Disorganisation similar raises its head going into “Pennyroyal Tea”. He meant it too, having done just that in rehearsal. “The Man Who Sold the World”, for instance, would have not been half as moving had he not preceded it by stating “I guarantee you I will screw this song up”. Yet nerves brought out something Cobain, whose performance is both steely and charmingly loose. So there was real nervousness, on stage and off, as New York members of the Nirvana fan club filed in and took their front-row seats (so much for Kurt’s hopes of seeing Finnerty and her friends). Up in the sound booth, producer Scott Litt was taken aside by panicked MTV executives and asked if he could “get more hit songs” out of the band.
They were amenable to dusting down “Come As You Are”.
As at the VMAs, Nirvana had ruled out reprising “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. The major worry for MTV producers meanwhile was that Cobain was skimping on the hits. And then there were the technical complications with “Pennyroyal Tea” and “About a Girl”, which Cobain tried twice before abandoning. Nirvana’s tilt at Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” had stuttered ominously. He was anxious and wanted to gaze out at some supportive faces. In rehearsals, he shouted out to Amy Finnerty, asking that she and her friends sit up front during the performance proper. Later, it would be noted that of the six covers performed, five mentioned death.Ĭobain was a bundle of jitters before the taping. Cobain was taking a risk referencing the tall-haired family entertainer from Labyrinth. It is hard to convey just how uncool he still was in the early Nineties. Back then, Bowie was still regarded as a sort of super-naff crazy uncle to Phil Collins. The latter must have seemed especially alarming to MTV. There would be cover versions, too: of little-known Glaswegians The Vaselines and of David Bowie. Nirvana wanted Meat Puppets, an obscure Phoenix, Arizona outfit Nirvana had fallen in love with during the making of their debut, Bleach. Eddie Vedder and Tori Amos were MTV’s preferences. MTV producers were thrilled when the band revealed their plans to feature guest performers. Still, Nirvana were only ever going to play by their own rules. Why wasn’t anyone writing that about him? He put the publication down and squinted into the middle distance. The sense that he had somehow been slighted by the world was catalysed when, on the road touring Nevermind, he read a magazine article lauding his Seattle rival Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam as an outstanding lyricist and arranger. Aged just 20 she had championed Nirvana when they were an unheralded indie band, pushing her reluctant bosses to play the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video. One reason may have been loyalty to MTV producer Amy Finnerty. Unplugged (The Official Bootleg) reached seven in the UK charts and gave Macca his biggest hit in America in over a decade.Ĭobain never publicly explaining why he had agreed to do Unplugged. In the car back from his 1991 Unplugged taping he had his producer play the recording and decided there and then to release it as an album. Paul McCartney was one of the first to see the slot’s potential. By season two stars were clamouring to appear. The first broadcast featuring Squeeze’s Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook and Cars guitarist Elliot Easton. Jim Burns and Robert Small, the Unplugged producers, wanted to transpose to MTV the earthy energy Bon Jovi had brought when he adjusted his mullet and whipped out his acoustic guitar. First broadcast in November 1989, the show had been loosely inspired by an acoustic set Bon Jovi had tacked on at the end of the 1988 world tour. The Unplugged format itself was an unlikely phenomenon. MTV must have wondered if they wanted to bring it on themselves all over again. Later, perhaps as retaliation, Guns ‘n’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan tried to beat up his Nirvana opposite number, Novoselic. In revenge, as the spotlight dimmed and the stricken Novoselic staggered away, Cobain descended into the stage pit where Rose’s piano was prepped and waiting.
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