Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Nirvana's Chocolate In Kiss's Peanut Butter
Wow, Kiss and Nirvana going into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in the same year.
One was the first band to teach me that music had visuals, as I'd see the clown faces on the wall in my sister's room circa 1979. I never knew a world without Kiss, so I assumed the explosions and blood were always a part of the concert-going experience, not that I'd ever been to one.
The other was the first band to inspire to get a rock tee. I wasn't truly a "fan" of a band until Nirvana came along and blew my high-school hell to bits. They were also the ones to teach me that rock 'n' roll did just fine without explosions and blood, and that there was other music out there besides what the radio was playing. (I was way too young for the first wave of punk rock--I remember seeing "Sex Pistols" and "Echo and the Bunnymen" written on the wall of my middle school bus, but I got very scared and ran right back to Hall & Oates, also inductees this year. Okay, maybe it was Def Leppard at that point.)
In honor of the occasion, here's Nirvana doing their utterly ridiculous cover of Kiss's "Do You Love Me?" I'm pretty sure it was their incessant mocking of Paul's voice (and machismo: "Hey where ya goin', honey? I'm not ugly!") that kept the band off of a Kiss cover album, and maybe what led to Gene Simmons saying something about "the poor blond-haired, blue-eyed star" after Kurt Cobain committed suicide.
But Nirvana would tell you that they wouldn't have existed without Kiss. And Gene, if given a lie-detector test, would tell you that Nirvana's bringing rock music back to the mainstream probably led to a lot of younger kids eventually discovering the old Kiss records and therefore helping them stay Alive after all these decades.
There's been a lot of Nirvana news these last few years, as each album has turned 20 and turned a new set of profits too. (Except Incesticide! Where was the Incesticide re-release?!") And each time I think I'm gonna write a big long "piece" about them. But there just isn't enough room on the inner netting. But I do have one surprise, which I think I might actually do. So root for that if you care about Nirvana.
One was the first band to teach me that music had visuals, as I'd see the clown faces on the wall in my sister's room circa 1979. I never knew a world without Kiss, so I assumed the explosions and blood were always a part of the concert-going experience, not that I'd ever been to one.
The other was the first band to inspire to get a rock tee. I wasn't truly a "fan" of a band until Nirvana came along and blew my high-school hell to bits. They were also the ones to teach me that rock 'n' roll did just fine without explosions and blood, and that there was other music out there besides what the radio was playing. (I was way too young for the first wave of punk rock--I remember seeing "Sex Pistols" and "Echo and the Bunnymen" written on the wall of my middle school bus, but I got very scared and ran right back to Hall & Oates, also inductees this year. Okay, maybe it was Def Leppard at that point.)
In honor of the occasion, here's Nirvana doing their utterly ridiculous cover of Kiss's "Do You Love Me?" I'm pretty sure it was their incessant mocking of Paul's voice (and machismo: "Hey where ya goin', honey? I'm not ugly!") that kept the band off of a Kiss cover album, and maybe what led to Gene Simmons saying something about "the poor blond-haired, blue-eyed star" after Kurt Cobain committed suicide.
But Nirvana would tell you that they wouldn't have existed without Kiss. And Gene, if given a lie-detector test, would tell you that Nirvana's bringing rock music back to the mainstream probably led to a lot of younger kids eventually discovering the old Kiss records and therefore helping them stay Alive after all these decades.
There's been a lot of Nirvana news these last few years, as each album has turned 20 and turned a new set of profits too. (Except Incesticide! Where was the Incesticide re-release?!") And each time I think I'm gonna write a big long "piece" about them. But there just isn't enough room on the inner netting. But I do have one surprise, which I think I might actually do. So root for that if you care about Nirvana.
Comments:
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Doesn't 'With The Lights Out' fit the bill (if you're looking for an 'Incesticide' reissue)? It's got a slew of demos, b-sides and misc. debris. Good stuff, especially "Oh, The Guilt" and "Sappy."
But that museum in Cleveland is a joke. It's little more than Jann Wenner's playhouse. It's pretty pathetic that he's trying to both maintain a museum of rock and roll while (trying to) keep bands he doesn't like out no matter their success/influence. I am hoping he gets his bestest buddy Yoko Ono in to show how silly it all is.
But that museum in Cleveland is a joke. It's little more than Jann Wenner's playhouse. It's pretty pathetic that he's trying to both maintain a museum of rock and roll while (trying to) keep bands he doesn't like out no matter their success/influence. I am hoping he gets his bestest buddy Yoko Ono in to show how silly it all is.
The museum is definitely a joke and about as un-rock and roll as you can get. Was there in '99 and there was a little bit on rock's roots, but you really had to search for it. The wax dummies and costumes were silly. Also, and this says a lot about the mindset of the place, you cannot leave without walking through the gift shop. ... Thankfully, the Replacements didn't make it.
I saw the outside of the place on my Cleveland trip where I met Jhonny's dgo but didn't go in.
The induction ceremony this time is in Brooklyn though.
The induction ceremony this time is in Brooklyn though.
Odd that Ronnie Biggs would die right after I mention the Pistols. So I guess he's out for filling in for Cobain on vocals at the ceremony.
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