Nirvana in the Rock and Roll HoF

[trashcanman]

Just finished watching the latest induction ceremony for an institutional establishment that claims the authority to decide which artists are famous enough to deserve their laurels. Naturally, Nirvana gets in immediately while other artists wait decades. KISS finally got in the same year after a career that's lasted over 40 years and has them as the American band with the most gold records. Fittingly, the ceremony kind of turned into an orgy of presenters and performers slamming the HoF for their exclusionary practices with Krist Novaselic admonishing them from the stage for having not inducted Joan Jett yet and Tom Morello's rather angry presentation introducing KISS while rapturous applause rang out to name a couple. Naturally, Nirvana anchored the set because who else could compare to their three album career? See? We're young and hip!

Anyways, Michael Stipe inducted Nirvana, which I thought would have been a good choice, but he was so over the top and insincere in pushing that they were the most underground of the the underground bands ever to be underground and how much they hated corporate establishment that it just kind of ruined it. Nirvana did not sign to the biggest fucking corporate record label in the world and shoot videos for MTV out of hatred for the establishment and love of the underground. Being underground means you don't GET to be in the HoF. No exceptions. Being underground means the people who decide that shit will have never fucking heard of you. That's why the Germs aren't in. Their singer killed himself too! They even share a guitarist with Nirvana. But the Germs are underground and they will not be inducted. Nirvana was a killer band, but I really wish people would stop pretending they were Minor Threat or something. They were a band that took underground sounds and went mainstream with them. It's not a big deal. Just stop pretending that they didn't work their ass off to make it big because you don't become one of the biggest bands in the world signed to the biggest record label in the world by accident.

Usually the all-star jam segment gets people from all of the different bands and presenters to jam on some tunes but since Nirvana is the only band that mattered and they invented the underground and all, they decided to just have Nirvana play. The frontpeople? Interestingly a selection of all-female singers. Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, some Avril Lavigne-ish chick I never heard of, and Lorde. The performance with Lorde was the most American Idolish thing I've ever seen at one of those ceremonies. Just.....ick. In fact, the only one I really felt was Kim Gordon, whose band (Sonic Youth, of course) Nirvana should probably be paying royalties to out of respect for practically building their fucking musical house. Have a watch.



Fitting that the only other true alternative rock representative there rocks the fucking house.

By comparison:



For some reason, I feel a need to hear what Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson thought about that. If anyone has seen anything lately that is cheesier than that shot of Cobain's face with the angel wings, I'd love to hear it. The truth is, Kurt must be rolling over in his fucking grave to see his music and image become the exact thing he hated. It's well documented that he hated the pop production and music videos of his popular works, so imagine how much he'd like to see his suicide glamorized the way it's been and have all of the poppiest pop stars claiming him as an influence. Should have stuck around to defend yourself, bro.

[The Curmudgeon]

We don't get the HoF over here, so it's always second hand information we have to rely on. Michael Stipe is a perfect fit to induct Nirvana, but it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that he lay it on as thick as he did. I have no problem with Nirvana being inducted, and yeah it sucks other bands/artists don't get the nod but the whole concept, to me, is kinda meaningless anyway. Most of the bands I follow and love will never get this sort of accolade, but it's not going to make me enjoy the music any less. We'll never know for sure, but I imagine Nirvana wanted to be genuine rock stars, touring the world, selling records, making videos.. and I think Kurt just became so numb and removed from it all. This sort of thing is everything he would've hated, fucking HATED.. and yet Lorde etc just don't seem to get it.

Speaking of X Factor, Cowell has a tradition of stealing cover versions from other artists and getting his own puppets to do the exact same version and call it "unique." I've seen it happen at least three times now, and I can see him pushing someone into that Lorde version of All Apologies, and then you may just see Cobain rise from his grave, Alter Beast style, to smite some fools.

[trashcanman]

Now THAT would have been something to see. Jett, Grohl, and Gordon need to be unharmed, though. Those are some fellow rock heroes if ever there were any. I don't recall Kim being so hot. Some things really do get better with age. I feel like maybe Cobain wanted to stay underground, but was overruled by the rest of the band and kind of railroaded to fame. Rumor was he hated being in Nirvana at the end and was on his way to dissolving the band when he died. When his mom accepted the statue, she said that Kurt would have pretended to hate being inducted, but he would have been proud. Basically, this implies that his famous cynical image was fake and everything Stipe had just said was bullshit, which I thought was kind of funny.