This fact about Nirvana's video “Smells Like Teen Spirit” might change your feelings…

17 August 2024, 07:30

The iconic video was shot on August 17, 1991. Radio X looks back at the creation of this milestone.

Released on September 10, 1991 as the first single and opening track of the No matter Album, Smells like teenagers Spirit was a defiant call to arms that popularized grunge and catapulted Nirvana into the mainstream.

Along with the angst-filled track came an iconic video that Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl And Krist Novoselic perform amidst a crowd of headbanging high school teenagers.

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit (Official Music Video)

Dipped in yellow and with plenty of dry ice, Samuel BayerIn the commercial he directed, you can see cheerleaders wearing the symbol of anarchy, disillusioned teenagers sitting in bleachers, and children headbanging to their hearts' content. In the middle of this chaos stands a janitor (played by the actor and musician Tony De La Rosa), clears up and seems to enjoy the music.

But despite its gritty portrayal of a rebellious high school rally, Smells Like Teen Spirit was not filmed in an educational setting. In fact, the movie was shot on a soundstage at Stage 6 of GMT Studios in Culver City, California.

The video was designed to look like a high school gym – Bayer was inspired by Jonathan Kaplan's 1979 film Over the Edge and The Ramones Rock 'n' Roll High School Movie.

And while there may have been real high school students on set, many of the extras may have been young adults just pretending.

Nirvana's casting flyer asked fans willing to appear in the video to be “between the ages of 18 and 25 and adopt a high school personality,” such as “preppy, punk, nerd [and] Sportsman”.

The full flyer and studio location for filming can be found below. This took place on Saturday August 17, 1991 at 11:30am.

Legend has it that the kids' disinterested looks are genuine, as they had to stay much longer than intended – enduring one take after another until Cobain convinced Brayer to let them let off steam.

Similar to the title of the song itself, which was inspired by a deodorant called Teenage Spirit and someone writes “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit” on Cobain's wall, The video for Nirvana may have started out quite conventionally, but evolved into a much more rebellious style.

The gym may have been fake and the kids not necessarily high school age, but the anarchic spirit of the grunge band and their fans was authentic and infectious.