I’ve been trying to write this post for a couple of days but every time it turns into a depressing chronicle of Kurt Cobain’s drug addiction, mental illness and suicide. I’m not really sure it fits with the tone of Nostalgia Week but it’s impossible to talk about Nirvana without talking about Cobain and it’s impossible to talk about Cobain without talking about his death. Too often his death overshadows his life, we focus on the tragic end rather than what preceded it but to talk about one side without talking about the other would be to only tell half the story.
Kurt Cobain and Kris Novoselic first meet in Aberdeen, Washington in the mid 1980s. Their mutual love of punk lead the two to form a band and by the end of 1988 Nirvana, featuring Cobain on guitar and vocals, Novoselic on bass and Chad Channing on drums found themselves signed to independent label Sub Pop. Debut single Love Buzz was released in December and was followed in 1989 by their first album Bleach. Bleach found a home on college radio and sold around 30,000 copies, a reasonable amount for a small act and their growing popularity soon began to attract the attention of the major labels. In the summer of 1990 Dave Grohl replaced Channing on drums and the band signed to DGC Records for their second album.
Nevermind was produced by Butch Vig and released in 1991. As far as DGC was concerned 100,000 sales would be considered a success. However in what was probably the greatest ever demonstration of the power of MTV to drive sales Nevermind did the unthinkable and knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the album charts. It was a shock not only to the band themselves but also to the record label and the industry as a whole.
In 1992 Cobain married Courtney Love and later that year the couple had their first child. As Cobain struggled to come to terms with his new found celebrity, he constantly complained of stomach problems and ill health, rumours of heroin addiction began to circulate. To fill the gap left by the lack of new material DGC released Incesticide, a collection of singles, b-sides and rarities.
In 1993 Nirvana returned to the studio to record In Utero with Steve Albini. Prior to its release it was reported that the record company was unhappy with the album and that Nirvana had purposefully set out to make In Utero a less commercially appealing album than it’s predecessor. Upon it’s release the album received positive reviews and debuted at the top of both the U.S. and U.K. charts. During the resulting tour Cobain’s drug problems continued to escalate and he suffered two heroin overdoses which were both hidden from the press. On November 18 the band played MTV Unplugged, a show that would turn out to be one of the highlights of their career. It was later released as a live album after Cobain’s death.
At the end of their European tour on March 4th 1994 Cobain attempted suicide in Rome in what was initially reported as an accidental overdose. On March 18th he again threatened to kill himself but relented when the police were called. Following an intervention by his wife and management he checked into the Exodus Recovery Clinic in L.A. on March 30th but left the clinic on April 1st and returned to Seatle. On April 5th, in an apartment above the garage of his home, Kurt Cobain shot himself. His body was discovered three days later by an electrician working at the house.
Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the release of Nevermind and if that doesn’t make you feel old I’m not sure what will. So what’s the legacy? How does history view Nirvana and their contribution? Following his death Cobain became an icon, the embodiment of the disinterested and misunderstood. For a generation of teenagers he was a symbol of how they felt but it’s been sixteen years since Cobain’s death and there’s an entire generation for who Nirvana means nothing. Those who mourned his passing are now in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and just like Ian Curtis meant very little to me, Kurt Cobain will mean very little to my children. The music can still be appreciated but the emotional intensity and attachment will never be there.
In the 90’s it was widely accepted that Nirvana had a monumental impact on the music industry. They were credited with taking alternative music to the mainstream. Suddenly major record labels were signing and promoting rock acts in the hope of finding the next big thing. They had provided proof that good music would sell and that rock was more than just a niche market. Of late there has been a tendency to downplay their impact. It can be argued that the music industry moves in cycles, that Nirvana were just in the right place at the right time and it’s hard to disagree. The public’s appetite had changed, they were sick of what they were being fed by record labels and if it hadn’t been Nirvana it would have been someone else. In reality it was the perfect storm of the right band, with the right songs and the right attitude in the right place at the right time. Sure it could of been anybody but it was Nirvana and whether you like them or not their influence, impact and place in history cannot be denied. Cobain’s suicide was arguably the oldest trick in show business, always leave them wanting more. He himself wrote it best when he misquoted Neil Young in his suicide note, “it’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
For those of us who loved Nirvana and remember them in their prime they will always hold a place in our hearts, it will always be more than just music. For future generations they will just be a band with a couple of good albums and a tragic story. It makes me sad but it’s ok because each generation will have their own heroes, there will always be great songs and their will always be great albums but no matter what happens I can still put on my stereo, turn it up to eleven, put on Smells Like Teen Spirit and jump around my bedroom like I’m fifteen years old.
