Don't blame it just on "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or completely on Nirvana or 100% on grunge

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" ... Nirvana! Oh my god, it single-handedly destroyed 80s heavy metal. No wait, GRUNGE, in general, single-handedly destroyed 80s heavy metal. Ok, maybe this... the combo deal of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" + Nirvana + Grunge, in general and on their own, crushed 80s heavy metal. Both on the radio and on our televisions. With that entertaining rollout, I would like to ruin the surprise by stating that all options mentioned are completely untrue. None of those selections or combinations alone laid waste to 80s heavy metal... they just delivered the final body blow. There were several small jabs, medium right crosses and left hooks, in addition to a staggering and somehow ignored uppercut along the way. Unfortunately, a faction of the music industry failed to notice the early signs and a percentage of the public suddenly lost their brand of hard rock.

Hold, let me clear this out of my throat a might quick. March 10th, 1986, "120 Minutes", MTV. Whew! Much better. We'll briefly circle back to the subject later. This is technically Shot #1

Let's analyze the comings and goings in our musical environment BEFORE the date of September 10, 1991, when the world first paid homage the first Nirvana single.

Lastly, in italics, when I use the term 80s metal, I am not referring to the whole lot. Not 100%, but you get the picture.

Once upon a time, there was the fledgling little group of musicians from Losss Angeleeez, Callliforneeeah. They were once and still named Guns N' Roses. That's right, they made their bones on Sunset Blvd in the 1980s, along with the other metal scenesters of the decade. The glammy world had a hold of them for a few minutes, but they couldn't possess a strong enough grip. They were as dangerous as Motley Crue, but also dirty like good ol' Aerosmith and drew some punk attitude, Pistols-style. Guns N' Roses did not want to house itself in the presently popular 80s metal condominium for too long, and they succeeded. They were the first Sunset metal band not to be pigeonholed as a Sunset metal band, and when they exploded in '87 - '88 with "Appetite for Destruction", it laid the initial groundwork for an eventual seismic shift. Fwap! Feisty jab to the solar plexus. Shot #2.

Next there was the date of September 10th, 1988. That marks the day when the most influential and information laden music industry magazine, Billboard, established the Modern Rock Radio Chart (soon to be re-labeled as Alternative Radio), sitting in harmony with the big boy charts of Pop, Rock, R&B, Country, etcetera. What was modern rock radio and why would it have its own exquisite airplay tracking? The officially recognized new format was calculated using the small group of early alternative-leaning radio stations (with more free-form thinking), such as WLIR in New York, KROQ in LA and WFNX in Boston, in conjunction with the much smaller but meaningful format of college radio. College = Young People = Young Music Listeners = Future Tastemakers. By providing validity to new styles, you create an innovative army of upcoming artists, bringing with them both diversity and different attitudes. This potential crop of musicians now had a home on the airwaves. Bamm! Right cross to the jaw. Shot #3.

This next one contains the one and only Jane's Addiction. Perry Farrell- part #1 created the very significant band that eventually created Perry Farrell- part #2. Those forces of nature impacted an entire musical atmosphere and multiple generations for decades. But with just Jane's Addiction, we had ourselves an LA unit in the metal mid-80s emerging from the epicenter of the Sunset metal ecosphere and giving us aggressive glam vibe BUT the heavy came with a tribal psychedelic sound that resembled nothing like the direct world around them. From 1988 to 1990, they flipped the script on college radio, MTV "120 Minutes", modern rock radio and they encompassed nothing in the presently unknown form of what would be grunge. It was just Jane's Addiction, and they were turning the tables directly in the industry's faces. Doink! Another jab, but solid to the right eye. Shot #4.

Now we arrive at nature's course in the constant evolution of musical recording and performing. (This can apply to fashion, as well). We've seen it over and over again since our births. The dreaded third generation. Third generations in many aspects of life can be inviting and fantastical. When it comes to a popular wave in our large domain of music, it is unwelcome and marks its demise, until some revised form of that wave has the strength to stick its head back up many years later amongst newfound public acceptance or desire. This is as inevitable as miserable people arguing on Twitter. The true creators are the first generation. They may be perfecting their craft along the way, but they are the soul and the inspiration of a movement. The second generation takes the guts of the first generation and either spices it up a touch or takes a minor exit off the highway for extra flavor. Either way, they attempt to perfect the wave or genre to its highest level. The third generation, competent or not, well they probably have no new ideas to offer and/or just unluckily missed the boat years earlier. Casual and sometimes avid listeners are just worn out and naturally yearn for something fresh. Guess what? By roughly 1989, a substantial portion of the 80s metal airspace was undeniably hurling out its third generation... and it became tired and ugly. The public and the biz tend to turn away from tired and ugly. Powww! Left hook to the temple. Shot #5.

Yeahowww yeow yeow, Yeahowww yeow yeow, Yeahowww yeowww yeowww. IIIIIII'm... the maaaaaan... in the box. Alice in Chains my friends and foes. Give me an Alice in Chains appetizer, serve me an August of 1990 "Facelift" main course with a summer of 1991 Clash of the Titans Tour for dessert. Want to talk about an artist that nobody in the commercial music universe could figure out in "90 - '91, this is the one. At the end of the day, not their manager, agent, record label, record promoters (not at first) or concert promoters knew what to do with this temporarily unmarketable act. I believe Alice in Chains was the most important of the national grungy grunge-like crusade, although Soundgarden could have something to say about that. It has to do with two things... Alice in Chains received some exposure on MTV for "Man in the Box", but were being uncomfortably tossed on the Headbangers Ball specialty show. Where else would you push them? It sort of didn't fit, though. They were also the opener on the Clash of the Titans extremely metal tour the following summer with Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. I would label their placement on the tour as so ridiculous it screams past comedy and goes right into some live performance black hole. But once again I raise the point. There was this hard rock kind-of-maybe metal group from random Seattle, WA with some buzz and a relatively successful single for some reason that landed in no true marketable genre. The reaction from the viewing and listening public both on TV and the 'Titans' tour definitely gave them an idea of what they were not, and that was anything close to the stylings of 80s metal. Through misplaced promotion and touring mistakes, by default they became the poster boys for some commercially unnamed something. Once Nirvana broke out later that year... from Seattle again, really?... like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden? They now had this local gone national description of GRUNGE blasting from the rooftops... and now they had a home for Alice in Chains. They were the original homeless. Before the new laser-focused publicity became a necessity. Bonk! Quick but effective jab to the chin. Shot #6.

Lollapalooza time! From July of '91 through August of '91, the most creative and gutsy national touring package of all time was constructed, by the one and only Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction. Modern rock radio had not taken full national root at this juncture, but just enough to have persuasive juice in the game. College radio had much of the vibe but mostly minimal wattage from campus to campus. MTV obviously had massive juice, but the acts on this tour were basically only exposed on their specialty show, "120 Minutes". Still, Perry absolutely felt the rumblings both below ground and above ground. Normally in life, 1+ 1 + 1 + 1 = 4. This tour was counting on 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 8. Combine enough of the upcoming cutting-edge talent with a unique culture, and they will feed off each other, luring the ticket buyer to chase the whole experience. It worked. Without any grunge in sight ... Jane's Addiction/Siouxsie & the Banshees/Living Colour/Nine Inch Nails/Ice-T & Body Count/Butthole Surfers/Rollins Band ... This tour was booked and completed before the world even heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on the airwaves and before the word grunge was surfing mainstream society. Lollapalooza became an entertainment and cultural litmus test. BOOM! Roundhouse Rocky-style body blow. Shot #7.

- Drumroll please ................................... September 10th, 1991. The official single release of "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

- Drumroll please ................................... September 30th, 1991. World premiere of the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video on MTV's "120 Minutes"

Poof! Ticklish body blow. Quick topple. Case closed. Shot # 8. Final blow.

So, let's combine a re-cap with additional details. Guns N' Roses pulled away from the Sunset scene. College radio gained steam. Modern rock radio emerged. Jane's Addiction was birthed in LA. Perry Farrell was birthed from Jane's Addiction. Lollapalooza was birthed from Perry Farrell. The 80s metal wave birthed the dreaded third generation. Alice in Chains birthed hard rock/metal confusion. Now let's add some extra liquor to the punch bowl. In 1986, one of the most valuable tools for artist promotion, with the name of MTV, added a two-hour Sunday midnight show called "120 Minutes". If it was alternative to most of mainstream radio, had an underground buzz and had a video, it had a shot for a spin. Whether it was punk, post-punk, new wave, psychedelic rock, britpop, noise rock, industrial, hardcore, crossover thrash, alternative country, shoegaze, avant-garde, and even grunge (before grunge knew itself) all received attention. Combine "120 Minutes" with MTV's regular rotation from "88 - '91 showing slow but steady priority shifts to artists such as R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode, Peter Murphy, Pixies, B-52s, Sinead O'Connor, Faith No More, Jesus Jones, EMF, Urban Dance Squad and Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Meanwhile, the so-called grunge sound in the Northwest had been building its regional reputation up for years through the mid-to-late 80s with Melvins, Screaming Trees, Green River, Malfunkshun, Skin Yard, Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, The U-Men, (early) Nirvana, (early) Soundgarden. Many of them not making much of a national dent. Maybe it was because they needed another available gateway, a bigger gateway, other than maybe one MTV specialty show spin every 4-6 weeks... don't you think?         

Ok, now let's begin landing the plane on this topic. There will always be a counter cultures in every aspect of life. If the counter culture spreads to the masses, you have yourself a trend, and that can create a full-blown wave. Without question, as I just mentioned, it needs an avenue to reach the masses. Grunge reached the multitudes predominantly through MODERN - ROCK - RADIO. Sure, it had some early specialty show bump from MTV, but modern rock radio drove the car on this soon-to-be-noticed-as-grunge brand, adding to its other growing and established listening brands. They drove that baby so fast; radio networks all over the country built their own modern rock vehicles and had them finely tuned for airplay distribution. Similar to MTV's "120 Minutes", these stations were already supporting many alternative genres, and they happily dropped grunge into the mix.

In 1991, rock radio remained busy pushing the new LA Guns and Kix albums while three major label rock acts: Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam waltzed right past their existence with epic level records in tow. EVEN AFTER... Alice in Chains made a mark on rock radio. That's where rock radio's short-sighted vision ended and modern rock radio grabbed the reins of all three of them. Modern rock radio was now threatening to engulf young listeners. Record labels knew it. Record promoters knew it. Agents knew it. Artist managers knew it. Concert promoters knew it. If rock radio wanted to keep their market relevance, they better start rotating some portion of the new stuff, still with the required rock 'n' roll guitars. Well, if you are rock radio, what current wave of material still sonically stacks up with a legitimate "rock" format? The answer to the question was the pesky little grunge thing. Now with those new players on the rotation team, who gets the axe from the rotation roster? The one and only group of participants that no other format is playing anyway (other than themselves), which was most of the doggone 80s metal. Not all; you can keep 3-4 of the big daddies on the playlist, but definitely most. You also have to leave room for classic hard rock, because of course it's classic. Unfortunately, the realm of 80s metal didn't register as classic. Modern rock/alternative radio stations were now consistently outmuscling rock radio stations AND in turn, influencing MTV, which created a universal stomping of 80s metal. Look- New Wave from the 80s didn’t become New Wave in the 90s. They completely lost their place, as well. It happens

In conclusion, it's completely obvious that Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and the national birth of grunge crushed 80s metal, correct? Simple as that? Nothing else? Close the book on that topic? If you agree, then you have unfortunately learned zero, zilch, zippo and not a thing.

Because they were now calling the cultural shots, as indirect as it may have been, the entity of Modern Rock/Alternative Radio brought the hammer down on 80s metal. Wait, I think I said that several sentences ago.