Greg Kot on grunge

There were actually articles being written by some of our peers at that time, Jim, that rock is dead. It's no longer going to be a commercial force. What was interesting about the Nirvana thing, a lot of people saw it as a beginning. I really saw it as a culmination of what had been going on in the independent rock scene in the 80s and specifically in Seattle in the Pacific northwest. This whole idea of quote-unquote grunge. A term coined by the founders of Sub Pop Records, Bruce Pavitt, in particular, talking about the idea of the guitars and this distorted sound, this dirty sound that owed a lot to 60s and 70s garage rock, early heavy metal, some of the independent rock music that came up in the 80s. Bringing that sound into a mainstream audience, a mainstream sound. When I talked to Kurt Cobain back in the late 80s when he was just starting out with Nirvana, he basically said, we're just a tribute band. We are owning up to the bands that influenced us and some of them may not be cool. Heck, I liked Kiss when I was growing up. I liked Alice Cooper. I'm paying homage to some of them as well as some of those cool underground bands of the 80s, combining the melody of those 70s mainstream bands with the dirtiness and the grunge, quote-unquote, of those indie bands.

Greg: So it was a big year for blockbuster albums and when we're looking at where music is today and what kind of sounds influenced 2016, I think first and foremost we have to look at the repercussions raised by that little band from Seattle, Nirvana, with the release of the Nevermind record. It's really important to consider what was on the charts at the time. We were talking about the rise of pop rap. We had the likes of Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer dominating the pop charts. We had the hair metal era, which was still in full flower, with bands like Motley Crue and Poison. That was what represented mainstream rock at the time.

Jim: And Michael Jackson with the "Black or White" single, the Bad album was still huge.

Paves wrote:The hits were solid!

I guess my most recent brush with this band's legacy was being reminded that the Jesus Lizard song "Puss" is about the Urge bassist (?) pushing a girl down a flight of stairs.

undo wrote:

Greg: So it was a big year for blockbuster albums and when we're looking at where music is today and what kind of sounds influenced 2016, I think first and foremost we have to look at the repercussions raised by that little band from Seattle, Nirvana, with the release of the Nevermind record. It's really important to consider what was on the charts at the time. We were talking about the rise of pop rap. We had the likes of Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer dominating the pop charts. We had the hair metal era, which was still in full flower, with bands like Motley Crue and Poison. That was what represented mainstream rock at the time.

Jim: And Michael Jackson with the "Black or White" single, the Bad album was still huge.

Bad came out in 1987. "Black or White" was on Dangerous and came out in 1991.

CA) I read that (Urge drummer) Blackie Onassis actually threw you at the Lounge Ax?

Miss B) Yeah, we got into fisticuffs. That little maniac pushed me so hard that I went flying backwards.

CA) So it was a legitimate beef, it wasn’t staged?

Miss B) Yeah, we got into it at Delilah’s — We got into a big fight and Nate kind of bitch-slapped me backwards, causing my glasses to cut my nose. Delilah’s was good because Blackie DJ’d there every Sunday. They also poured water on us at Delilah’s. I was like ‘oh, Thank God, because it was hot that night.’ I remember the cops came. We were outside. I love Chicago cops, I mean, you cannot get in trouble there. The cops were always more drunk than you, at least they used to be. I remember the cop going (in her best Chicago accent) ‘Let me get this straight, you’re just passing out pamphlets?” I’ll never forget that till the end of my days.

CA) Rumor has it that Nash Kato actually hit you after you yanked on his coat?

Miss B) My hand made the motion of pulling on his coat. I said ‘what’s up, pussy motherfucker?’ It started the biggest bar brawl I’ve ever seen. A lot of bike messengers were there, bottles were being brandished, chairs were flying and people were fighting. I was thrown against the wall, it was awesome. I was so proud, I really was.

reuben wrote:"Allegedly" pushed her down the stairs.  And she weren't no lady!