Professor Hunt's Rock 'n' roll history blog

My my, hey hey Rock and roll is here to stay It's better to burn out Than to fade away My my, hey hey.

Lecture 21: Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder inducting Neil Young into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame (1995): This is Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam inducting Neil Young ("Godfather of Grunge") in to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Vedder mentions Neil's rebellious side and jokes about the band's table being beside Ticketmaster's. Pearl Jam had a long running feud with Ticketmaster, who held a virtual monopoly on ticket sales in North America. Outraged at Ticketmaster's excessive service charges, the band rebelled setting caps on their ticket prices and refusing to play venues that dealt with the monopoly. 

Lecture 21: "Rockin' In The Free World" (1989) - Pearl Jam with Neil Young: Neil Young's last album of the 1980s, Freedom (1989) represented an important comeback for Young. His songs on Freedom, especially “Rockin’ in the Free World,” a critique of the George H.W. Bush administration and a social commentary on the ills of society, represented a sound and a tone that borrowed from his classic years of the 1970s, yet presented a harder and more aggressive sound.  This is Pearl Jam performing “Rockin’ in the Free World” in Toronto in 2011 - when a very welcome guest (their good friend Neil Young) joins them on stage. The Toronto crowd goes crazy! Note: Pearl Jam played on Young's 1995 album Mirrorball.

Lecture 21: "Downtown" (1995) - Neil Young with Pearl Jam: Neil Young's musical experimentation with distortion and feedback during the 1980s would help inspire the Grunge sound that emerged in the late 80s. In fact, Young would go on to make an album with one of the signature Grunge bands, Pearl Jam. His 1995 album Mirror Ball (featuring Pearl Jam) earned both high praise and some criticism. Regardless, it went on to earn a few Grammy nominations, and the song "Downtown" hit #6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. Young's influence on the genre has earned him the title "Godfather of Grunge."

Lecture 21: "Matt-Alec" (1983) - Melvins (live-in-the-studio, circa 1984): The Melvins (1983-present) was one of the first and most influential grunge bands. Formed in 1983 by buddies Buzz Osborne (a.k.a., King Buzzo) (guitar/vocals), Matt Lukin (bass), and Mike Dillard (drums), and later Dale Crover (who took over on drums), the Melvins were a little bit of everything: metal, punk, experimental, noise, stoner music. Despite their importance, they never achieved the success that others who followed in their wake, such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, did.  

Lecture 21: "About a Girl" (1989, 1994) – Nirvana: Nirvana's debut album Bleach, released in June 1989 on the Sub Pop label, was full of the sort of agonizingly bleak lyrics and distortion that would characterize the band's music on subsequent albums. The album was recorded for a rock-bottom total cost of $606.17, and featured early songs such as “School,” “Blew,” and a cover of Shocking Blue’s “Love Buzz.”  The real standout song was Cobain’s ballad “About a Girl.” While the grunge scene owes it core roots to punk and metal, "About a Girl" reflects some of the more mainstream pop music that also influenced Kurt Cobain, the creative force behind Nirvana.    

Lecture 21: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1991) – Nirvana: Without question, the most influential of the Seattle bands – and the one many critics consider the greatest – is Nirvana. To this day, Nirvana is also considered to be one of the most important bands in rock history. The first single released from their second album Nevermind (1991) reached #6 in the Billboard Hot 100, but the impact of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" went beyond the music charts. Considered one of the best songs of all time, it came to symbolize not just an entire genre but an entire generation - Generation X.

Lecture 21: "Black Hole Sun" (1994) – Soundgarden: Soundgarden found international success and fame with their fourth  album Superunknown (1994) which hit #1 in the Billboard 200 and produced hits such as "Fell on Black Days," "My Wave," "Spoonman," and what may be their most recognized song "Black Hole Sun." The first single from Superunknown (1994),  "Black Hole Sun" climbed to #3 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks and #9 in the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks.

Lecture 22: "Hunger Strike" (1991) - Temple of the Dog: Temple of the Dog was the brainchild of Chris Cornell (lead singer of Soundgarden) and intended as a tribute to his close friend, the late Andrew Wood (of the bands Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone). Temple of the Dog was something of an early grunge "super group" - consisting of Cornell and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden (Cameron would join Pearl Jam in 1998 after Soundgarden disbanded in 1997) and four of the founding members of Pearl Jam (Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Eddie Vedder, and Mike McCready).  Temple of the Dog released one self-titled studio album in 1991. It went to #5 in the Billboard 200 and produced the hit single "Hunger Strike" which climbed to the #4 spot in the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks. The dual vocals by Cornell and Vedder are amazing!

Lecture 21: "Would?" (1992) - Alice In Chains: Along with Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains is one of the "big four" grunge bands to come out of Seattle.  Formed in 1982 by guitarist Jerry Cantrell, singer Layne Staley, drummer Mike Starr, and bassist Sean Kinney, Alice In Chains was a grunge band with a strong heavy metal sound.  Their first three albums Facelift in 1990, Dirt in '92, and Alice In Chains in '95 produced a number of hits. From the band's second album Dirt, this is "Would?" written by Cantrell in memory of his good friend Andrew Wood, lead singer for Mother Love Bone, who overdosed in 1990.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DwYZKjXxEE

Lecture 22: "Jeremy" (1991) - Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam was founded in 1990 by Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament (formerly of Green River and Mother Love Bone) along with Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, and Dave Krusen. Their debut album Ten (August, 1991) took time to gain steam, but it eventually hit the #2 spot in the Billboard 200, thanks in large part to heavy touring in support of it. By early '93 Ten had outsold Nirvana's breakthrough album Nevermind and produced hits such as "Even Flow," "Alive," "Black," and "Jeremy," the first single released from the album.

Lecture 21: "What I Got" (1996) – Sublime: In 1988 singer Brad Nowell and his longtime friends,  Eric Wilson (guitar) and Bud Gaugh (drums) co-founded the band Sublime.  With their mascot "Lou Dog" (a formerly abused Dalmatian adopted by Nowell) at their side, Sublime recorded three studio albums. The first two, 40oz. to Freedom (1992) and Robbin' the Hood (1994), brought the band some success and sold reasonably well, but real fame would not come to Sublime until the release of their third self-titled album in 1996.  Sublime (1996) (the album) would bring international stardom to the band, selling millions of copies and producing the smash hit "What I Got," which reached the #1 spot in the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.  

Lecture 21: "No Rain" (1992) - Blind Melon: Shannon Hoon, Rogers Stevens, Brad Smith, Christopher Thorn and Glen Graham formed the band Blind Melon in 1990. Their self-titled debut album (1992), recorded with outdated equipment to achieve a raw and original, almost live sound, put the band on the map and charted in the #3 position in the Billboard Hot 200. It would produce two big hits, "Tones of Home" and "No Rain," Blind Melon's most memorable song, in large part because of the accompanying video which features a young girl dressed in a bee costume. "No Rain" climbed to the #20 position in the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 in the Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts.

Lecture 21: "Plush" (1993) - Stone Temple Pilots: Out of San Diego, California, the Stone Temple Pilots, or STP for short, were formed in 1989. Comprised of brothers Dean and Robert DeLeo, Eric Kretz, and Scott Weiland, STP was one of the most successful bands of the 1990s, releasing four albums during the decade - all of which charted in the top ten in the Billboard 200. "Plush" was the second single released from their debut album Core (1993) (which charted at #3) and reached the #39 spot in the Billboard Hot 100.

Lecture 21: "Give it Away" (1991) - Red Hot Chili Peppers: The alternative rock band with perhaps the most longevity has been the Red Hot Chili Peppers, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1983 (and still active today) by school friends Anthony Kiedis, Michael Balzary (better known as Flea), Jack Irons, and Hillel Slovak. Though the line-up would change over time, Kiedis and Flea would remain the heart and creative force behind the band. From the band's fifth studio album Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), "Give it Away" hit #1 in Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and the music video enjoyed heavy airplay in the MTV line-up. The artistic video, directed by French fashion photographer/director Stephane Sednaoui, employed innovative cinematography and was shot in a barren desert-like setting in black and white.

Lecture 21: "Killing in the Name" (1992) - Rage Against the Machine: Formed in 1991, the funk/rap metal band Rage Against the Machine (Zach de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Brad Wilk, and Tim Commerford) were (and still are) a very political band. From their 1992 eponymous album, "Killing in the Name," a biting commentary on the sad state of American society (particularly racism and police violence), was very controversial. An uncensored version was distributed for radio station airplay. "Killing in the Name" has gone on to become, perhaps, Rage Against the Machine's most recognizable song.  The band split in 2000, whereupon Morello, Wilk, and Commerford joined up with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden to form Audioslave (2000-2007). Rage Against the Machine reunited in 2007 following Cornell's departure from Audioslave.