This page is Point of Interest page 1 of the Alternative Rock, Grunge and Seattle Tour,

click here to access the main tour page and introduction.

The Central Saloon

The Central Tavern became a popular venue for rock n roll bands in the 1980s. Many alternative rock bands which would become identified as "grunge" started playing live at venues like the Central in the 1980s. The Central hosted energetic live shows by bands like Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone and Nirvana early on in their careers. But before they made it to local venues like the Central, we first have to understand the alternative subculture from which they emerged, starting in the mid 1980s.

In the early 1980s, the genre label "alternative" came to represent the diverse, independent, non-commercial music that emerged in the wake of punk rock, all of which had the distinguishing factor of being oppositional to the commercial music industry, as well as to mainstream culture. The music embraced a do-it-yourself attitude toward musicianship and recording, and it combined musical elements from styles such as punk, pop rock, garage-rock, folk, and metal. According to popular music writer Deena Weinstein, many rock bands such as Husker Du, the Replacements, Sonic Youth, and REM released debut albums in the 1980s, and had come to be known as "Alternative". These bands gained popularity with college radio stations, independent record labels, fanzines, and urban venues which had sprung up in the wake of punk. This provided a network for an alternative subculture to develop and sustain itself throughout the 1980s. This sort of informal musical infrastructure would foster a diverse musical community, one that eventually lead to the development of the alternative rock sub-genre known as "grunge".

Jonathon Epstein has written extensively about youth culture and rock music. For the most part, alternative rock musicians and fans shunned corporate rock. They rejected the elaborate stage sets, snazzy costumes, and traditional rock star behavior where the musician is elevated in status. Themes of misogyny and the objectification of woman were also rejected, and this was accompanied with a strong presence of woman creating music and playing in bands. Alternative rock musicians created music that was more introspective, and relied more on its connections with its listeners. This helped the music regain a sense of community and in-group cohesion, something which had largely disappeared in the 1970s. But also, Alternative rock was about taking rock back to its basics, which is "make a hell of a noise, and make sure you play music your parents don't like".

This simplistic, but direct attitude towards music-making demonstrates the punk rock roots of alternative music. Epstein noted that alternative music was "a direct offshoot of the punk rock do-it-yourself ethic which radically changed rock music from the late 1970's onward." By the mid 1980s, an independent music community was developing in Seattle, and the Central Tavern, (now Central Saloon), contributed to this music community, hosting early rock shows by bands that would eventually become identified as grunge, such as Soundgarden, who played here in 1986.

What's also significant about the Central, is that it was the place that Nirvana played their first show in Seattle. Many sources cite the Vogue as Nirvanas first show in Seattle, but according to Sub Pop record label founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathon Poneman, who eventually signed Nirvana to the Sub Pop record label, the Central Tavern is indeed where Nirvana made their Seattle debut.

In January 1988, Nirvana recorded several demo tracks with producer Jack Endino at a Seattle studio called Reciprocal Recording. Kurt Cobain saw an ad that the studio charged around $20 per hour of recording time, so Kurt Cobain, Krist Novaselic, and drummer at-the-time Dale Crover whom were living in Olympia and Tacoma, drove up to Seattle where they could record at this attractive rate. They were driven by Krist's friend, who drove them in a shingle-covered camper that had been placed on the back of a pickup truck. It was heated by a woodstove and was so weighed down by all the gear that it scraped bumps in the road, and so they rolled into Seattle looking like the Beverly Hillbillies. By the time the demos were recorded and mixed, Kurt Cobain paid the bill of $152.44 with money he had saved working as a janitor.

The band recorded and mixed ten songs "If You Must", "Downer", "Floyd the Barber", "Paper Cuts", "Spank Thru", "Hairspray Queen," "Aero Zeppelin", "Beeswax" "Mexican Seafood", and half of "Pen Cap Chew". Jack Endino was interested enough in the music to keep a cassette to play for some other people he knew including those in the business. The tape made its way to Sub Pop co-founder Jonathon Ponemon. Ponemon became interested in the demo tape and shared it with the other Sub Pop Records founder, Bruce Pavitt. Pavitt wasn't as impressed as Ponemon, but he joined Poneman at the Central Tavern on April 10th, 1988 to see Nirvana perform, essentially making this show Nirvana's Sub Pop audition.

According to Pavitt, there were only a few people in attendance besides him and Poneman. These were Tracy Marrander, Kurt's girlfriend at the time, a bartender, a sound guy, and maybe one other person. Poneman said that when they played their cover of "Love Buzz" – an original song written by Shocking Blue which was not on the demo they had heard, Bruce looked at him and said, "That's the single".

This show made the Sub Pop guys interested in the band, and so they approached the band to set up a meeting. The band wanted to record an album, but a deal was made for Nirvana to record and release a 7-inch single to see how it went. Nirvana went back into the studio in June with Jack Endino, who was producing records for Sub Pop, to record the "Love Buzz" 7-inch. The 7-inch that was released had the Love Buzz cover on side A, and the Nirvana original "Big Cheese" on Side B. This record started Nirvana's recording career. They would go on to release their full length debut album, "Bleach", with Sub Pop in 1989.

Below is the 2013 Alice in Chains music video for "Voices". The band is filmed at the Central Saloon, but the video also features a number of other significant music venues and places in Seattle.

Bleach (Nirvana album). (2017). Retrieved (May 6, 2017) from the Bleach (Nirvana album) Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach_(Nirvana_album)

Cameron, K. (2014). Mudhoney: The sound and the fury from Seattle. Minneapolis, USA: Quayside Publishing

Central Saloon (2017). History. Retrieved from http://centralsaloon.com/history/

Cross, C. R. (2014). Heavier Than heaven: Commemorative edition. London, United Kingdom: Hodder & Stoughton

Epstein, J. S. (1998). Introduction: Generation X, Youth Culture, and Identity. Youth Culture: Identity in a Postmodern World (1-23). Wiley-Blackwell: Malden, Mass, Oxford

Jensen, J. (2016). Alternative rock music in the 1990s. Salem Press Encyclopedia.Epstein, J. S. (1998). Introduction: Generation X, Youth Culture, and Identity. Youth Culture: Identity in a Postmodern World (1-23). Wiley-Blackwell: Malden, Mass, Oxford

Seminara, D. (2014, March 25). Chasing Kurt Cobain in Washington State. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/travel/chasing-...

Strong, C., (2011). Grunge, Riot Grrrl, and the Forgetting of Woman in Popular Culture. The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol.44, 398-416.

Weinstein, D. (1995). Alternative Youth: The Ironies of Recapturing Youth Culture. Young, Vol. 3(1), 61-71. doi: 10.1177/110330889500300106

Yarm, M. (2011). Everybody loves our town. Crown Publishing: New York, USA

This work was created by Kyle Huisman

Contact: seattlerock@outlook.com