Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
Load up on guns, bring your friends / It’s fun to lose and to pretend / She’s over-bored and self-assured / Oh no, I know a dirty word
Hello, hello, hello, how low / Hello, hello, hello, how low / Hello, hello, hello, how low / Hello, hello, hello
With the lights out, it’s less dangerous / Here we are now, entertain us / I feel stupid and contagious / Here we are now, entertain us / A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido / Yeah, hey
Hello, hello, hello. I saw an article last week celebrating “the inside story” of Nirvana’s Nevermind at 30. It brought back a flurry of memories, most centered around Small’s, my bar in Hollywood (circa 1989-91).
Okay, forgive my boast, but if there was an epicenter for grunge rock, that would be Small’s in Hollywood. We played the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” advance cassette weeks before the video release. That summer, I’d often play the song twice in a row to satisfy the many rockers who came to the bar specifically to hear “the new song from a group called Nirvana.”
Smalls hosted every major band of the era, save Nirvana. (I wouldn’t call Kurt much of a social animal.) Aside from the shy Kurt & Co., everyone was there drinking at the bar or doing drugs with the owner in my office across the street.
Summer and “Indian summer” of 1991 was so much fun—so special, so many friends. Let this week’s Idelic Hour toast all who rocked with us those nights.
May there be more rock ‘n’ roll nights for a new generation. Here’s some tunes to go with it.
Idelic Single of the Week: Parquet Courts – Black Widow Spider
