3.1.13

On March 1st I listened to Nirvana Nevermind, Pearl Jam Ten, and The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream to kick off 90’s Heyday Month! All March will be a celebration of the Alternative movement that defined a decade!

This album started that movement! Nevermind almost single handily killed hair metal, bore Grunge, and helped change the face of American radio. When this album was released there was somewhere in the vicinity of 20 commercial Alternative radio stations, a few years later there were almost 200! Yes, Nirvana didn't do it all alone, but they kickstarted the whole thing!

If it's been too long since you've heard anything but the five or six songs from this album that get played on the radio, then throw it on right now! You'll be saying stuff like, "holy shit! I forgot how much I loved 'Territorial Pissings!'" "Drain You," "Stay Away," and "On A Plane" have been missing from my life for too long.

With a little internet investigating I was able to figure out when I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for the first time. On October 5, 1991 I hiked up to Toronto with my buddy Joe Bagodonuts and an my ex-girlfriend Michelle to see 808 State. We spent the night and in the morning went to hang out with Live Earl Jive while he did a Sunday morning shift on CFNY/Toronto, the best radio station in the world... at the time. During his shift, Jive played the song and my initial reaction was, "meh." It seems within days of that first listen on October 6, 1991, the song was EVERYWHERE!!!!

I wasn’t a Pearl Jam super fan but I listened to all the albums as they came out and enjoy a shitload of their music.

Ten is a monster! The album starts off with six smash hit songs right in a row. Then you got five solid album tracks that PJ superfans still clammer for. 

I logged a lot of hours on the air on commercial Alternative radio and every so often I'd get a call from an angry fan saying, “play something other than ‘Alive!’ Why don’t you ever play ‘Oceans’ or ‘Release?’” “You’re right,” I’d say! "The world is ready for an 9 minute Pearl Jam song and I’m the guy to give it to them! I’ll play it next!” Then they’d say, “you’re an asshole,” and hang up. 

It was shocking to me back in the 90's that people still thought they could make a request to a radio station. There was really never such a thing.

If you’re old enough to remember, the video for “Even Flow” was on MTV at least once an hour at its height and the song was coming out of every radio everywhere! Much like "Smells Like Teen Spirit," it was almost maddening how overplayed the songs became. Yet, that never seems to happen to a Rock song anymore. Look at the last few Super Hits, “Call Me Maybe,” “Somebody That I Used To Know,” and “Gangnam Style.” When did Rock lose the ability to capture the attention of a nation?

Here’s a great example of how much I suck… sometimes.

In the summer of 1993, Bagodonuts was hosting an impromptu gathering at his apartment. Just a chill little group drinking some beers and listening to some tunes. For some reason I really wanted to hear a Utah Saints album and was just about to throw it in, when our friend Roundboy bust in the door with a brand new copy of Siamese Dream. We argued for a few minutes, but we ended up listening to the Utah Saints first. I can barely remember one song from that album. When I finally let Roundboy throw on the Pumpkins, we ended up listening to Siamese Dream on repeat for the rest of the night. We didn't listen to anything else. 

The rest of the summer was all about Siamese Dream. I’ll always remember that little pocket of time from when the album was mine until it belonged to the world. “Cherub Rock,” was the first single and it did OK as an Alternative track, but it wasn't until the ice cream truck video for “Today,” hit MTV that this record wasn't my little secret anymore. “Disarm” had so much meaning to me, and then it became a hit! I didn't want to share it!

Siamese Dream is a flawless album. So rich with hits, that it's easy to have a new "favorite" every time you listen to it.  

I love “Mayonaise.” It leaves just like it came in. 

Me and Roundboy enjoying the Utah Saints.

Tomorrow I will listen to Alice In Chains Dirt, Matthew Sweet Girlfriend and Johnny Marr The Messenger. 

All of March's playlist is here;

March Playlist!