Ball‐Hog or Tugboat? by Mike Watt

Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, Mike Watt's first solo album, came out on Columbia on February 28, 1995, with Watt producing himself. He had spent the '80s and early '90s thumping bass and writing songs in Minutemen and then Firehose, and for his first record under his own name he didn't make a vanity project, he threw open the doors.

The title lays out the philosophy: are you the tugboat that gets everybody safely into the dock, or the ball hog who shoots every single time the ball lands in your hands? You can guess which one Watt wanted to be. He filled the sessions with a revolving lineup of big names from the alt-rock world, and the whole thing plays like a team effort, his bass steering it all from underneath. "Against The 70's" is the one that landed on a countdown. Contemplating the Engine Room came next.

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