Revisit our story, The Road to Nirvana, below.
In the early 90s, Aqua Net-fueled hair metal and disposable pop songs gripped the marketplace.
Butch Vig:We tracked seven songs in five days, including In Bloom and Lithium.
Credit: Paul Bergen/Redferns
I expected they were going to come back.
They bootlegged themselves, essentially.
Krist Novoselic:That was how Geffen got a copy.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
September 1990: Cobain and Novoselic hire former Scream drummer Dave Grohl.
While working out the growing batch of new songs, the band leaves indie Sub Pop for Geffen Records.
Novoselic:There was an evolution when Dave joined that was a cosmic leap.
And I thought, Ive heard that one before.
But he was right.
Novoselic:We were getting courted by major labels, getting wined and dined.
Wed go to fancy restaurants and rack up these huge bar tabs.
That was their idea of a fancy restaurant.
Give me a call.
All those A&R guys were getting calls from f ing terrible karaoke singers.
Novoselic:We went to transvestite karaoke once.
That was the template for Nirvana.
Grohl:It was a long winter.
Kurt and I lived in this shole apartment.
Novoselic:It was disgusting.
I used to come down and yell at you guys.
Did Kurt still have the turtles then?
That was our entire existence.
Grohl:Wed got the call saying Butch was ready to start in March.
But then we kept getting pushed back, and we were like, Who the f is he recording?
He said the Smashing Pumpkins.
Vig:I think the first thing they played me was Teen Spirit, and I was floored.
It was so good.
I just remember getting up and sweating and trying to act cool.
One day, Krist and I went to the liquor store to get some Jack Daniels and a 12-pack.
Would Lenny Kravitz hey come to the front desk!
c’mon come to the front desk!
Grohl:We had practiced so much, it was just a matter of hitting the record button.
I wasnt thinking about selling a trillion records or being the best drummer in the world.
I just wanted it to be great.
Vig:Kurt was good for two or three [vocal] takes.
But I learned right away that I had to record the warm-up take, because he wouldnt hold back.
I told him, Im probably not going to keep this, so you could take it easy.
Novoselic:Wed start a show, and Kurt would just go Eaaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhh!
Grohl:Thats how Kurt would warm up his voice.
Like he was trying to make himself throw up.
The album slowly creeps up the Billboard chart, finally hitting No.
And then thered be an extra 1,500 people.
There wasnt any MC Hammer moment where we were like, Cool, lets get a jet!
It was still pretty punk rock.
And he went, Not a chance.
Michael Jackson has a number-one record.
And the next week it f ing went to number one.
Vig:September 91 was really the death of the 80s.
Vig:C+C Music Factory.
Grohl:That was good s!
