About this episode
Michael Azerrad joins us to talk about his relationship with Kurt Cobain, reviving a 30-year-old biography, Nirvana's legacy, and some of the records on Kurt’s list. Michael wrote the 1993 biography "Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana," and he recently released an annotated version titled "The Amplified Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana." Next week, we'll return to our regularly scheduled stories about the albums on Kurt's list, resuming with Get the Knack . Hosts: Dusty Henry and Martin Douglas Audio producers: Dusty Henry and Roddy Nikpour Podcast manager: Isabel Khalili Editorial director: Larry Mizell Jr. Support the podcast: kexp.org/cobain 0:00:00: Intro 0:01:38: Meeting Kurt for the first time 0:09:26: From acquaintance to friend 0:13:00: Why Michael annotated the biography 30 years later 0:19:18: Michael on revisiting his work 0:21:39: Navigating self-made mythologies 0:24:31: Kurt's antagonists and his collaging methods 0:27:47: Kurt on "Calvinists" and riot grrrl 0:30:31: Nirvana ≠ grunge ("hot take territory") 0:33:03: Kurt didn't like Sub Pop's marketing of Nirvana 0:38:00: Kurt as a working-class guy 0:39:34: The REAL list? Bands that Kurt talked about a lot 0:46:05: Michael on Sex Pistols 0:48:04: Michael on Wipers 0:50:51: Michael on Mudhoney 0:51:54: How do you compare Dan Peters to Dave Grohl? 0:53:03: Michael on Beat Happening 0:56:04: Michael on Black Flag 0:59:21: Michael and Kurt's eternally intertwined legacies 1:02:32: Thank you 1:03:27: Credits See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.