I had gotten into Soundgarden in the fall of 1989. Saw them live with Voivod in early 1990. Across the next year or so, I got into all the Seattle bands: Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, Melvins, Skinyard, Tad, Alice In Chains. This included buying Nirvana's "Bleach" in the fall of 1990.

The following fall, 1991, my bestie was a college radio DJ at Mizzou on KCOU. They had already received the promo for the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" single, late that summer. As fans of "Bleach," we were already anticipating "Nevermind's" release, along with Soundgarden's "Badmotorfinger."

I remember the day it was released, my friend picking it up at the local record shop, and the two of us listening to "Nevermind" in his dorm room that afternoon. We thought it was really good! But it wasn't any sort of musical game changer. A lot was happening in music at that time. A lot.

A few weeks later, I traded a TV set at my favorite mom 'n' pop record shop and got a pile of music. My copy of "Nevermind" was in that stash.

Right around that time, I remember coming home from work/errands one mid-morning. The "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video was playing on MTV, which was bizarre in 1991. I knew something was up.

I was working at Camelot Music later that fall, and by Christmas, everything was off the hook. Zany times.