The Music Thread

[dryrunguy]

I guess I'll put this here.

Man photographed as baby on 'Nevermind' cover sues Nirvana, alleging child pornography

The man who was photographed naked underwater as a baby and later ended up on Nirvana's iconic "Nevermind" album cover filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging he was a victim of child pornography.

The album cover shows Spencer Elden, now 30, in a swimming pool as a then-infant with his penis exposed.

The image used for the cover of Nirvana's sophomore 1991 album includes a digital imposition of a dollar bill on a fishhook that the baby looks like he is trying to grab. The cover was widely considered a rebuke of capitalism.

Nonsexualized nude photos of infants are generally not considered child pornography under law. But Elden's lawyer, Robert Y. Lewis, alleges the inclusion of currency in the shot makes the baby appear "like a sex worker."

Kurt Cobain "chose the image depicting Spencer—like a sex worker— grabbing for a dollar bill that is positioned dangling from a fishhook in front of his nude body with his penis explicitly displayed," the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, stated.

Elden is asking for at least $150,000 from each of the defendants, who include include surviving band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic; Courtney Love, the executor of Cobain's estate; Guy Oseary and Heather Parry, managers of Cobain's estate; photographer Kirk Weddle; art director Robert Fisher; and a number of existing or defunct record companies that released or distributed the album in the last three decades.

Original Nirvana drummer Chad Channing is also named as a defendant, even though he had been replaced by Grohl in 1990, before the album was recorded or the cover photography shot.

Entertainment Weekly reported in 1992 that Elden, at 4 months old, was cast for the shoot along with four other babies. Cobain commissioned the shoot after he had seen a documentary on babies being born underwater and "thought the image would make a cool cover," Fisher told the magazine at the time. "That vision was a bit too graphic, so we went with the swimming baby instead.”

Weddle took the pictures in an Olympic-size pool at the Pasadena aquatic center in California.

"Weddle took a series of sexually graphic nude photographs of Spencer," the suit said. "To ensure the album cover would trigger a visceral sexual response from the viewer, Weddle activated Spencer’s ‘gag reflex’ before throwing him underwater in poses highlighting and emphasizing Spencer’s exposed genitals."

"Weddle produced these sexually graphic images with the goal of enhancing and increasing the commercial success of Nirvana, L.L.C.’s Nevermind album," the suit said.

The album was selling about 300,000 copies a week when it reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 in early 1992. The album, with classics “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come as You Are,” has spent at least 335 total weeks on the Billboard 200.

The cover image did receive pushback, at which point Cobain agreed to release the album with a sticker over Elden's genitals that said: "If you’re offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile."

"The sticker, however, was never incorporated into the album cover," the lawsuit said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop ... y-n1277578

[JazzNU]

[JazzNU]

I can't begin to tell you how much I don't give a ish about Nirvana, so I've got no nostalgia about this group to say the least, just sharing what I saw on Twitter. I like Dave and that's it and that's got nothing to do with Nirvana.


I hope this grown ass man has sued his parents in addition to the rich musicians, who must have been present for every moment of everything that occurred and signed off on it.

[ti-amie]

Cash grab.

[ponchi101]

I could not find the proper term. Txs.

[ponchi101]

Can somebody please explain to me why are Paul McCartney and Roger Daltrey trashing the Stones? Daltrey called them "a mediocre blues pub band". Did he become Tommy for real now?
The Stones are mediocre? What's left for everybody else?

[ti-amie]

Can somebody please explain to me why are Paul McCartney and Roger Daltrey trashing the Stones? Daltrey called them "a mediocre blues pub band". Did he become Tommy for real now?
The Stones are mediocre? What's left for everybody else?

[Deuce]

As these 'rockers' age, they become more and more desperate for validation that they were great in their time. Often, part of making oneself feel superior is to criticize one's peers.

That said, I never thought the Stones deserved their reputation as one of the greatest bands. Musically, they'd struggle to make the top 50 of MY list of greatest bands.

[MJ2004]

I’ve never liked the Stones. I do, however, recognize them a “great” band musically. No accounting for taste.

[dryrunguy]

I’ve never liked the Stones. I do, however, recognize them a “great” band musically. No accounting for taste.

Same for me. I know they are a great, legendary band. I just don't understand why. It must be over my head.

[ponchi101]

I rank them barely ahead of The New Originals.
(I do like them better than The Beatles and The Who. But I like them all).

[Deuce]

This is truly wonderful stuff...
I’ve just discovered this initiative - called ‘Playing for Change’ - but it’s been happening for several years.
If any of you have known about this, you’re fortunate to have been enriched since the time you discovered it.

It’s simply a beautiful example of the universal reach and appeal of music, and of how it moves people...
It was difficult to pick which song to include in this post, as there are so many inspiring ones. So I've included two. It's worth it to watch/listen to both all the way through.

Here is a link to the hundreds of songs that were done within this project - I strongly encourage all of you to take the time to go through the entire list and play these most special versions of your favourite songs.

Playing For Change - Song Around the World

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[Deuce]

I’m sorry - but I couldn’t resist posting two more...
These two are done with the participation of a couple of people you may remember...





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[Deuce]

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[dmforever]

I'd be curious to know what everyone's 10 favorite musical artists are. I'm pretty sure this will vary wildly.

Kevin