My Memories of the Album “Nevermind”.

30 Years Ago…

On September 24th, Nirvana’s groundbreaking and earth-shattering album Nevermind turns 30 years old this year.

You probably hear Gen-Xers say what they were doing when they heard Smells Like Teen Spirit for the first time. I can’t remember what I was doing, but I remember listening to that song on the radio for the first time at home. I think that I was playing with computer fonts or something like that. Yes, before the Internet, some people on the computer played with fonts. I was probably organizing my cassette list on that day.

I was not a teenager when I heard it for the first time. I do remember that there were deodorant ads with the brand name Teen Spirit. I guess that fell out of popularity due to the song. But I was officially an adult when I first heard the Nirvana tune.

The only song that I can relate to that year was from a Canadian band called The Pursuit of Happiness who had a song out called I’m An Adult Now. They were independent act at the time.

Back to Smells Like Teen Spirit.

The one thing that I do remember after listening to it the first time, I thought that this is a brand new sound that is about the take the music world by storm. My prediction was correct.

But as soon as Nevermind came out, there was a new craze that started happening. Its music that came from Seattle called “Grunge”. And other bands like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam became popular.

Other alternative bands who were not a part of the Seattle scene were also lumped into that label.

I loved that Grunge music finally put the nail in the coffin of the misogynistic Hair Metal craze popular in the late 80s.

Nonetheless, Alternative music became popular. I was totally into that. I was also glad that those acts from the 70s, like Iggy Pop, the Ramones, the Clash, and more, were getting the long recognition they deserved worldwide.

The album Nevermind, along with its heavy metal beats, finally brought Punk into the mainstream.

What Was I Doing Around the Time the Album Came Out?

As I mentioned, I was 18 when the album came out. I graduated from high school and still living with my parents, wondering what to do with my life.

At the time, I was taking some extra credit night classes simultaneously, working part-time at my first ever job at McDonald’s.

Of course, you can tell that I hated working there.

I did buy the album.

I think it was a year or two later when I finally went to college in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I was taking General Studies at the time.

I do remember where I bought the Nevermind album. Back in the 90s, there were tons of used bookstores that paid you a few dollars when you gave them your used books. But, of course, they also did that with CDs, DVDs, and comic books.

I did walk into one called Wee Book Inn and bought Nevermind along with some other books and CDs.

Now, as I look back on the Used Bookstore Craze of the 90s, the whole giving money to customers who gave the store used books, wasn’t a good business model. I mean, how are you going to make money doing that?

Nowadays, there’s only a handful of Used Bookstores left, and you give them used books with no incentive, but only to make room on your bookshelf.

College Years.

During my time in Edmonton, I took a Humanities class where I read the book Generation X by Douglas Coupland.

Kurt Cobain’s Death

I do remember what I was doing when I heard about it. It was morning, and I was reading the Entertainment section of the Edmonton Journal newspaper at breakfast. On the cover of that was a picture of Cobain and the announcement that he died.

When I was reading it, I was shocked, and my first thought was to his daughter Francis.

I don’t know what other emotions that I had about it other than I was shocked.

Nowadays.

I still do have the album Nevermind on my playlist. I was glad that album changed music for good in the 90s. The music industry did need a jolt of excitement at that time, and Grunge, Punk, and Alternative brought that.

However, like everything else, that was just a fad that went away when boy bands and pop princesses became popular in the late 90s.

Today’s music isn’t that exciting as it used to be. I can’t remember what was the big thing a decade ago. And I know that I am not the only one who noticed this.

Some people blame the internet and Autotunes for the reason why.

I’ve also seen a video on Facebook where all Rock Stars, like Billy Corgan and Slash, complained that they are not getting paid for their songs streaming. If you think that rich musicians are nothing but whiny babies, think again. They are only making $0.004 per song streaming on Spotify. The only ones that are getting rich off this are the big record companies. It could also be another reason why today’s music isn’t all that exciting as it used to be.

I guess that we are all still waiting for the next big musician or band to do what Nirvana, the Beatles, and Elvis Presley have done: which is to revitalize popular music once again.

References

Cross, A. (2020, November 1). Alan Cross: Would it be nice if Spotify paid more to artists? Yes, but it’s complicated. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/7427064/music-streaming-spotify-paying-artists/