Category Archive

Because we’re going to be looking at one of my all-time favorite bands, Pearl Jam, for 100best at the end of this month, I thought Grunge might be a good topic to introduce our new monthly feature. For you little people who are too young to remember the year that Grunge hit, I’m sure it’s hard to imagine what all the fuss was about. It was everywhere, in everything - we listened to the music, dressed in flannel, and daydreamed about Seattle. A lot of the hype was, of course, ridiculous, but hearing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the first time really was as exciting as they say. I was just a small Bean at the time, but Grunge had, looking back on it, a huge impact on my musical preferences and I’m still thrilled by it today. Here’s 10 Random Facts about Grunge, the music that rocked the ’90s.

1.) In 1992, after Grunge’s insane explosion into the mainstream, the New York Times ran a story about the phenomenon. In it, writer Rick Marin gently mocks both sellers and buyers of the ‘Grunge look’ and subtly implies that we were all a bunch of suckers. Ironically, the information included in his sidebar entitled “Lexicon Of Grunge: Breaking The Code” - a list of slang words all the hip Seattle kids were using - was completely made up by Megan Jasper, a 25-year old sales rep at Sub Pop Records. Jasper was, apparently, sick of reporters asking stupid questions about the Seattle scene and invented a bunch of slang words on the spot. Read the original article here.

2.) That incident was documented in the 1996 Grunge documentary, Hype!. Hype! is unusual in that it takes the point of view of the scene itself, looking outward to the reaction that surrounded Grunge rather than simply profiling the bands involved.

3.) Although it probably appeared to be a Hollywood cash-in on the sudden popularity of Seattle’s music, Singles was actually filmed way before Grunge exploded. At the time of their involvement, Pearl Jam was still called Mookie Blaylock and Ten hadn’t even been recorded yet. According to the Wikipedia, the movie was delayed because the studio wasn’t sure what to do with it, then released it once Grunge had become popular. (Which, of course, made it a Hollywood cash-in on the popularity of the Seattle scene. But it wasn’t originally intended to be.)

4.) Despite Pearl Jam’s massive success in the early ’90s, their highest-selling single is “Last Kiss”. “Last Kiss” was originally released as a fan club-only single in 1998 but given a full release the following year, after radio play brought it to a wider audience. “Last Kiss” is a cover of a not-especially-successful 1962 song by Wayne Cochran & the C.C. Riders and has been covered by countless artists since the original was released.

5.) This year marks the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s very first single, “Love Buzz”. Only 1000 copies were pressed, a perfect opportunity for the still very young Sub Pop Records to make themselves appear exclusive and in demand. Each copy was hand-etched with the phrase “Why Don’t You Trade Those Guitars For Shovels?”, an easy way to tell if you’re getting a real one or being conned. A copy is up for grabs on eBay right now - buy it now for just $6,000.00. This site has all the information you could want about this rare 7″ single (and any other Nirvana disc you might be interested in) and is even working on a list to track the owner of every surviving copy.

6.) Perhaps the most famous baby ever, Nevermind cover star Spencer Elden even has his own Wikipedia page. Elden recreated the picture as a teen and, it seems, is looking to do it again. Kind of cheeky for something he can’t possibly remember doing in the first place.

7.) The term “Grunge” appeared as early as 1981, used by Mark Arm (later of bands Green River and Mudhoney) to describe his current band’s sound: “Pure grunge! Pure noise! Pure shit!” The word didn’t refer to a genre until Sub Pop started using it in the late ’80s.

8.) TAD, considered by some to be the first Grunge band, released a single called “Jack Pepsi” in 1991. TAD was sued over the artwork for this single, which featured the band’s name incorporated into the iconic Pepsi logo. The song is still sold as “Jack P***i” on iTunes today.

9.) While Pearl Jam and Nirvana were definitely the biggest and most popular Grunge bands, Soundgarden existed quite a bit before either of them recorded their breakthrough albums. Soundgarden finally saw some commercial success in 1991 with their third studio album, when Nirvana broke into the charts and listeners started looking to Seattle for more like what they were hearing on the radio. Although they were never as popular as Nirvana or Pearl Jam, Soundgarden is hugely important to the Grunge story: an investment made for the band to record their first album is essentially what started Sub Pop as an official label.

10.) C/Z Records’ 1986 Deep Six compilation is widely considered to be the first Grunge release, or at least a huge influence on the sound that came to be known as Grunge. It featured tracks by Green River, The Melvins, Malfunkshun, Skin Yard, Soundgarden, and The U-Men - many of whom went on to be (or had members that did) prominent features of the Seattle ’scene’ of the early ’90s.

   Nirvana - Sliver