Eldon Tyrell

Agree. The main protagonists of the "grunge movement" were all very different but the media and record labels love labels. It's just a classic marketing tool. Extracts from sub pop's website: https://www.subpop.com/artists/sub_pop “Sub Pop was the grunge label, right?” That’s right—the original home to Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney, incredible bands all. Bands whose members even, on occasion, wore flannel shirts. And 15 years after the rest of America draped itself in fashionable, grungy flannels (and then promptly took them to the thrift stores where they always belonged), Sub Pop is again one of the top music companies in the land, with artists racking up Saturday Night Live appearances and Grammy nominations." "While courting devoted fans, Sub Pop also courted the press, and the British music press in particular. UK outlets such as Melody Maker and the New Music Express were given to hyperbolic fawning, which suited Sub Pop’s own exaggerated marketing. In March 1989, the label paid to put Melody Maker‘s Everett True on a Seattle-bound plane to come soak up the scene. His excited report back, “Seattle: Rock City” whet European appetites for all things Northwest, including Seattle’s pared-down punk and metal hybrid known as grunge rock." "Of course, Nevermind also made grunge a household word and put flannel shirts and Dr. Martens boots on fashion runways and in JC Pennys. By this point, major labels had been scoping out Seattle bands for a few years. When Nirvana brought alternative music into the multi-platinum mainstream, the majors looked harder, looked wider, and offered more money for bands to sign on the dotted line. Suddenly Sub Pop was competing not only with other indie labels for new talent, but with the majors as well."

Agree, Ten is a great album. All killers, no fillers.

I get that these lists are all subjective and if you ask 10 journalists, you'll get 11 lists. However, as long as AIC come top, I am cool with it 😉

True and their record sales also went south went grunge became mainstream. However, grunge's time in the mainstream sun was rather short and came to an end in the mid 90s. Nirvana was done in 94, AIC in 96, and Soundgarden in 97. Pearl Jam carried on but their next albums were nowhere near as big sellers than their early 90s ones.

None of these bands are hair metal bands. Typical representatives of that genre that come to my mind are bands like Mötley Crüe, Warrant, Poison.

Check this out: https://loudwire.com/grunge-killed-ended-hair-metal/ I like their "Top 30 Grunge Albums of All Time" list underneath the video, esp. as they put AIC's "Dirt" as No 1 🙂

I know, BD still has one in stock and for a very good price (if you consider what Euros cost nowadays). Unfortunately, I am broke. I recently bought the Timmy C signature bass and that burned a big, big hole into my bass budget. 😞

You are right, I am still rather new to the Spector family. Still asking questions which clearly should never be asked 😉 BTW, you were right, I am missing my 77 😞

There's also a documentary from 2005 on the BBC iplayer - Classic Albums - Nirvana: Nevermind. Quite good "making of" documentary. Features Krist (no stache this time ;- ) , Dave, Butch Vig (stache of course :- ), and some others as well. From the BBC description: "In 1991 Nirvana’s Nevermind, with the songs of Kurt Cobain, changed the music business without compromise, record company hype or media overkill. The album replaced Michael Jackson at the top of the American charts and so began a rapid rise to international superstardom for the band. This is the story of how Nirvana came to record Nevermind and the effect the record had on the music world and on the band themselves. It offers an insight into the songwriting genius of Kurt Cobain and reveals why Nevermind remains a milestone in rock history" https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0009dk9/classic-albums-nirvana-nevermind

Ok, I have to admit that I had deleted Pantera's hair metal days from my memory, however, Alice "in" Chains were never hair metal, Alice "N'" Chains were. Technically not the same band.

I guess grunge was just a label and something the media came up with and record labels used to shift units. The bands I listed earlier are all very different. Alice is more metal-ish, Soundgarden more hard rock-ish, Nirvana more punk-ish, Pearl Jam more classic 70s rock-ish and Stone Temple Pilots are actually the most diverse of the lot - rock, bossa nova, a bit of Beatles etc. I saw STP in 2019 in the o2 in London Kentish Town and it was a great concert. One of my favs and sadly so far the last concert I've been to.

You are my new best friend 😉

Here is a quite extensive overview of some more albums that got released on the same day. My fav combos: March 8, 1994: Soundgarden ‘Superunknown and Nine Inch Nails, 'The Downward Spiral' Sept 29, 1992: Alice in Chains, 'Dirt' and Stone Temple Pilots, 'Core' https://ultimateclassicrock.com/albums-released-on-same-day/

And it is also the late Mark Sandman's birthday.

I thought on the late Mark Sandman's birthday today, it would be appropriate to share the link to this excellent documentary. I came across Morphine in the early 90s and was really taken by this unique combination of a 2 string slide bass, two saxophones and drums. The documentary is really worth watching and I have to admit that I did not know much about Mark's story. Well, be warned, it is a pretty dark and sad story. It also features some talking heads, including Mike Watt who tells us what the role of the bassist in a band used to be in the old days (from 28:15). Check it out!

I did not notice the copy of Superfuzz Bigmuff but I did notice the Music Man Stingray 🙂

Cools story. I never saw Nirvana live. However, I saw most of the other protagonists of the "grunge movement", i.e. Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam. Out of these, my fav are AIC. Saw them in the Manchester Academy in 2009, in the o2 in Bham in 2013 (with Walking Papers (featuring Duff McKagan and Screeming Trees's Barrett Martin) and Ghost), in the o2 in Leeds in 2018 and in the Arena Bham in Birmingham in 2019.

I also remember them and the "grunge movement" as being hailed for washing away all the hair metal dudes.

You are right and Mudhoney toured the UK in the same time period (also starting in 89). However, most people watching programmes from the BBC probably would not know them.

Just watched this cool documentary on the BBC iplayer: "Between 1989 and 1994, Nirvana introduced a new and exciting brand of rock music to the UK – one that changed the musical landscape and influenced a generation of British youth. Thirty years on since the release of their seminal album Nevermind, this documentary examines the special relationship between Nirvana and the UK – including the role Britain played in paving the way for their global success. Featuring rare and unseen archive footage - as well as home movies shot by the band themselves - the film charts Nirvana’s rise from their very first British tour, performing in pubs and tiny gig venues, through to legendary (and infamous) TV appearances on The Word and Top of the Pops that helped cement their status as one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, taking ‘grunge culture’ from the underground to the mainstream." I especially liked the insights into their first UK tours in 89 and 90. My personal highlight: The "freestyling" dance on stage by a guy called Tony. That alone makes the documentary worth watching 😉 Also worth watching: Krist's stache Enjoy 👍 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000zx9h/when-nirvana-came-to-britain

BTW, @cetera, why do you want a Euro X Spectorbird? You already have one of the most stunning looking Spector(bird) basses of all time! 🤩

That's a good point. They have the templates, so that should may things easier. You may want to drop Taylor McLam an email ([email protected]) and ask about it. He seems to reply to emails quite quickly. Over at TB, someone asked him about an issue with the bridge on a recently purchased Euro LT and he replied quickly. Maybe it really just needs a handful of orders (maybe via a retailer, e.g. BD) and they'll do a special run. Worth a try.

I get that Korg wants to make more use of Aguilar pickups and preamps and I also get that Korg wants to put Spector basses into the hands of more and more players. I am just getting a bit concerned that they are started to stretch the brand a bit too much. For example, for the Euro series alone, we now have the Euro Classic, the Euro LT, the Euro LX, the Euro RST and the Euro LE Squid. Plus Euro Bolt and Euro artist models (Hill, Sarzo (LX and LT), Wimbish, Bolan and Webster). https://www.spectorbass.com/series/euro-series/ https://www.spectorbass.com/series/artist-series/