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Mainstream popularity
Nirvana, early in their careerPrior to its popularity, grunge was listened to
mostly by those who played the music. Bands would play at clubs with very few
people in attendance, most of which were from other performing bands. Others who
listened to the music in those early days were often people who were "just
trying to get out of the rain" as many attendants would claim. As bands began to
issue albums, independent labels became the key catalysts in bringing the music
to the local public. Many of the more successful bands of the era were
associated with Seattle's Sub Pop record label, though several other independent
Seattle-area labels gained recognition, including Olympia labels Kill Rock Stars
and K Records. Other record labels in the Pacific Northwest that helped promote
grunge included EMpTy Records, Estrus Records, C/Z Records, and PopLlama
Records.[8][9]
In November 1988, Sub Pop took their initial step towards popularizing grunge
with the Sub Pop Singles Club, a subscription service that would allow
subscribers to receive singles by local bands on a monthly basis by mail. This
increased grunge's following locally, and allowed Sub Pop to become a powerful
company in the local scene. According to Sub Pop founders Bruce Pavitt and
Jonathan Poneman, grunge's popularity began to flourish after a journalist from
the British magazine Melody Maker was asked by them to write an article on the
local music scene. This helped to make grunge known outside of the local area
during the late 1980s, giving the genre its first major spurt of popularity.[10]
Mudhoney is often credited as having been the biggest commercial success for
grunge during this time, and was the most successful grunge band until the end
of the 80s.[11] Still, grunge would not become a huge national phenomenon in the
US until the 1990s.
Nirvana's Nevermind album coverNirvana is generally credited for breaking the
genre into the popular consciousness in 1991. The popularity of Nirvana's song
"Smells Like Teen Spirit", from the album Nevermind, surprised the entire music
industry. The album became a #1 hit around much of the world, and paved the way
for more bands, including, most popularly, Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam, in fact, had
released their debut album Ten a month earlier in August 1991, but album sales
only picked up after the success of Nirvana. For many audiences then and later,
grunge came to be almost totally associated with these two bands and their
punky, rebellious attitude towards mainstream mores as well as cultural and
social institutions. Other popular Seattle-based bands (most notably Alice in
Chains and Soundgarden) would also become extremely successful. Some bands from
other regions, such as Stone Temple Pilots from San Diego, Australia's
Silverchair, and Great Britain's Bush also became popular.[12]
Most grunge fans and music critics believe that grunge emerged as a popular
genre and was embraced by mainstream audiences in reaction to the declining
popularity of hair metal. Hair metal bands, such as Mötley Crüe, Poison, and
Warrant, had been dominating the charts during the 1980s (especially in the
United States) despite being looked down upon by most critics. Hair metal was
known for macho (some critics have said misogynist) lyrics, anthemic riffs, and
a perceived lack of social consciousness, especially in the race to attract
mainstream audiences. These aspects were popular during the 1980s, but they
began to have the opposite effect on audiences towards the end of the decade.
Grunge, however, sharply contrasted to hair metal; its lyrics avoided machismo
and used a simpler style similar to punk. With a viable alternative to hair
metal realized by the public, the popularity of hair metal began to die off as
the popularity of grunge began to rise.
Grunge fans in the Pacific Northwest believed that the media gave excessive
importance to the clothing worn by grunge musicians and fans, along with other
aspects of the local culture. Clothing commonly worn by grunge fans in the
Northwest in its early years was a blend of the punk aesthetic with the typical
outdoorsy clothing (most notably flannel shirts) of the region. The "fashion"
did not evolve out of a conscious attempt to create an appealing fashion, but
due to the inexpensiveness of such clothes and the warmth that they provided for
the cold climate of the region. The media, rather than focusing on the music,
would give this fashion a heavy amount of exposure. In the early 1990s, the
fashion industry marketed "grunge fashion" to a widespread audience, charging
relatively high prices for clothing that they assumed to be popular in the
grunge scene. Similarly, the media would view grunge as a whole culture,
assuming it to be Generation X's attempt to create a culture similar to the
hippie counterculture of the previous generation. Rather than focus on the
music, much of the media focused on other superficial aspects of the musicians
and fans. An interesting case of this superficiality backfiring on the media was
the grunge speak hoax, which caused The New York Times to print a fake list of
slang terms that supposedly were used in the grunge scene. This was later proven
to be a prank by Sub Pop's Megan Jasper. The excesses of this media hype would
also be documented in the 1996 documentary Hype!.[13]
Pearl Jam's Ten album coverWhile such superficiality bothered Seattle-area
grunge fans, most grunge musicians from the area continued to dress in the way
that they had prior to popularity. Some musicians from outside the region also
began to dress similarly. In the rock world, expensive, designer clothing was
shunned in favor of less elaborate clothing; some common items worn included
flannel, jeans, boots (often Doc Martens), and Converse sneakers. Many young
fans outside of the region embraced this style for its simple defiance of the
norms of the era's popular culture, which was seen by many of them as
corporate-dominated and superficial. In England, youth who dressed in this
fashion were sometimes called grungers, while the term grungies was often used
in the United States. Traditional rock and roll ostentatiousness became
offensive to many rock music fans, inspiring an anti-fashion trend. Oddly, this
attitude helped the fashion industry push their "grunge fashion" line, turning
the fans' defiance to fashion against them. As a result, many grunge fans
dropped the "traditional" grunge fashion soon after having embraced it; the
industry stopped marketing it shortly afterwards.
Many notable events happened during the "grunge era" of music that may not have
happened had grunge never become popular. Alternative rock, previously heard
mostly in local clubs, on college radio, and on independent record labels,
became popular in the mainstream as major record labels sought out more
previously obscure music styles to sell to the public. The traveling festival
Lollapalooza came about as a result of this, with grunge being a major part of
the 1992 and 1993 events. In the media's spotlight, grunge became part of the
pop culture, most notably being a major part of the 1992 film Singles, which
featured several grunge bands. Nirvana and Sonic Youth would star in a
documentary film that same year, 1991: The Year Punk Broke. Riot grrrl, another
hardcore punk offshoot that came into being in Western Washington (and was thus
often seen as the feminine equivalent of grunge), became well known from the
media coverage of the local scene. With such punk derivative genres becoming
popular, punk itself was able to make a revival, as bands such as Green Day and
The Offspring became chart-topping successes. Independent record labels, which
used to rarely have success on level with major labels, were able to sell albums
with equal or similar success as the major labels (most notably in the cases of
Sub Pop and Epitaph Records).
Nirvana, early in their careerPrior to its popularity, grunge was listened to
mostly by those who played the music. Bands would play at clubs with very few
people in attendance, most of which were from other performing bands. Others who
listened to the music in those early days were often people who were "just
trying to get out of the rain" as many attendants would claim. As bands began to
issue albums, independent labels became the key catalysts in bringing the music
to the local public. Many of the more successful bands of the era were
associated with Seattle's Sub Pop record label, though several other independent
Seattle-area labels gained recognition, including Olympia labels Kill Rock Stars
and K Records. Other record labels in the Pacific Northwest that helped promote
grunge included EMpTy Records, Estrus Records, C/Z Records, and PopLlama
Records.[8][9]
In November 1988, Sub Pop took their initial step towards popularizing grunge
with the Sub Pop Singles Club, a subscription service that would allow
subscribers to receive singles by local bands on a monthly basis by mail. This
increased grunge's following locally, and allowed Sub Pop to become a powerful
company in the local scene. According to Sub Pop founders Bruce Pavitt and
Jonathan Poneman, grunge's popularity began to flourish after a journalist from
the British magazine Melody Maker was asked by them to write an article on the
local music scene. This helped to make grunge known outside of the local area
during the late 1980s, giving the genre its first major spurt of popularity.[10]
Mudhoney is often credited as having been the biggest commercial success for
grunge during this time, and was the most successful grunge band until the end
of the 80s.[11] Still, grunge would not become a huge national phenomenon in the
US until the 1990s.
Nirvana's Nevermind album coverNirvana is generally credited for breaking the
genre into the popular consciousness in 1991. The popularity of Nirvana's song
"Smells Like Teen Spirit", from the album Nevermind, surprised the entire music
industry. The album became a #1 hit around much of the world, and paved the way
for more bands, including, most popularly, Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam, in fact, had
released their debut album Ten a month earlier in August 1991, but album sales
only picked up after the success of Nirvana. For many audiences then and later,
grunge came to be almost totally associated with these two bands and their
punky, rebellious attitude towards mainstream mores as well as cultural and
social institutions. Other popular Seattle-based bands (most notably Alice in
Chains and Soundgarden) would also become extremely successful. Some bands from
other regions, such as Stone Temple Pilots from San Diego, Australia's
Silverchair, and Great Britain's Bush also became popular.[12]
Most grunge fans and music critics believe that grunge emerged as a popular
genre and was embraced by mainstream audiences in reaction to the declining
popularity of hair metal. Hair metal bands, such as Mötley Crüe, Poison, and
Warrant, had been dominating the charts during the 1980s (especially in the
United States) despite being looked down upon by most critics. Hair metal was
known for macho (some critics have said misogynist) lyrics, anthemic riffs, and
a perceived lack of social consciousness, especially in the race to attract
mainstream audiences. These aspects were popular during the 1980s, but they
began to have the opposite effect on audiences towards the end of the decade.
Grunge, however, sharply contrasted to hair metal; its lyrics avoided machismo
and used a simpler style similar to punk. With a viable alternative to hair
metal realized by the public, the popularity of hair metal began to die off as
the popularity of grunge began to rise.
Grunge fans in the Pacific Northwest believed that the media gave excessive
importance to the clothing worn by grunge musicians and fans, along with other
aspects of the local culture. Clothing commonly worn by grunge fans in the
Northwest in its early years was a blend of the punk aesthetic with the typical
outdoorsy clothing (most notably flannel shirts) of the region. The "fashion"
did not evolve out of a conscious attempt to create an appealing fashion, but
due to the inexpensiveness of such clothes and the warmth that they provided for
the cold climate of the region. The media, rather than focusing on the music,
would give this fashion a heavy amount of exposure. In the early 1990s, the
fashion industry marketed "grunge fashion" to a widespread audience, charging
relatively high prices for clothing that they assumed to be popular in the
grunge scene. Similarly, the media would view grunge as a whole culture,
assuming it to be Generation X's attempt to create a culture similar to the
hippie counterculture of the previous generation. Rather than focus on the
music, much of the media focused on other superficial aspects of the musicians
and fans. An interesting case of this superficiality backfiring on the media was
the grunge speak hoax, which caused The New York Times to print a fake list of
slang terms that supposedly were used in the grunge scene. This was later proven
to be a prank by Sub Pop's Megan Jasper. The excesses of this media hype would
also be documented in the 1996 documentary Hype!.[13]
Pearl Jam's Ten album coverWhile such superficiality bothered Seattle-area
grunge fans, most grunge musicians from the area continued to dress in the way
that they had prior to popularity. Some musicians from outside the region also
began to dress similarly. In the rock world, expensive, designer clothing was
shunned in favor of less elaborate clothing; some common items worn included
flannel, jeans, boots (often Doc Martens), and Converse sneakers. Many young
fans outside of the region embraced this style for its simple defiance of the
norms of the era's popular culture, which was seen by many of them as
corporate-dominated and superficial. In England, youth who dressed in this
fashion were sometimes called grungers, while the term grungies was often used
in the United States. Traditional rock and roll ostentatiousness became
offensive to many rock music fans, inspiring an anti-fashion trend. Oddly, this
attitude helped the fashion industry push their "grunge fashion" line, turning
the fans' defiance to fashion against them. As a result, many grunge fans
dropped the "traditional" grunge fashion soon after having embraced it; the
industry stopped marketing it shortly afterwards.
Many notable events happened during the "grunge era" of music that may not have
happened had grunge never become popular. Alternative rock, previously heard
mostly in local clubs, on college radio, and on independent record labels,
became popular in the mainstream as major record labels sought out more
previously obscure music styles to sell to the public. The traveling festival
Lollapalooza came about as a result of this, with grunge being a major part of
the 1992 and 1993 events. In the media's spotlight, grunge became part of the
pop culture, most notably being a major part of the 1992 film Singles, which
featured several grunge bands. Nirvana and Sonic Youth would star in a
documentary film that same year, 1991: The Year Punk Broke. Riot grrrl, another
hardcore punk offshoot that came into being in Western Washington (and was thus
often seen as the feminine equivalent of grunge), became well known from the
media coverage of the local scene. With such punk derivative genres becoming
popular, punk itself was able to make a revival, as bands such as Green Day and
The Offspring became chart-topping successes. Independent record labels, which
used to rarely have success on level with major labels, were able to sell albums
with equal or similar success as the major labels (most notably in the cases of
Sub Pop and Epitaph Records).
...
