On Saturday, Glenn Michael Lockett, aka SPʘT, legendary punk producer for SST Records, passed away in Wisconsin at the age of 72. SPʘT (who always used ALL CAPS with a dot in the ʘ) was a SoCal native who’s father was in the Tuskegee Airmen. Albums with his name on them dominated my record collection in the mid-80s and through to this day.
His most notable releases were probably Black Flag’s Damaged (1981) album and the back-to-back Hüsker Dü masterpieces Zen Arcade (1984) and New Day Rising (1985), but he was also at the helm for the first couple Descendents records, several releases by Minutemen, and Earth A.D./Wolves Blood (1983) by Misfits, as well as the first three Meat Puppets albums and several other Black Flag and Hüsker releases.
He was able to catch the unbridled chaos that these bands made to tape. Damaged, easily my favorite Black Flag album, sounds like it was recorded in your living room (in a good way). That album was my go-to when I was a pubescent, pissed-off, confused, wasted, angry, lonely kid, and it never once failed to toggle my mood to a different direction. Not necessarily happy, optimistic, or satisfied, but at least complacent or content, and ready to cope for the moment. Zen Arcade, Hüsker Dü’s double-LP concept album, was the bridge I didn’t know I needed between hardcore punk and the melodic stylings of bands like The Beatles and Cheap Trick. I’m not sure anyone ever did it better.
Hindsight of 40 years might lead one unfamiliar with these records to question the logic behind Hüsker Dü’s Bob Mould’s inexplicable decision to run his guitar straight into the mixing board, no mic, no amp, just a cranked MXR Distortion+ pedal and a ¼” cable. It’s not a decision someone would make today. Looking at it completely objectively, it was probably not something someone should have done then. But that insane, buzz-saw/dentist-drill guitar tone, for whatever it was, changed my life and set the wheels in motion that would later elevate Bob Mould to God-like status as a punk guitarist. I can’t imagine those records sounding any other way.
I could go on about how awesome those Meat Puppets albums are, some of the later-era punky/metal albums he produced, or a number of things that made SPʘT a legend, but Bob Mould issued a statement to his Facebook page yesterday and I think it’s pretty poignant:
From 1982 to 1984, Hüsker Dü recorded four projects with SPOT. We worked at Total Access in Redondo Beach CA, mostly during the discounted overnight hours. SPOT always encouraged free expression and experimentation, even as those recordings were made as expeditiously as possible.
The last time SPOT and I visited was in 1996. I was living in Austin TX, SPOT was a new arrival in town, and he came by my house for a couple of hours. We reminisced a little, but the visit revolved around ping pong. The two of us at opposite ends of an eight foot table, swatting this near-weightless plastic ball back and forth, a healthy competition between longtime colleagues.
SPOT was a wonderful soul who loved making music, documenting the scene, and unconditionally supporting all the projects that bear his name.
Thank you, SPOT. You gave so much to all of us.
Jeremy Porter is a Co-Editor in Chief at Pencil Storm. He lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
www.thetucos.com
www.facebook.com/jeremyportermusic
www.rockandrollrestrooms.com
Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive & @jeremyportermusic
