by Everett True
By that logic, Courtney Love is the ultimate grunge icon.
“Oh yeah. Well, marrying her was probably the last really obnoxious thing he did before . . . that. I think he was definitely in love with her, which blows my mind . . . pardon the expression . . .”
No problem.
“I’m in the software business, right?” the former Thrown-Ups guitarist says. “So I know some software people who are really, really rich. One of them bought Kurt’s old house, and she threw a party before she renovated the place, so we could see what it used to look like. It wasn’t that spectacular, except for up in the little baby’s bedroom, Kurt had painted little cherubs and angels around the top of the wall, reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel, only with Courtney’s face on them! [It was actually the work of singer/comic book artist Dame Darcy in 1996.] She said she was going to take it all out, and I implored her not to. I’m sure Kurt was very happy for a while there.”
Addenda: Sleater-Kinney
( Sleater-Kinney are included here as a modern-day example of the sort of band Olympia was once synonymous with – articulate, passionate, female-led rock music.)
“I remember going to parties at Tobi Vail’s house,” says singer Corin Tucker. “It would be Bratmobile, Nirvana, in that order. They were an Olympia band, and it was people screwing around. There wasn’t a hierarchy of, ‘Oh, this person is famous, and this person is a better artist than that person.’ It was more about people who wanted to hear what other people were doing, and were really respectful about it. It was so liberating to me, as a young person who wanted to be an artist.”
Why Olympia?
“It has a lot to do with the convergence of many things,” replies Corin. “[The Olympia lifestyle] gave people who didn’t have a lot of money, and people in Oregon and Washington, the ability to be working class and still be able to move around and have aspirations of going to college and achieving a more intellectual job, not just working in a supermarket their entire life. In Olympia, there were all these people from different economic backgrounds, and this intensely ideological college happening. It was very intellectual and such a utopia because it wasn’t just about playing music to get rich. It was more about exploring what you wanted out of life.”
Also, Olympia is associated with female artists: and that seems to me one of the main reasons why Nirvana were so different – and more interesting – than the rock bands that went before. Kurt was clearly influenced by his female peers.
“There are so many references in their lyrics,” agrees co-singer Carrie Brownstein. “Like in ‘Been A Son’, it’s like he’s saying, ‘If I ever met a wise man, it would be a woman.’ It was like, whoa, you’re speaking the same rhetoric as Bikini Kill or Heavens To Betsy, but you’re couching it from a different perspective. They were from the longshoreman town, government town, hippie college town, drawing from all of that. All the bands in Olympia borrowed from those influences, but in some ways, Nirvana did it the best of all. They did it in a way that transcended Olympia. There are numerous amazing bands from Olympia, but Nirvana spoke to millions of people. If you compare them to other bands, they’re similar. Obviously the Riot Grrrl bands were a little more obvious in what they were doing, but there were a handful of male bands that were also doing what Nirvana was doing, but they didn’t have that . . . thing. Not so many people heard Some Velvet Sidewalk or Beat Happening or Unwound.”
“Calvin [ Johnson] is super-educated about feminism and a total feminist,” explains Corin, “but Kurt was able to write about women in a way where you thought about their experiences. I thought it was emotional.”
“Kurt seemed to be soaking it in, like it was osmosis,” adds Carrie. “In Olympia, they don’t care about awards, not at all. Whoever is playing the most obscure show in Olympia is everyone’s favourite band that week. It’s intense to make music in a town where the smaller you are, the more revered you are. It’s like a reverse pull.”
Small shows are fun.
“Small shows are fun,” Carrie agrees. “I think that everyone’s trying to hold on to that purity there, that moment where it’s, ‘Just me and 10 other people saw this and it’s never going to be on the Internet and nobody took any pictures, it’s just a memory that we have.’ It’s an antiquated way of thinking about art and experience. Everyone leaves Olympia with the sense of knowing that maybe the best thing you ever did was the show that only 10 people saw. Whether or not you can continue to get validated by more and more people, it’s hard to forget that some of the people you really cared about liked you better when only 10 people saw you.”
DISCOGRAPHY
(Compiled by Enrico Vincenzi, www.sliver.it)
SINGLES
Love Buzz / Big Cheese
1988 – USA, Sub Pop (seven-inch SP23)
1,200 copies, black vinyl, twofold paper sleeve. 1,000 copies were hand numbered in red ink on the back sleeve, the remaining 200 had a thick red marker slash in place of the number. Several counterfeits exist, in black and in coloured vinyl.
Sliver / Dive / About A Girl
1990 – USA, Sub Pop (seven-inch SP72)
First release: a total of 3,000 copies in black, marbled blue and clear pink vinyl. Threefold paper sleeve with a Sub Pop Singles Club card attached. Yellow labels. Some leftover clear pink copies were later distributed in a twofold sleeve, without the card.
Second release: pressed in various vinyl colours (black, clear, clear pink, clear marbled blue, clear pale yellow, marbled opaque pink, marbled opaque peach). A very limited quantity was pressed in white vinyl and was only available to the bands, Erika pressing plant employees, and Sub Pop employees.
Housed in regular cardboard sleeves, the name of the manufacturing plant (Erika) is mentioned on the back sleeve, or on the yellow record labels.
Counterfeits exist in black vinyl.
Third release: black vinyl, black labels. Twofold or regular sleeve.
Sliver / Dive / About A Girl – live (CD and 12-inch only) / Spank Thru – live (CD only)
1991 – UK, Tupelo (seven-inch TUP25, 12-inch TUPEP25, CD TUPCD25) The seven-inch was pressed consisting of 2,000 copies; lime green vinyl, gatefold sleeve.
The 12-inch was pressed in marbled blue and in black vinyl.
Molly’s Lips – live
1991 – USA, Sub Pop (seven-inch SP97)
4,000 copies in marbled green vinyl and 3,500 in black vinyl. Threefold paper sleeve with a Sub Pop Singles Club card attached. This is a split single, the Nirvana track is on the B-side. On the A-side, there is ‘Candy’ by The Fluid. Counterfeits exist in black vinyl.
Here She Comes Now
1991 – USA, Communion (seven-inch COMM23)
The number of copies printed is still unknown, but should be a total of 1,000, in different vinyl colours: black, blue, purple, pink, green, grey, yellow, red. Except for the black, all vinyl copies have a marbled appearance, and for some of the ‘main’ colours there are variations (light and dark blue, three or more shades of purple, etc). Some other colours were used in just a handful of copies (orange, mustard, muddy white). Looks like the manufacturer used all the leftover vinyl bits he had lying around . . .
Threefold paper sleeve. This is a split single, the Nirvana track is on the A-side. On the B-side there is ‘Venus In Furs’ by the Melvins. Both tracks are Velvet Underground covers.
Counterfeits exist in black, red, green and purple vinyl.
Smells Like Teen Spirit / Even In His Youth / Aneurysm (CD only) 1991 – USA, DGC (seven-inch DGCS7-19050, CD DGCDS-21673, MC DGCCS-19050)
The seven-inch were intended for jukebox use, and have a plain blue or grey DGC sleeve.
Two different promo 12-inch copies: the first (PRO-A-4314) includes
‘Aneurysm’; clear yellow vinyl and picture sleeve.
The second (PRO-A-4365) plays only the title track, on both sides; black vinyl and plain white sleeve with a title sticker.
Promo CD (PRO-CD-4308) in card sleeve, including the title trac
k only (album and radio edit). Some regular CDs were also used as promos, adding a red ‘PROMOTIONAL’ print on the discs. Two different promo cassettes (no code), both including the title track only.
Smells Like Teen Spirit / Drain You / Even In His Youth (12-inch and CD only) / Aneurysm (CD only)
1991 – UK, Geffen (seven-inch DGCS 5, 12-inch DGCT 5, 12-inch picture DGCTP 5, CD DGCTD 5)
The CD was first released with the UK tour dates on the back, then reissued removing the dates and adding a blue border on the front. The seven-inch has silver painted labels. Copies with unpainted labels and large hole were meant for use in jukeboxes. Promo cassette (no code), with the radio edit of the title track.
Come As You Are / School – live (CD only) / Drain You – live 1992 – USA, DGC (seven-inch DGCS7-19120, CD DGCDS-21707, MC DGCCS-19120)
The seven-inch copies were intended for jukebox use, and have a plain blue or grey DGC sleeve.
Promo 12-inch (PRO-A-4416) with the title track on both sides; black vinyl and plain white sleeve with a title sticker.
Promo CD (PRO-CD-4375) in gatefold card sleeve, including the title track only. Some regular CDs were also used as promos, adding a red ‘PROMOTIONAL’ print on the discs.
Come As You Are / Endless, Nameless / School – live (CD only) / Drain You – live (12-inch and CD only) 1992 – UK, Geffen (seven-inch DGCS 7, 12-inch DGCT 7, 12-inch picture DGCTP 7, CD DGCTD 7)
The seven-inch has black paper labels or silver painted labels, copies with unpainted labels and large hole were meant for use in jukeboxes.
Lithium / Been A Son – live / Curmudgeon (CD only)
1992 – USA, DGC (CD DGCDM-21815, MC DGCCS-19134) Promo CD (PRO-CD-4429) in plain card sleeve, including the title track only. Some regular CDs were also used as promos, adding a red ‘PROMOTIONAL’ print on the discs.
Lithium / Been A Son – live / Curmudgeon (12-inch and CD only) / D-7 (CD only)
1992 – UK, Geffen (seven-inch DGCS 9, 12-inch picture DGCTP 9, CD DGCTD 9, MC DGCSC 9) The seven-inch has silver painted labels, copies with unpainted labels and large hole were meant for use in jukeboxes.
Promo CD ( WDGCT 9) including the title track only, no artwork. Promo cassette ( DGCDM 21742) including all four tracks.
In Bloom
1992 – USA
No commercial releases. Promo CD ( DGC, PRO-CD-4463) in plain card sleeve.
In Bloom / Sliver – live (CD only) / Polly – live
1992 – UK, Geffen (seven-inch GFS 34, 12-inch picture GFSTP 34, CD GFSTD 34, MC GFSC 34)
The seven-inch has silver painted labels, copies with unpainted labels and large hole were meant for use in jukeboxes.
Promo cassette (no code) including all three tracks.
Oh, The Guilt
This is a split single. The Nirvana track is on the B-side. ‘Puss’ by The Jesus Lizard is on the A-side.
Released in a total of 100,000 copies worldwide.
1993 – USA, Touch & Go (seven-inch TG83, CD TG83CD, MC TG83C)
1993 – UK, Touch & Go (seven-inch TG83, CD TG83CD)
Blue vinyl seven-inch, some copies included a poster.
Two versions for the CD release: card sleeve or jewel box.
1993 – Australia, Insipid Vinyl (seven-inch picture IV-23)
Picture disc seven-inch in clear plastic sleeve with red or black title sticker; limited to 1,500 copies.
Heart-Shaped Box
1993 – USA
No commercial releases. Promo 12-inch ( DGC, PRO-A-4558) in picture sleeve, with the title track and ‘Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip’, otherwise available only as a bonus track on the non-US CDs of the In Utero album.
Promo CD ( DGC, PRO-CD-4545) and promo cassette ( DGC, no code), both with the title track only.
Heart-Shaped Box / Milk It (12-inch and CD only) / Marigold
1993 – UK, Geffen (seven-inch GFS 54, 12-inch GFST 54, CD GFSTD 54, MC GFSC 54)
The seven-inch has silver painted labels, copies with unpainted labels and large hole were meant for use in jukeboxes.
Promo cassette (no code) with the title track only. 1993 – UK/France ,
Geffen (seven-inch GES19191)
Red vinyl, made in the UK for the French market. 5,000 copies, numbered on the front sleeve.
1993 – Germany, Geffen (seven-inch GES19191)
Limited edition, red vinyl.
All Apologies / Rape Me
1993 – USA
No commercial releases. Two promo CDs: the first ( DGC, PRO-CD-4581) has the title track only, the second ( DGC, PRO-CD-4582) includes also ‘Rape Me’.
All Apologies / Rape Me / MV (Moist Vagina) 1993 – UK, Geffen (seven-inch GFS 66, 12-inch GFST 66, CD GFSTD 66, MC GFSC 66)
The seven-inch has silver painted labels, copies with unpainted labels and large hole were meant for use in jukeboxes.
The 12-inch includes two prints with the cover artwork with different background colours.
Promo CD ( NIRVA1) including only ‘Rape Me’ and ‘All Apologies’, no artwork.
Promo cassette (no code).
Pennyroyal Tea – Scott Litt remix / I Hate Myself And I Want To Die / Where Did You Sleep Last Night (In The Pines) – Unplugged 1994 – UK
Seven-inch, CD and cassette were scheduled but never released. A few copies of the promo CD ( NIRPRO) were distributed; title track only, no artwork.
1994 – Germany, Geffen (CD GED21907)
Recalled and destroyed immediately after the release. A few hundred copies later surfaced on the European and Korean markets, shortly followed by a nearly perfect counterfeit.
About A Girl – Unplugged
1994 – USA
No commercial releases. Promo CD ( DGC, PRO-CD-4688) About A Girl – Unplugged / Something In The Way – Unplugged
1994 – France, Geffen (CD GED21958)
Card sleeve; two versions were released, with a slightly different track timing.
1994 – Australia, Geffen (CD GEFDS21958)
5,000 copies in numbered card sleeve. 200 unnumbered copies were used for promotion.
EPs
Blew / Love Buzz / Been A Son / Stain
1989 – UK, Tupelo (12-inch TUPEP 8, CD TUPCD 8)
The 12-inch was pressed in black vinyl only. Fakes exist, in black vinyl, coloured vinyl and picture disc.
The CD has also been heavily counterfeited.
HORMOANING
Turnaround / Aneurysm / D-7 / Son Of A Gun / Even In His Youth /
Molly’s Lips
1991 – Australia, Geffen (12-inch GEF21711, CD GEFD21711, MC GEFC21711)
“Exclusive Australian ’92 Tour EP”
The 12-inch is in red and blue swirl vinyl. 4,000 copies. Several fakes have been made, in black, white and many other vinyl colours.
Two versions exist for the CD, they have the same inlays and differ only for the disc: a first pressing (black text on silver background, the code DGCDS21711 is printed on the disc) was made in the USA and sent to Australia. A second pressing (red and white text on blue background) was later made locally. The blue version has been counterfeited.
A thousand copies of the cassette have been released.
1991 – Japan, DGC (CD MVCG 17002)
The graphic is different from the Australian release. It is one of the most heavily counterfeited Nirvana items.
ALBUMS
BLEACH
Blew / Floyd The Barber / About A Girl / School / Love Buzz (not on all releases) / Paper Cuts / Negative Creep / Scoff / Swap Meet / Mr Moustache / Sifting / Big Cheese (not on all releases) / Downer (not on all releases)
1989 – USA, Sub Pop (12-inch SP34, CD SP34b, MC SP34a) ‘Big Cheese’ and ‘Downer’ aren’t included on the vinyl releases.
12-inch first release: 1,000 copies, white vinyl. Some copies have a black and white poster.
12-inch second release: 2,000 copies, black vinyl. May have a Sub Pop Singles Club card. Some copies have a black and white poster.
12-inch third release: coloured vinyl (clear red, clear pink, marbled pink, marbled blue, marbled purple, marbled green, red and white swirl). 500 copies of the red and white swirl pressing were sold as a numbered set, shrink-wrapped with a blue vinyl ‘Sliver’ seven-inch single.
12-inch unreleased: a small number of copies were pressed in greenish white marbled vinyl, and never released for fear they could be passed for the first white limited release. Most copies ended up in the collections of Sub Pop employees or band members.
2-inch fourth release: reissued in 2000 in black vinyl only, recognisable by the presence of a barcode on the back sleeve.
The CD was first released around 1990. A remastered version was used for all reissues. A few copies were packed in long cardboard boxes.
‘Big Cheese’ was missing from the first cassette release, and was added in the remastered reissues.
1989 – UK, Tupelo (12-inch TUPLP6, CD TUPCD6, MC TUPMC6) ‘Love Buzz’ and ‘Downer’ aren’t included on the vinyl releases, on the first CD release and on the cassette.
12-inch first release: 300 copies, white vinyl. Second release: 2,000 copies, lime green vinyl. Third release: black vinyl
The first CD release had only 11 tracks. Then it was reissued with 13 tracks. 1992 – UK ,
Geffen (CD GFLD 1929, MC GFLC 19121)
Remastered version.
2002 – UK, Warner Music (12-inch 9878400341) White vinyl, picture inner sleeve and a ‘Back to vinyl’ sticker on the front.
First release, limited to 2,500 copies, 13 tracks. Second release, 11 tracks only (‘Big Cheese’ and ‘Downer’ aren’t included).
1989 – Australia, Waterfront (12-inch DAMP 114)
‘Big Cheese’ and ‘Downer’ aren’t included.
Eight different vinyl colours, housed in matching sleeves. Allegedly 500 copies were made for each version, but some appear much less frequently than the others, so even this number may not be correct.