blogs

Brutha, I gotta second that. I still love Nirvana too. Having them around and in the mainstream was so lovely. They were the real deal. They had the songs, a sense of humor, they redirected their spotlight to other bands, and they were a truly amazing live act. For some younger peeps, they were perhaps a “gateway” band to the left-of-the-deal world of indie/underground/college music. And I understand too how some others (e.g. “old timers”) felt resentment that Nirvana bore the fruit of success that deservedly also should have gone to the Ramones, Sonic Youth, Husker Du, The Replacements, Mudhoney, The Pixies and on and on and on and that part of Nirvana’s colossal success was also from piggybacking on those bands groundwork (and probably Faith No More and Jane’s Addiction, frankly) and getting ‘round-the-clock MTV exposure. And yeah, there were other brilliant, more-challenging-to-the-ear bands around like Scratch Acid/the Jesus Lizard, COWS, and the Boredoms etc etc but I thought it was especially great that Nirvana (briefly) broke the collusion of corporate rock-n-roll and wiped the vapid hair metal bands of the day off the map. And knocking Michael Jackson off Billboard’s #1 spot was HUGE for my cohort where the best bands of our generation were unfailingly ignored by pre-Internet McMedia. Oh, and Michael Azerrad’s book “Come As You Are” is a great read, as is his excellent “Our Band Could Be Your Life.” Ah, the Minutemen… so much love. Viva D. Boon! Do the riot thing now, yo.