Nirvana

There are a handful of bands & artists you would immediately associate with certain musical genres - one of them is Nirvana with Grunge, a style you could probably best describe as a blend between Punk Rock & Heavy Metal, because it combines esthetics & vocals of the former with the guitar sound of the latter in the 1970s.

Grunge is also often referred to as 'Seattle Sound', and that is chiefly because of Kurt Cobain & Co. Kurt and Krist Novoselić founded Nirvana. Both met in school in Aberdeen, Washington/USA; and in 1985 got together with Steve Newman as The Sellouts, after Krist heard demo tapes of Kurt's first band Fecal Matter, which often supported The Melvins on tour. The Sellouts wouldn't last very long though, and disbanded in the winter that year. Krist moved with his girlfriend to Phoenix, Arizona, only to be back in Aberdeen in the autumn the following year. Both started to look for a drummer and found Aaron Burckhardt to start playing as Ted Ed Fred and The Stiff Woodies. But soon Aaron's dominant influences of Heavy Metal and Kurt's enthusiasm started to clash. Kurt and Krist moved to Olympia, Washington, leaving Aaron behind. The distance would do the rest and the band soon disbanded.
In December 1987 Kurt and Krist found a new drummer, Dale Crover, and the trio approached Jack Endino, now legendary producer, to record a single for $152.44 at the infamous Reciprocal Recording Studios on 23 January 1988. Two months later, they first performed as Nirvana. The single, Love Buzz, a cover version of Dutch Pop Band Shocking Blue, was released on Seattle label Sub Pop in an initial edition of only 1,000 copies. Sub Pop hit financial trouble after the release, so that the band had to pay for their own second recording. A second guitarrist, Jason Everman, had to join because Kurt had trouble concentrating playing the guitar and singing at the same time. Jason also footed the recording bill of $606.17. Nirvana's debut album Bleach was recorded and released on 9 June 1989. To support their album, the band toured America's west coast, mostly playing to minimal audiences. Sub Pop was still in financial trouble, but send Nirvana, together with another band, Tad, on their label to tour Europe. It lead Nirvana to play Newcastle in England and Mönchengladbach, Germany. Sub Pop's trouble meant that both groups had to drive around themselves, which caused a lot of tension, as well as both bands continuing to distance themselves from Sub Pop.

In August 1990 they got Dave Grohl of Scream to drum for them. A demo tape was recorded and the band started to negotiate with Geffen-Records-Sublabel DGC auf. On 30 April 1991 the band signed and got a loan of $287,000. Sub Pop received $75.000 to transfer their copyrights. In August that year Nirvana, with Sonic Youth and The Ramones, played on The-Year-That-Punk-Broke-Tour across Europa and at the Reading Festival in England.
The next couple of months would change Kurt & Co.'s lives forever. September saw the release of their now legendary album Nevermind, which charted immideately in the US, and in November 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was marketed. Within 4 weeks the track achieved Platinum status.
The rest of the band music career is history. Their last gig in the US they played on 8 January 1994 at the Centre Arean in Seattle. Their last concert at all they played on 1 March in Munich's Riem Airport Terminal. The band flew back to LA, where Kurt escaped from drug rehab at the Exodus Recovery Centre at Marina Del Rey, effectively giving up on a last effort to deal with his drug habit he developed in the band's time of fame.

On 8 April 1994 Kurt Cobain was found dead, writing in his last note 'It's better to burn out than to fade away'...
The band disbanded with his death. Kurt was cremated on 14 April 1994. Seattle council declined several times to provide an official grave for Kurt's remains, apparently for fear that it would attract large numbers of followers, such as Jim Morrison's grave in Paris. Although Kurt's long-term girlfriend Courtney Love claimed that his ashes was spread at different places, she did keep it for years in a bag in their house. In June 2008 it was announced that his ashes were stolen our of their house a month earlier.

Nirvana - Love Buzz (1988) - Live in Reading in 1992



Nirvana - Sliver (1990)
IRL#23, UK#90



Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
BE#1, NZ#1, FR#1, DE#2, NL#3, SWE#3, AUS#5, US#6, CH#6, UK#7, AT#8, CAN#9, FIN#9, IRL#15



Nirvana - Come As You Are (1992)
NZ#3, IRL#7, UK#9, FR#12, FIN#12, BE#15, NL#16, CH#21, DE#22, SWE#24, AUS#25, CAN#27, AT#28, US#32



Nirvana - Lithium (1992)
FIN#3, IRL#5, UK#11, NL#17, BE#28, NZ#28, AUS#54, US#64, CAN#83



Nirvana - In Bloom (1992)
IRL#7, NZ#20, UK#28, SWE#30, AUS#73, NL#87



Nirvana - Heart-Shaped Box (1993)
UK#5, IRL#6, NZ#9, FIN#14, SWE#16, CAN#17, AUS#21, BE#31, NL#36, FR#37,



Nirvana - All Apologies (1993)
IRL#20, FR#20, UK#32, NZ#32, CAN#41, AUS#58



Nirvana - Rape Me (1993) as B-Side to All Apologies



Nirvana - Pennyroyal Tea (1994)



Nirvana - About A Girl (1994)
AUS#4, FIN#8, CAN#10, BE#13, SWE#20, NL#22, FR#23



Nirvana - You Know You're Right (2002)
US#45