This part will be shorter than the first two and will mainly focus on how the band broke up. You won't understand any of this column if you don't go back and read the first two parts, just so you know (read part 1, part 2).
Husker Du's major label debut, Candy Apple Gray, is easily the most controversial record in their whole discography. Sure, the qualities of all their previous records have been debated over and taken to task, but this one seems to get the most varied responses. I've heard it been called their best record by a wide margin, their one extremely mediocre record, and the one Husker Du record that should never have been made all in pretty equal measure. It certainly wasn't the record that Warner wanted. Deeply contrasting the mostly happy, up-tempo atmosphere of "Flip Your Wig" (which is the record that Warner wanted to release anyway), "Candy Apple Gray" is filled with stark depression and post-relationship angst, often delivered with an intensity too uncomfortable for mainstream radio. That description applies a bit more to Bob Mould's songs though. His experimentations with extremely harsh and angry noise rock (like the opener "Crystal") would probably frighten the average pop-metal fan away and his pair of acoustic songs positioned in the middle of the album are both extremely stark bummers (one of which he wouldn't play live for a long time because it was just too damn depressing).
Speaking of acoustic songs, "Candy Apple Gray" is the only Husker Du record to have them in abundance (three songs out of the ten are ballads, albeit one of them being piano driven and not acoustic driven). They had experimented with them before on prior records, but usually only as short interludes to other songs or as brief guitar parts used to contrast with their usual loud, distorted style. Husker Du unplugged their instruments long before it was standard for "alternative" rock bands to do so. They even pioneered the whole "unplugged" concept, doing unplugged versions of their songs as encores on their tours supporting "New Day Rising" and "Flip Your Wig". However, unlike Nirvana, whose unplugged record is seen to be close to the holy grail by many of their fans, Husker Du played their unplugged shows to crowds of angry, unappreciative punk rock kids who didn't understand (and certainly didn't want to understand) anything they couldn't mosh to. Eventually the band got discouraged and neither Hart or Mould played live acoustically until after the band was over. Such is the fate of the pioneer.
Getting back to "Candy Apple Gray", I don't want to give the impression that it was solely about the despairing songs. Grant Hart's songs are significantly less depressed and easier for the average music fan to get into, showing a contrast to Mould that both enhanced and ultimately destroyed the band. Husker Du would release one more record for Warner before they imploded.
The main reason for the band failing apart (ironically when verything seemed to be finally coming together) were the tensions between Bob Mould and Grant Hart. There's plenty of rumors and innuendoes as to why these two began loathing each other so much towards the end of Husker Du's lifespan, but I shall concentrate on what is now taken for fact.
In the beginning, Bob Mould had written the majority of the songs and Grant Hart has only contributed one or two to each record. Starting with "Zen Arcade", Grant began contributing more than a quarter of each record's songs. With "Candy Apple Gray", Hart had written four out of the ten. For their next record, "Warehouse: Songs And Stories", Hart wanted an even fifty percent, something that Mould allegedly told Hart straight out that he would "never get as long as he was in the band". Hart wrote nine songs for "Warehouse", all of which he insisted on putting on the record. To counter that, Mould wrote 11 and "Warehouse" became the group's second double album (something that Warner didn't approve of). To add more tension, Hart had grown to greatly dislike Mould's songs, feeling that they had grown too depressing.
The album itself is good. The downer ballads of the last record were pushed aside and the band concentrated solely on loud pop music, making "Warehouse" as close to a straight pop record the band ever made. In contrast to the "recorded in one-take" style of the early records, this one seemed especially produced and labor upon, for better or for worse. The split between Hart and Mould seemed especially evident as each man provided his own background vocals and harmonies to his songs rather than letting the other contribute them as they had done in the past. The record, for the most part, received rave reviews and the band were set to embark on a tour supporting the album.
Shortly before the tour began, however, their manage committed suicide, casting a huge shadow over the band. Also, Hart had become addicted to heroin (something that Mould didn't want to tolerate) and had been tested positive for AIDS (something that Hart told no one about at the time). All of these factors helped split the band apart further.
The tour was interesting as the band simply played the "Warehouse" album from first song to last, only playing older material for the encores. Later on, during the fall leg of the tour, the band included more older material (after all, playing the same songs in the same order must get boring after the first few nights). By this time, they had begun rehearsing for their next album. Neither Hart or Mould had much material to work with. Most of what they rehearsed were just improvised jams, a direction Mould believed the band would've gone in had they stayed together. In addition to the lack of new material, Warner was pressuring the band to use an outside producer for their next album. That was something they desperately did not want to do.
In January of 1988, Husker Du was finally no more. Mould and Hart both argue over who quit the band first or who fired who. Bob Mould took a year off from music and came back in 1989 with a solo album. He went on to have a pretty success solo career in the 90s, remaining a fixture on college radio. He also scored some success with his band Sugar, which was basically a more pop-punk version of Husker Du where Mould ran the show completely. A few years ago, Mould discontinued doing electric performances and now only does acoustic shows. He started doing electronica music with his 2002 album "Modulate" and continues to produce more music under the name Loud Bomb (rearrange the letters and see what you get).
Grant Hart got off heroin after the band ended and thankfully discovered he didn't have HIV after all. He released a few solo records, mostly acoustic material. He formed the band Nova Mob in the early 90s, concentrating on psychedelic noise pop and rock operas. He still does acoustic shows nowadays (he toured with The Posies a few years back) and he released a new solo album a few years back, but for the most part, Grant Hart has faded into obscurity.
Bassist Greg Norton quit music and became a chef.
Three years after Husker Du broke up, Nirvana kicked Michael Jackson off the charts with a sound very similar to theirs. Had the band stayed together, you have to wonder whether they might have beat Nirvana to it or if they would've still remained in semi-obscurity like The Meat Puppets did. That's the thing about second guessing history...there are no answers.
If any of what I have written has a point, it's go buy one of their records. None of them sold a million copies and I'm pretty sure they never will, but they did inspire a lot of people and laid the foundation for what indie rock is today. Musically, each individual band member was definitely great. Bob Mould was (and still is) a guitar god (though not in a pretentious, "I'll solo for six minutes so everyone can see how great I am" sort of way). Hart was a killer drummer. Norton was a very underrated bassist, often forced to carry the melody of the song all by himself and acting as the crucial component that kept the song together. Put them all together and you get one powerful combination that always stressed intensity, even when they stopped doing hard-core music.
So, yeah, go buy a Husker Du record and for those who bothered to read this whole thing, thanks. I appreciate it.
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