{"id":3605,"date":"2013-09-25T06:43:57","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T06:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skylight.gr\/administrator_wordpress\/index.php\/2013\/09\/25\/nirvanas-in-utero-turns-20-ex-geffen-execs-remembrances-anecdotes-marketing-strategy-how-rape-me-became-waif-me\/"},"modified":"2013-09-25T06:43:57","modified_gmt":"2013-09-25T06:43:57","slug":"nirvanas-in-utero-turns-20-ex-geffen-execs-remembrances-anecdotes-marketing-strategy-how-rape-me-became-waif-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/2013\/09\/25\/nirvanas-in-utero-turns-20-ex-geffen-execs-remembrances-anecdotes-marketing-strategy-how-rape-me-became-waif-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Nirvana\u2019s \u2018In Utero\u2019 Turns 20: Ex-Geffen Execs’ Remembrances, Anecdotes, Marketing Strategy (How ‘Rape Me’ Became ‘Waif Me’)"},"content":{"rendered":"


Nirvana had much to live up to following the release of its groundbreaking 1991 album, \u201cNevermind.\u201d But, with the weight of the world on them, the grunge trio surprised (and perhaps alienated) many with its raucous and emotionally raw follow-up two years later.
Released on Sept. 14, 1993, on DGC\/Geffen, the Steve Albini-produced \u201cIn Utero\u201d debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (Nirvana\u2019s only album to bow at No. 1, but its fourth overall) and has sold 4.2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set also spawned a pair of No. 1 singles on the Alternative chart with \u201cHeart-Shaped Box\u201d and \u201cAll Apologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Kurt Cobain had a really determined point of view about what he wanted \u2018In Utero\u2019 to be,\u201d says Mark Kates, who became Nirvana\u2019s A&R person at Geffen toward the completion of \u201cIn Utero.\u201d (Kates now manages bands like MGMT and Saves the Day.) \u201cI know he had very determined point of views about \u2018Nevermind\u2019 after it was successful. It was important to him to make a record that he didn\u2019t feel was quite so commercial.”<\/p>\n

In commemoration of Nirvana\u2019s third and final studio album, Universal Music Enterprises has re-released \u201cIn Utero\u201d with a slew of sonic goodies. Along with buying newly remastered CD and digital versions of the classic 1993 set, fans can also purchase a three-CD and DVD combo that contains more than 70 previously unreleased demos, live recordings, rarities and B-sides. The reissue was released today (Sept. 24).<\/p>\n

Twenty years after the original release of \u201cIn Utero,\u201d Billboard.biz spoke with key former Geffen executives who worked on the original marketing and promotion of the album. Here, music industry vets Kates, Ray Farrell, Robert Smith and Jim Merlis — all of whom still work in the business to this day — share their fondest memories (some business, some pleasure) of working on \u201cIn Utero\u201d at a time when Nirvana ruled the alt rock world and a vast swath of popular culture. The stories include Geffen’s initial reaction to “In Utero,” how chain stores’ made “Rape Me” into “Waif Me,” Cobain shutting down a taco shop, Nirvana refusing to do promotion in Texas Kurt hit a bouncer with his guitar, watching a front-to-back live rehearsal of the album (with a Raincoats song getting the Black Sabbath treatment), and much more.<\/p>\n

MARK KATES became Nirvana\u2019s A&R person at Geffen toward the completion of \u201cIn Utero.\u201d Prior to that, he worked promotions at the label. He now manages bands like MGMT and Saves the Day.<\/p>\n

On meeting with Nirvana to discuss marketing strategy for \u201cIn Utero”:<\/p>\n

“I went up to Seattle to have a meeting with Nirvana and (then-publicists) Jim Merlis and Luke Wood. It was the initial marketing conversation for \u2018In Utero.\u2019 I\u2019ll never forget, the one thing I remember from that meeting is Kurt saying, \u2018If we\u2019re going to do promotion for this record, I\u2019d like to avoid going to Texas, if possible.\u2019 That\u2019s because of an incident that happened at Trees in Dallas on the \u2018Nevermind\u2019 tour, where the security guard got hit by Kurt\u2019s guitar (see video below). He was a little concerned about heading to that part of the country to promote his record. To be honest with you, I thought it was funny at the time. And it\u2019s hilarious to talk about it now. My guess is the bouncer that got hit is probably so proud at this point. I wasn\u2019t at that gig.”<\/p>\n

On Nirvana\u2019s sense of humor during the release of \u201cIn Utero”:<\/p>\n

“The band really had a sense of humor. I don\u2019t think they ever took themselves too seriously. [Cobain] wasn\u2019t a guy who was brooding and depressed all the time. He just wasn\u2019t. He found humor in a lot of things.”
“The trailer [below] we did with [comedian Bobcat Goldthwait] in Lamaze class — that day was just priceless (see video below). It was such an amazing moment. To these guys, hanging out with Bobcat was kind of a big deal. He was a great guy to have around, and he opened some of the shows on the \u2018In Utero\u2019 tour. It was Nirvana, Mudhoney, Jawbreaker and Bobcat. Bobcat being on the road is something you have to tell people or they wouldn\u2019t actually believe it happened.”<\/p>\n

On Nirvana not making another video after \u201cHeart-Shaped Box\u201d:<\/p>\n

“I think \u2018Heart-Shaped Box\u2019 was a record that was going to get played the minute the radio stations got it. What I remember most is that we could never get another video made. That was a blessing for me, because I had to go on the road and talk to them about it. I got to see them play in Grenoble, France, which was one of the last shows they ever played. I got to see them play in Seattle the last time they played there, too. Coming up with an idea for another video after \u2018Heart-Shaped Box\u2019 was a challenge for Kurt. He and (director) Anton Corbijn really achieved artistic heights with that.”<\/p>\n

RAY FARRELL worked in the sales department at Geffen. A former employee at SST (Black Flag, Minute Men, Dinosaur Jr.), which Cobain admired, Farrell now works as the head of Finetunes for the U.S.<\/p>\n

On chain stores\u2019 reaction to the song \u201cRape Me\u201d being listed on the album:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were told the chains weren\u2019t going to sell this title with the song on it. It was going to have to be altered to be available in the stores.\u2026Geffen gave Nirvana the option to either be in those stores or not be in those stores. And the choice was that he\u2019d rather reach those kids with the release in the stores rather than not be there at all. \u2026 So Kurt agreed to change the song title, but it also had to be done quickly.
When I was talking to him on the phone, he said, \u2018Why don\u2019t you just change it to \u2018Sexually Assault Me\u2019?\u2019 I said, \u2018The problem with that is it\u2019s not going to fit and you\u2019re going to have to rework the artwork and it will be clumsy.\u2019 So then I asked him to come up with a four-letter word that isn\u2019t a curse, and we can substitute that. You can imagine some of the four-letter words he came up with to explain his position on it. Then he said, \u2018I\u2019ll tell you what, just call it \u2018Waif Me.\u2019 I thought that was a brilliant substitute, specifically because in his view a waif wasn\u2019t gender-specific. \u2026 That was the substitute made and that\u2019s how the release went out into the marketplace and we were able to get into the chain stores.”<\/p>\n

On Geffen\u2019s initial reaction after hearing \u2018In Utero\u2019 following the success of “Nevermind”:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a rumor within Geffen before the album had been completely turned in — and I heard it more from press than in the halls of Geffen — that there was some banter about the album maybe not being accepted by the A&R guy, or that the radio people said it wouldn\u2019t work. I don\u2019t remember anyone telling me that outright. I remember getting a cassette brought to me by Kurt, simply because he said, \u2018I don\u2019t know how long it will take for all of the right people within the company to hear this. So I made this cassette for you so you could hear it early.\u2019 I thought that might be some pre-emptive situation so he could rally the people he would be sympathetic toward what they were going to do. But any record company in a situation like what they had with \u2018Nevermind\u2019 is certainly going to be thinking about how you build up on this. Not only was \u2018In Utero\u2019 was a very different record from \u2018Nevermind,\u2019 but it was an expansion of what Nirvana would become and probably would\u2019ve stayed on that track with how they\u2019d embellish their sound had the band stayed together. It might be considered a knee-jerk reaction for a record company to say, \u2018We hear the songs but we don\u2019t hear the mixes and hits.\u2019 I can\u2019t really speak to all of the specifics about doing different mixes for radio and video.\u201d<\/p>\n

On watching Nirvana rehearse \u2018In Utero\u2019 live in Seattle and making anything sound like a Black Sabbath:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rehearsal was Nirvana playing \u2018In Utero\u2019 in sequence live. From what I remember, it was a place that restored old jukeboxes during the day. They did all the songs on the album, but the very last song was not on the album. So I\u2019m thinking, \u2018Maybe this is a B-side or something that will come out later.\u2019 After the performance was over, Kurt comes up to me and asks what I thought of the last song. I told him it sounded like a cover of Sabbath?\u2019 He looked at the other guys in the band, laughed and said, \u2018Ray, that\u2019s a Raincoats song.\u2019 The reason it came up is because I had asked Kurt to write liner notes for a reissue we were doing of part of the Raincoats catalog. They were one of his favorite bands. So they were doing a very basic, stripped-down version of the Raincoats\u2019 song “The Void.” I thought it was funny that Nirvana could make a Raincoats songs sound like Black Sabbath.\u201d
ROBERT SMITH was the head of marketing at Geffen\/DGC during the release of \u201cIn Utero.\u201d Today he\u2019s GM of the Verve Music Group.<\/p>\n

On Nirvana\u2019s (Lack of) involvement in the marketing and promotion of \u201cIn Utero”:<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were definitely involved. Kurt wouldn\u2019t get on the phone and sit through marketing meetings. They had really good management who were very involved. Between Mark Kates, Ray Farrell and Gary Gersh, they were three very good communicators with the band. But [the band] would never sit down and say, \u2018When is the single going out?\u2019 They were involved in the artwork and what the record sounded like and knew what we did with it. It was a partnership that worked, because they certainly trusted the label. They weren\u2019t micromanagers from the beginning.\u201d
On the effortless marketing campaign for \u2018In Utero\u2019 following the monumental success of \u201cNevermind”:\u00a0
\u201cComing out on top of \u2018Nevermind,\u2019 following with \u2018In Utero,\u2019 I don\u2019t recall we didn\u2019t anything really special. We put out a follow-up record by the most significant band of the decade, outside of Guns N Roses, whom [Geffen\/DCG] also had. By the time \u2018In Utero\u2019 came out, Nirvana was universally known and had access on every level to press, TV, retail and touring. Everything they did, people paid attention to. So it took no extraordinary effort on the marketing side to set up or put out \u2018In Utero.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

JIM MERLIS became an in-house publicist at Geffen about a month before the release of \u201cIn Utero.\u201d For the release, he worked alongside longtime publicist Dennis Dennehy, who today works at Interscope Records. Merlis still handles publicity for numerous artists at Big Hassle.<\/p>\n

On Kurt Cobain\u2019s reaction to a negative review about \u201cIn Utero”:<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought the record would offend some people. I was only thinking in terms of press. I was shocked how overwhelmingly positive the press was, to the point where there was just one bad review. I would fax reviews to Kurt\u2019s house. I faxed the one negative review and remember writing, \u2018This is just the exception to prove the rule right.\u2019 Then I got a call from their management, saying, \u2018You really bummed Kurt out with that.\u2019 I said, \u2018Jesus, man, I sent 100 great reviews!\u2019 (laughs). But I remember being really surprised that the reaction was what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Geffen\u2019s press strategy for \u201cIn Utero”:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wrote press letters in those days to introduce the record. I remember writing a very tongue-in-cheek letter that said, \u2018This is a little band out of Seattle called Nirvana. Their music is often described as \u2018grunge.\u2019 It was a joke about this being a hugely anticipated record. But there wasn\u2019t a lot of promotion. They did \u2018Saturday Night Live\u2019 around the release and appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards but didn\u2019t perform there.\u201d
On taking Cobain to a taco restaurant after a show”:<\/p>\n

\u201cI went on tour with them for quite a bit. I took Kurt to a taco place next door to a venue after a show, which literally stopped the entire taco place. It was just hilarious. All the people had just been to the show and there\u2019s Kurt walking in. I\u2019ve never seen a place absolutely stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Billboard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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