Nirvana MTV Unplugged 20 years later.

[Darth Biscuit]

Pretty good article about it here... 

http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/music-news/remembering-nirvana-unplugged-cobain-battles-nearly-pulled-plug-014731014.html

 

 

Hard to believe it's been 20 years.

 

 

 

Nirvana taped their appearance on MTV Unplugged 20 years ago this week, resulting in the most memorable episode of that venerable franchise, as well as what's generally regarded as one of rock's best live albums ever. After Kurt Cobain died five months later, this unusually quiet turn for the band became even more beloved, as a sort of prophetic self-eulogy the mercurial rocker left his fans.

"We got a setlist out of the band, and other than 'Come As You Are,' there are no real Nirvana hits," producerAlex Coletti remembered in a 1999 TV special about the taping. "I wish Kurt or someone in the band or management clued us into 'We put thought into this, this works this way, trust us.' Instead it was just [defiantly] 'This is what we’re doing.'...Not being familiar with some of the covers, some of the people here became very tense about 'We’ve got to get them to do more hits.'"

 

Coletti elaborated on the network's distress in a 1995 Guitar World article. "I said to MTV, They're going to bring some guests on.' And at first everybody's eyes lit up, like, ‘Who's it gonna be?’ They wanted to hear the 'right names' — Eddie Vedder or Tori Amos…But when I said 'the Meat Puppets,' it was kind of like, 'Oh, great. They're not doing any hits, and they're inviting guests who don't have any hits to come play. Perfect.'"

It got worse. The day before the taping, Cobain informed MTV he was pulling the plug on the taping altogether. "He did it just to get us worked up. He enjoyed that power," MTV's Amy Finnerty said in Charles R. Cross's Cobain biography, Heavier Than Heaven.

Cobain quickly reneged on his no-show threats. But the next day, when the band did a dress rehearsal a few hours before the real taping, it went so disastrously that MTV execs might've been wondering if he should have pulled the plug.

 

 

[panther4life]

Unreal that was 20 years ago....remember it quite well

[Porn Shop Clerk]

i should crank that album up

 

[Guest]

The Nevermind baby is now 22 years old. 

[Darth Biscuit]

i should crank that album up

 

I been playing it loud all day

[frash.exe]

Hey guys what color are kurt cobain's eyes?

Blue. One blue this way and the other blue that way!

[Porn Shop Clerk]

 

 

 Finally Kurt said, 'I can’t top that last song' [a cover of Leadbelly's morbid folk song 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night']. And when he said that, I backed off. 'Cause I knew he was right.”

 

absolutely right.   i couldn't imagine having a bunch of suits under the bidding of a board of directors picking apart my art and trying to force me to compromise my integrity to make it more accessible.

 

i know some people have a hard time understanding that, but i do.

[frash.exe]

Did you guys know Kurt Cobain had really bad dandruff? It's true, they found his head and shoulders behind the couch

[Jangler]

never did get it, always thought he was a wannabe, and dying at 27 proved it.

[Jangler]

Hey guys what color are kurt cobain's eyes?

Blue. One blue this way and the other blue that way!

 

that's a Challenger joke...

[frash.exe]

that's a Challenger joke...

How about this one...

How does Kurt Cobain collect his thoughts?

He uses a Hoover

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Suicide Humor is really going somewhere.

[Doyle]

As someone who had a family member commit suicide I still find the jokes hilarious. 

[rodeo]

Wow, 20 years ago. One of the best musical performances ever.