or whatnot. But for the most part, most of us were completely surprised by this.Cecilia Johnson VO: And what did Rob sing?[🎵 "Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus" by Mojo Nixon fades up 🎵]Rob Milanov: [laughs] Well, I stood up, thought for a few seconds, and I started singing the chorus to "Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus" by Mojo Nixon, which was a popular choice. By the end of the chorus, most of the staff were singing along.[🎵 "Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus" by Mojo Nixon plays for several seconds, fades down 🎵]Cecilia Johnson VO: But Rob's First Avenue was pretty different from that of the higher-ups. He says most of the office workers would go home by the time the concerts actually started.Rob Milanov: The night staff didn't really see the upper-upper management too much. The one we'd see the most was Steve, because he would at least stick around long enough to say hello to the bands as they were loading in. The office was kinda this foreign world. [laughs] We knew the office as far as like – getting change and them putting the money away at the end of the night. That's where you pick up your walkie-talkie and your keys and whatnot and drop them off at the end of the night. But other than that, you know...Cecilia Joh

When First Avenue entered bankruptcy on Election Day 2004, some saw it as the end of an era. But others - including devoted employees, local music fans, and a certain stage-diving ally in City Hall - would not rest until they'd saved the club. [Songs sampled: Icetep - "Hive Sound," Mojo Nixon - "Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus," Lifter Puller - "Lifter Puller Vs. The End Of The Evening"]

Description: One day after the LAPD beat up Rodney King, an Ice Cube concert went down in history as one of the most violent shows ever held at First Avenue. Hosted by Jay Smooth, we ask rap experts and former First Ave staffers about gangsta rap, security, and the uneasy relationship between the Minnesota music industry and Black hip-hop artists.This is the sixth episode of The Current Rewind's "10 Pivotal Days at First Avenue" season. If you missed the first five episodes, catch up below.• April 3, 1970 (The day it all began)• Nov. 28-29, 1979 (The days that told the future)• Sept. 27, 1982 (Bad Brains/Sweet Taste of Afrika/Hüsker Dü)• Aug. 3, 1983 (The birth of "Purple Rain")• Oct. 22, 1990 (Sonic Youth/Cows/Babes in Toyland)Transcript of The Current Rewind season 2, episode 6: "March 4, 1991"Anne O'Connor: We're talking about almost 30 years ago, but my memory of this was like, you opened up the gate at the horse races, and everybody was off to it.[Ice Cube, "The Bomb," with the lyrics:"With the L, the E, the N, the C, the HThe M, the O, the B, the greatLyrics that make the beat swing and I gotchaIt's the hip-hopper that don't like coppers." Hard cut.]Anne O'Connor: And it was just like an explosion, and it was non-stop all night long.["The Bomb" picks up where it left off, running through these lyrics:"And if you try to upset the pot, sonYou get kicked in the chest like a shotgunI make the beats, I make the breaksI make the rhymes that make you shakeMake you findIce Cube never caught in the middleI make stuff that kick you in the a** a little." Hard cut.]Anne O'Connor: We just went from one fight to the next fight to the next fight. There was no breathing time. There was no downtime. It was just, "What emergency is there to go and deal with next?"[Ice Cube's "The Bomb" returns with a sample of spoken audio and several voices singing, "The bomb"]Cecilia Johnson VO: Gangsta rap was the most controversial music of the '90s – praised as an expression of Black America's righteous anger, reviled for its misogyny and depictions of violence. Taking cues from Schooly D and Ice-T, Los Angeles group N.W.A popularized the genre with their album Straight Outta Compton. Their most talented rhymer, Ice Cube, left the group to go solo in 1990. In early 1991, he brought his show to Minneapolis's First Avenue, for one of its most memorable nights ever.["Hive Sound" by Icetep]Cecilia Johnson VO: [over theme] I'm Cecilia Johnson. This is The Current Rewind, the show putting music's unsung stories on the map. For our second season, we're looking back at one of the Twin Cities' – and the country's – greatest live venues through a series of pivotal nights. We're bringing on guest hosts for several episodes. In this one, Jay Smooth – the New York hip-hop radio legend and cultural commentator – joins us to tell the story of one of the most infamous shows in First Avenue's history. I do want to warn you: This episode contains explicit accounts of racism and violence.[rewind sound effect]Jay Smooth VO: Way back in 1991, I founded New York's longest-running hip-hop radio show, WBAI's Underground Railroad. It was a pivotal time for hip-hop music, when it was still just beginning to cross all sorts of cultural boundaries. And the other love of my musical life back then was the Black Minneapolis Sound, as defined by Prince and his many collaborators – who, in their own way, were on a similar path of bringing Black music into spaces where it hadn't necessarily been all that welcome.So, as a devoted student of Prince and hip-hop who came of age in that era, the First Avenue club and its relationship with Black music, and hip-hop, specifically, has always been an object of fascination for me. And though it was primarily defined as a rock club, First Avenue did host a number of high-profile hip-hop shows in the '80s and early '90s, according to someone who saw a lot of them.Tim Wilson: Timothy Wilson, Urban Lights Music owner.Jay Smooth VO: Tim's record store, Urban Lights, is a community hub in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul.Tim Wilson: I remember seeing Run-D.M.C. I remember they had Jam Master Jay kind of suspended in the air, swinging back and forth, and they couldn't jump around on the stage, because the records were skipping and stuff like that, but they still made it through. I remember going to KRS-One; the sound crashed and he literally had one of his people beat box, and he continued to perform. [Tim laughs]Jay Smooth VO: On top of the big names from out of state, Minnesotan hip-hop acts the Micranots and the I.R.M. Crew sometimes performed in First Ave's smaller room, the 7th Street Entry. Still, it would take a while for the club's overall attitude to change, from what sound engineer Randy Hawkins, in Chris Riemenschneider's book First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom, called, quote, "anti-rap." The non-white population of Minneapolis grew nearly 70 percent during the '80s. But hip-hop took longer to bloom in the Twin Cities than on the coasts, partly because the success of Prince, the Time, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis made funk the sound du jour there in the '80s. One of First Avenue's most successful dance nights was More Funk, every Thursday with the club's longtime DJ Roy Freedom. Prince and Jimmy Jam would sometimes bring test pressings for the occasion. Tim Wilson also DJ'ed there.Tim Wilson: You know, it was disco, funk, rap, kind of all mixed up into one hodgepodge. It was just a little bit of hip-hop at the time, because rap just hadn't really – hadn't really captured the imagination of the world, let's say it like that. It wasn't the Wall Street darling that it is today. So it was a record here, a record there, but it was just a lot of Minneapolis Sound stuff. Of course you would get a lot of Prince and people like André Cymone, the Girls, Ta Mara & the Seen, Alexander O'Neal.Dan Corrigan: More Funk with Roy Freedom? We used to call it More Fights with Roy Freedom – ha!Jay Smooth VO: Dan Corrigan has been First Avenue's official photographer since 1995. These clips are from a 2003 interview he did with Pete Scholtes of City Pages.Dan Corrigan: There was one night, there was the biggest fight I've ever seen down there. It was just crazy. It started on the dance floor and kind of went around the right and spilled all the way out to the entryway.Jay Smooth VO: That brawl took place in 1990, during More Funk's fifth anniversary. Randy Hawkins told our writer Michaelangelo Matos about that night.Randy Hawkins: The fifth anniversary of [More] Funk night it was a similar situation of losing control of the club. There was a few times where it was like, "We've lost control of this."Jay Smooth VO: Now, this kind of thing didn't happen very often. One reason for that is First Avenue's security system.Sabrina Keith: There's, like, a light switch at various locations throughout the club, like emergency buttons you press if something goes wrong.Jay Smooth VO: Sabrina Keith was a bartender, stagehand, and superglue employee of First Ave, working on and off from 1988 to 2004.Sabrina Keith: And you flip the switch, and let's see, upstairs, a central light goes on. It's, like, a siren light – a red siren light. And then, I think, at the front door there might be one, as well. And then, you look over to the side of the stage, and there's many lights of many different colors, and hopefully just one of them will be spinning, and that would be – that gives you an idea of where the trouble is. And actually, just the other day, me and another old employee were talking and can remember pretty much where all the trouble lights are. It's really disturbing. [laughs] I shouldn't know that green means pool tables, which means it's by where the current coat check is and no more pool tables.Jay Smooth VO: The origin of the so-called "trouble lights" is still fresh in Richard Luka's mind. He had been recruited to work security in 1975, when the club was still called Uncle Sam's. You may remember him from the Ramones and Pat Benatar episode earlier this season. Richard spoke with our producer, Cecilia, and First Ave's longtime general manager Steve McClellan.Richard Luka: The reason for that light was that in March of 1977, I was working alone. We'd purged a lot of people out of there at that time. Uh, there was all this new staff. They really didn't know anything, and I was all alone at the front door with the cashier, and a bike gang came to the door. The Iron Cross from northern Minnesota. And I had to card these guys, and I thought, "Oh my god, I can't – what am I gonna do here?" And I just – there was, like, six of them. I just said well, I guess I'm letting them in. And it turns out a few more came in, so we had like nine bikers in there who took their coats off. They were flying their colors in there.Steve McClellan: What show was it?Richard Luka: No, this was like a Saturday night in 1977, and I remember one of our regular customers, a guy named Tiger. He was Black, and he had a shaved head and these guys surrounded him. They were rubbing his head, saying, "I wish I had a watermelon," and I was like, "Oh my god, this is gonna get out of hand." And at the end of the night, they were just rude and belligerent to people. And [Tiger] came up and he said, "What on earth did you let them in here for?" I go like, "I was gonna get the s*** beat out of me. It's like I'm up here all alone." And they said, "Okay, we're putting a light in." So they installed this light, and a year later, the bike gang came back, but we had hired all new staff. [Steve and Richard laugh] We had some bigger people there, and I hit that light and people were right there, and these guys, they threw their jackets off and they were ready to go, and the police showed up. So that is what can happen at the front door. You never knew what was gonna show up there.Steve McClellan: Oh, the first light that he's talking about, my brother Kevin installed. When did we put in the differe

One day after the LAPD beat up Rodney King, an Ice Cube concert went down in history as one of the most violent shows ever held at First Avenue. Hosted by Jay Smooth, we ask rap experts and former First Ave staffers about gangsta rap, security, and the uneasy relationship between the Minnesota music industry and Black hip-hop artists.

Alternative rock stayed underground throughout the '80s, but in the early '90s, that distorted, furious sound burst into the mainstream. Experimental bands who'd been playing First Avenue were suddenly going global. In this episode, members of Cows and Babes in Toyland talk about sharing a bill with Sonic Youth at First Avenue. [Songs sampled: Sonic Youth - "Tunic (Song For Karen)," Kiss the Tiger - "Bad Boy," Sonic Youth - "Kool Thing," Babes in Toyland - "Swamp Pussy," Cows - "Memorial"]

Mark Wheat left The Current in May 2020, but not before recording an interview with Cecilia Johnson for The Current Rewind. In this conversation, Mark talks about how he got a star on First Avenue's wall, how music intertwines with his spirituality, and what he sees as his greatest impact on Minnesota music.

Most casual Prince fans know Purple Rain was partially filmed at First Avenue. But did you know the title song is a live recording, taped at First Ave a few months before filming started? In this episode, we meet Prince and the Revolution at a benefit show for Minnesota Dance Theatre, where they debuted "Purple Rain" in support of dance and community.This is the fourth episode of The Current Rewind's "10 Pivotal Days at First Avenue" season. If you missed the first three episodes, catch up below.• April 3, 1970 (The day it all began)• Nov. 28-29, 1979 (The days that told the future)• Sept. 27, 1982 (Bad Brains/Sweet Taste of Afrika/Hüsker Dü)Transcript of The Current Rewind season 2, episode 4: "Aug. 3, 1983"["Purple Rain" chords, but trembly and slowed-down. After several seconds, the music snaps into the original version, and we hear the lyrics, "I never meant to cause you any sorrow/ I never meant to cause you any pain."]Mark Wheat VO: After three episodes and 13 years of First Avenue's history, we've arrived at the song. The song that evokes an artist, a movie, and to some, a period of mourning: "Purple Rain."["Purple rain, purple rain" fades into "Hive Sound" by Icetep]Mark Wheat VO: [over theme] I'm Mark Wheat. This is The Current Rewind, the show putting music's unsung stories on the map. For our second season, we're exploring the history of First Avenue, the downtown Minneapolis venue that has become one of the Twin Cities' – and the country's – greatest clubs.Most casual Prince fans know that scenes from the 1984 movie Purple Rain were filmed at First Avenue. The version of "Purple Rain" that you hear in the movie and the soundtrack was recorded live at First Avenue, but not at the same time the movie was filmed. Just a few months before the cameras rolled, Prince hadn't yet written the song. He first performed it on August 3, 1983 at First Avenue, during a benefit show for the Minnesota Dance Theatre. He had the show recorded, and when we listen to "Purple Rain" today, we're hearing him and the Revolution play it live for the very first time. In this episode, we'll explore the story of that song and that amazingly unique one-off performance, along with Prince's relationship to Minnesota Dance Theatre – a tale that captures Prince's ethos as a musician and a community member.So far this season, guest hosts have lent their voices to each episode of Rewind. But by this point, the coronavirus pandemic has complicated our production. So we here at The Current will step in to host a few episodes, including this one, which I was quite fond of from the beginning. It takes place when I had just moved to the United States, for good, in 1983.[rewind noise]Mark Wheat VO: The early 1980s were a transition moment in Minnesota music. Artists from two different local scenes were breaking out. On the indie rock side, the Replacements and Hüsker Dü were stirring up mosh pits all across the country. And Prince had just become a national star through the success of his fifth album, 1999.David Z: I mean, it was exciting, because Prince was our local star, and he had the beginning of success before this. I mean, he did do Dirty Mind.Mark Wheat VO: This is David Z, Prince's longtime producer – and brother of The Revolution drummer Bobby Z.David Z: So I mean, he wasn't a nobody, but he wasn't internationally famous at all. It was kind of a local thing, and we were all happy because we always wanted somebody from Minneapolis to make it.Mark Wheat VO: And before the world knew Prince's music – along with his slides, splits, spins and pelvic thrusts, he studied ballet with Minnesota Dance Theatre.[audio of a Minnesota Dance Theatre rehearsal]Mark Wheat VO: Renowned choreographer Loyce Houlton founded Minnesota Dance Theatre in 1962. They still teach classical and contemporary dance, and over the last 50 years, they've presented one of the best-attended performances of The Nutcracker in the country. In the '70s, the theater participated in Minneapolis Public Schools' Urban Arts Program, which Prince joined as a high school student. After Loyce's passing in 1995, her daughter Lise Houlton took over as artistic director. Lise Houlton: My mother and Wally Kennedy were developing this program in the Twin Cities for those us of who didn't fit in the traditional academic life. That's how my mother met Prince, through the urban arts program. And I think that she saw immediately that he had a special spark, that there was something – she used to talk about the combination of this insatiable appetite and this sadness that came together in some sort of combustion of energy, and I think because she had a similar quality that they had this common ground.Mark Wheat VO: You can catch the dance moves he mastered in Minnesota in some of his music videos.Lise Houlton: In the ballet world there's a step that's challenging and that we all have to do, and it's called an entrechat six, and it's where you do three beats in the air. You jump up, you do three beats and you land. Prince could do an entrechat six, and you learn that in a ballet class. That's not an instinctive move, because you do it with turnout, which is unnatural to the human body. He did tour en l'airs, where you jump in the air. Tour en l'airs. He did pirouettes with excellent placement, and that was combined with his jazz aesthetic and already his own personal grind.Mark Wheat VO: A few years after Prince graduated, Minnesota Dance Theatre needed financial help, and Loyce decided to get back in touch. As the Star Tribune reported at the time, she found out where Prince was staying in town and stood outside, waiting to ask if he could do a benefit show.Lise Houlton: But that was her style. If she believed in somebody, if she wanted to have a connection with an extraordinary talent, she did that sort of thing. That was her reputation as being a little bit crazy. But I think once again, that's where Prince and my mother saw their connection.Mark Wheat VO: Prince said yes, and First Avenue hosted the concert. Right after Prince played "Little Red Corvette," his biggest hit to date, Loyce Houlton took the mic to thank him for his support.It was guitarist Wendy Melvoin's first time on stage with Prince – and therefore, the first time the Revolution's classic line-up performed together, even though they weren't billed as such. Along with Prince and Wendy, there was drummer Bobby Z, bassist Brown Mark, keyboardists Lisa Coleman and Matt Fink, aka Dr. Fink. It was also the night Prince recorded "Baby I'm A Star," "I Would Die 4 U," and "Purple Rain" – right there at First Avenue, live.David Z: And you'll see that there's not very much added or changed to the original performance, especially with the song "Purple Rain."Mark Wheat VO: It was normal for Prince to have David record his performances, so no one expected anything unusual to happen.David Z: Nobody really knew there was a movie coming out. We just thought it was gonna be a live record, or whatever.Mark Wheat VO: And as Dr. Fink recalls, it wasn't the most comfortable environment.Matt Fink: We all knew it was a hot, muggy summer night and that First Avenue would be packed, and it would be very uncomfortable for older people to be standing in there. And we were right, 'cause we were all drenched with sweat within two minutes of taking the stage, because that's how hot it was in there. The air conditioning wasn't keeping up. It was back when people smoked cigarettes in clubs. So not only did you have [Dr. Fink laughs] all the heat and humidity and bodies and cigarette smoke, but it was just very difficult to be comfortable.Mark Wheat VO: According to First Avenue's records, about 1200 people bought tickets to the show. On an average night in 1983, a Mainroom show would run about five bucks, but tickets to this benefit were $25 – the equivalent of about $60 today. Including staff and an extensive guest list, about 1,500 people were in the club that night. First Avenue manager Steve McClellan was just trying not to overpack the place.Steve McClellan: I had to go and tell people, except for the really important VIP list, it's not good for you tonight. Because my goal was to keep my list under 100, Prince's was supposed to be under 100, Minnesota Dance Theatre was supposed to be under 100. That night that all went blowin' in the wind. The guest lists poured in, and that's why that night, everybody says, "Well, why didn't you watch the show?" I remember between having to get the numbers together – because I thought I would have to pay the Minnesota Dance Theatre that night, so I had to get all my costs together. Because it was a $25 ticket. We'd never done a $25 ticket before. And so I knew that the money was gonna be big.Mark Wheat VO: When we had Steve and veteran doorperson Richard Luka in for an interview, we asked Richard what he was up to that night.Richard Luka: I was at the back door, and I could see everything from behind. "Why isn't he playing anything familiar here? What the hell's this stuff?" And but then there also this people going in and out through the garage to this truck that was out there. Turns out they were recording everything. Nobody knew that there was gonna be a movie within a year or so of that. None of us knew. That's why when you come back to a night like that – well, you know, it had sort of a cultural impact further down the line. But when you're in those moments you don't know that. So it's like, "This jerk just wants to get inside right now." No. You're Prince's cousin. Aren't we all. No, you can't come in. And we're dealing with things on an interpersonal level like that, whereas up there they're doing this thing that's gonna be here, and then it's gonna go out all over the world later.Steve McClellan: I do remember hearing "When Doves Cry" the first time. There were certain times when I was able to stand and go, "Oh, pretty good." But, you know, life goes on.Mark Wheat VO: Maybe Steve and Richard didn't

Most casual Prince fans know 'Purple Rain' was partially filmed at First Avenue. But did you know the title song is a live recording, taped at First Ave a few months before filming started? In this episode, we meet Prince and the Revolution at a benefit show for Minnesota Dance Theatre, where they debuted "Purple Rain" in support of dance and community. [Songs sampled: Prince - "Purple Rain," Purple Playground - "Purple Playground"]

Sept. 27, 1982: Bad Brains/Sweet Taste of Afrika/Husker DuAlmost 40 years ago, D.C. rockers Bad Brains played First Avenue with two Minnesotan openers: Sweet Taste of Afrika and Husker Du. While Husker Du are relatively well-known today, Sweet Taste of Afrika are all but forgotten. Meanwhile, Bad Brains are world-famous, but their hurtful behavior has flown under the radar. In this episode, we tease out the complicated relationship between the three bands on the bill, their genres, and their identities.This is the third episode of The Current Rewind's "10 Pivotal Days at First Avenue" season. If you missed the first two episodes, catch up below.• April 3, 1970 (The day it all began)• Nov. 28-29, 1979 (The days that told the future)Transcript of The Current Rewind season 2, episode 3: "Sept. 27, 1982"[Bad Brains' "Banned In DC"]Cecilia Johnson VO: D.C. rockers Bad Brains are among the best-known hardcore bands in history. They're famous for their live shows. Imagine a scene like this: [volume inches up] Cecilia Johnson VO: Lead singer H.R. is flailing, his voice curdled from screaming, and drummer Earl Hudson rides the cymbals hard. A song later, the band dips into reggae. The kids who were moshing just a minute ago are now letting their shoulders slump, swaying from side to side, until Dr. Know fires up the guitar again, and the audience churns back into a pit.Maybe you've experienced this in person, maybe you've just heard about it...but whatever's the case, for a lot of people, Bad Brains are one of the only Black rock bands they've heard of. Let's talk some more about that.[Icetep's "Hive Sound"]Cecilia Johnson VO: [over theme] I'm Cecilia Johnson, and this is The Current Rewind, the show putting music's unsung stories on the map. For our second season, we're exploring the history of First Avenue, the downtown Minneapolis venue that has become one of the Twin Cities' – and the country's – greatest clubs.[Icetep's "Hive Sound" crescendos, plays for several seconds, and fades down]Cecilia Johnson VO: So far, we've seen First Avenue evolve from the Depot to Uncle Sam's to Sam's. For this episode, we'll jump ahead to 1982, when Bad Brains, Sweet Taste of Afrika, and Hüsker Dü shared the Mainroom stage.We set out to tell a story about one of the most revered bands in punk music. But we ended up learning a lesson: that while representation is definitely necessary, if you treat individuals' identities as their virtues, you can actually allow them less humanity – and excuse the harm that they've done.Honestly, this episode presented a lot of challenges, and we want to let you in on them as we tell this story. So let's do that. I'm super excited to introduce our guest host for this episode. She runs the show Rock and Roll Over at the University of Minnesota's Radio K and her name is Zoë Challenger. She's definitely one of our youngest guest hosts this season, but I can already tell she has a ton of talent and wisdom to share with the world. Here she is. [rewind sound effect] Zoë Challenger VO: I'm Zoë Challenger. Being a Twin Cities native, I am embarrassed to say that my first concert at First Avenue was when Noname came to town in January of 2019. I was 19 years old, and I went alone. While I grew up with a desire for musical exploration, I did not grow up in a musical household by any means. I told my parents I was going with a friend, when in reality, I couldn't find anyone to go with me. So I draped my mother's elegant hand-me-down wool coat over my plaid skirt, crop top, and tattered stockings. I let the material confidence override any underlying social anxieties.As an only child, I've never been afraid of being alone, but walking into a venue by myself brought up new feelings. Since that night, I found myself at the First Avenue Mainroom or the 7th St Entry nearly once a week until the coronavirus pandemic hit the nation. Most of the time I would arrive alone, but over time, I would find myself running into more and more familiar faces at any given show. Maneuvering the block of 7th Street and Hennepin Avenue will always be an act of muscle memory.Over the last 50 years, First Avenue has hosted a variety of big names, but the early 1980s were jam-packed. From 1982-84, the calendar swerved from funk to punk to New Wave, with acts ranging from talkbox legends Zapp & Roger, to Minnesotan rockers the Replacements, to Bow Wow Wow, the band behind "I Want Candy." That's not to mention Prince, U2, Ray Charles, and a then-unknown Wynton Marsalis. But if you were to look through the 1980s First Ave band files that are now housed at the Minnesota Historical Society, you'd struggle to find a particular category of artists: well-known Black American rockers.The Minnesota music community has a lot of excuses for this, the most common one being, "There weren't that many Black rock bands to book." It's true that funk and soul were much more popular among Black Americans, especially those raised in the church. But it's too easy to say that Black rock wasn't a thing. In fact, according to those band files, rock-adjacent bands War, Ipso Facto, and Defunkt played First Avenue in the early '80s. But aside from the Historical Society files, those shows hardly left a paper trail, whether in microfilm archives or the internet. Which brings us to an issue at the heart of this story: which legacies last and which fade away.The story of Bad Brains is fairly well-established. The D.C. group originally banded together in the 1970s as a jazz fusion ensemble called Mind Power. After going to a Bob Marley concert and hearing the Ramones' song "Bad Brain," they were influenced enough to change not only their name but also their sound, ending up with a mix of punk rock and reggae. At this point, a pattern was beginning to form with Black musicians who dove into punk music; they were often eclectic in their genre-molding and evolution.In Minneapolis, local punk bands who'd been performing at bars like Duffy's and the Longhorn had a new room to fill: the 7th St Entry, a small space off the side of the First Avenue Mainroom. Steve McClellan: And there was just, say, we got this empty room. It's a storage area. Zoë Challenger VO: Around the same time as he opened the Entry, general manager Steve McClellan hired Chrissie Dunlap, who ended up booking the space. Chrissie Dunlap: I started out just 100 percent Steve's assistant: You know, his desk (and office generally) was just filled up with contracts, riders, promo material, you know, label stuff, cassette tapes everywhere. And I would go in there and just try to prioritize things – tell him, "This needs to be signed, this, you gotta do this." And then I would just sorta take the promo material and start promoting shows. And as time went on, a lot of that detailed stuff ended up leaving Steve's desk and [moving] over to my desk. The bands would start calling, looking for gigs, and, you know, I started out giving the info to Steve and kinda working on him with it, but he was busy doing the real talent buying, and I was there during the day more when the phone rang and people stopped by with cassettes and stuff. So I just kinda, little by little, picked it up. Zoë Challenger VO: One of the bands Chrissie would book – a lot – were Hüsker Dü, the St. Paul punk group who opened for Bad Brains at First Avenue. But that's not a huge surprise; in the '80s, they were playing upwards of 60 shows a year. Hüsker Dü guitarist Bob Mould wanted to tell us all about this era, but right when we were producing this episode, he was actually called for jury duty. While Bob did his civic duty, we grabbed a clip from the audiobook of his memoir, See A Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody. Bob Mould: We started the spring tour in the Midwest, with our four-year anniversary gig at First Avenue in Minneapolis. First Avenue was originally a bus depot in downtown Minneapolis. It became a nightclub in 1970, and 7th St Entry was the coat check before becoming its own 300-capacity music room. First Avenue had been a cornerstone of the Midwest rock scene for years, and to play the 1,200-capacity main room was the goal of many a Midwest musician. Zoë Challenger VO: Along with Bob, bassist Greg Norton and drummer/songwriter Grant Hart recorded their debut album Land Speed Record at the Entry in '81, and they released it via New Alliance in January 1982. Bob Mould: The band always played with purpose – there wasn't a lot of goofing around in the live shows. On the faster material, Greg would start jumping in the air or do scissor kicks. I typically wore a grave, glowering expression, digging deep into my guitar when not singing. Grant was behind the kit, looking much like Animal from the Muppet Show band, except with longer hair and bare feet. We were young and inexperienced, but we had tons of energy and were able to create a solid wall of sound. Zoë Challenger VO: In selecting this show as one of First Avenue's pivotal nights, we were excited to focus on the positive, celebrating punk heroes Hüsker Dü and Bad Brains on one bill. But it didn't turn out to be that easy. Bob Mould: There was a loose network, which we often discovered by chance, where like-minded bands would share a stage and the hometown band would offer accommodations to the traveling band. In return, when that band came to your town, you would reciprocate. Sometimes you'd run into a band that didn't understand or appreciate the idea. When Bad Brains stayed with Grant and his parents, they took Grant's pot and left behind an antigay note. Some gratitude. But once people caught the drift of those bands, they were usually shunned, and eventually they faded away. Zoë Challenger VO: Bob and Grant's sexualities were open secrets in the Minneapolis punk scene. Bob would come out as gay in a Spin article in 1994, and Grant is on record talking about his bisexuality around that time. Bob and Grant wanted to avoid becoming pigeonholed for their identities. But whe

Almost 40 years ago, D.C. rockers Bad Brains played First Avenue with two Minnesotan openers: Sweet Taste of Afrika and Husker Du. While Husker Du are relatively well-known today, Sweet Taste of Afrika are all but forgotten. Meanwhile, Bad Brains are world-famous, but their hurtful behavior has flown under the radar. In this episode, we tease out the complicated relationship between the three bands on the bill, their genres, and their identities. [Songs sampled: Bad Brains - "Banned In DC," Husker Du - "Pink Turns To Blue," Sweet Taste of Afrika, "Children Of The Nile," Gully Boys - "New Song No. 2," The Smokes - "2 I Luv"]

Nov. 28-29, 1979: The days that told the futureDisco was the ticket at Uncle Sam's in the late '70s. But the club's destiny changed course in Nov. 1979, when the Ramones and Pat Benatar rocked the Mainroom on back-to-back nights. In this episode, hosted by Zoo Animal's Holly Hansen, we learn how First Ave became a rock 'n' roll sanctuary.This is the second episode of The Current Rewind's First Avenue season. If you missed the first one, catch up here.Transcript of The Current Rewind season 2, episode 2: "Nov. 28-29, 1979"[Pat Benatar, "Heartbreaker"]Mark Wheat VO: [over Benatar] It's 1979, and Pat Benatar is on stage at Uncle Sam's, jumping up and down with a microphone in her hand. The crowd has been waiting for this one, the single from her new album, and as the guitar builds, so does the energy on the floor.["Heartbreaker" fades up for a few lines, fades down while Icetep's "Hive Sound" fades up]Mark Wheat VO: Like most emerging rock stars, Pat is wearing all black — and behind her, a guitar crunches through the chorus. From the dance floor to the balcony, people are cheering and nodding to the beat.For us, this is a glimpse of the past — but people at that '79 Benatar show were seeing the future. As Pat performed at the Uncle Sam's disco in downtown Minneapolis, the club's corporate management had their eye on an exit. Thanks to her and others, the venue's next chapter would turn out a lot less Saturday Night Fever and a lot more rock and roll.I'm Mark Wheat. This is The Current Rewind, the show putting music's unsung stories on the map. For our second season, we're exploring the history of First Avenue, the downtown Minneapolis venue that has become one of the Twin Cities' — and the country's — greatest clubs.In our first episode, we covered the beginning of First Ave's life as a music venue...which hit a few bumps right away. When the Depot filed for bankruptcy in the summer of '71, it stayed closed for a year — before an out-of-town company turned it into a disco. That scheme stayed alive until 1979, when two rock shows — the Ramones and Pat Benatar, playing back-to-back nights — set the table for First Avenue's future.For this second episode, we're excited to introduce Holly Hansen, the musician behind Zoo Animal. Holly will help us tell the story of First Ave's second incarnation — as a suburban disco in the middle of downtown Minneapolis — and the people who, in 1979, turned it into a, quote, "New Wave Experience."[rewind noise]Holly Hansen VO: The two most vivid memories I have of First Avenue both involve intimacy, but in very different ways.I was standing at the side of the stage during a Kevin Drew show, and a stagehand made eye contact with me and waved me over. Next thing I knew, I was slow-dancing with Kevin on stage, thinking, "Why me?" I seriously think there are many people in that room who would've loved to be on that stage holding his sweaty body, but here I was, simply being a good sport.[Zoo Animal's "Black and Charred" fades up, plays under VO]Holly Hansen VO: A few years later, I released the Zoo Animal album Departure, some of the most personal music I'd ever written, and the release show was at the 7th St Entry. I don't know how to explain what was going on that night, but it felt very different. It was so quiet and focused; it was like the audience took up part of the weight of the songs. I had never felt so connected with an audience before or since.I feel myself at First Avenue because it's ready for any experience, always centered on music. It's a place where no matter who you are or what you like, the audience and performer can be one. In the late 1970s, First Ave wasn't known as a venue for intimate performances. And then punk happened.Back in the summer of 1972, the Depot had been shut down for a year. Then, in July, it reopened under new management. Instead of a black exterior, the former Greyhound station was now painted red, white, and blue. The Depot's owners hadn't sold the company, but American Avents, a company based in Cincinnati, took over its operation, turning it into one of several Uncle Sam's franchises throughout the U.S.Chris Riemenschneider: I think they had like eight or nine by the time that Uncle Sam's opened here.Holly Hansen VO: Chris Riemenschneider is the author of First Avenue: Minnesota's Mainroom.Chris Riemenschneider: And in fact, the first year or two of the Uncle Sam's, they struggled a bit early on, apparently. But one of the things that really helped it was in maybe about '75 or '76, they changed the liquor law to — Minnesota went from 21 to 18 and up, drinking, and obviously, that was a big boost to the place.Andy Sturdevant: By the late '70s, you've got the heyday of kind of the seedy downtown Hennepin strip. Holly Hansen VO: Andy Sturdevant is the co-author of the book Closing Time, a history of Twin Cities bars.Andy Sturdevant: Like, that's the place that you're talking about when you're going to school and the taunt that you hear is, "Aw, your mom works on Hennepin!" This is that era. And so, you've got that whole strip, and there's still a couple of bars just barely hanging on from that older era. But you've mostly got strip clubs; you've got porno shops; you've got clubs. That's where the gay bathhouses are.Holly Hansen VO: And Uncle Sam's was one of the roughest bars near the Hennepin strip. The manager was a U of M dropout named Steve McClellan.Steve McClellan: My name's Steven McClellan, and I worked in a nightclub downtown from 1973 to 2004. [4:00]Holly Hansen VO: Steve met with The Current Rewind's producer, Cecilia Johnson, for two separate interviews. For the first, he brought LeeAnn Weimar, First Avenue's former director of marketing. For the second, he came with Richard Luka, who started as a doorperson and ended up designing First Ave's logo. Steve had a story about everyone.[supercut of Steve McClellan exclaiming names: "Dave Ahl. Tom Spiegel! Cara Lewis. Gary Rue! Pat Lyons. Kevin Sadowski [ph]. Mark Downey!"]Holly Hansen VO: And as you might hope, Steve McClellan is one of live music's biggest fans. One of his favorite quotes is from Frank Zappa: "Once you record it, you've sold out." He says he picked up this attitude as a college kid.Steve McClellan: I'm a West Bank guy. I remember when people would go to the West Bank when I was going to the U. I lived on the West Bank from '68, '69 to '73. And you had five, six venues doing live music.Holly Hansen VO: Steve was on the West Bank attending the University of Minnesota, but dropped out in the mid-'70s. Before that, though, he started working the bar at Uncle Sam's.Steve McClellan: My feeling is in '75 they put me in management training. I had been bartending probably since late 1973. And after they sent me to the management-training thing, I was ready to go back to school. I was fed up with the corporate nature of it. And then I came back, and I was pulled out of training early because Pat Lyons, who was managing Minneapolis at the time, got promoted. They pulled me out of training and gave me First Avenue.Holly Hansen VO: Even after Steve's promotion, he and his bosses didn't always get along.Steve McClellan: You wanna get me on a rant when I put the first black doorman at the door when American Avents hated it, and all the people involved couldn't believe I had a black doorman? Ah, women in management — I put a woman named Marsha Lear in the Uncle Sam's management program, and I wish I could find her again, because I owe her an apology. American Avents was totally not gonna have a female manager back in the '70s and I realized I sent her — I went through their management program. It's a good old boy network. I hated it.But looking back and seeing how their management meetings went and all that, it would be like you were being run by a — I never went to a fraternity, but back in college I always thought they were kind of a weird group — frat guys. Pretty elite group, they drink a lot of beer. And my image of that whole upper management at American Avents reminded me like they were all from Buffalo, New York. It was one big frat running the company.Holly Hansen VO: The music at Uncle Sam's was largely DJs playing safe pop hits, as dictated by the national office.Chris Riemenschneider: They had this deal where there would be DJs with a live drummer, and this was actually where Bobby Z, later of Prince and the Revolution, first played the club. He was like 18 or 19, on dance night, and, you know, just playing along to recorded music. They used to have another guy, Denny Craswell, who performed with a jungle theme. He had drums built like into, like, logs — it was like this jungle vibe. Pretty cheesy stuff, from what I can tell, but it was a big hit. They only had concerts once in a while — they would bring in some local and regional stuff. And then later on, after McClellan got a little more involved, in the late '70s they brought in stuff that was more Top 40 . . .[Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight": "Skyrockets in flight/Afternoon delight"]Chris Riemenschneider: . . . that stuff didn't do well.Holly Hansen VO: One feature at Uncle Sam's that brought repeat business was its Sunday-night teen dances. One of the regulars there was the future Time member and hit-making producer Jimmy Jam, as he told Pete Scholtes of City Pages in 2003.Jimmy Jam: Yeah, it was a disco, and it was packed, man. I know they had at least a thousand people every Sunday. There was a crowd, that was sort of a roller skating crowd that I used to hang out with at the Roller Gardens, and I think the Roller Gardens was like a big Friday night thing. So you'd go to the Gardens on Friday night, and Saturday there was a whole lot of different options, and then Sunday was always Uncle Sam's. But it was a lot of the same people you'd see, just kinda from my circle. I went to Washburn High, and so all sort of that crowd from there.But really, the crowd came to Uncle Sam's from everywhere. I mean, back when

Disco was the ticket at Uncle Sam's in the late '70s. But the club's destiny changed course in Nov. 1979, when the Ramones and Pat Benatar rocked the Mainroom on back-to-back nights. In this episode, hosted by Zoo Animal's Holly Hansen, we learn how First Ave became a rock 'n' roll sanctuary. [Songs sampled: Pat Benatar - "Heartbreaker," Zoo Animal - "Black And Charred," Starland Vocal Band - "Afternoon Delight," Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop - Live at Rainbow Theatre, London, 12/31/77," Prince - "Head," Curtiss A, "Land Of The Free," Icetep - "Hive Sound"]

Grab a carnation and travel back to the dawn of the '70s, when Joe Cocker and his "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" packed the room that would later become First Avenue. The club's rookie owners had a lot to learn, but thanks to this show, they earned the attention of Minnesotan music fans and media. [Songs sampled: Joe Cocker - "With A Little Help From My Friends," Joe Cocker - "The Letter," The Del Counts - "Let The Good Times Roll," Icetep - "Hive Sound," APM Music - "Feel This Way"]

Your favorite Minnesota music history show is back! In our second season, we're exploring 10 pivotal days in the history of First Avenue, the Minneapolis club that has hosted life-changing shows for the past 50 years. Episodes air on Tuesdays starting Sept. 22.

In this episode, you'll meet a family of pastors hell-bent on saving souls. A pro-sticker Washington wife. A B-horror blood-gusher with a heart of gold. Plus...Prince's photographer? This cast of characters is just a peek into the unbelievable story of the Peters Brothers, the evangelical crusaders who preached against rock throughout the 1980s. [Songs sampled: KISS - "Plaster Caster"; Prince - "Darling Nikki"; Impaler - "It Won't Die"]

Ever watched your grandmother spit verses for a crowd? Tou SaiK Lee has. He's one of several younger Hmong-Minnesotans who have collaborated with elders in the last decade, combining folk traditions and newer sounds. In this episode, we ask folks including Tou SaiK, Lis Pos, Shawn Mouacheupao, and Ernest and Missy Whiteman why and how they've reached across generations. [Songs sampled: Tou SaiKo Lee - "United Worldwide"; PosNoSys - "Sunshine"; Shawn Mouacheupao - "Forever, My Dear (feat. Lis Pos)"; Phooj Ywg - "Hlub Tso Cia"; Jasmine Tierra - "Our Love Was Real"]

Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, married founding members of Low, have quietly shattered rock music norms throughout their quarter-century career. In this episode, we join them for an interview and a walking tour of their Northern Minnesota hometown. [Songs sampled: Low - "What Part Of Me"; Low - "No Comprende"; Low - "Words"; Low - "Starfire"; Low - "Fly"; Bob Dylan - "Desolation Row"]