Entertain Us: The Story of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'

In early 1990, Nirvana were ready to start working on their
second album. Their label Sub Pop recommended a producer named
Butch Vig, who had produced heavier underground bands like
Laughing Hyenas and Killdozer. They met up with Butch at his
Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin to begin recording, laying
down eight tracks before they had to head out on tour for six
weeks. When they returned home, they made the difficult decision
to fire their drummer Chad Channing.


Around the same time, Kurt and Krist were thinking of leaving Sub
Pop, as the label was facing some financial trouble. When it came
up that Sub Pop had begun talking to major labels about some kind
of deal, Kurt and Krist felt they might be better off just
signing directly to a major label. 


While in L.A. for label meetings they caught a gig by a punk band
called Scream. Kurt and Krist were impressed with their drummer
Dave Grohl and they kept in touch. When Scream broke up, not long
after, they called up Dave to fly out to Seattle and jam with
them. Within two minutes of playing, they knew Nirvana had found
their new drummer.


Gary Gersh at Geffen Records was one of the record executives
looking to sign Nirvana. He had seen them play in New York with
Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, who Gersh had
signed to the label. Thanks to their encouragement, Geffen signed
Nirvana to a deal on April 30, 1991. 


Nirvana managed to convince their new label that Butch Vig was
still the best producer for the next album, and with a budget of
$65,000, they headed to Sound City Studios in Van Nuys,
California to make it. 


This is the story of lead single Smells Like Teen
Spirit, with newly unearthed audio from the band!


Written by Cam Lindsay for iHeartRadio Canada.