Part 3: Smells like dedication. 1992 – 1994

The 3rd CD in my humble collection was Sophie B Hawkins “Tongues and Tails” and I don’t remember what the 4th was. (I have a friend (blog) who from the beginning has written down the chronological order, when every album he owns has been bought).
Maybe it was Metallica. It doesn’t really matter. My 5th CD became one of the most important albums I have ever listened to. My first experience with Nirvana was on MTV the same year as I listened to “More Powers Ballads”. At first I didn’t like the single “Smells like teen spirit”. I turned the TV off a couple of times (it was on heavy rotation). But I began to like it more and more. And when starting in school after summer holiday, my musical taste got a fast forward direction.
Namedropping: Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Breeders, some Sonic Youth, Stina Nordenstam, Radiohead, Tori Amos and the Danish Dizzy Miss Lizzy (preferred above Psyched up Janis and Kashmir). Most of the influence came from the radioshow “Det elektriske barometer”, but music was suddenly something I could talk about in school – not just listen to what other spoke about and thought was cool. Indeed an identity was built on music and style. But as I had no knowledge on fashion. And my power of judgement regarding cloths was on the one hand terrible. And on the other hand I did my shopping with my mom. How was she supposed to understand the fashion of grunge artists and sloppy teenagers from independent boarding schools for lower secondary students (there must be a better word)?
Still I had a lot to learn. As Incesticide was put on to the shelves of HMV (later M&M Shop and then Fona 2000), I thought it was a brand new record, not knowing the meaning of b-sides and demos fully.
Going to high school improved the musical direction and my dedication to – not only grunge -but music in general. Going to concerts, night clubs (Dancecore at Stengade 30) or just listening to the records of my new friends added a social and extroverted dimension to something that first and foremost had been something I listened to in my bedroom.
The Grunge wave got me. And I while some records were left behind I continued to play “Nevermind” and “In Utero” when my attention shifted from Seattle, USA to Britain with bands like Pulp, Oasis, Radiohead (once again) and Garbage.