Editing Grunge (section)

==Origin of the term==
[[File:Mark Arm.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A male guitarist and singer, Mark Arm, is onstage, holding an electric guitar.|[[Mark Arm]] of [[Green River (band)|Green River]] whose ''[[Dry as a Bone]]'' EP was described as "ultra-loose grunge" in 1987]]

The word "grunge" is American slang for "someone or something that is repugnant" and also for "dirt".<ref name=willis2011/><ref name=marin>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/15/style/grunge-a-success-story.html|title=Grunge: A Success Story|first=Rick|last=Martin| date=November 15, 1992|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> The word was first recorded as being applied to Seattle musicians in July 1987 when [[Bruce Pavitt]] described [[Green River (band)|Green River]]'s ''[[Dry as a Bone]]'' EP in a [[Sub Pop]] record company catalogue as "gritty vocals, roaring Marshall amps, ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/aug/24/grunge-myths-nirvana-kurt-cobain|title=Ten myths about grunge, Nirvana and Kurt Cobain|first=Everett|last=True|work=theguardian.com|date=August 24, 2011}}</ref> Although the word "grunge" has been used to describe bands since the 1960s, this was the first association of grunge with the grinding, sludgy sound of Seattle.<ref name=anderson2007C2/><ref name=azerrad2001p365/> It is expensive and time-consuming to get a recording to sound clean, so for those northwestern bands just starting out it was cheaper for them to leave the sound dirty and just turn up their volume.<ref name=anderson2007C2/> This dirty sound, due to low budgets, unfamiliarity with recording, and a lack of professionalism may be the origin of the term "grunge".<ref name="Strong, Catherine 2016. p.18"/>

The "Seattle scene" refers to a regional Pacific Northwest [[alternative rock|alternative music]] movement that was linked to the [[University of Washington]] in Seattle, and [[Evergreen State College|the Evergreen State College]] in Olympia. Evergreen is a progressive college which does not use a conventional grading system and has its own radio station, [[KAOS (FM)|KAOS]]. Seattle's remoteness from Los Angeles led to a perceived purity {{Clarify|reason= "Purity" in what sense?|date=December 2024}} of its music. The music of these bands, many of which had recorded with Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop, became labeled as "grunge".<ref name="Shuker, Roy 2013. p. 182">Shuker, Roy. ''Understanding Popular Music Culture'', 4th Edition. Routledge, 2013. p. 182</ref> Nirvana's frontman [[Kurt Cobain]], in one of his final interviews, credited [[Jonathan Poneman]], cofounder of Sub Pop, with coining the term "grunge" to describe the music.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CTsGievjMU| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211029/3CTsGievjMU| archive-date=2021-10-29|title=One of Kurt Cobain's Final Interviews – Incl. Extremely Rare Footage| date=20 February 2017|via=youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The term "Seattle sound" became a marketing ploy for the music industry.<ref name="Shuker, Roy 2013. p. 182" /> In September 1991, the [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] album ''[[Nevermind]]'' was released, bringing mainstream attention to the music of Seattle. Cobain loathed the word "grunge"<ref name=anderson2007C1/> and despised the new scene that was developing, feeling that record companies were signing old "[[Cock rock|cock-rock]]" bands who were pretending to be grunge and claiming to be from Seattle.<ref name=wall2016/>

Some bands associated with the genre, such as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, have not been receptive to the label, preferring instead to be referred to as "[[rock and roll]]" bands.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2006/05/05/pearl-jam-interviews-all-five-members/|title=Pearl Jam: Interviews with all five members|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=2020-02-18|archive-date=2013-05-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526014501/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1191078,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thenationalstudent.com/Music/2013-10-07/Interview_Alice_In_Chains.html |title=Interview: Alice in Chains – The National Student |publisher=Thenationalstudent.com |date=October 7, 2013 |access-date=July 22, 2015 |archive-date=July 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722144706/https://www.thenationalstudent.com/Music/2013-10-07/Interview_Alice_In_Chains.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Ben Shepherd]] from Soundgarden stated that he "hates the word" grunge and hates "being associated with it."<ref name="Garro">{{cite web |url=http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2013/04/02/everybody-loves-our-town-grunge-book-interview-author-mark-yarm/#sthash.q3K63PaD.dpuf |title=The Grunge Era, As Told By The Musicians That Defined It (Interview with Author Mark Yarm) |last=Garro |first=Adrian |work=RockCellar Magazine |access-date=February 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716165748/http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2013/04/02/everybody-loves-our-town-grunge-book-interview-author-mark-yarm/#sthash.q3K63PaD.dpuf |archive-date=July 16, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Seattle musician Jeff Stetson states that when he visited Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a touring musician, the local musicians did not refer to themselves as "grunge" performers or their style as "grunge" and they were not flattered that their music was being called "grunge".<ref name="Stetson" />

''Rolling Stone'' noted the genre's lack of a clear definition.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-best-grunge-albums-of-all-time-20121114 |title=Readers' Poll: The Best Grunge Albums of All Time Your picks include 'Bleach,' 'Ten' and 'Temple of the Dog' |date=November 24, 2012 |magazine= Rolling Stone|access-date=February 17, 2017 }}</ref> Robert Loss acknowledges the challenges of defining "grunge"; he stated that, while he can recount stories about grunge, they do not serve to provide a useful definition.<ref name=loss>{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/column/157017-grunge-music-and-memory/  |title=Grunge: Straining to Challenge the Status Quo |last=Loss|first= Robert |date= April 9, 2012|website=popmatters.com |publisher= Pop Matters|access-date= March 15, 2017}}</ref> Roy Shuker states that the term "obscured a variety of styles."<ref name="Shuker, Roy 2013. p. 182" /> Stetson states that grunge was not a movement, "monolithic musical genre", or a way to react to 1980s-era [[Pop metal|metal pop]]; he calls the term a misnomer mostly based on hype.<ref name="Stetson">{{cite web |url=http://thoughtcatalog.com/jeff-stetson/2014/01/hey-millennials-grunge-was-never-a-movement-it-was-never-a-genre-get-over-yourselves/ |title=Hey Millennials, Grunge Was Never A Movement. It Was Never A Genre. Get Over Yourselves. |last=Stetson |first=Jeff |date=January 22, 2014 |publisher=Thought Catalog|access-date=February 3, 2017 }}</ref> Stetson states that prominent bands considered to be grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney and [[Hammerbox]]) all sound different.<ref name="Stetson" /> Mark Yarm, author of ''Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge'', pointed out vast differences between grunge bands, with some being punk and others being metal-based.<ref name="Garro" />

[[Chris Cornell]], in a 1994 interview with ''Rolling Stone'' noted the limitation of the "Seattle scene":

<blockquote>... the rest of the country and the world and probably a lot of the bands that play in Seattle now think that what the Seattle scene was about is Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Alice in Chains — guitar-based rock with punk influences and ’70s influences. Period. End of story. And that's so far from what was going on. What was left out was the completely experimental music, from free jazz to theatrical bands to a lot of very Gothic-bent bands.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Foege|first1=Alec|title=Chris Cornell: The Rolling Stone Interview|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/chris-cornell-the-rolling-stone-interview-79108/|year=1994|access-date=February 10, 2025}}</ref></blockquote>