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Longtime local music mainstay Terry Katzman has died

Terry Katzman (courtesy Jon Clifford via Facebook)
Terry Katzman (courtesy Jon Clifford via Facebook)

by Luke Taylor

November 09, 2019

The Current learned Saturday that Terry Katzman, a longtime fixture in the Minnesota music scene, has died.

For decades, Katzman has been a champion of bands like Hüsker Dü, the Suburbs, the Replacements and many others. Notably, in January 1982, Katzman was on hand to record a performance by the Replacements at a rent party in Minneapolis. When the police arrived to quiet the loud gathering, Katzman recorded an exchange that famously was used on the Replacements' Stink album. Jay Gabler covered this story in depth for The Current in 2016. Here's an interview with Katzman about that memorable party:

Katzman's involvement with Hüsker Dü's ascent is well documented in the Do You Remember podcast. Katzman co-founded Reflex Records with Hüsker Dü's Bob Mould to put out some of band's early titles (including "Statues" and Everything Falls Apart). About Katzman's role with Hüsker Dü, Mould said in 2011, "Terry was there at the very beginning."

In addition to founding Hüsker Dü's label, Katzman worked at the now-closed Oarfolkjokeopus Records at 26th and Lyndale in Minneapolis, he founded Garage D'Or Records, and over the past year, has been recording the performances of Lolo's Ghost at the Driftwood Bar on Nicollet in south Minneapolis, reported by Jim Walsh in Minneapolis's Southwest Journal.

Katzman was most recently employed at HiFi Hair and Records near Loring Park in Minneapolis. In a post to Facebook, HiFi's Jon Clifford wrote, "[Katzman] was a friend to every person who ever met him. An incredible husband and father. Hearing him speak of his family was nothing less than humble adoration. He was my friend, and I am crying while I realize I will never hear him greet me when he comes to work, 'Good morning, Sir Clifford.' Farewell, Sir Terry. You have been among the finest of friends."

What are your remembrances of Terry Katzman? Share them below.

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This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.