COBAIN UNSEEN

Kurt Cobain: unseen pictures

A new book, 'Cobain Unseen' by Charles R. Cross, unearths a welter of compelling detail about the Nirvana frontman's pre-fame existence. We learn for example that the young Cobain was obsessed with the trashy debris of American popular culture, and would trawl thrift stores collecting second-hand board games and lunch boxes.

A polaroid of Kurt Cobain circa summer 1990, the period in which he wrote most of 'Nevermind''s best-known songs, such as 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and 'Drain You' (although the latter was originally called 'The Retards'). His T-shirt publicises the local Pop Underground Festival (which Nirvana did not play at) and he is holding his kitten, Spina Bifida. Taken from 'Cobain Unseen' .

Nirvana circa 1991. One of the key revelations about the band's early days featured in Charles R. Cross' new book 'Cobain Unseen' is the fact that in 1990 Cobain had planned to form a band with his then-girlfriend Tobi Vail (who famously inspired the lyric to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'). Possible names for the band included The Bathtub Is Real and Israeli Donkey.

The cover of Charles R.Cross' new book 'Cobain Unseen', which is out now via Hodder & Stoughton. Cobain hated most pictures taken of him, but this one, taken at Seattle's Crocodile Cafe in the fall of 1992, was one of the few personal snapshots the Nirvana frontman liked enough to keep in his own scrapbook.

source NME.

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