News 07/2001
I now have the pleasure, as one of the first in the world, of publishing my personal review of
the forthcoming book "Heavier Than Heaven - A Biography of Kurt Cobain" by Charles R. Cross. The book,
mentioned several times in this news section, is the ultimate biography of Kurt Cobain.
"Although the tragic circumstances of Kurt Cobain's suicide are well known, the facts of his
life - and the influence of his artistry- remain largely unexamined. Now veteran music
journalist Charles R. Cross fuses his intimate knowledge of the Seattle music
scene with his deep compassion for his subject in this extraordinary story of
artistic brilliance and the pain that extinguished it.
Best on more than
400 interviews; four years of research; exclusive access to Cobain's unpublished
diaries; and a wealth of documentation, Heavier Than Heaven traces Cobain's life
from his early days in double-wide trailer outside of Aberdeen, Washington, to
his rise to fame, success, and the adulation of a generation. Cross reveals the
familial turmoil that fueled Cobain's creativity, the generational history that
forged his character, and the unusual love story that shaped his relationship
with wife Courtney Love. Drawing from medical and police reports, and Cobain's
own private writings, Cross also reveals the truth about Cobain's health struggles
and his tragic final days. More than the history of a rock and roll star, Heavier
Than Heaven is a portrait of creative genius and the will to turn pain into art."
Here is my review, and a couple of quotes from the book: This excellent book is the product of four years of research, 400+ interviews, access to Kurt's personal journals and extensive knowledge of the music business. The book, being a Kurt Cobain biography, is entirely based on him - and not on Nirvana. The band was, of course, a large and crucial part of the singer's life, but the book's main focus is not on the band. Therefore, many details on Nirvana, including their recording sessions and shows are just mentioned briefly - if discussed at all. Only a handful of shows are mentioned, and recording sessions are only dealt with by a few paragraphs. The recording session for the legendary 'Nevermind' album for example is covered in just a couple of pages, while the very same period takes up more than 50 pages in a different book (entirely about the "Nevermind" album) by the same author.
When it comes to the life of Cobain, however, few details are left out. Every aspect of Kurt Cobain is covered, beginning with his birth in February 1967 up until his death in April 1994. With a great and captivating writing style, Cross goes through Kurt's life chronologically throughout the book, describing the most interesting events in his life. The story of Cobain is pieced together with the help of interviews with, it seems, everyone who ever had repeated contact with Kurt - including close family members, band mates, girlfriends, musicians and many many others. As an unprecedented bonus, the book includes many excerpts from Kurt's own personal journals and descriptions of some of his artwork.
"I just got done watching 'Reefer Madness' on MTV ... It was made in the thirties and if people took one toke of the devil drug, marijuana, they spaced-out big time, killed each other, had affairs, ran over innocent victims in cars. They sent this teenager, who looked like the Beaver, on a murder rap. Wow, that's more excitement than I can handle. It was like a big over-exaggeration. But I accept the whole idea behind it. Pot sucks." - quote from an early letter that Kurt wrote to his Aunt, Mari Earl.
Kurt's own words help piece together how he was feeling throughout his life, and what went through his mind, something that those close to him would not always see. The grain of detail and preciseness in the book gives you the feeling that the book is a transcript of tapes made by a TV-crew following every step of Kurt's life -- in the book, there are no ".. according to an anonymous source" remarks, no "I believe that [...]", no guesswork and no speculation. You get the impression that every bit of information is carefully researched, and believed to be accurate. This, and the writing style, makes it seem as if the author witnessed every event described in the book, and wrote it down. Therefore, the book elmininates many rumors and myths concerning the singer, many even started by himself - talking to gullible journalists. For one, he never lived under a bridge.
In general, the book sets itself dramatically apart the others on Nirvana and/or Kurt Cobain in that most of it offers "new" information that has not been published before, including several horrid stories. Even if you consider yourself a Nirvana expert, and have read "Come as you are" a dozen times or whatever, you'll still be able to discover many many new details and facts in this one - and you will probably find answers to many unanswered questions you may have had.
"Grohl's first show was in Olympia's North Shore Surf Club. The night marked some of the worst technical snafus of Nirvana's entire history; an electrical malfunction caused the power to blow repeatedly, and the band had to turn off half their amps to avoid further blackouts. The only illumination available came from audience members holding flashlights, creating an eerie effect like something out of a cheap independent film. Playing with a tiny kit, Grohl proved too strong; He hit the drums so hard he destroyed the snare."
The life of Kurt Cobain is no fairytale, however; The morbid, highly contradictive and obscure Cobain died in his hotel room just a few hours after performing on Saturday Night Live in '92, only to be resurrected by Courtney Love. His story is dominated by a detailed coverage of his extensive drug use which, unfortunately, is a main theme of the book as it was with the infamous Christopher Sandford bio. Even so, Charles Cross maintains a fairly respective description of it, and does not drown the book's authority as Sandford did - by polluting the book with highly questionable stories from unnamed sources.
In conclusion, the book is an excellent description of Kurt Cobain's life, all of it's major events, and his part of Nirvana. As mentioned, it gives many interesting and fascinating details, stories, descriptions and much information that all Nirvana fans should know. This is not a Nirvana book and is not a book about music, but about the life of one person. Whether this is a bad or good thing depends on how interested you are in Kurt Cobain, I suppose.
Even with that in mind, as one who tends to care more about Nirvana's music than the
singer, I found it to be a great book, and learned quite a lot from reading it. I strongly
encourage everyone to read this one ... it should not go unnoticed. If you seek knowledge
on Cobain, this is the only book you should get, and it ought to answer most of your questions
- and give extensive information that explains how Nirvana came about, and what happened
"behind the scenes". Kudos to Mr. Cross for his exhaustive research, for allowing us to see what
Kurt wrote down in his journals, and for interviewing those who could tell this story the best, and
most accurately. It is a very commendable and impressive piece of work. The book will be published
on August 15 - perhaps earlier at some stores. Click here
for the official press release, courtesy of Charles Cross. Note; despite the announced August 15
release date, the book was already released around July 29 in most of the US. It can therefore
be ordered at amazon.com and bn.com already now.
Charles Cross, author of the above mentioned book, will be going on a little tour soon, to
do readings and sign copies of his book. Here is the current schedule for the northwest (let him know who sent ya!):
I finally had a chance to watch VH-1's "Behind The Music: 1992" special. The show focuses
on the music scene of the year 1992 - a year where music was particularly interesting. A
large part of the program is dedicated to the Seattle scene - which had it's climax this
year - and thereby Nirvana and Kurt Cobain. Charles Cross, mentioned above, is featured in
some interesting interview bits, talking about Nirvana and 1992 music in general. The show
mentions how Nirvana knocked off Michael Jackson from the charts in early 1992, to which Cross noted;
"Michael Jackson's number one. January 12th, Nirvana becomes number one. What many
people in the record industry told me, is that is not exactly from sales of records, it's from
kids who got other records, took them in on Christmas, and returned them. So Nirvana's may be
the first record in history to become number one - based on returns!" The program also features
short interview segments with Krist Novoselic, among others. Apart from Nirvana and "grunge",
the show discusses the L.A. riots following the Rodney King trial, as well as the 1992 US
presidential elections. "If any one song changed the course of music history
in 1992 - it was Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'". Cross; "You get an emotional tone before you ever
even hear the lyric - that's the greatest thing about 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. You listen
to that song and the first 10 seconds, there's not a word uttered - but you know what it's about,
you know it's about anger, you know it's about frustration." Great show. I believe the 1994
"Behind The Music" also mentions Nirvana, but I have yet to watch it.
"Don't know if you've seen this already, but Totalguitar.co.uk has a section on Butch Vig talking
about what it was like recording Nevermind and how he met the band, and what he thinks of Kurt as
a song-writer." Thanks to Russell. I am not gonna post the interview here, but you can read it at
this site.
"Hi, my name is Chris, and on a recent trip to Las Vegas I took three digital pictures of the Hard
Rock Cafe/Casino tribute to Nirvana. There are two of Kurt's guitars, three of his outfits, a large
poster of his face, and two television screens showing a continuous loop of his shows and interviews."
View some of the great pictures here; #1, #2,
#3. Special thanks to Chris Speirs.
"The Vault" - a section for fans to submit their work - was finally updated. In this update are some
great drawings and paintings, and some other creative material - such as poems. Check out the update,
and all the other great stuff in this section, here.
Another courtroom drama featuring Courtney Love is underway; "Courtney Love, who is being
sued for failing to pay more than $40,000 in rent, said the house wasn't suitable so the
lease was never executed. The singer-actress made the statement in papers filed recently
in the British Columbia Supreme Court by Vancouver lawyer Gordon Weatherill, who is acting
for Love and another defendant, Kitty Films Inc. Peter Ashby sued Love, the widow of Nirvana
lead singer Kurt Cobain, saying she moved out of his waterfront home after only one day
while working in the Vancouver area on the movie '24 Hours.' Ashby said he received two
advance checks, but the payments had been stopped when he tried to cash them. Love's
statement on July 11 said the agreement was subject to her approval of the home, which
she had not seen before. No date has been set for the trial, which will take place in Vancouver.
Ashby is suing for rent and the damage deposit payments. He also wants compensation for
his legal costs and interest." Story
courtesy of Yahoo! and AP. Thanks to Cary for the link.
"In the Rock & Roll section (page 25) of the Aug. 16th issue of Rolling Stone (N'Sync on the cover),
there is an article 'Nirvana Box Set On Hold: Courtney Love wins first battle to control the group's
catalog.' It pretty much recaps what has been mentioned recently, and compares Courtney Love
to Yoko Ono, who fought with the surviving Beatles over their catalog. The article suggests
that no decision on the box set will be made until after the case goes to court in Sept. 2002."
Thanks to Terry and and Bruce.
The site buddyhead.com posted the following interesting story recently; "7.22.2001.
Some crazy shit (and rock history) went down last monday night (7/16/2001) @ conway
studios in the lovely city of angels [Los Angeles]. The details are far and few, but
from what we do know; Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters), Krist Novoselic (Nirvana),
Taylor 'Oliver' Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Donita Sparks (L7), Josh Homme (Queens Of The
Stoneage), and some other folks recorded a few songs. No word on if and when they will
ever be released." Quite interesting! It would be nice to see a recording by such great
musicians. Thanks to buddyhead.com, Rob Holmes and 'Projektt RRed' for the story.
As noted earlier, the September 2001 issue of Playboy Magazine will contain excerpts
from the new Charles R. Cross book "Heavier than Heaven" (a Kurt Cobain biography). The
excerpts are, specifically; the entire prologue of the book (the part preceeding Chapter
one), the first four pages of Chapter 14, and a few paragraphs from the epilogue (that
follows the final chapter of the book; #24). You can read these in Playboy magazine or
here.
"This Saturday (28th July) in the British edition of The Saturday Times, there's going
to be an article on Kurt, probably made up mostly from extracts of Charles Cross' biography".
Thanks to Mic. I will post my own review of the book soon.
"Here are a few scans. I met Courtney Love and Winona Ryder at a party for The New Group
(it was a party @ The Russian Tea Room in NYC). Courtney was performing songs for the
upcoming movie 'Hello Suckers' ". View the pictures; #1,
#2, #3, #4,
#5. Special thanks to Jordana for these scans!
Here are a few additional pics of Courtney Love and Frances Bean from the recent Pearl
Harbor premiere; #1 and #2.
Thanks to Rich.
As mentioned earlier, the Summer 2001 edition of People Magazine has an article on
MTV's 20th anniversary. Click here to view a
scan of the mag's cover - featuring Kurt's headshot right next to Britney Spears'
bare body! Inside the mag is a bid on the Smells Like Teen Spirit video. Click
here for a scan. There's also a cute picture
of Kurt Cobain, Frances Bean and Courtney Love with Sinead O' Connor. View that
one here. Also thanks to Jordana for these.
"This satuday on VH1 in the UK there's a program called 'Nirvana: Egos and Icons'.
It's all about Coabin and includes rare interview footage with him talking about
his negative take on fame and views on the music scene at the time. That's Nirvana:
Egos and Icons - VH1 UK - 9pm (GST), Saturday 21st July." Thanks to Jonathan Sutcliffe.
A nice little story; "Hi! I'm an Italian Nirvana fan. Yesterday I [went to a] Patti
Smith gig in Turin. [At the time of the encores] when Patti and her band returns to
the stage, the miracle begins ... I don't believe my eyes and ears ... they start to
play Heart-Shaped Box! A great great powerful and strong version of one of the best
(in my opinion) Nirvana songs, interpreted by Patti in a unique way." Thanks to Carlo
Noero for this one.
"In this months Q magazine (with Dido on the cover), there is an article about the
upcoming Nirvana book of pictures By Steve Gullick and Stephen Sweet. Most of the pics
in this book are "unseen". Q gives a preview and says it is coming out in July and
Borders (a US book store). The US date is August 20." Thanks to Jordana. The book in
question has been released in the UK and is the 2nd prize in the current NFC Competition.
You can order it here.
"MTV 2 [in the US] is supposed to air Nirvana Unplugged on July 25 at 2:00 pm ET.
They are also airing Hole's Unplugged performance on July 27 at 2:30 pm ET." Thanks
to Dan.
"Just thought I'd tell you about the new August issue of Total Guitar (on
sale in the uk) which celebrates 10 yrs after 'Nevermind' and why Kurt Cobain
still matters. Inside the magazine it gives you tips on how to play like Kurt,
and a run down of the equipment he used to use. Apart from some information it
also gives you the tabs for Nirvana's cover of 'Son Of A Gun' from the John Peel
session." Thanks to 'denzo'.
"In the August edition of Guitar One magazine there is a section dedicated to
fallen rock stars, there is a little piece about Kurt Cobain which may be of
interest. It gives their take on his playing, opinions from people connected
to Kurt and also a few of Kurt's equipment details." Thanks to Matt.
As mentioned earlier, Tom Green and the lovely Drew Barrymore were recently
married. Courtney Love attended the ceremony, and Frances Bean was the flower
girl. Here are a couple of pics of Courtney and Frances;
#1, #2 and #3.
In the August 2001 issue of Premiere magazine (with Reese Witherspoon on the
cover), there is a nice picture of Frances and Courtney at the recent premiere
of the movie Pearl Harbor. View the picture here.
A nasty e-mail virus (Internet worm) has been floating lately. Called "W32/SirCam@MM"
it basically manifests itself in e-mails that go something like; "Hi! How are you?
I send you this file in order to have your advice. See you later. Thanks." Included
with the message is an attachment. If run, the worm will spread to everyone in your
address book, if you use Outlook. So, if you get this e-mail (even if it's from someone
you know), make sure to delete it immediately and do not run any files attached with it.
Go here
for more info, and info on how to remove the virus if your computer is infected.
"In the new issue of People magazine there is an ad for the People Special
issue for MTV's 20th Birthday, and Kurt is on the cover. Other people who are
on the cover are Madonna, Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. The issue will
come out on July 23 [in the US]." Thanks to Jordana.
This might be old news; "In the Spin August 2001 issue out now, there is a 10
page coverage on Pearl Jam with many mentions of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain. Also
Dave Grohl is one of the people in it making comments." Thanks to Justin Kani.
"In the Sept./Oct. issue of the magazine Revolver this is a piece about Slipknot.
In it the lead singer, Corey, says that he is a huge fan of Nirvana but that Kurt
was a snob because he didn't respect his fans." Thanks to Alex Kinsel.
The lyrics and tabs should now be working again. The 2nd NFC Compilation is also
available for download once again. Please check it out here.
The sound gallery is also back to normal. The 1st NFC Compilation will not be available
for download at the moment.
"On VH1's rockshow 2 nights ago they had some talk about the box-set. It was
mainly talk about the whole Courtney Love legal issue. The host of the show
(the lead singer from Anthrax) put in his opinion on the issue, which was not
very pro-Courtney. He also threw in a Yoko Ono joke about her. He spent some
time talking about 'You Know You're Right' and how Courtney shouldn't have any
say because she wasn't in the band." Thanks to TJ.
Over at the official website for the magazine Spin they are running a poll;
"SPIN wants to know: in this new millennium, how often do you listen to Nirvana's
music? Your reponse will be featured in an upcoming issue of the magazine." Go
vote at the Spin website.
After 11822 votes, the results were as follows; " 'Every day' - 86.8% (10264 votes),
'Every month' - 2.8% (326 votes), 'Every so often' - 2.5% (294 votes), 'Ummmm . . .
like, who?' - 7.9% (938 votes)." That 86.8% of the visitors to the Spin website
listen to Nirvana daily is probably a little unrealistic, but nevertheless a very
interesting result! At the moment they also have an interesting feature on Pearl
Jam at the site. Thanks to Chris Speirs.
The 9th NFC Competition is now up. This competition is the biggest to date,
featuring nothing less than eight spectacular prizes. The first prize
is a copy of the much anticipated Kurt Cobain biography "Heavier than Heaven"
by Charles R. Cross. The book, to be officially released August 15, should
not be missed. The 2nd prize is the new edition of the 'Winterlong' book,
simply titled 'Nirvana'. It features many great Nirvana photos, some in
color, and an interesting introduction by Everett True. Two lucky winners
will get this one. The 3rd prize is a copy of the book "UNCHAINED - The
story of Mike Starr and his rise and fall in Alice in Chains" by John
Brandon. See the April 2001 news archive for more info. The book is
signed by the author. The 4th prize is a black T-shirt with a great
drawing of Kurt Cobain printed on it. The 5th prize is a copy of Nirvana's
album "Bleach" on CD. The 6th prize is a copy of the newly released
"NFC Compilation: Volume II" - two lucky winners will get this one.
To enter the competition, simply answer some easy questions and fill
out your name and e-mail address here.
Don't miss this one! Entering your name more than once will lead to
disqualification. Remember that even if you entered your name to previous
NFC Competitions, you'll need to do it again, since records for old
contests are not saved. Special thanks to Robin Moses, Hyperion Publishing,
Charles R. Cross, Sarah Marusek, Vision On publishing, Steve Gullick,
John Brandon, Brad, Matt Chocqueel-Mangan and Esprit UK for making this
competition possible.
Today, Love Michelle Harrison (better known as Courtney Love) turns
37. Born on July 9, 1964, Courtney married Nirvana's Kurt Cobain in
1992 and later gave birth to their daughter Frances Bean. Frances'
godmother, the beautiful and lovely actress Drew Barrymore, was
apparently just married to comedian Tom Green. Congratulations!
In the September issue of Playboy magazine there is going to be an article
on the forthcoming Nirvana book; "Heavier Than Heaven". Apparently it contains
excerpts to give an impression of the book before it's actual release. I'm
sure the magazine will also offer some interesting photos .. of Nirvana of
course. Or not :) Thanks to Peter and Charles R. Cross for the news.
This news is a few days old; "Hey I was watching MTV tonite and saw a commercial
and it showed a picture [of] Sound City studios and then it says 'Nirvana records
'Nevermind' here in 1991'. Then it plays like 1 sec. of the opening riff of Teen
spirit." Thanks to 'Jagstang36' and others for the news. I am not sure what this
teaser is an advertisement for.
"This morning I figured out that Nirvana's rare first single Love Buzz has been
sold 243 times on Ebay. It's kind of freaky don't you think? The highest price was
$1200 and the lowest $340. I bought mine for $550 last year. And also, there was a
5 hour Nirvana tribute on Rock Radio here in Greece [recently] and they broadcasted
a lot of Nirvana songs and the whole Amsterdam 91 show. Also, they mentioned your site
for the greatest Nirvana site on the web and the greatest source for Nirvana information
and news. They also said that you have the hottest postboard and the greatest picture
section of a rock band website they ever saw." Quite interesting news indeed! Thanks
a lot to Paris for this one.
Over at the official Rolling Stone magazine website (www.rollingstone.com), they
are running a 'Battle of the Bands' poll with Courtney [Love] versus Nirvana.
After 1961 votes, 8% of them (148) were for Courtney while the remaining 92%
(1813) of the votes were for Nirvana (Krist and Dave, basically). Thus, the result
of this poll is virtually the same as the poll I have been running on the main
page of this site for some time now. Go to www.rollingstone.com to vote if you'd like.
Note that all the sound files offered in the NFC Sound Gallery are currently
not available, as the server hosting them is down. At the same time, the mp3
files for the two NFC Compilations are also down. We hope to get these files
back online soon.
MTV, SonicNet and VH-1 put up another interesting Nirvana news story;
"As Courtney Love and Nirvana's surviving members face off in a legal battle over the
band's legacy, 120 tapes of unreleased material featuring Kurt Cobain sit in a vault — and
that's where they'll remain, says a source close to the Cobain estate, until Nirvana's record
company gives the band a better deal. The collection includes recordings of the
late singer alone as well as tapes of the band throughout its career, including
Nirvana's first show in Seattle in April 1988 [sic], four-track basement demos,
bedroom tapes of Cobain singing and strumming on new songs as well as embryonic
versions of classics like 'All Apologies,' and the band's last complete recording,
'You Know You're Right.' Also among the unreleased material is a song called 'Opinion,'
on which Cobain responds 'to everyone having an opinion on his medical condition,'
according to the source. The late Nirvana singer suffered from chronic stomach pain,
which he blamed, at least in part, for his heroin use. A version of the song taped
from a radio appearance was available on Napster until stringent screening procedures
took effect earlier this year.
The Cobain estate, which is managed by Love, expects
to have dozens of songs to place on a series of releases. But the source acknowledged
that the majority of the tapes have not yet been screened and that it's unknown how
much of it is actually releasable. The vault also includes eight or nine recordings
that Cobain made with musicians other than Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer
Dave Grohl, including ex-Hole drummer Patty Schemel and sometime Nirvana guitarist Pat
Smear. It's unlikely, though, that any of it will see the light of day until Love's
dispute with Grohl and Novoselic is resolved and Universal agrees to 'redefine Nirvana's
deal' to meet her standards, the source said."
"Love recently convinced a Seattle
judge to block the inclusion of 'You Know You're Right' on a Nirvana box set planned for
the fall to commemorate the 10th anniversary of their landmark album Nevermind. The source
said Love's reason was not to keep the song off the project, but to stop the box set itself.
'There will be no box set until something is resolved regarding all of these songs.' Love
is seeking to dissolve the partnership she entered into with Grohl and Novoselic in 1997
called Nirvana L.L.C., which requires that all three vote unanimously on major decisions
such as releasing material." Read the complete story here.
Thanks to James, Dave, Jordana and others for the link. Also check this
related story. News courtesy of MTV, VH-1 and SonicNet.
I just got a little bit of information on the much anticipated Nirvana/Kurt
Cobain book; 'Heavier Than Heaven' by Mr. Charles R. Cross; "Although
the tragic circumstances of Kurt Cobain's suicide are well known, the facts of his life -
and the influence of his artistry- remain largely unexamined. Now veteran music
journalist Charles R. Cross fuses his intimate knowledge of the Seattle music
scene with his deep compassion for his subject in this extraordinary story of
artistic brilliance and the pain that extinguished it.
Best on more than
400 interviews; four years of research; exclusive access to Cobain's unpublished
diaries; and a wealth of documentation, Heavier Than Heaven traces Cobain's life
from his early days in double-wide trailer outside of Aberdeen, Washington, to
his rise to fame, success, and the adulation of a generation. Cross reveals the
familial turmoil that fueled Cobain's creativity, the generational history that
forged his character, and the unusual love story that shaped his relationship
with wife Courtney Love. Drawing from medical and police reports, and Cobain's
own private writings, Cross also reveals the truth about Cobain’s health struggles
and his tragic final days. More than the history of a rock and roll star, Heavier
Than Heaven is a portrait of creative genius and the will to turn pain into art."
This interesting book will be published on August 15 and is 400 pages. The price
will be $24.95 USD. The ISBN is 0-7868-6505-9 and the book is published by Hyperion
Books. Click here
for more info from the publisher. Special thanks to Robin Moses of Hyperion for
the above info, and the book cover scan. Also a huge thanks to Charles R. Cross
for his kindness, and for writing this book. Check out my 1999 interview with him.
Today, it's been exactly 30 years since Jim Morrison, frontman of the legendary band
The Doors, was found dead. Morrison, as Cobain, was just 27 when he died. With the
anniversary, tons of fans have been flocking to his grave in Paris to pay their respect.
Read more about that here,
courtesy of NME.
Today it's been two years since the NFC Discussion Board opened. With more than 4.000
registered users, and around 30.000 new messages per month, the board is quite popular
and has a number of regular users. In the two years it has been operating, the current
4.080 users have posted a grand total of 496287 messages (as of the time this story was
written). During most of those two years, the board was made possible by a script called 'The
Ultimate Bulletin Board'. However, it ultimately proved to be a tad slow and instabile, so I wrote
a new script of my own which is completely database driven, as opposed to the 'UBB'. The new script
has been working quite well, and is in many ways a great improvement. Some of the messages posted
over the past couple of years can be found here. A few messages
from the forum that was used in 1997 and 1998 can be found in the museum.
This script was very primitive and the forum only had a few users back then.
The British NME also put up a story about the boxed set, going over the same
things as the previous news stories. It's a pretty interesting summary, though,
and it includes a couple of links to this site. Read it here.
VH-1s website offers a mirror of the story previously published by MTV News and
SonicNet. Check it out here.
Thanks to James and others. In addition, the case was mentioned in a number of newspapers
around the world, including a Swedish one.
SonicNet put up an article about the boxed set issue that adds a little
bit of extra info. Check it out here.
Thanks to Alexandr and others for the link. There was also a post at the
hole.com discussion board with an email that Courtney had apparently sent
to Krist, concerning this issue. Apparently she confirmed it to be real.
You might still be able to find it at hole.com.
MTV also put up a news story on their website about the boxed set. As far as I can tell,
it's identical to the SonicNet article - mentioned above - though (which makes sense, since
they are affiliated with MTV). You can read it here.
Thanks to Ron Harris for the link.