“Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello… Welcome to the Nirvana form letter.”
– Nirvana’s first newsletter, 10 October 1991
In 1991, Nirvana band members Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic signed the band’s first fan newsletter in black ballpoint pen, green felt tip marker and red felt tip marker. The newsletter was accompanied with a Nirvana original merchandise form, which included four of the band’s T-shirts, and the private addresses of a number of leading celebrities (Kiss, The Fonz, Elton John, the Bay City Rollers and many more…).
NIRVANA NEWSLETTER TRANSCRIPT
Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello…
Welcome to the Nirvana form letter. Thanks for writing (except for evil Jessica Hopper in Minneapolis who says the new album makes her “sad, and what happened to songs like ‘Love Buzz’ and ‘School'”… nah, just kidding Jessica; your letter was great, even if you do like Mudhoney better). Excuse the pap of this computer jive, but it’s all we can muster for now, what with the touring action and record release mayhem and all that (not to mention the limo rides, charity appearances, and parties on soupy sales yacht). Nirvana’s on the road until Halloween, home for a brief while, then off to Europe — the tour dates are on the back of the order form.
We haven’t set up a fan club just yet, but we probably will soon and you’ll be the first to know when we do. We just gotta field the mail and get an idea what this fan club stuff will entail so we can do it up right!
By now you may have heard about the Nevermind record release party, thrown at Rebar in Seattle on Friday the 13th of September, during which a cool $2000 worth of draught beer was consumed by just 200 people in 2 hours. It also goes down in the history books as the only record release party where the band was thrown out (Chris started a food fight that got a little out of hand). The evening wound down about 10 hours later in a giant heap on their DGC rep’s living room floor, Kurdt and Dave in two of her finest smocks, and all busy defacing a beloved Nelson gold record. Oh yeah — KIDS, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. NIRVANA ARE TRAINED PROFESSIONALS, NOT ROLE MODELS.
To all of you who need lyrics, sorry, but aside from the ones printed in Nevermind, Kurdt isn’t exactly sure himself of most of them, because the vocal tracks are recorded while he is in a religious state of fervor, i.e. the guy is speaking in tongues. His advice is to mumble through them as best you can, and when in doubt, try either “gun” or “I don’t care”. Our favourite lyrics screw-up so far is Robin Peringer’s interpretation of “Teen Spirit”‘s line, “a mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido,” which he turned into, “I’m Nirvana, I’m Nirvana, you’re a skater, have a beer.”
Some of you, too, have asked about the spelling of Kurdt’s name, why it is spelled differently at different times in different places. Kurt’s name has an interesting genesis, beginning with the 1906 immigration of Curt’s Scottish great-grandparents, Kadthy and Curdt Sr. MacKobain, to Aberdeen, WA where the MacCobains were put to work at Lukin’s House of Pork as musical entertainers in the copious lounge. To make a long (and incredibly interesting) story short, this musical legacy was passed down to young Curdt, who clipped the “Mac” from his surname so as to create the necessary alternative “rock” effect that the modern Rock Dude must cultivate. This bastardisation of his heritage was and is a difficult, albeit necessary, decision for Kurt, so all are advised to avoid the subject. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
On a lighter note, who’s the baby on the cover of Nevermind, you ask? Well, that little tyke is none other than Sub Pop head honcho Jonathan Poneman! As he scurries for that elusive dollar, one sees how early his motives in life were cemented.
Incidentally, if anyone was wondering what happened to Chad Channing, Nirvana’s drummer on Bleach, he and his mother, Stockard (of “Grease” fame) have opened Rizzo’s Bar and Grill, a wonderful rib house. He’s also playing drums in Fire Ants, a wild trio featuring Brian Wood on vocals and guitar; he’s the brother of the late Andy Wood, who sang for Mother Love Bone. Andy’s other brother Kevin plays bass, as he did for Malfunkshun, Andy’s band before MLB.
For all of you who asked (and you who didn’t), here’s a Nirvana discography, as complete as we could do with our lame memories, and not in any particular order. We’ll do a big ol’ formal one down the line in a FAN CLUB NEWSLETTER or something.
“Love Buzz” / “Big Cheese” 7″ (Sub Pop)
Bleach LP (Sub Pop) 1st 1000 on white vinyl, next 2000 with poster
“Blew” EP (Tupelo – import) with Love Buzz and unreleased Been A Son & Stain
“Sliver” / “Dive” 7″ (Sub Pop in US, Tupelo in UK) ltd. ed. blue vinyl in US, green in UK
“Molly’s Lips” split 7″ w/ the Fluid (Sub Pop) ltd. pressing, small % of those on coloured vinyl
“Spank Thru” on Sub Pop 200 compilation “Here She Comes Now” (Velvet Underground cover) on Heaven & Hell LP and split 7″ w/ the Melvins, both on Communion. 7″ is on ltd. ed. coloured vinyl “Beeswax” on Kill Rock Stars compilation (Pulp) ltd. ed. 1000
“Do You Love Me?” on Hard To Believe: A Kiss Covers Compilation (C/Z)
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” EP (DGC) with unreleased “Aneurysm” & “Even In His Youth” Nevermind (DGC)
“You Make Me Feel Like Dancin'” split 7″ with Dinah Shore Jr. (Ben Dover) (upcoming)
“Islands In The Stream” Kurdt duets with Mecca Normal’s Jean Smith on soundtrack to Dying Young 2: Electric Boogaloo (MCA)
Well, that’s it for now. Thanks again for writing. ALL LETTERS ARE READ BY THE BAND. It might take forever, but all letters are read. So keep in touch, and tell your friends to get a hold of us if they’re interested in keeping tabs with the band. Have an awesome Halloween; we’ll be playing with Mudhoney at the Paramount in Seattle… watch out! Yours truly, Kurt Chris Dave
Via: LiveNirvana
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