Today's anniversary is on many people's minds. I enjoyed a laughable Tuesday Soundcheck Smackdown between Nirvana and Pearl Jam but yesterday's segment was The 20th Anniversary of "Nevermind."
This weekend, fans will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Nirvana’s album, “Nevermind.” Today, we look back at the record that bumped Michael Jackson down the charts, put Seattle on the map -- and shaped a generation of musicians to come.
Today is the actual date. On this day, you might expect this to be a story about
Nevermind. But this in not about "the flagship band" of Generation X or the band that would be a game changer for thirteen year olds. But this is a story about me. If you are a Baby Boomer, perhaps it is a story about you too.
On a early autumn day in 1991 I was kicking around, either in the brand new Times Square Virgin Megastore or any one of those newfangled music stores that actually allowed you to listen before you buy. Back then this was the new thing in NYC and free music was always a good way to fill time but the iPod was not invented yet.
Not that I was there to buy anything. At the time I felt I'd had already given enough of my money to the music industry and spent too much, too many times on "one song with some filler" CD's. Punk was running on vapors and all the depth found in the hard rock of my youth seemed long gone. The music I grew up on seemed to be all about a few mega bands touring the nation and pop groups beating an electronic drum.
Music was far from dead for me. Back in 1991 I was into the alternative and could still be found in the audience at the "Bottom Line." Mainstream music was still there too and I was loving some of the tunes. From my cold dead hands was how you could have gotten Don Henley's The End Of The Innocence and Sinéad O'Connor I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got away from me. Tracy Chapman was driving in a "Fast Car" and Marc Cohen's "Walking In Memphis" was doing for Elvis what Don McLean had done for Buddy Holly in my youth.
At that time I might have argued that "Losing My Religion" was the greatest song of all time. But I was thirty-five and not ready to grow up. My music had gotten so soft and Classic Rock had become nostalgia. I had become an "Oldie but a Goody!" and it was too soon for that. It all seemed far too mature for a kid who once mapped out car parked on the Bronx streets for the proper acoustics to get a good hand slap version of "Moby Dick" going.
I was a needy music fan. I needed something to prevent my music from becoming "old man music" and just wasn't ready to "Fade to Black." It seemed that all I had to cling to was "Gun N' Roses," and that was too close to "Journey" and way too far removed from "Creedence Clearwater Revival" for my taste.
I always enjoyed the lack of a generation gap that I experienced during my youth. Just before Nirvana you could pass by any high school and see most teenagers wearing tee shirts that proclaimed "The Who" or "Led Zeppelin." Unlike my parents telling me my music was a flash in the pan, teenagers were telling me that my generation got it right. Perhaps it was because they knew that a "Poison" tee shirt just didn't cut it. I think that "Generation X" was also filled with needy music fans.
Odd that in a few short years a Generation Gap became a Generation Bridge but it is still there today. As pointed out by Sandra from Astoria on the Soundcheck comment page;
God, when I listen to "Nevermind" I feel so nostalgic and in touch with my generation--I instantly revert to being the angstful 1990s twentysomething Gen-Xer that I was back then. Now I know how hippies must feel when they watch "Woodstock."
As far as Nirvana being a game changer, Maude from Park Slope put it well.
--I think it was one of the first times I felt like a modern guys band wasn't objectifying me (as a female). Before that, for me it was mostly those hair bands, God love them--the ladies washing the cars in high heels. Guns and Roses and the pretty gals in the grass.
I felt like I could identify w/ Nevermind as music instead of trying to figure out how to look like the girls on the videos
So there I was killing time, probably in the Times Square Virgin Megastore. It wasn't this actual date. I'm not that cool. If I was still with it I would have already been a fan, been familiar with Bleach and been anxiously awaiting the release of Nevermind. It was not the actual date but Seattle was not yet the music capital of the nation, grunge had a whole different meaning and Kurt Cobain still had a few weeks to go before becoming "the spokesman of a generation."
Along the wall of headphones, each one topped by a 12 x 12" backlit transparency of the album art that reminded me of the album covers of my youth instead of those silly little pictures on CD's, I saw an intriguing image. It was an baby boy underwater and swimming for a dollar bill on a fishing hook. Underneath that image was two teenage girls, one listening to the left headphone while the other listened to the right.
I decided to wait and realized these young ladies were very enthusiastic about what the listened to. When they left no words were exchanged between them and myself. I just put the headsets on and listened to the first three songs. This is what I heard.
Yea I was pretty blown away. Compared to what was out there, all of a sudden it seemed like I was back into music. Not my generation but I felt like I belonged there. I could put off growing old and so could the entire music industry, at least for a while.
Even today when you pass a High School you can see kids wearing the tee shirts from the bands of my youth. I'm a big Sinatra fan now but my parents still don't understand what I saw in Pink Floyd and because they found my music to be so revolting, I never quite grasp putting on bobby socks to wait in line for Old Blue Eyes. I was very good that the Baby Boomers had a connection with the next generation. We were not cut off quite so soon in life. I feel lucky that I sort of got Nirvana and that the next generation gets Led Zeppelin.
And pushing middle age, I fully enjoyed almost every band that copied the work of Nirvana, connected with many movie soundtracks that should have been way to young for me. So for me the band represents not being cut off for a few more years and being able to connect with people half my age.
I don't know much about music now but twenty years ago, that was a really big autumn day at the Virgin Megastore for me. And now the music stores, music you can actually touch is all gone. But just like the youth of today "I want my, I want my MP3."
So what's your story? Do you remember when you first heard "Nevermind?" What did you think? How does the record sound to you 20 years later?