Kurt Cobain’s first musical contribution was hauling gear for the Melvins, whose early work was key in Grunge’s development. That gig led Cobain to Krist Novoselic. Their initial effort had Cobain on drums and Novoselic playing guitar. When Melvins’ drummer Dale Crover joined, Cobain moved to guitar and Novoselic handled bass. Starting out as Ed, Ted, Fred and later, the Fecal Matter, they finally settled on Nirvana. Playing the Northwest club circuit they built a dedicated following. That, in turn, resulted in Nirvana signing with the Seattle based Sub-Pop label. Despite Cobain’s numerous compositions, the band’s first release was a cover of Shocking Blue’s “Love Buzz.” Debut album Bleach” became a college radio staple.  Recorded in Seattle, the album contained, in addition to “Love Buzz,” “About A Girl” and “Negative Creep.” It sold 40,000 copies in North America prior to the release of “Nevermind.” Since then, the album has since moved more than 1.9 million copies in the U. S. alone. “Bleach” was the only Nirvana album released on the Sub Pop imprint and their only studio album to feature drummer Chad Channing. “Silver” came out in mid ’90. After a series of drummers had come and gone, Nirvana found David Grohl. They also had a demo that caught the attention of producer Butch Vig who subsequently worked on the band’s next album. “Nevermind” was nothing short of being a landmark creation with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” “In Bloom,” “Lithium” and “On A Plane.” But the best song was “Come As You Are.” Starting with a hypnotic, reverb drenched guitar riff – straight from the bottom of Link Wray’s gene pool. The song built until it exploded with Cobain screaming “No I don’t have a gun.” Of course, he did. Smells Like Teen Spirit Come As You Are Primarily written by Cobain, the album was the band’s first release on a major label, DGC. It replaced Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” at #1 on the Billboard 200. and brought Grunge into the mainstream with Cobain the genre’s poster child. “Insecticide,” released in ’93, was an excellent collection of early Nirvana live and studio recordings containing “Aneurysm,” the B-side of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” “Aneurysm” was one of the few Nirvana songs credited to all three members and became a concert staple. Aneurysm Heart Shaped Box Later that year, “In Utero” dropped. The album was not as driving, hard-edged or sonically dense as “Nevermind.” Some attributed this change to Cobain’s growing heroin addiction. The brooding “Heart Shaped Box,” the acoustic, self-reflective “Dumb” and the remorseful “All Apologies” were the best tracks. But the album’s production was fraught with several false starts and sudden stops. The original album mix was by Steve Albini but then remixed for what the band and their record label termed a more “desirable sound.” Unhappy with the turn of events. Albini later dismissed Nirvana as “R.E.M. with a fuzzbox” and “an unremarkable version of the Seattle sound,” Even though the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 180.000 copies retailers were skittish. Wal-Mart said they declined to sell the album due to a lack of consumer demand while Kmart claimed it did not fit with their “merchandise mix.” Actually, both retailers worried that the album’s back cover would offend customers. In an effort to de-escalate the situation, DGC issued a new version to the stores with edited artwork and the track “Rape Me” retitled “Waif Me.” While “In Utero” didn’t match “Nevermind’s” sales numbers it went over 15 million copies. In Utero The Man Who Sold The World Nirvana’s ”MTV Unplugged In New York,” recorded in November of ’93 and released the following year, illustrated the band’s depth and musicianship. At the time of the taping Cobain was suffering from drug withdrawal. An observer noted: “There was no joking, no smiles, no fun coming from him … everyone was more than a little worried about his performance.” That performance, which included a cover of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World,” proved Nirvana was not solely reliant on Grunge’s wall of sound. However, in a break with MTV Unplugged tradition, Nirvana used some electric amplification and effects and played mainly lesser-known material and covers and moved over 8-million copies. When things unraveled, it all went too quickly. Maybe it was life with Hole’s Courtney Love (Kurt and Courtney married in ’92 with Francis Bean born later that year). It could have been the pressures of Rock stardom. Or heroin (Cobain had been in and out – mostly out – of rehab). Maybe there was just a big hole that nobody or nothing could fill. On April 4th, 1994, Cobain’s mother filed a missing person’s report. A few days later Cobain’s body was discovered at his Seattle residence (ruled suicide by shotgun). He was 27. The tragedy and the seeming utter senselessness of it broke Grunge’s spell. Compiled largely by Novoselic, “From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah,” a live album, was released two years after the multi-platinum “Unplugged album. It was designed to show the band’s harder edge in contrast to the acoustic set for MTV. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 selling nearly 159,000 copies in its first week of release and spent 25 weeks on the chart to become the band’s sixth platinum effort in the U.S. Years later, the furious mud-slinging battle with Grohl and Novoselic pitted against Love and a fleet of attorneys subsided long enough to get the papers signed allowing the release of a retrospective simply titled “Nirvana” featuring the group’s last recording, “You Know You’re Right.” You Know You’re Right ###   The post Nirvana appeared first on RockinTown.

from Liberty Sentinel by Alex Newman: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

by Jonas E. Alexis, The Unz Review: It is within the realm of the historical data to assert that Nazi Germany became a sort of defense mechanism—a counter-response to Jewish revolutionary activities perceived to be dangerous for Germany and much of Eastern Europe. Several Jewish scholars and historians agree on this point. Martin Bernal for […]

from The Alex Jones Show: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

by Jack Montgomery, The National Pulse: WHAT HAPPENED: The Guardian newspaper falsely reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) detected a call involving foreign intelligence and “a person close to Trump.” In fact, the call was between two people associated with foreign intelligence who merely “discussed” a third party close to Trump.

by Adam Sharp, Daily Reckoning: Germany has the second-largest gold reserves in the world at 3,350 tons. The U.S. is first with 8,133 tons. China says they hold 2,300 tons, but it’s widely known they’ve been secretly buying for decades. The country’s true holdings may even surpass America’s. But let’s get back to Germany. The […]

Debbie Harry has always felt like more than a rock star to the people who grew up with her. For many Gen X fans, she was the quintessential older sister. The impossibly cool girl you wanted to know, whose beauty made her seem unreal. Even if you only knew Blondie through the radio, you likely danced to “Heart of Glass.” You sang along to “The Tide Is High.” Or perhaps first encountered her in an unexpected place, such as The Muppet Show. Born in 1945, adopted and raised in New Jersey, she struggled through 1970s New York, worked as a Playboy Bunny, and built both Blondie and a long partnership with guitarist Chris Stein. Then came the explosion of fame, with albums like Parallel Lines selling tens of millions and turning her into an icon. Fame, however, did not shield her from hardship either. At the height of Blondie’s success, her partner, Stein, fell gravely ill, money vanished through mismanagement, and the IRS pursued them relentlessly, even stripping away his health insurance while he was hospitalized. Loss followed, including Andy Warhol’s death on the same day she and Stein finally separated. Debbie Harry helped define an era, teaching generations how to move through the world with style, defiance, and nerve. Now, she stands as proof that the greatest fashion and the greatest artistry are reinvention and survival. Debbie Harry on stage looking gorgeous in 1979 Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, 1977. Photo by Bob Gruen. Debbie Harry, 1979 Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry (1970s) Debbie Harry in London for Vogue in 1994 Before Blondie, Debbie Harry worked at New York’s Playboy Club, where she waited tables from 1968 to 1973. Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, late 1960s Debbie Harry, 1980 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry Polaroids by Andy Warhol (1980) Debbie Harry, 1981 Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry, on the roof of her apartment at 17th St and 6th Ave, 1980 (by Chris Stein) Debbie Harry, ‘Blondie’, 1970 Debbie Harry Coney Island NY – 1977 Joan Jett and Debbie Harry – late 1970s Debbie Harry (late 70s) Debbie Harry at Shinko Music, Tokyo, 1978 A young Debbie Harry when she was a singer with Wind of the Willows, 1968. Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1976. Debbie Harry (1977) Debbie Harry / “Heart of Glass” / 1979 Debbie Harry outside CBGB in NY, late 1975 Debbie Harry (1978) Debbie Harry, ca. ’70s Debbie Harry at Coney Island, 1977 Debbie Harry in her New York apartment with her Warhol portrait on the radiator, 1988. Ray Davies and Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1979. Debbie Harry, 1979 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry backstage at the Philadelphia Spectrum on January 1, 1978 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1980s Debbie Harry in the ‘Vulture’ T-shirt, her fav – (1977) Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry, 1978 Meat Loaf & Debbie Harry, 1980 Debbie Harry cover shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine, December 1978. Photographer | Terence Donovan Debbie Harry, 1978 Chris Stein & Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1981 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry photographed by Brian Aris (1980) The post Electric Photos of Debbie Harry Over The Years first appeared on History Defined.

Ian Anderson believes he has a duty to tackle global issues, and argues it’s a very folky thing to do

Why formation—not fatigue—is the Church’s quiet crisis.