Ballot Result

"Ballot Result"
Compilation album by Minutemen
Released	1987
Recorded	September 1980 - November 30, 1985
Genre	Alternative rock, post-punk, hardcore punk
Length	69:06
Label	SST Records
Producer	Mike Watt
Minutemen chronology
Minuteflag (1986) "Ballot Result" (1987) Post-Mersh Vol. 1 (1987)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	A–[1]
Rolling Stone	mixed link

"Ballot Result" is a posthumous live compilation album by Minutemen.

The story of "Ballot Result" starts with the Tour-Spiel EP in 1984. Minutemen had been given a copy of a tape of a live radio performance for the Virgin Vinyl Show they had done in Tucson, Arizona, four songs of which they used for the EP. The engineer of that particular session later claimed that Minutemen had not got his permission to use the recording and reacted by releasing a bootleg album, ...Just a Minute Men. The sudden existence of the bootleg album, which the engineer blatantly promoted through magazines like Spin and Flipside, upset Minutemen enough that the group decided to do an anti-bootleg album, 3 Dudes 6 Sides 3 Studio 3 Live. The group printed ballots which they passed out to fans during their summer and fall 1985 performances as well as planned to insert into the first pressing of their next studio album, 3-Way Tie (For Last); the ballots would determine which songs the band would record for the live portion of the album.

The death of guitarist and lead singer D. Boon on December 22, 1985 scuttled Minutemen, putting an end to both the band and the planned live album. Surviving members Mike Watt and George Hurley, a few months from reuniting to form Firehose with singer/guitarist Ed Crawford, decided to use the ballots and existing live recordings (many sent in by fans and friends) to compile the album.

The final album contains all live recordings plus a few rarities and a couple of previously released studio tracks to compensate for the fact that Minutemen had not performed the song live yet (as in the case of "The Price Of Paradise" from 3-Way Tie...) or that no live recording of the song was available ("Song for El Salvador" from The Punch Line and "Dreams are Free, Motherfucker!" from Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat, to give two examples.)

The CD version deletes most of the previously released studio recordings (except for "Shit You Hear at Parties" from The Politics of Time, which SST didn't have the rights to at the time) but also, curiously, deletes the live version of "Hey Lawdy Mama". The cassette version adds a cover of "Fortunate Son" that was an outtake from the Joy sessions and a "Closing Jam" (from 1983) to the double vinyl track listing - these two tracks appear at the end of side one, after "Song For El Salvador".

Track listing

Original Double Album

Side one

1. "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" (Dukowski/Boon) – 3:03
2. "Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing" (Watt) – 1:25
3. "I Felt Like A Gringo" (Watt) – 1:39
4. "Jesus And Tequila" (Carducci/Boon) – 2:52
5. "Courage" (Boon) – 2:55
6. "King Of The Hill" (Boon) – 3:00
7. "Bermuda" (Erickson) – 3:07
   • All tracks on Side One from a live broadcast on WREK radio, Atlanta, GA, on November 30, 1985.

Side two

1. "No One" (remix) (Kira/Watt) – 6:30
   • Remix by Ethan James, Radio Tokyo Studio, November 1985.
2. "Mr. Robot's Holy Orders" (Hurley/Watt) – 7:45
   • From a live broadcast on WREK radio, Atlanta, GA, on November 30, 1985.
3. "The Price Of Paradise" (Boon) – 3:31
   • Previously issued track from 3-Way Tie (For Last) (1985).
4. "Song For El Salvador" (Boon) – 0:31
   • Previously issued track from The Punch Line (1981).

Side three

1. "Ack Ack Ack" (Talley-Jones/Johansen) – 0:32
2. "History Lesson Part II" (Watt) – 2:30
3. "Hey Lawdy Mama" (Kay/Byrom/Edmonton)
4. "This Ain't No Picnic" (Boon) – 1:46
5. "The Cheerleaders" (Boon) – 3:28
6. "Time" (Hell) – 2:36
   • First six tracks from a Spin Radio taping done at KPFK's studio in Los Angeles, CA in October 1985.
7. "Cut" (Watt) – 2:01
8. "Split Red" (Boon/Watt) – 1:05
   • Both tracks from a live broadcast on KPFK, January 2, 1983.
9. "Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker!" (Crane/Boon/Hurley/Watt) – 1:09
   • Previously issued track from Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat (1983).

Side four

1. "Shit You Hear At Parties" (Boon/Watt) – 1:06
   • From a November 28, 1981 recording session that wasn't released until 1984 as part of the album The Politics Of Time.
2. "Hell" (Second Take) (Boon/Watt/Hurley) – 7:05
   • Recorded February 2, 1984 in the garage of Saccharine Trust's Jack Brewer with a handheld tape recorder.
3. "Tour-Spiel" (Watt) – 3:22
4. "Take Our Test" (Watt) – 2:03
   • From a soundboard cassette of a performance at the Indian Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM on May 25, 1985, during Black Flag's Loose Nut tour.
5. "The Punch Line" (Watt) – 0:46
6. "Search" (Hurley/Watt) – 0:48
7. "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs" – 1:16 (Watt)
   • From an audience cassette of a performance at Love Hall in Philadelphia, PA on December 15, 1983 during a mini-tour of the East Coast with Hüsker Dü.
8. "Badges" (Watt) – 0:38
9. "Tension" (Tamburovich/Watt) – 1:33
   • From a cassette recording of a Minutemen band practice in the shed behind George Hurley's house sometime in September 1980.
10. "If Reagan Played Disco" (Watt) – 1:15
    • From an audience cassette of an outdoor gig at Wilson Park in Torrance, CA on May 22, 1982 (Pictures of the gig can be seen on the inside of the Double Nickels On The Dime album jacket (and CD insert).)
11. "No! No! No! To Draft And War/Joe McCarthy's Ghost" (Sambia)/(Watt) – 3:00
    • From an audience cassette of the encore of a performance in Madison, WI on May 2, 1985.

CD version

1. "Little Man With A Gun In His Hand" (Dukowski/Boon) – 3:03
2. "Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing" (Watt) – 1:25
3. "I Felt Like A Gringo" (Watt) – 1:39
4. "Jesus And Tequila" (Carducci/Boon) – 2:52
5. "Courage" (Boon) – 2:55
6. "King Of The Hill" (Boon) – 3:00
7. "Bermuda" (Erickson) – 3:07
8. "No One (remix)" (Kira/Watt) – 6:30
9. "Mr. Robot's Holy Orders" (Hurley/Watt) – 7:45
10. "Ack Ack Ack" (Talley-Jones/Johansen) – 0:32
11. "History Lesson Part II" (Watt) – 2:30
12. "This Ain't No Picnic" (Boon) – 1:46
13. "The Cheerleaders" (Boon) – 3:28
14. "Time" (Watt) – 2:36
15. "Cut" (Watt) – 2:01
16. "Split Red" (Boon/Watt) – 1:05
17. "Shit You Hear At Parties" (Boon/Watt) – 1:06
18. "Hell" (Second Take) (Boon/Watt/Hurley) – 7:05
19. "Tour-Spiel" (Watt) – 3:22
20. "Take Our Test" (Watt) – 2:03
21. "The Punch Line" (Watt) – 0:46
22. "Search" (Hurley/Watt) – 0:48
23. "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs" (Watt) – 1:16
24. "Badges" (Watt) – 0:38
25. "Tension" (Tamburovich/Watt) – 1:33
26. "If Reagan Played Disco" (Watt) – 1:15
27. "No! No! No! To Draft And War/Joe McCarthy's Ghost" (Sambia)/(Watt) – 3:00

Musical Personnel

• D. Boon - guitar, vocals
• Mike Watt - bass, vocals
• George Hurley - drums
• Crane - trumpet and backing vocals on "The Cheerleaders" and "Take Our Test"
• Kira - bass on "Tour-Spiel"

The actual "Ballot Results"

According to the back cover of "Ballot Result", these results are from ballots received by SST Records between January and April 1986.

1. This Ain't No Picnic
2. If Reagan Played Disco
3. Jesus And Tequila
4. Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs
5. King Of The Hill
6. Little Man With A Gun In His Hand
7. The Punch Line
8. No One
9. Courage
10. The Cheerleaders
11. History Lesson, Part II
12. Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing
13. Joe McCarthy's Ghost
14. Shit You Hear At Parties
15. Paranoid Chant (*)
16. I Felt Like A Gringo
17. Search
18. Badges
19. Ack Ack Ack
20. Joy
21. Song For El Salvador
22. Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker!
23. The Price Of Paradise
24. Cut
25. Take Our Test
26. Tour-Spiel
27. Party With Me, Punker (*)
28. Tension
29. Hey Lawdy Mama
30. Split Red

An asterisk (*) denotes that the song was not able to be represented on the album.

References