As I get older I find it harder and harder to remember how a famous person's death was reported in the days before we had instant access to information. I don't want to wander into nostalgia territory by remembering landline phones, telephone boxes and when 'social networking' meant making the trip to someone's house to see if they wanted to do something, but we didn't get this information straight away and more importantly, until Princess Diana at least, we didn't get too upset or affected by it. Or did we? I recently tweeted about the death of Jim Henson in 1990 was my own 'American Pie' moment as I read more about him with every paper I'd deliver, but to find out more I had to wait until I got home from school and watch the news. That would be it then until the news came on the radio again an hour later, only in those days the coverage lessened with each bulletin. 

Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994 was only sporadically mentioned in the mainstream press from what I recall, and was probably the last big death of a famous person to happen (at least to someone who meant something to me) before the Internet became the source of instant knowledge it is today. I seem to remember having to wait a week to read about it properly in the NME, which also shows that I am old enough to remember the NME being a significant music magazine. Of course it is always worth checking information to make sure because sometimes a death is wrongly reported, such as Brian Matthew dying in the media a few days before he actually died, or poor old Tony Hart who gave his name to the practice of reporting someone's death for a second or third time.

To return to Cobain, I have often offered the opinion that the only reason he is held up as the Patron Saint of the whole grunge movement is the simple fact that he died young and while he was still cool. Coolness is preserved with death which is why we have been spared James Dean making a fool of his old self with terrible films and commercials and Nirvana's metamorphosis into Guns and Roses style stadium rock parody. Nirvana have, in the more mainstream areas of the music press at least, eclipsed all of those who came with them and prevented others from getting the recognition they deserve. This will change over the course of the next week (hopefully) following the shocking news this morning that Chris Cornell had died at the age of 52, hours after performing with Soundgarden in Detroit, his final tweet was an upbeat statement suggesting that he was looking forward to the gig which makes it harder to take that the police are considering suicide as a possibility. 

The grunge scene was a much needed antidote to the silly antics of Guns and Roses, Motley Crue, and countless others and blew through music just as punk had done towards the end of the 1970s and brought everything back to basics with no need of special effects. Just as punk had done before, these new stars showed that if you could handle a guitar then you could be in a band without gimmicks. Sub-Pop (now part of Warner) were quick off the mark to sign Soundgarden, Nirvana and Mudhoney and a sound and scene was created, suddenly Seattle was once again on the musical map. It was bad timing on Sub-Pop's behalf to release Badmotorfinger and Nevermind relativity close together, and although you can't blame them for trying to act fast on a new sound, the controversy surrounding the song (and the video) 'Jesus Christ Pose' lost them the race as MTV didn't show the video yet overplayed 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. Again, I am old enough to remember when MTV was a significant music channel. 

When my brother was about 15, he asked me to buy him Nirvana's Greatest Hits for Christmas. One the one hand I was pleased that he was into Nirvana, but I am not a fan of compilations of this nature so made him a shit load of tapes and told him he needed to listen to them first. These included Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana's other (and better) albums and of course Soundgarden. I think somebody had better go and check that Eddie Vedder is okay.

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