In three short years, Washington, D.C.’s Minor Threat created a legacy that betrays its short lifespan, as it both sparked the straightedge movement and became one of the first East Coast bands to garner acclaim within the hardcore the scene at large. Its music and iconography have become ubiquitous and widely marketed: Nike co-opted the cover for its second EP for its “Major Threat” campaign (without the band’s permission), and Urban Outfitters recently started stocking its shirts. And now, in perhaps the ultimate merchandising tie-in, the D.C.-area home in which it played its first show is up for sale.
The house at 1929 Calvert St. now serves as hardcore’s most precious collectible (move over, Chung King Can Suck It), listed at over $2 million, and boasting the same hardwood floors that were there on that night of December 12, 1980. If owning the home in which “Straight Edge” was first heard live isn’t enough, the bill for that show also featured future hardcore luminaries the Bad Brains and Henry Rollins’ pre-Black Flag outfit S.O.A., making the house’s first floor a launchpad for D.C.’s best and brightest. Though it’s likely Ian MacKaye would remind interested parties that “you are not what you own,” he’s probably too busy ignoring any requests for commentary on the home’s sale to make such a self-referential statement. And that, dear readers, is why The A.V. Club is here.