Everybody Loves Our Town_ An Oral History of Grunge - Mark Yarm [0]
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crown Archetype, an imprint of the
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
Crown Archetype with colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Frontmatter photos: U-Men roadies Mike Tucker (left) and
Tommy Simpson pouring lighter fluid into the moat, and the
U-Men performing behind a wall of flames, both shot at the Mural
Amphitheatre, Seattle, September 1, 1985; © Valerie Broatch
Mudhoney “Overblown” lyrics on page vii copyright © 1992 Better
Than Your Music; used by permission.
The interviews contained herein have been edited for clarity.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Yarm, Mark.
Everybody loves our town : an oral history of Grunge / Mark Yarm.
p. cm.
1. Grunge music—United States—History and criticism. 2. Grunge
groups—Interviews. I. Title.
ML3534.3.Y37 2011
781.66—dc22 2011009192
eISBN: 978-0-307-46445-3
Photo research by Christine Reilly
jacket design by Maria Elias
Jacket photograph by Ed Sirrs
v3.1
To Bonnie and Dad
In loving memory of Clair Yarm
Everybody loves us
Everybody loves our town
That’s why I’m thinking lately
The time for leaving is now
—Mudhoney, “Overblown” (1992)
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1:
SOMETHING CRAZY’S GONNA HAPPEN
CHAPTER 2:
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BUZZ
CHAPTER 3:
HELLO, SEATTLE!
CHAPTER 4:
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DANCE
CHAPTER 5:
SCREAMING LIFE
CHAPTER 6:
LEAVING HOME
CHAPTER 7:
A THIRD SOUND
CHAPTER 8:
THE FOUR WEIRDEST GUYS IN ELLENSBURG
CHAPTER 9:
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SINCE 1988
CHAPTER 10:
SOUNDS LIKE THROW UP LOOKS
CHAPTER 11:
WE’RE RIPPING YOU OFF BIG TIME!
CHAPTER 12:
TOUCH ME I’M SICK
CHAPTER 13:
HE WHO RIDES THE PONY
CHAPTER 14:
BANDS THAT WILL MAKE MONEY
CHAPTER 15:
THE MUSIC BANK
Photo Insert 1
CHAPTER 16:
WHERE’S THE GROG?
CHAPTER 17:
CREATE YOUR OWN MYTH
CHAPTER 18:
INCOMPATIBLE INDIVIDUALS
CHAPTER 19:
ALL ABOUT KICKS
CHAPTER 20:
SMELL THE MAGIC
CHAPTER 21:
RAISE YOUR CANDLE HIGH
CHAPTER 22:
A BRIGHT, CLEAR SOUND
CHAPTER 23:
GOOD LUCK IN YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS
CHAPTER 24:
SICK OF CRYING
CHAPTER 25:
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
CHAPTER 26:
PUNK BREAKS
CHAPTER 27:
ON THE CORNER OF DOPEY AND GOOFY
CHAPTER 28:
WILD OUTBURSTS IN PUBLIC PLACES
CHAPTER 29:
BILE HOG!
CHAPTER 30:
THE EMPEROR’S NEW FLANNEL
Photo Insert 2
CHAPTER 31:
THE OLD IMMIGRANTS HATE THE NEW IMMIGRANTS
CHAPTER 32:
STRANGE LOVE
CHAPTER 33:
INTO THE NIGHT
CHAPTER 34:
FUCK HOLLYWOOD!
CHAPTER 35:
A PROBLEM WITH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
CHAPTER 36:
RADIO FRIENDLY UNIT SHIFTERS
CHAPTER 37:
NOTHING WAS THE SAME
CHAPTER 38:
ALL THE RAGE?
CHAPTER 39:
IN THE ROCKET
CHAPTER 40:
SITTING IN THE RUBBLE
CHAPTER 41:
FUCKING GREAT PRODUCTS
CHAPTER 42:
SOME IMPLODING GOING ON
CHAPTER 43:
THE MAD SEASON
CHAPTER 44:
THE BOYS WITH THE MOST CAKE
CHAPTER 45:
THE COUP
CHAPTER 46:
70 PERCENT OFF ALL FLANNEL
CHAPTER 47:
FELL ON BLACK DAYS
CHAPTER 48:
LOST NINE FRIENDS WE’LL NEVER KNOW
CHAPTER 49:
MY FRIEND, BUT NOT MY FRIEND
EPILOGUE:
THE COSMIC BROTHERHOOD OF ROCK
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CAST OF CHARACTERS
NOTES
About the Author
First, let’s get that word out of the way. Grunge. Yes, this is a book about grunge. The term that bedeviled and, let’s face it, benefited (at least temporarily) many a Seattle rock musician in the early to mid-1990s. I cannot count how many times, when I described to an interviewee what exactly it was I was working on, I’d get back, “I hate that word …” And here they would go one of two ways: spit out “that word” grunge or insist, “I don’t even like to say it,” as if uttering that one syllable would somehow validate a now decades-old coinage. (For a thorough, yet inconclusive, probe into how grunge got its name, see chapter 17.) Others reacted to the term thusly: “rubs me raw,” “a marketing tool,” “it’s all just music,” “fuckin’ concocted bullshit.” And this: “When I