October 8, 2010

When I think back to the one song and video that I’d personally consider the most influential piece of music to me, I’d have to cite Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Easily. Everything about it – those opening power chords, the pounding drum intro, the screaming infectious chorus, right down to the video’s depiction of anarchy in a school gymnasium. Like many impressionable teens at that time, it opened the floodgates to a whole slew of amazing bands that were passionately pounding the pavements of whatever venue would let them play.

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” came on randomly on my iTunes playlist yesterday and I couldn’t help but think how powerful the song still is to this day. So much so, that even various interpretations of it are equally as powerful and carry with them the same (pun intended) “spirit”. And like with any famous hit single, there inevitably comes the cover versions, the spoofs, the revamps, etc.

Here at Massive Hysteria, we thought it’d be fun to take a look back at some of the more interesting takes on Nirvana’s most famous and celebrated track. This’ll be the first in an ongoing series of “Various Interpretations Of A Hit Single”. Read on for the low-down! -Robg.

TORI AMOS: One of the most popular covers of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” came out around the same time of the original song’s release. Famed singer/songwriter Tori Amos did a haunting and beautiful acoustic piano rendition of the song which appeared on her Crucify EP. It captures perfectly the melancholy feeling that was just bubbling under the surface of the original version’s angst and Nirvana themselves have joked that they used to take the stage to this version dancing towards their instruments like ballerinas.

THE MELVINS with LEIF GARRETT: 3 piece Washington rock band The Melvins have a long history with Nirvana having played tons of gigs with the budding band in the beginning of their career, as well as being frequent touring mates in those early days. The Melvins drummer Dale Crover even played with Nirvana on a select number of tracks off of the Bleach and Incesticide albums. So I’m sure Kurt Cobain would’ve loved the sheer irony of his old friends covering his most popular song as the opener for their album The Crybaby, the third in a series of records which also included The Maggot and The Bootlicker for Mike Patton’s Ipecac Recordings. Even odder is that The Melvins recruited 70′s teen idol Leif Garrett to sing lead vocals! Check it out below and hum along to Leif’s catchy harmonies on the “hello, hello” pre-chorus.

PATTI SMITH: Here’s one I didn’t even know existed until doing a quick You Tube search for this article. Punk legend Patti Smith did this somber version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for her 2007 album Twelve, which consisted of a number of cover versions of her favorite songs. Check out her interpretation of the song in the official music video below:

PAUL ANKA: Sure, there’s a Richard Cheese version of this song, but why not look instead at this serious take by late 50′s teen idol singer/ songwriter/ actor Paul Anka. This appeared on Anka’s Rock Swings album, which also boasted covers of Wonderwall by Oasis, Eye Of The Tiger and REM’s Everybody Hurts. Did you know he also wrote the theme song for The Late Show with Johnny Carson, as well as tunes for Tom Jones and with Michael Jackson? Ah yes, “load up, load up” on this performance below!

WEIRD AL YANKOVIC: As the story goes, Weird Al apparently phoned a friend on Saturday Night Live when Nirvana was there doing a guest appearance. Al got on the phone with Kurt Cobain and asked for permission to spoof “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to which Kurt asked, “Is it about food?” Al said, “Well, it’s actually about how no one can understand your lyrics.” After a brief pause, Cobain replied, “Oh sure, that sounds funny.” Dave Grohl was later quoted as saying “you know you’ve made it when Weird Al Yankovic does a spoof of one of your songs.” The band loved it.

NIRVANA (MORRISSEY VERSION): What about when Nirvana themselves poked fun at their biggest hit single? When asked to do The Top Of The Pops television show, the band was surprised to learn that they were supposed to “pretend” like they were playing their instruments to a pre-recorded version of “Teen Spirit”, minus the vocals which would be performed live. Well, since Morrissey was a frequent performer on Top Of The Tops, Kurt opted to perform the song as Morrissey.

NINTENDO 8-BIT VERSION: This is just bizarre and worth sharing. Is “Smells Like Teen Spirit” still rockin’ as an 8-bit Nintendo game soundtrack? Damn straight it it!

THE ORIGINAL VERSION: And since you’ve endured all these various interpretations of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, well you’re entitled to revisit the one that started it all. Here’s Sam Bayer’s debut music video, and the clip that changed MTV forever.

BONUS VIDEO – Recording Smells Like Teen Spirit with Butch Vig: As a bonus, here’s a snippet from the excellent documentary CLASSIC ALBUMS – NIRVANA: NEVERMIND, available everywhere on DVD.