The state of Minnesota has been an endless source of fascination for those who live outside the Midwest, thanks to its vast and wide-ranging contributions to popular music.
The state keeps on giving. From a succession of solid releases on St. Paulbased record label Red House (folk) and Minneapolis imprint Rhymesayers (hip hop) to new-school notables such as Owl City, the Twin Cities still have it going on.
One of the most influential artists to come from the area is Bob Mould, the singer-songwriter and former frontman of Hüsker Dü. Mould, 51, has been on a roll in recent years (his 2011 memoir, See a Little Light: A Trail of Rage and Melody, is a must-read) and he returns to stores today with his 10th solo album, the excellent Silver Age.
Mould isn't alone in his ongoing awesomeness, of course. Here's a list of the best musicians Minnesota has given us:
1 Prince. For nearly four decades, Prince Rogers Nelson has been the best advertising possible for the state of Minnesota. He still has a primary residence in the Minneapolis area, and his roots in the city - which includes seven properties in the Chanhassen area - run deep. His music, some of the best in pop history, effectively created what is referred to as the Minneapolis sound, an amalgam of pop and funk that dominated the charts during the 1980s. Prince is the king, no doubt.
2 Bob Dylan. Duluth-born, Hibbing-raised Robert Zimmerman is Minnesota's most famous son, even though he set off for New York, at 19, following his freshman year at the University of Minnesota. Trace elements of his former life are evident in his early work (Girl From the North Country), but his ties to the state at this point are thin, if not frayed. He currently lives in California, and is often referred to as a New Yorker; sadly, Minnesota only occasionally enters the discussion.
3 The Replacements. By the time these Minneapolis greats had signed to a major label in 1984, it was all over but the crying. Even still, none were more ferocious on stage than the Replacements; during its peak, the band's core lineup (Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, Chris Mars, Bob Stinson) was considered one of the best in rock history. Things didn't end well for the group, which stuck around well past its expiration date, but with a catalogue that includes the incomparable Let it Be, their rock reputation remains intact.
4 Hüsker Dü. Punk and college rock bands from the 1980s would be lucky to have at least one certified classic in their canon. Remarkably, Hüsker Dü has two: Zen Arcade (1984) and New Day Rising (1985), recordings which have since become cornerstones of the alternative-rock nation, in terms of their influence. Mould enjoyed sizable commercial success with his early '90s group, Sugar, but Hüsker Dü remains the group with which he is most associated.
5 The Andrews Sisters. Known primarily for their 1941 hit Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, these siblings were stars of the stage and screen from the 1930s through the 1950s. Maxene, Patty and LaVerne dabbled in a little bit of everything, from jazz to boogie woogie, selling tens of millions of copies of their recordings (many of which found them alongside Bing Crosby) along the way. To many, they are the pre-eminent girl group in history.
6 Atmosphere. There's an extremely solid hip-hop scene in Minneapolis, thanks to the efforts of Rhymesayers, the label coowned by Slug and Ant of Atmosphere. The imprint has achieved international acclaim with releases by Aesop Rock, Evidence, MF Doom and dozens more, but the label's best work remains that of Atmosphere. The underground rap duo, whose gritty rhymes and stellar production has given Minnesotans something serious to crow about, remains one of the state's most lauded exports.
7 The Jayhawks. The group credited with taking the underground altcountry movement to a wider audience in the early 1990s is Minneapolis quartet the Jayhawks, a sweetsinging, soft-rocking unit built upon the voices of Mark Olson and Gary Louris. After two solid but unspectacular early albums (one of which saw release on Minnesota punk bastion, Twin/Tone) the band broke worldwide with 1992's Hollywood Town Hall.
8 Soul Asylum. To look at Soul Asylum today, you wouldn't peg the group as one of Minnesota's punk pioneers. The group, led by actress-dating frontman Dave Pirner, gave up sweaty tour vans for airconditioned buses in the early '90s when the alt-rock lottery hit and tipped its hat to both raucous rock and radio-friendly pop with a solid jingle-jangle sound. The group remains a powerful live presence, with a lineup that pairs cofounders Pirner and Dan Murphy with Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson and former Prince drummer Michael Bland.
9 The Time. A debate over who wrote and played what in the Time won't subside until the Purple One officially clears up the issue (for the record, almost everyone assumes that Prince, operating under the pseudonym Jamie Starr, wrote, performed and produced everything aside from singer Morris Day's parts.) Confusion aside, the Time remains one of Minneapolis's best bands - as evidenced by all-world funk jams The Bird, Jungle Love and Cool.
10 Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Though members of the Time during the band's heyday - and currently sitting in with a reunited version of the group - the duo of keyboardist Jimmy Jam and bassist Terry Lewis excelled mostly as a production duo. As a trackmaking tandem, the pair had numerous No. 1 singles to their credit, including a handful with Janet Jackson. Jam and Lewis remain background players to most listeners, but they have left an indelible mark on the Minneapolis sound.
