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scene characterized by stage-diving, crowd-surfing and barely tuned guitars, but, armed
with raw talent and some surprisingly catchy tunes, the music filled a vacuum.
A crucial element in grunge's elevation to superstardom was Sub Pop Records, an in-
dependent Seattle label whose guerrilla marketing tactics created a flurry of hype to
promote its ragged stable of cacophonous bands. In August 1988, Sub Pop released the
seminal single 'Touch Me I'm Sick' by Mudhoney, a watershed moment. The noise got
noticed, most importantly by the British music press, whose punk-savvy journalists
quickly reported the birth of a 'Seattle sound,' later christened grunge by the brand-
hungry media. Suitably inspired, the Seattle scene began to prosper, spawning literally
hundreds of new bands, all cemented in the same DIY, anti-fashion, audience-embra-
cing tradition. Of note were sludgy Soundgarden, which later went on to win two
Grammys; metal-esque Alice in Chains; and the soon-to-be-mega Nirvana and Pearl
Jam. By the dawn of the 1990s, every rebellious slacker with the gas money was com-
ing to Seattle to hit the clubs. It was more than exciting.
What should have been grunge's high point came in October 1992, when Nirvana's
second album, the hugely accomplished
Nevermind
, knocked Michael Jackson off the
number-one spot, but the kudos ultimately killed it. After several years of railing
against the mainstream, Nirvana and grunge had been incorporated into it. The media
blitzed in, grunge fashion spreads appeared in
Vanity Fair
and half-baked singers from
Seattle only had to cough to land a record contract. Many recoiled, most notably Nir-
vana vocalist and songwriter Kurt Cobain, whose drug abuse ended in suicide in his
new Madison Park home in 1994. Other bands soldiered on, but the spark - which had
burnt so brightly while it lasted - was gone. By the mid-1990s, grunge was officially
dead.
