John Frusciante is best known for his two stints with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a rare band that can claim Nirvana as one of their opening acts (before Frusciante’s era). At any rate, this Nirvana’s cover is not that good, but this psych-pop spin on “Lithium” perhaps paved the way for a much better version in the same vein a few years later. A cute nod, made less cute when you realize this older group had sued over the grunge band’s use of the name only a few years prior (Sub Pop reportedly had to pay them $100,000). The 1960s British band of the same name covered “Lithium” when they reunited in the 1990s. Entertain us! Honorable Mention: Nirvana – Lithium So today, we continue our Best Covers Ever series by whittling down the moshing masses of Nirvana covers to the best thirty. (“Rape Me,” not so much.) Heck, half the artists we hear covering David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” or Leadbelly’s “In the Pines” seem to really be covering Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged versions. “Lithium,” “Come As You Are,” and “In Bloom” remain perennial cover selections, and “Territorial Pissings” seems surprisingly popular. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has of course been covered thousands of times, but some other Nirvana songs aren’t as far behind as you might think.

Three decades on, that songwriting has generated a few covers of its own.

Already a staple of their raucous live show, “Love Buzz” did represent, according to Sub Pop founder Bruce Pavitt, “an indicator of some of their direction in songwriting.” Not the most obvious start for the most iconic band of the ’90s (apparently it was Krist’s idea). That single was the first installment in the now-legendary Sub Pop Singles Club, so I imagine its “release date” was whatever day it landed in the mailbox for the 1,000 lucky people who got it (you can get it too, but you’ll have to drop $3,300 on Discogs).Īnd what was that very first Nirvana single? Whaddya know, it was a cover! The band launched their recording careers with “Love Buzz,” originally by Dutch psychedelic-rockers Shocking Blue. Nirvana released its first single 30 years ago today.

Nirvana nevermind cover remake