Distorted Guitars, Flannel Shirts, and Teen Angst — The Marketing of “Grunge”
They say music brings people together. I’ve personally witnessed how true that statement is thousands of times over. There’s a kinship that’s built with perfect strangers the minute it’s discovered those strangers like and appreciate the same music. Once they realize how deeply a certain genre or artist affects them, those one-time strangers are now friends for life. Music does that to people.
I say all of that because this piece is a product of that description. In a conversation with Michele Mangiapane Gardner, the woman behind “The Grunge Legends” Facebook Group (over 35K members strong), it came up that a story about the term “grunge” might be an interesting idea. I hope you agree with us!
I don’t necessarily like being the bearer of bad news, but I have a feeling I may be exactly that to some of you once you read the next sentence. Grunge is not a sound. I hope you’re still with me.
In short, the term “grunge” was co-opted by advertising agencies, record labels, and the media in the early 1990s to sell and promote music coming out of Seattle, Washington. It’s very difficult to sell something, music or otherwise, without a name and image associated with it. That’s it. It’s as simple as that.
