1988

- 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 +
Dale Crover Rehearsal Tape (1988)
Love Buzz
Downer
Mexican Seafood
Pen Cap Chew
Spank Thru
Floyd the Barber
White Lace and Strange
Hairspray Queen
Anorexorcist
If You Must
Mrs. Butterworth
Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves
Two Other, Untitled songs
This is probably the biggest reason for me buying the With The Lights Out box set. "Mrs. Butterworth" is the only song on there that I'd never heard or even heard of. I'd love to get my hands on a full copy of this tape (a Cher cover and 2 more unheard songs!!!) but I'm not holding my breath. "Mrs. Butterworth" sounds like it probably evolved (or in my opinion, devolved) into "Swap Meet," found on the Bleach album. Somewhat similar riff, and the lyrics to the breakdown are also similar to the theme.

First Studio Session (January 23, 1988)
If You Must
Downer
Floyd the Barber
Paper Cuts
Spank Thru
Hairspray Queen
Aero Zeppelin
Beeswax
Mexican Seafood
Pen Cap Chew
Nirvana's first studio session provided 2 songs on Bleach, 4 songs on Incesticide, and 1 song on both. "Spank Thru" is the only song from this session that did not find an official release.

Radio Shack Videos (January 24, 1988)
If You Must (clip)
Paper Cuts (clip)
Others?
The band mimed to the demos recorded the day before at a Radio Shack nearby. The owner of the store was an acquaintance, and allowed the band in after hours, with the lights going (cigarette smoke was blown into the frame for added effect.) The only version of this floating around is a couple minte clip shown on the television show American Journal.

Home Demos (1988)
Beans
Don't Want it All
Clean Up Before She Comes
Polly
About a Girl
"Bambi Slaughter"
"Black & White Blues"
Escalator To Hell
Montage of Heck (long and short versions)
Random demos done solo by Kurt at his home. "Beans," "Don't Want it All," "Clean Up Before She Comes," "Polly," and "About a Girl" were released officially on With The Lights Out. "Bambi Slaughter" and "Black & White Blues" are actually bootleg titles, their official names are unknown. "Escalator to Hell" is random guitar feedback/noise with a funny backwards message at the beginning (Kurt says noises backwards, then runs them forwards to sound like 'Escalator to Hell' - the opposite of "Stairway to Heaven.") Both "Montage of Heck" versions are sound collages from old tv shows, Nirvana recordings, and records. The short version is around 5 minutes, the long around 30!

Love Buzz Sessions (June - September 1988)
Blandest
Love Buzz (2 versions)
Big Cheese
Mr. Moustache
Mr. Moustache (experimental)
Sifting (instrumentla)
Blew (experimental)
Spank Thru
Big Cheese
Love Buzz
Floyd the Barber
Love Buzz (instrumental)
The sessions for Nirvana's first single. "Love Buzz" was recorded many different times, seeing as Sub Pop, Nirvana's record label, was dissapointed with early results. "Spank Thru," the first officially released Nirvana song, was released on Sub Pop 200, a label preview. One version of "Big Cheese" was chosen over "Blandest" as the B-Side. Even though it was obviously stronger song, the master tapes for "Blandest" were recorded over, and was only released on With The Lights Out with the luck of a surviving band member's cassette copy. Many of these versions of songs have never made the bootleg swapping sections!

Bleach Sessions (December 1988)
Mr. Moustache
Scoff
Sifting
Hairspray Queen
Scoff
Mr. Moustache
Sifting
About a Girl
Blew
Swap Meet
Negative Creep
School
Big Long Now
The recording sessions for Nirvana's first album Bleach. "Big Long Now" was decided against, and popped up later on Incesticide.

This chronology is in no way complete, and is based on my own stash of Nirvana recordings (although I've got tons more live stuff than just what's on these few pages.) Material I have in one form or another is in Gold. Material I'm missing is in white.

- 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 +
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