Minutemen (band) - Legacy - Covers and Tributes

Covers and Tributes

Watt has dedicated all of Firehose's releases and his solo albums to the memory of Boon. "Disciples of the 3-Way" on Firehose's final studio album Mr. Machinery Operator is about the Minutemen, and "The Boilerman" from Watt's second solo album Contemplating The Engine Room (which parallels the stories of the Minutemen, Watt's father, and the novel The Sand Pebbles) is about Boon; Watt had guitarist Nels Cline play one of Boon's old Fender Telecaster guitars on the track.

Sublime (whose lead singer Bradley Nowell also died prematurely) sampled Boon saying "Punk rock changed our lives" on "History Lesson Part II" from Double Nickels as part of their song "Waiting For My Ruca" from 1992's 40 Oz. to Freedom. On the final track from the same album titled "Thanx", all three Minutemen are mentioned. Watt repaid this salute by appearing in Sublime's video for "Wrong Way" in 1996. Sublime also sampled George Hurley's drum intro from "It's Expected I'm Gone" for their "Get Out! (remix)" on their posthumous release Second Hand Smoke. On their eponymous debut LP, San Diego-based indie rockers Pinback also used the same drum loop from "It's Expected I'm Gone"; in his honor, the band titled the track "Hurley". Also, during a cover of the Sublime song "Get Out!" done by Bargain Music, Josh Fischell sings "Damn I was surprised when I heard 'Punk Rock Changed Our Lives', these kids dug the Minutemen too".

The Unknown Instructors track "Punk Is Whatever We Make It To Be" from their first album The Way Things Work contains interpolations by vocalist Dan McGuire of several lyrics from Double Nickels on the Dime.

In 1994, Little Brother Records released the Minutemen tribute CD and LP Our Band Could Be Your Life. The CD version included 33 tracks by artists covering Minutemen songs, plus a track with a Boon interview and a live version of the Minutemen song "Badges". The LP version had 23 tracks, including the interview and Minutemen items.

Post-rock band Karate covered "The Only Minority," "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs," "This Ain't No Picnic," and "Colors" on their 2005 album, In the Fishtank 12.

New Jersey pop punk band The Ergs! wrote and recorded a Minutemen tribute song entitled "Under The Influence of Minutemen (Dork Rock Changed Our Lives)."

New York punk/ska band The Fad also released a Minutemen tribute song entitled "Our Band Could Be Your Life", which referenced such Minutemen songs as "Vietnam" and "History Lesson Pt. 2".

Josh Fischel's group Bargain Music covers "#1 Hit Song' at the end of their track "Long Beach Millennium" on their album 77 003.

Uncle Tupelo (who later morphed into Wilco and Son Volt) have a song titled "D. Boon" on their album Still Feel Gone.

English band Hot Club de Paris covered "The Anchor" on their album Live At Dead Lake.

Ag Holstrom, bassist with 1980's Edinburgh band Snowcake, named Mike Watt as one of the top three most influential rock bass players of all time along with John Entwistle and Jean Jacques Burnel in an article in ZigZag magazine.

Grindcore band Brutal Truth covered "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs" on their 2009 album Evolution Through Revolution.

In 2011, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel covered "Themselves" (off of Double Nickels on the Dime) during an acoustic set at an Occupy Wall Street campsite.

Emmy The Great listed "Party With Me Punker" (from The Politics of Time) as a 'hidden gem' in The Guardian in 2009.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers dedicated their 1991 album BloodSugarSexMagik to Mike Watt and have previously played the riff from History Lesson - Part II during live shows.

Yonder Mountain String Band performs a cover of "Corona" on their live album Mountain Tracks Volume 4.