On April 27, 1987, Joan Rivers welcomed “one of the most prolific rock groups in the country,” Hüsker Dü, to her titular talk show. It’s immediately clear that Joan has no idea who they are, and it’s equally apparent that the band, which had just released Warehouse: Songs and Stories, didn’t want to be there; they’d break up soon after. But to Joan’s credit, she seems genuinely interested in hearing what Bob Mould, Grant Hart, and Greg Norton have to say about how they “used to be really a much more underground kind of group, much more radical.” Friend, you’ve got to evolve.
The interview is bookended by stellar performances of “Could You Be the One?” and “She’s a Woman (and Now He Is a Man),” which are probably the first two Hüsker Dü songs most Fox viewers ever heard. I can only assume everyone who saw this episode bought Zen Arcade that night.
