Load up on guns, bring your friends

Continuing my trip up the list of the most streamed songs for each year.  

1991 : Smells Like Teen Spirit  - Nirvana

Finally - one I'm not going to argue with!  I'm perfectly happy with this - it really was a breath of, well maybe not "fresh air", but there was certainly something different to it.

I remembered the overall tone of the video and the cheerleaders, but I wasn't sure whether much more happened in it - and there's not a lot, to be honest.  It's 4:38 long and there's also a creepy janitor dude, a school assembly, David Grohl doing his best Animal impression and a riot at the end - Wikipedia tells me the riot was pretty much for real because the kids had been made to sit there for shoot after shoot.

Wikipedia has loads on the track (326 milliPeppers) and some of it even manages to be interesting!  Kurt wrote the song trying to rip off Pixies (although the similarity with Boston's "More Than A Feeling" is also noted), but the band weren't massively impressed - Krist described it as ridiculous, so Kurt made them play it for 90 minutes (I can't help but feel I wouldn't have got on with Kurt) during which Krist slowed it down and Dave added the drums.  As everyone knows now, Teen Spirit is a deodorant but Kurt didn't at the time - he thought it was a revolutionary slogan.   The music section tells me the song displays "developing variation" - I read up what this is and I can assure you I am still absolutely no clearer as to what it actually is.

The lyrics/meaning section is quite interesting because the indecipherable nature was a big problem for both US radio and MTV - I don't seem to recall it being an issue over here.  Personally, I think it's just Kurt being Kurt and picking words that sounded good together without any particular meaning (which is no different to what Michael Stipe was doing five years earlier, amongst many others) - I suspect he both loved and hated people trying to make sense of it all.

The track was released as the first single off Nevermind but was not expected to be a hit - it was paving the way for "Come As You Are" which they thought would cross over.  Which just goes to show what anyone knows because it kinda took off making the top ten in most countries (#7 here, #6 in the US) and #1 in France, Belgium and Spain - and we're getting to the point where streaming and sales figures get very confused, so I won't give you any numbers.  But the band grew to be increasingly uncomfortable about the success - and I think we'll just leave it there because we all know how things ended.

Random trivia fact for you - the first time it was played live was on The Word and Kurt introduced the song with the charming line "I want everyone in this room to know that Courtney Love, the lead singer of the sensational pop group Hole, is the best fuck in the world".

For a change recently, Wikipedia gives us some cover versions - including one I already knew about which is Tori Amos, which I really like and even Dave himself said was "fine" and "hilarious", but I'm not clear whether that's a good thing or a bad thing!  It also offers up Weird Al Yankovic's "Smells Like Nirvana" which the group loved (and it's a fine video, if nothing else), Pansy Division's "Smells Like Queer Spirit" (I can't say it adds a lot to the original) and The Muppets (which is quite the version - and who doesn't love a bit of Jack Black).  secondhandsongs.com also offers up a LOT of versions including The Flying Pickets. (not great),The Benzedrine Monks of Santo Domonica (very similar to The Flying Pickets), Paul Anka (I quite like this!), Patti Smith (it's very Patti, but works well), Dokaka (this is, errr, quite something) and Xorcist (quite an interesting take).  Well, you didn't see all those coming, did you?!?

I'm expecting some decent tracks in 1991 but I'll be surprised if any of them feel more worthy than this one to take the year.  The best selling track of the year in the UK was Bryan Adams's "Everything I Do", which probably isn't the hugest surprise, but the top five get a lot weirder - Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", Cher's "The Shoop Shoop Song" (I quite like this), Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" (just no back then - and really no now given their recent antics) and Bart Simpson's "Do The Bartman".  And, obviously at #8, we have Vic Reeves's "Dizzy".  What a strange year.

Looking at the charts, we have the slightly less bizarre selection of Seal's "Crazy" and "Killer" (I'd happily give the year to the latter), The KLF's "3am Eternal", "Last Train To Transcentral" and "Justified And Ancient" (a fine trio of tracks - particularly the bonkers J&A), Oleta Adams's "Get Here", Roxette's "Joyride", The Wonder Stuff's "Size Of A Cow", Blur's "There's No Other Way", R.E.M's "Shiny Happy People", C+C Music Factory's "Things That Make You Go Hmmm", The Shamen's "Move Any Mountain", Metallica's "Enter Sandman", U2's "The Fly" and Simply Red's "Stars" (not my cup of tea, but I can't deny it's well done).  Personally, I think this is one of the best selections of tracks we've seen so far - it takes me right back!

Interestingly, the only thing the US chart really throws up is Jesus Jones's "Right Here, Right Now" - which isn't really relevant because it's a '90 track, but I'm mentioning it because it peaked at #31 here but got to #2 in the US and was the most played track on college radio in this year (which was a big thing).  Apart from that, the tracks have either already been mentioned or are almost completely unknown over here.

That just tells me there was a decent number of quality tracks that hit hard on both sides of the Atlantic - but despite all that, for once, I struggle to argue with the public's choice.  There's a very strong argument that this is an absolutely iconic track - feel free to argue, but you're wrong.  Yes, there are other tracks I prefer from the year, but not enough that I think they were ever going to win - well done to the lads from Seattle.

1990 - A track I didn't know!
1992 - Another jolly ditty